American Pale Ale Russian River Row 2 Hill 56 Clone

[BrianMac]

Kegged about 10/12 days ago with a little gelatin and this is one of the better beers I've brewed. Taste is all Simcoe with a malty back. My recipe was a little different, I went for a higher OG (1.064) and finished at 1.016 and I adjusted my hop bill accordingly.
After a good crash and time to gas, this has been a favorite of mine and everyone I let try it. I brought a 64oz growler to a party and poured some small glasses, word got out and it was gone in a flash. Not that 64oz is a lot, but when you got 15 people lined up, it's gone before you start. Everyone wanted more, some wanted to pay (at one point, I thought they were going to force me to get the keg), other want to help me brew, and I was smiling big time.
Thanks for the recipe.
Anyone thinking of brewing this should definitely give it a go.

-B

 

[nickmv]

So I said I brewed this and would report back. Even with all the complications from a less-than-ideal brewday, this beer was a huge success and I killed the keg by myself in about 2.5 wks. That being said, I noticed over that period that the beer really transformed, and I enjoyed the different phases. The Maris Otter is pretty prominent for a while, then gives way to the hops a for a good while, then finally both hops and MO fade a bit into a very nice subtle blend of both. Was dangerously drinkable and is going to be feeding our livers for BBQ competition this May.

I did all-Amarillo for my recipe. This time I'm going to go all-Cascade, and I'm subbing in Rahr 2-Row instead of Pilsner since I don't have any Pils at the moment. I expect it'll turn out great as usual, there's simply no way it couldn't.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Just milled the grain for this to brew tomorrow. After a consultation with the butter compartment in my fridge, I saw I was out of US-05, so going with Notty. Will report back in 6 weeks.

 

[LambicPentameter]

Rebrewed this using all Columbus and US-05. Nailed the OG but the US-05 crushed it down to 1.008 so it finished nice and dry! The Columbus makes it an absolute grapefruit bomb so I highly recommend using Columbus if that's your thing. I think I've found my full time single hop recipe! Cheers again!

 

[sdenue57]

Can't wait to try this! I have 2 lbs of Simcoe in the freezer that was just waiting for the perfect recipe, and I think I found it. The only difference I will make is the yeast. I have 2 packs of Gigayeast Vermont Ale, aka Conan, that I need to use up. I wonder how well it will play with the rest of the ingredients? Any thoughts from anybody out there?

 

[makubex]

Can't wait to try this! I have 2 lbs of Simcoe in the freezer that was just waiting for the perfect recipe, and I think I found it. The only difference I will make is the yeast. I have 2 packs of Gigayeast Vermont Ale, aka Conan, that I need to use up. I wonder how well it will play with the rest of the ingredients? Any thoughts from anybody out there?

Conan is a notoriously low attenuator so expect your beer to finish more sweet and less dry than the recipe intends. In my experience, the peachy aroma which conan is famous for is kind of hard to coerce out of the yeast. Try underpitching by 10-15% and fermenting around 67ish.

If you ask me, Conan is better suited for slightly maltier, east-coast, IPA styles. For a west coast style like this recipe, you really want something that attenuates high without adding much yeast character so that the hops steal the show, like a US-05 of a San Diego Super Yeast. That said, Conan will work fine here, just probably not as mind-blowing as most people expect from the yeast.

 

[ocluke]

Can't wait to try this! I have 2 lbs of Simcoe in the freezer that was just waiting for the perfect recipe, and I think I found it. The only difference I will make is the yeast. I have 2 packs of Gigayeast Vermont Ale, aka Conan, that I need to use up. I wonder how well it will play with the rest of the ingredients? Any thoughts from anybody out there?

I'll 2nd what makubex said regarding the attenuation of Conan. I've never had it attenuate under 1.016 from any yeast supplier, even when over pitching an active slurry with plenty of pure O2 on a low gravity wort mashed at 148°F and fermented at 68-70°F. The attenuation numbers on the Gigayeast site are either wildly off, or this yeast doesn't like me.

While I actually do get that nice fruity character from it, I can't enjoy a hop forward beer with that much residual sugar left in it.

 

[kchomebrew]

I'll 2nd what makubex said regarding the attenuation of Conan. I've never had it attenuate under 1.016 from any yeast supplier, even when over pitching an active slurry with plenty of pure O2 on a low gravity wort mashed at 148°F and fermented at 68-70°F. The attenuation numbers on the Gigayeast site are either wildly off, or this yeast doesn't like me.

While I actually do get that nice fruity character from it, I can't enjoy a hop forward beer with that much residual sugar left in it.

Currently dry hopping an extra pale ale that I pitched gigayeast Conan on. Sitting at 1.012 and was mashed at 150f. Second gen yeast. Fermented mid 60s and ramped to 70f

 

[user 204491]

Conan is an awesome yeast, and so far I've had good luck with it. I think you just need to make a very healthy yeast starter, follow the fermentation schedule that The Yeast Bay mentions on their site, which is roughly pitch at 66 and then ramp up to 72 over the course of 4 days, and then hold at 72 for the duration of your primary. You should also do an extended cold crash if possible as it seems to want to stay in suspension a little longer.

That being said, I probably wouldn't use it in a Row 2 clone, as you're really trying to highlight the Simcoe flavors here, which I think you'd want a pretty neutral yeast for. I made just a few minor changes to this recipe to work for my system, used WLP001, and am bottling it this weekend. So far I've been quite pleased with the sample.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Just milled the grain for this to brew tomorrow. After a consultation with the butter compartment in my fridge, I saw I was out of US-05, so going with Notty. Will report back in 6 weeks.

I think it's a little past 6 weeks, but I just finished off the first bottle. It was great, one of my best beers to date. Did 4 weeks in primary at 62 with Nottingham, another week dryhop in primary at 62-65, and bottled two weeks ago with a half cup cane sugar.

It tastes very 'juicy'. I used whole leaf. Now to crack the second one...

Thanks for the recipe! I think this will be my first repeat brew.

 

[frettfreak]

Conan is a notoriously low attenuator so expect your beer to finish more sweet and less dry than the recipe intends. In my experience, the peachy aroma which conan is famous for is kind of hard to coerce out of the yeast. Try underpitching by 10-15% and fermenting around 67ish.

If you ask me, Conan is better suited for slightly maltier, east-coast, IPA styles. For a west coast style like this recipe, you really want something that attenuates high without adding much yeast character so that the hops steal the show, like a US-05 of a San Diego Super Yeast. That said, Conan will work fine here, just probably not as mind-blowing as most people expect from the yeast.

Currently dry hopping an extra pale ale that I pitched gigayeast Conan on. Sitting at 1.012 and was mashed at 150f. Second gen yeast. Fermented mid 60s and ramped to 70f

Conan works great... the second time around. You wont get the attenuation you want if its your first run with the yeast. Though after i harvest and repitch i get great attenuation. kchomebrew you are correct with the temp schedule though. Thats exactly what i do as well

 

[YellowRiver]

Rebrewed this one. Did a batch of it back in August, my brewday #11, did again in April, brewday #21.

Loved the Simcoe the first time, difference this time is I threw some rye malt in to the grainbill and reused some AmAle 1273( about the 6th generation of this stuff)

Bottles just got carbed up and this beer is awesome. I love the way the rye comes through and oh how does the Simcoe shine. Ill try to post a pic if I can keep some in the glass long enough.

Thanks again for the recipe.

 

[Mofoa]

Curious. What does the 90 min boil do the beer that a 60 min boil can't?

 

[fj605]

The longer boil drives off the DMS (dimethyl sulfide) that comes from the pilsner malt. It causes an off flavor similar to creamed corn.

 

[Mofoa]

The longer boil drives off the DMS (dimethyl sulfide) that comes from the pilsner malt. It causes an off flavor similar to creamed corn.

Ah. Thank you.

 

[MerlinWerks]

However, I believe these days with the pilsner malt more modified than it once was, a lot of people go with a 60 min boil without issue...

 

[Mofoa]

However, I believe these days with the pilsner malt more modified than it once was, a lot of people go with a 60 min boil without issue...

Been reading other forums on the internet as well, there are some folks who say they do 60 min boils with Pilsner malts with no issue as well. Also found it interesting that there are also a lot of folks who do 90 min boils for all their recipes (Pilsner or not).

I suppose the longer brewing time means more beer drinking time

 

[BrewKaiser]

Jukas, thank you for posting this recipe. I just pulled a sample from a batch I kegged a week ago and it is absolutely delicious. The Simcoe certainly does shine, but the malt is very balanced.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly but close enough. I added 4 oz of left over Carafoam (Dextrin Malt / CaraPils), mashed at 152 instead of 154, finished at 1.011 (6.2 ABV), and targeted 48 IBUs instead of 40. I did dry hop 2 oz Simcoe in primary for 5 days and then added 1 oz to the keg when I racked. I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Great base recipe for any single hop APA. I see this one going quick.

As for 90 min vs 60 min boils. I also am in the camp that today's modified malts are safe at 60 min boil as far as DMS is concerned. That said, aside from DMS I do think longer boils do help develop a more well rounded malt flavor for certain base malts and styles. Just like decoction isn't necessary for a Marzen/Oktoberfest but somehow color and flavor are better (at least for me) when done.

I visited Sierra Nevada a few months ago (see my Adventures at Beer Camp article) and they still do 90 min boils on their beers. I'm sure there's a significant cost to add 50% more boil time to their product in energy cost and the 500 gallons in evaporation the extra 30 minutes costs them, but that's the way they roll.

 

[Mofoa]

Update.

Kegged beer 5 days ago after 3 weeks in primary. Dry hopped five days prior to kegging with 2 oz simcoe. Great taste...though, not getting much aroma...if any at all.

Still a very good tasting pale ale.

Thinking I might drop .5 oz in keg...

 

[orangemen5]

Love this recipe for single hopped beers. I've done the Simcoe twice which I love.
Did it w Mosaic but added a 10 min addition and a 2oz flame out. Almost came out more like a session IPA w the extra hops. Still took second in the pale ale category in a local comp with a 37.
Also did an El Dorado version with the original hop schedule which has been my favorite so far. Almost gummy bear like in flavor. Took first in pale ale category in another comp with a 42.
Good recipe I must say.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Finally a brew day! It's been 2 months and I'm in need of a pale ale, so I brewed this up today. Numbers were good, color looked great in hydrometer, now its just time to play the waiting game. Cheers and thanks OP!

 

[TriggerFingers]

I also live in Santa Rosa and have to treat the mash with acid to prevent astringent flavors caused by having too high a PH. Santa Rosa water is treated with Lye, and is ridiculously alkali.
I've pretty much given up on using SR water - BTW, I talked to the guys over at Russian River and they said that they have an RO unit and they adjust from there depending on style/recipe. But I talked to someone else and they said it's Santa Rosa water. I'm so confused!

I was at rr last week. I think all of their water for brewing and drinking at the brew pub is reverse osmosis.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Snuck one of these at almost 4 weeks to the day from brew day, 1 week in the bottle. Just fantastic. Pine/citrus/resin aroma and flavor, crisp but not overly sharp bitterness, and very balanced with nice bright yellow & malty body. Very pleased. Thanks OP!

 

[ultravista]

How does this compare to PTE?

 

[frettfreak]

How does this compare to PTE?

It's a pale ale and a completely different beer. Completely different

 

[Konadog]

Made this one the last week of August, just opened the first bottle last night and man was it tasty! I wanted something different than my usual IPA's and this one hit a home run! If you love Simcoe hops, you won't be disappointed.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Just brewed this grain/yeast bill, but went all amarillo.

Will report back in three weeks. Last time I made it twas delicious.

 

[mmacdon3]

I attempted to brew this yesterday...but had to make a few changes. Scaled the batch down to 5 gallons into the fermenter. Brew store was out of white labs California so I was just going to use US-05 but they were out of that too! Was going to get the Wyeast equivalent but they had a fresh pack of Omega West Coast Ale 1 so I went with that. Unfortunately didn't have time to make a starter so I probably underpitched. At least the Omega packs start out with ~150 billions cells rather than 100. Beersmith says I needed to pitch 192 billion while yeast calc estimates I pitched 118.

I also used my grain mill for the first time which really threw my efficiency estimates off (in a good way I guess). Final OG ended up being 1.064. Not going to be a perfect clone but hopefully turns out tasty! It's chugging away in the fermenter now.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Circling back on this brew. Fantastic. It went way too quickly. Rave reviews and even got a "this could win awards" from one fellow beer enthusiast (non-brewer) whose favorite style is APA. Nice to get such feedback on just a great recipe!:rockin:

 

[user 204491]

Just brewed this grain/yeast bill, but went all amarillo.

Will report back in three weeks. Last time I made it twas delicious.

You won't be disappointed with this. The keg at my house is going much too quickly! SWMBO says it is my favorite beer she's brewed. :rockin: