APA question?

[smithnick0]

I was thinking of doing an American Pale Ale beer. I will be doing an extract, so if im using 1/2 lb of each of these grains (Crystal 40, Crystal 75 and biscuit malt), can i just steep them for 20 minutes in a full 5 gallon boil? Or do these need to be crushed first? I am also using 7lbs of DME.

 

[khugs21]

The should be crushed, if you have them on hand you can just take a rolling pin to crush them. Or if your ordering it from a shop they can just crush it for ya.

 

[ajf]

All grains need to be crushed before steeping, and you don't want to let them get too hot. 150 - 160F should be fine. Going over 170F will probably extract excessive tannins.
Also, the biscuit malt needs to be mashed with a base malt to convert the starches. I'd forget the biscuit with that amount of crystal. I hope you like strong beers. Your original recipe should give you a gravity of about 1.070. The BJCP guidelines say that the OG for an APA should be in the range 1.045 to 1.060.
If you cut the DME back to 6 lb, and eliminated the biscuit, you would end up very close to the upper limit according to the guidelines.

-a.

 

[janivar123]

Umm might be reading this wrong but do NOT boil the grain
and yes they need to be crushed

 

[smithnick0]

i wasnt going to boil the grains, but after steeping was saying i was going to do a full boil.

 

[smithnick0]

So what if i used 3.3 lbs of pale LME and 3 lbs of extra DME? Would this help too?

All grains need to be crushed before steeping, and you don't want to let them get too hot. 150 - 160F should be fine. Going over 170F will probably extract excessive tannins.
Also, the biscuit malt needs to be mashed with a base malt to convert the starches. I'd forget the biscuit with that amount of crystal. I hope you like strong beers. Your original recipe should give you a gravity of about 1.070. The BJCP guidelines say that the OG for an APA should be in the range 1.045 to 1.060.
If you cut the DME back to 6 lb, and eliminated the biscuit, you would end up very close to the upper limit according to the guidelines.

-a.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

All grains need to be crushed before steeping, and you don't want to let them get too hot. 150 - 160F should be fine. Going over 170F will probably extract excessive tannins.
Also, the biscuit malt needs to be mashed with a base malt to convert the starches. I'd forget the biscuit with that amount of crystal. I hope you like strong beers. Your original recipe should give you a gravity of about 1.070. The BJCP guidelines say that the OG for an APA should be in the range 1.045 to 1.060.
If you cut the DME back to 6 lb, and eliminated the biscuit, you would end up very close to the upper limit according to the guidelines.

-a.

Regardless of what style he wants to go for, he can use the 7lbs of DME. It will just be a pale ale with a higher ABV. You are correct that the BJCP guidelines for an APA is 1.045-1.060, but I am pretty sure he doesn't plan on entering it into any competition either. This is the beautiful part of brewing your own is you can do anything you want. If you want to win competitions, then sure, try and follow guidelines, but if not then make whatever you want however you want. I go outside of guidelines all the time.

 

[ajf]

3.3 lbs LME + 3 lbs DME sounds good. That would bring the gravity down a bit more than 6 lbs DME.

 

[ajf]

Regardless of what style he wants to go for, he can use the 7lbs of DME. It will just be a pale ale with a higher ABV. You are correct that the BJCP guidelines for an APA is 1.045-1.060, but I am pretty sure he doesn't plan on entering it into any competition either. This is the beautiful part of brewing your own is you can do anything you want. If you want to win competitions, then sure, try and follow guidelines, but if not then make whatever you want however you want. I go outside of guidelines all the time.

I agree you don't have to follow the guidelines, but if you want to brew an APA, the guidelines certainly help.
If you go substantially outside the guidelines, you will not end up with a beer that fits the character of the style you are trying to emulate.
I also go outside the guidelines when brewing English IPA's, but I wouldn't describe what I brew as an English IPA by current standards. If the guidelines existed 200 years ago, it may have fit.

-a.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

I agree, but there are also very good beers commercially available that are outside of the guidelines. They are there as a base. Use them as such and then expand and think outside of the lines.

 

[Malticulous]

I was thinking of doing an American Pale Ale beer. I will be doing an extract, so if im using 1/2 lb of each of these grains (Crystal 40, Crystal 75 and biscuit malt), can i just steep them for 20 minutes in a full 5 gallon boil? Or do these need to be crushed first? I am also using 7lbs of DME.

If you steep 1.5 pounds of malt in five gallons you will get tannins, probably enough to taste them. The pH is far more important than the temperature. I boil grains all the time and it produces some of the smoothest beer.

Keep your steep at 2-3 qt per pound. Three is pushing it.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

If you steep 1.5 pounds of malt in five gallons you will get tannins, probably enough to taste them. The pH is far more important than the temperature. I boil grains all the time and it produces some of the smoothest beer.

Keep your steep at 2-3 qt per pound. Three is pushing it.

I have never heard that before. Many brew kits are wrong then with regards to steeping. I have done a few kits where they give you a few oz of specialty grain and their instructions say to steep in 2 or 3 gallons. If you are mashing then yes, you need to mash at a lower ratio like 1.25-1.5 qt/lb.

 

[Malticulous]

It make no difference. Steeping, mashing, it's really the same thing. That thin the pH will be well over 6. I mash thin and I use salts and acids to correct the pH.

Extract instructions are generally not written for full boils. Tannins form 2 oz will be harder to taste than tannins for 1.5 pounds. They will hide in the hops.

 

[smithnick0]

So do I steep the grains in a full boil or partial?

 

[Malticulous]

Partial, pull them out then top off.

 

[smithnick0]

Would it be better to add the dme before the lme or vice versa?