Feedback: Simple APA

[dragonlor20]

Hello,

I am brewing a simple APA to be used as a house ale. I would appreciate feedback on the recipe. I was looking for a good amount of hop flavor, medium bitterness, and a subdued malt flavor.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 6.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.8 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 7.3 %
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 4.9 %
0.80 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (30 min) Hops 17.9 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00%] (60 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (5 min) Hops 5.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.25 lb
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 12.81 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F 60 min


Thanks,
Scott

 

[Oldsock]

Looks good to me, although I would up the Vienna to 3-4 lbs. Vienna is really a base malt not a specialty malt, it is just slightly toastier than pale malt so .5 lbs won't add much character. Otherwise looks great, just be ready to wait through the 2565's slow flocculation.

 

[scottland]

Honestly, it looks good to me. I would move your .8oz Amarillo addition down to 15min or even 10min. 2565 wouldn't be my first choice for an APA though. It's a messy yeast during fermentation, and is extremely slow to floc. Wyeast 1056/US-05/001 can be fermented rather low if you're looking lager-like characteristics. People on this board have had success down to 60* with it. Pacman is also a great yeast when used in the low 60s

 

[jfr1111]

Why are you adding Vienna to this ? I would either up the amount according to Oldsock's suggestion or drop it altogheter. Since I like simplicity, I would personally drop it. To me, a house recipe needs to be dead simple and cheap: bulk 2-row with crystal would certainly fit the bill ! I'd also personnaly would use something darker, but 30L will certainly not be out of place and quite tasty in such a beer.

As far as hops, I don't have much experience with the American "citrusy" varieties, except for Cascade, altough from what I can gather, flamout additions or dry hop can help with the hop flavour you're searching for.

Personally, the last 2-3 brews, I've experimented with a single 60 minutes addition, while upping the finishing hops and only adding them at flamout. Seems to work well for me so far.

 

[dragonlor20]

Looks good to me, although I would up the Vienna to 3-4 lbs. Vienna is really a base malt not a specialty malt, it is just slightly toastier than pale malt so .5 lbs won't add much character. Otherwise looks great, just be ready to wait through the 2565's slow flocculation.

Great, thanks! I haven't really used Vienna before so I wasn't sure... Designing Great Beers had it at about 7% in APAs so I went with that.

 

[dragonlor20]

Honestly, it looks good to me. I would move your .8oz Amarillo addition down to 15min or even 10min. 2565 wouldn't be my first choice for an APA though. It's a messy yeast during fermentation, and is extremely slow to floc. Wyeast 1056/US-05/001 can be fermented rather low if you're looking lager-like characteristics. People on this board have had success down to 60* with it. Pacman is also a great yeast when used in the low 60s

I went with the Kolsch yeast because I was listening to a Basic Brewing Radio podcast where they were raving about how well the Kolsch yeasts were showing off the hop characters in the beer. In the past, I have only used Kolsch in Kolsch-like beers, so I was going to play with it in this batch a little. Who knows, in the end I may end up marrying a couple of yeasts

 

[dragonlor20]

Why are you adding Vienna to this ? I would either up the amount according to Oldsock's suggestion or drop it altogheter. Since I like simplicity, I would personally drop it. To me, a house recipe needs to be dead simple and cheap: bulk 2-row with crystal would certainly fit the bill ! I'd also personnaly would use something darker, but 30L will certainly not be out of place and quite tasty in such a beer.

As far as hops, I don't have much experience with the American "citrusy" varieties, except for Cascade, altough from what I can gather, flamout additions or dry hop can help with the hop flavour you're searching for.

Personally, the last 2-3 brews, I've experimented with a single 60 minutes addition, while upping the finishing hops and only adding them at flamout. Seems to work well for me so far.

Yeah, I think you are right. My problem is that I have one tap that is also my temp-controlled fermenter. So I get to have one beer for 3 weeks of fermentation/carbing + the time it takes me to drink the beer, so I am always a little overly cautious about choosing recipes and finding the right medium between the beer being so niche that you don't want 5 gallons of it and a beer that is so simple that you are bored before 5 gallons. So the goal was to ensure it was interesting, but not having worked with Vienna before, sounds like I undershot it a bit

 

[dragonlor20]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Very helpful.