Recipe critique for an APA

[olotti]

(Edited using some of the suggestions) I'm planning on brewing the Yooper house APA recipe but I'm not a fan of real malty beers, they just seem like they sit in my stomach so I thought about changing the original recipe which is 5# of MO to another pale malt and was thinking of using 2 row, I like the lighter bodied/ less maltier IPA's like Lagunitas sucks or even Stone, would this work. I'll post my plans on my recipe and any critique would be great as It'll only be my 2nd AG batch. I'd also like some thoughts on my hop bill as I've never used the two I'm thinking of and don't know if they would work or if so in the amounts or way I'm thinking.

8lbs 2 Row
2lbs Vienna
.5lbs Victory
.75lbs C40

Hops

.75oz Galaxy (13% AA) - 60 min
.5oz FF 7C's and .5 Galaxy - 15min
.5oz Galaxy .5 FF 7C's - 10min
.5oz Galaxy .5FF 7 C's - 5 min
.25 oz ea Galaxy and FF 7C's at FO

yields 4oz of hops total in boil, is that to much for a APA? I removed the 30min addition.

Dry hop for 7 days with .5oz ea Galaxy and FF 7C's

Any thoughts on the hops. I'm looking for something citrusy, fruity, with that passion fruit/ tropical flavor and aroma. Open to any suggestions. thanks for any input.

 

[olotti]

I'm planning on brewing the Yooper house APA recipe but I'm not a fan of real malty beers, they just seem like they sit in my stomach so I thought about changing the original recipe which is 5# of MO to another pale malt and was thinking of using 2 row, I like the lighter bodied/ less maltier IPA's like Lagunitas sucks or even Stone, would this work. I'll post my plans on my recipe and any critique would be great as It'll only be my 2nd AG batch. I'd also like some thoughts on my hop bill as I've never used the two I'm thinking of and don't know if they would work or if so in the amounts or way I'm thinking.

5lbs 2 Row
3lbs Vienna
2lbs Munich
.5lbs C20L
.5lbs C60L

Hops

1oz Galaxy (13% AA) - 60 min
.5oz Galaxy and .5oz FF 7C's (9.9% AA) - 30 min
.25oz FF 7C's and .25 Galaxy - 15min
.25oz Galaxy - 10min
.25oz FF 7 C's - 5 min
.25 oz ea Galaxy and FF 7C's at FO

transfer to secondary and :

Dry hop for 7 days with .5oz ea Galaxy and FF 7C's

First rough draft on the hops. I'm looking for something citrusy, fruity, passion fruit flavor and aroma. Open to any suggestions. thanks for any input.

 

[gravid]

Looks good, but I'd would cut a bit back on the 60 min hopping, and add more at either 5min or flameout to get more floral taste

 

[PeteNMA]

You don't want malty so are switching out MO for 2-row, but you still have 5lbs of Munich and Vienna in there. You need to switch those out for 2- row as well, they are both very malty grains


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[Yooper]

For a less malty beer, I'd suggest going with all US two-row, with the Vienna if you want, and cut out the Munich malt and decrease the crystal malt. Maybe consider some toasted malt for character instead of the Munich, and less of it.

Something more like:
8 pounds US two-row
2 pound Vienna
.5 pound Victory (or hometoast some two-row)
.75 pound crystal 40L

For hops, I'd move the 30 minute addition to the 10 or 5 minute addition, to get more hops flavor and not so much bitterness. The combo looks good to me!

 

[NTexBrewer]

Here is my IPA/APA recipe that I'm happy with to compare with. Just brewed this last month. My ABV is a little low based on IPA standards and my IBU's are a little high based on APA standards so it is between the two styles. I don't really consider it to be malty but find it very easy to drink. BU/GU ratio is 1.01

This recipe is from Emma Christensen's book True Brews. I've scaled it up for a 5 gallon batch and adjusted the hop rates to lower the IBU some.

7lb American 2 Row 66%
1.75lb Maris Otter 17%
1.75lb Crystal 20L 17%

1.50 oz Cascade 60 Min
0.75 oz Cascade 20 Min
0.75 oz Cascade 1 Min

60 Minute Mash at 152
Boil 60 Minute

2 packages of US-05

70% Brewhouse efficiency, BIAB
OG 1.054
FG 1.015
ABV 5.12%
IBU 55

 

[olotti]

For a less malty beer, I'd suggest going with all US two-row, with the Vienna if you want, and cut out the Munich malt and decrease the crystal malt. Maybe consider some toasted malt for character instead of the Munich, and less of it.

Something more like:
8 pounds US two-row
2 pound Vienna
.5 pound Victory (or hometoast some two-row)
.75 pound crystal 40L

For hops, I'd move the 30 minute addition to the 10 or 5 minute addition, to get more hops flavor and not so much bitterness. The combo looks good to me!

I took your suggestions and edited my OP, what do ya think?

 

[PeteNMA]

Id suggest using the FF to bitter, drop the 30 minute addition and use those hops at flameout. Galaxy is expensive and delicious, no sense using it to bitter.


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[sptaylor70]

If I were looking to lighten the maltiness, I'd swap either the Munich or Vienna for pale two-row, rather than switch out the Maris Otter for something lighter. Or reduce the amount of crystal. Or mash lower.

If I calculate this correctly, you're currently at >100 IBU. Since ~70 IBU is the maximum possible, you could save yourself some money on hops by cutting your 60 minute addition to 0.5 oz (which would give you ~77 IBU). You might think about making a mixture of Galaxy and FF hops, and adding an equivalent amount of the mixture at each aroma and dry hop scheduled addition. Probably not a significant flavor difference, but it might make brew day easier.

What yeast are you thinking about using? Although I prefer a fruitier yeast in my hoppy beers, it sounds like you're looking for something dry and possibly tart. Wyeast 1010 Widmer and 1272 Anchor Liberty (fermented slightly warm) are both headed in that direction.

 

[olotti]

If I were looking to lighten the maltiness, I'd swap either the Munich or Vienna for pale two-row, rather than switch out the Maris Otter for something lighter. Or reduce the amount of crystal. Or mash lower.

If I calculate this correctly, you're currently at >100 IBU. Since ~70 IBU is the maximum possible, you could save yourself some money on hops by cutting your 60 minute addition to 0.5 oz (which would give you ~77 IBU). You might think about making a mixture of Galaxy and FF hops, and adding an equivalent amount of the mixture at each aroma and dry hop scheduled addition. Probably not a significant flavor difference, but it might make brew day easier.

What yeast are you thinking about using? Although I prefer a fruitier yeast in my hoppy beers, it sounds like you're looking for something dry and possibly tart. Wyeast 1010 Widmer and 1272 Anchor Liberty (fermented slightly warm) are both headed in that direction.

I noticed that too that the IBU's were climbing up there. Galaxy appears to be a high AA hop so maybe a little goes a long way so I reduced the 60min addition. I've read that it is a good bittering hop so I'd like to keep it as the backbone hop of this beer rather than switch it out at 60min with the FF as someone suggested. Should I reduce the amount of the flavor and aroma hops starting at 15 min to .25oz ea instead of the .5oz ea that it is now?

I was just going to use the Safale US-05 as suggested in the original recipe. Something that ferments good at 62-68 deg and yields a good clean bitterness but not to dry of a finish is desired.

 

[PeteNMA]

Galaxy is a good bittering hop because of the decent AA levels, I suggested swapping it out because it is both a better aroma hop and also because it is more expensive than FF.


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[olotti]

Galaxy is a good bittering hop because of the decent AA levels, I suggested swapping it out because it is both a better aroma hop and also because it is more expensive than FF.


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I've been also thinking of going with a more traditional bittering hop like centennial and using the galaxy and ff for just flavor and aroma.

 

[PeteNMA]

If you've got it I'd definitely go that way myself. I'm a big fan of the FF and Galaxy flavors as late additions so I prefer to use something cheaper to bitter where you can't tell as much difference between hop varieties.


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[olotti]

If you've got it I'd definitely go that way myself. I'm a big fan of the FF and Galaxy flavors as late additions so I prefer to use something cheaper to bitter where you can't tell as much difference between hop varieties.


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I think ill do that for now and one day do an all galaxy hopped beer