First Crack at APA

[Brad0Walker]

Its hot as hell in North texas right now and I'm wanting to brew a nice citrusy APA. This is my first crack at building an APA recipe and my first time to brew this kind of beer. Here is what I've come up with so far


5.5 lbs Pale 2 row
3 lbs Maris Otter
2 lbs Munich
8 oz crystal 60
8 oz carapils

.5 oz nugget FWH
.5 oz citra @15 min
.5 oz mosaic @ 5 min
.5 oz citra @ 1 min
.5 oz mosaic @ 1 min

Dry hop 5 days with .5 oz citra and .5 oz mosaic

This is what Beersmith is giving me

Estimated OG 1.053
Estimated IBU 41

I Love deschutes fresh squeezed IPA and I've read they bitter with nugget and use mosaic and citra the rest of the way. I just want to tone down the IBU's a little bit to make it more of an APA instead of an IPA.

Thanks for the input

 

[kh54s10]

Looks good. I would drink it. May even do one like it some day. I used Citra for the first time today. I did a Maris Otter/Nugget SMaSH a while back. It was.... interesting. And good.

I haven't used Mosaic yet.

 

[hophop]

I tend to keep the darker base malts like mo and Munich out of my pale ales now. I use about 95% 2 row and a mixture of 40-90L crystal malts for the last 5%. I feel the darker malts cover up the hops that this style is trying to highlight.


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[hophop]

I would also double your dry hopping amounts.


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[tootal]

I don't see any bittering hops. You have Marris Otter, Munich and Crystal so you're going to need some bittering hops to balance that sweetness. I'd put some hops in at 60, 20 and flameout and then dry hop. I like the FWH's too!
Seems to give a lingering hop note.

 

[jigtwins]

I would also double your dry hopping amounts.


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2nd that!

 

[thehijjt]

I don't think you will need more bittering than first wort for this beer. I do agree with doubling the dry hop additions. Hops are sold by the oz so you would have half left over if you did that anyway

 

[ASantiago]

I tend to keep the darker base malts like mo and Munich out of my pale ales now. I use about 95% 2 row and a mixture of 40-90L crystal malts for the last 5%. I feel the darker malts cover up the hops that this style is trying to highlight.

Ditto on restraining the darker/caramel/crystal malts. Check what percentages they are in your recipe.

 

[rlmiller10]

The thread is falling into personal opinion and taste now. But in my humble one, the MO, Crystal and Munich are perfect. This is an APA not an IPA and I like a good malty backbone on my APA. IF you are going for the malty backbone though you might want to add a bit more hops, say some magnum at 60 minutes to get the IBU up around 48 or so to give it a bit more balance. So it depends on what you like, malty, you are on the money especially if you mash around 153.

If you like it dryer and letting the hops shine more than more base and less of the darker malts as well as mashing around 150.

Or better yet, brew two batches, one each and enjoy the differences.

 

[NathPowe]

Another vote for too much crystal, and another vote for doubling your dry hop.

Enjoy the brew.

 

[ASantiago]

In no reference to any particular response... OP, the first question you need to ask is: Do I want to brew something that falls within the guidelines of this particular style or not? I suggest that so you can get responses that make more sense for what you want.

Here are the BJCP guidelines for an APA.

Before I get beat up by the anti-style crowd, I'm not saying anyone has to brew to style. Brew what you like, brew what you want. But the guideliness do provide a benchmark for those who want to see where their skills take them and an expectation of what those beers generally taste like.

 

[charliehorse]

I'd drop the 2 Row and use 8.5 lb of MO. And put the other half ounce of Nugget in at 60 minutes. You'll get some bittering from the FWH, but not as much.

 

[julioardz]

It's all a matter of personal preference, and I prefer to keep things simple. My simple recipes tend to taste better quicker and generally come out better overall as well. If it were me, I'd go with all Marris Otter and equal amounts of Citra and Mosaic at 60, 30, 15 to get the IBU's I was aiming for. I just don't care for Munich in this style and Marris otter alone will get me the maltiness I like. Then I would dry hop with Citra and Mosaic to my hearts content. For an APA, that usually means at the very least, 2 ounces for a 5 gallon batch, but I prefer 4. I like my APA's to be on the lower end of IBU's for the style and heavier on the hop aroma. Again, it's a personal preference. Oh, and I mash low and long and ferment cooler with an English strain. I shoot for a final gravity of 1.010-1.012.

I have an APA done this way but with different hops and I have to say, it's pretty refreshing in this Texas heat.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I have two basic apa recipes that I use. One is base malt+5% 60L crystal, the other uses base malt + 1kg vienna and/or munich with less crystal (I started with Kal's electric pale ale from theelectricbrewery.com and have brewed many variations since...this also only uses late hopping and the bitterness is perfect). I vary the hops in both. They are different beers - basic version is cleaner and sharper, allowing more of the bitterness/hops to show; the vienna/munich one is maltier and smoother. I like both. Generally, friends and family prefer the vienna/munich version. I think your recipe looks great BUT I haven't used nugget or mosaic.