First APA Recipe

[Dirtyoldguy366]

Here's what I came up with. Plan on making 3 of these and putting them into a 15 gallon keg for a big party on Labor Day. I worked from a SNPA recipe but tried to dial everything back to make it just a tad more "easy drinking"

9.33 lb 2 Row
0.33 lb Caramel 60L

.33 oz Columbus 16.3 AA 60 min
.33 oz Perle 8.5 AA 30 min
1.00 oz Cascade 7.3 AA 10 min
1.33 oz Cascade 0 min

Beer Smith tells me 1.050 OG and 35.3 IBU
US-05

Only the second recipe I've come up with. Any critiques?

Thinking of kegging it up and throwing in a bag of dry hops a couple weeks before the party. Any recommendations/Should I?

Thanks!

 

[sptaylor70]

You could, if you had a mind to, substitute a pound of Vienna or Munich for a pound of two-row to make it a little more layered. For easy drinking, I would think that you wouldn't want to mash any higher than 152 degF.

You might consider trying the Perle as a first wort hop. Might need to increase the amount slightly to keep the IBU at the same level.

The Mr. Malty pitching calculator says that you'll need 2.5 packages of dry yeast, so for a clean flavor I think that you'd go with three.

For dry hopping, you could try more Cascade or Perle, or maybe a more citrusy hop like Amarillo or Centennial. Or maybe Ahtanum or Palisades for something more subtle.

Looks good. Post your results.

 

[Dirtyoldguy366]

Yea I didn't want to toss too many different malts in at once. Would a larger proportion of Vienna or Munich emulate the 60L at all? My first recipe was 100% Two-row (a pilsner) I guess I'm just not really sure how darker malts work, how much to use, what it does to the flavor, etc.

How much bitterness would I lose going to FWH with the Perle? Would I get more flavor that way? I don't think I'd mind going lower on the IBU's.

I was thinking of mashing closer to 149. Too low?

Thanks for the input!

 

[meltroha]

Love the Munich and/or Vienna suggestion, but I would keep the hops the same, except fwh the 1oz 10 minute cascade addition, more depth with flavor, and will only raise ibu 3-5, in Beersmith, make sure you put the fwh hop addition in for 20 minutes, top get an "accurate" calculation.

 

[sptaylor70]

RE Munich or Vienna - They don't really taste much like C60L. There's a nice guide to brewing grains at All About Grains 101. Three grains isn't a complicated grain bill. This is an overly complicated grain bill.

Mashing at 149 degF will give you the kind of easy drinkability that you want. Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde lists a 150 degF mash temperature.

 

[TexasBrew88]

I'd absolutely agree to mash low (do it with most of my low gravity light beers) and add one more character malt (even go a little crazy with a touch of carafoam to aid head retention a bit?).

What do you plan on dry hopping with? One of the other "C hops" might be nice for layers of aroma and flavor. Personally, I'm a Citra man, but any citrusy American hops should work.

If you're feeling crazier than that, and may the lords of homebrew forgive me for this: I use Wyeast 1968 (London ESB) as my primary house strain. It's even in some of my sours. The somewhat fruity esters it lends seem to support the citrus well. As unpatriotic and not at all to standard of the style as that is, I like it, and those hop heads I share it with seem to generally approve.

Just my two cents.

 

[Dirtyoldguy366]

I ended up brewing this as was posted in the OP. I'll try a more diverse grain bill as you guys have suggested on my next one.

It's been hot this week so my temps got high (75-76ish) for the first 24-48 hours closer to 73-74 once the fermentation calmed down. I would have rigged up some sort of ice bath if I had only 5 gallons of the stuff, but 3 buckets takes up pretty much all the space I have on their own.

I'm going to be drinking this one for Labor day so it has about a month to mellow out. Do you guys think that a little Citra or other "fruity" dry hops in the keg 2 weeks before we drink it could round out some of the fruitiness that might have been introduced by the elevated temps?

How much dry hop should I add to 13.3 gallons (Euro Keg) to give it a nice extra something without being over the top?

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[meltroha]

I think 7 days of citra or Columbus would taste good, wouldn't mask any esters you MAY have picked upped due to high temps. They both add a nice dankness, Columbus more towards grapefruit rinds, citra more bitter tropical fruits. Make sure you only leave in for 7 days though, as for amount, I'd go with 4-6 oz, maybe even do 3oz for 7 days, sample, and if want more add more for 7 more days, just make sure you remove 1st addition, before a second.

 

[TexasBrew88]

For a party beer, I usually try to underhop a little rather than overdo the dry hopping, just for the wider appeal. Mel is definitely right, though, let your taste buds decide!