Amarillo Apa Tips

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Gough

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G'day brewers,

I'm planning on a Cascade free APA style brew for tomorrow night and would like some tips from you experienced Amarillo users out there. I've always used Cascade in my APAs, but have some Amarillo and am keen to try this hop. Any suggestions given your Amarillo experiences? I was reading about TDA's Amarillo Alt earlier - did you end up brewing it again? All tips welcome...

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com

Brewer: Shawn Sherlock
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 30.63 L
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 14.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.70 kg TF Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt (5.9 EBC) Grain 88.3 %
0.36 kg JWM Light Munich (19.7 EBC) Grain 6.8 %
0.13 kg JWM Wheat Malt (3.9 EBC) Grain 2.4 %
0.13 kg TF Crystal (145.8 EBC) Grain 2.4 %
22.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.90%] (60 min) Hops 24.1 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo Gold [9.00%] (30 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
15.00 gm Amarillo Gold [9.00%] (15 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [9.00%] (1 min) Hops 0.9 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [StartYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 5.32 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 13.86 L of water at 73.1 C 66.0 C 90 min
 
Gough.

Unwittingly you have answered my problem as mentioned in my post on recipe sites.
You have given me a lead what to brew next. However, I am going to use Traditional Pale Malt with some Cascade as I have them on hand.

Thanks.

:chug:
 
Ray,

I've got both MO and JW Pilsner Malt in bulk. I've used the MO malt in APA's before, but haven't used the Pilsner malt. I've been happy enough with the MO but had thought about the Pilsner malt after reading a post that this is what Little Creatures use as a base malt. You might have just convinced me...

Peter,
Good luck. Cascade is the major hop for this style.

Thanks,

Shawn.
 
Shawn,

Is some Vienna malt too far out of style? I added 500g Vienna to an APA. Consumed at about 2 weeks @ a Superbowl party. Evaporated, it did!

Any chance of a tatste, when it's ready? Could swap a bottle of last year's ag Oktoberfest. mmmm tasty. Having one now in a glass from the Kanberra Oktoberfest 2000. Beer has been lagering in the fridge since I brewed it. It maybe time to brew another soon...

Seth out :chug:
 
Hi Gough,
I have made three APA's with big partial mashes. (3 kilos) and the rest extract. One was made with Ale malt and the other 2 with the Pilsner malt.
I did find the ones made with the Pilsner malt to be a better tasting ale.
Just my 1 cents worth.

johnno
 
An American micro-brewing here in Japan makes all his US West Coast style APA/amber/IPA with 100% Marris Otter (well, apart from any specialtygrains) and does not use any Cascade. He uses mainly Centennial and Amarillo, with perhaps some Bullion or Magnum or something for base bittering. He uses only whole hops and uses a lot of late kettle and even some dry hops. His beers are certainly very, very good. Not going out of my way to disagree with Mr Mills, but on this experience I see no problem with Marris Otter. I think the extra maltiness backs up the big hop character perfectly.

Steve
 
Steve and Ray, I'm going to be a real fence sitter here. :lol:

Can't vouch for Amarillo hops (like to get some though).

However when I make an APA I actually subscribe to both camps. I usually make the grainbill a 50/50 combination of Pils and Ale malt. Turns out well too. Works OK in your English Summer Ale styles also.

It was derived from the same confusion. I scoured various recipe sites for APA grain bills and always got varying degrees of answers. Nearly half said Pils, a lot of others said Ale malt, wether it be MO or local malts.

So I took the easy road, 50/50 and never looked back. B)

Warren -
 
Gough, no unfortunately some other beers got in the way of brewing the Amarillo Alt again.
I can tell you that chiller brewed an excellent all Amarillo pale ale. Not over bittered just really well balanced. Perhaps he can help with your hopping additions.

C&B
TDA
 
I brewed an psuedo ararillo apa a week ago (Thanks GMK for the hops). It is still fermenting but I am drinking it already (read: I have run out of beer). I don't think you can over-hop with Amarillo.
It is a light beer 1.036 OG. Perle for bittering to 20 IBU. Heaps of Amarillo at 20 min and flame out to 35 IBU.
Certainly not over the top
 
Thanks for the tips/comments fellas. Appreciated as always :)

Weiz: I'll definitely sling you a bottle when it is ready. Love to try the Octoberfest when you can get one to me. It is one of my favourite beer styles. I have Munich but no Vienna, so Munich it is in this recipe. I have a deep love affair with Munich malt... It seems to turn up in most of my recipes somewhere :p Maybe next time.

Steve/Warren/Johnno - The last three APA's I've made have all been based on Marris Otter malt and I've been happy with them to be honest. Like I said in response to Ray earlier though I've recently read somewhere (might have been on AHB?) that Little Creatures use Pilsner malt as their base malt so I might give it a try. This APA is experimenting with hops so why not malt as well? I've got both in bulk so I'lll decide when crush time comes :rolleyes: Thanks for your input. Especially interesting to hear about the Japanese beer :)

TDA - Bummer. Sounded like an interesting beer!

Darren - Might up the quantities then after your experience. Was a bit conservative given the 9%aa rating.

Thanks all, we'll see how she goes...

Shawn.
 
warrenlw63 said:
However when I make an APA I actually subscribe to both camps. I usually make the grainbill a 50/50 combination of Pils and Ale malt. Turns out well too. Works OK in your English Summer Ale styles also.
[post="48677"][/post]​

that's what ive found works best too - ive tried all pale and all pils, and these days I like half pils and half of the otter. you get the flavour of the maris otter without the thickness.
 
Attention Vic. based Brewers

I was just down at Grain and Grape picking up grains and hops for my latest APA.

Anybody who's looking for Amarillo hops Grain and Grape now have them in stock. Just got them in last week. Think they were reading my mind.

The search is over! :super:

I was going to use Cascade and Northern Brewer in my APA as per normal. Now I'm using Amarillo and Target. Viva la difference. B)

Warren -
 
warrenlw63 said:
Attention Vic. based Brewers

I
I was going to use Cascade and Northern Brewer in my APA as per normal. Now I'm using Amarillo and Target. Viva la difference. B)

Warren -
[post="48713"][/post]​

Maybe we can have an Amarillo APA comparison Warrenlw63? Let me know what you reckon.

Shawn.
 
Sounds interesting Shawn :super:

I'm pulling my finger out and getting the thing down on Monday. Public holiday down here in happy, happy Melbourne. :p

Here's the setup for 40 litres;

(Haven't finalized hop additions yet, ProMash is on computer down in the garage). I'll probably amend this post later tonight.

4kg Joe White Ale
3kg Joe White Pils
1kg Hoepfner Vienna
400g Joe White Cara Malt (crystal) 40-60EBC
200g Hoepfner CaraPils

Combination of Target (~10%AAU) and Amarillo (~7.5%AAU) hops to about 45-50 IBU

Dumped onto Wyeast 1056 yeast cake from a previous batch of American Brown. OG on my equipment should be around 1.054.

Warren -
 
Warren,

Was planning on brewing tonight but will now be brewing it tomorrow arvo due to a change in plans. Mine should be around 1051 with 40ish IBU so a touch lighter and less bitter. The diff grain bills and bittering hops will make for a really interesting comparison. I can send you one at bottling time if you like and maybe vice versa. We can exchange details via PM. Should be roughly 3 weeks till bottling and then a fortnight to carbonate if I follow my usual regime for an APA ferment.

Does this sound like a goer?? It is fine if you aren't keen, just seemed like a bright idea at the time :)

Shawn.
 
By the way, I've used Target in a Porter and a Bitter in the past as a bittering hop and was really happy. Our hbs just got some more in so I might have to grab some.

Shawn.
 
Gough said:
By the way, I've used Target in a Porter and a Bitter in the past as a bittering hop and was really happy. Our hbs just got some more in so I might have to grab some.

Shawn.
[post="48731"][/post]​
Yep, just opened the vacuum-sealed bag on Tuesday for me...
I'm having a go at the Fullers London Pride (again).
BTW, I have used Challenger as a finishing hop in an APA. Still not sure though. I preferred the 50/50 cascade and Willamette plugs as a finishing combo.

Seth's 2 cents
 
Nup, sounds good Shawn. :chug:

I'll keep you updated. I'm a kegger by nature. However I've got a CP filler up in the cupboard that I've not used since I stopped going to HB club meetings.

I'll fill a bottle this way once carbonated. That notwithstanding I'll bung in a carbonation drop or something while I'm kegging. :super:

Keep posted.

Warren -
 
Weizguy said:
BTW, I have used Challenger as a finishing hop in an APA. Still not sure though. I preferred the 50/50 cascade and Willamette plugs as a finishing combo.

Seth's 2 cents
[post="48733"][/post]​

Target are a bloody nice bittering hop considering the high AAUs. Has an OK aroma too. Certainly changed my perspective on high alpha hops. :super:

Haven't tried Challenger yet, hope they're nothing like Progress. That's one hop for keeping beers rather than short term beers. :(

Warren -
 
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