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iJosh

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I made an APA for my first AG brew and it turned out very nicely with a touch of honey/caramel aroma and taste (along with a nice hoppiness). I would like replicate and expand upon it, but I was thinking to reduce the bitterness a little from last effort to bring out the malt sweetness more.

Here is my original:

88% Pale Ale malt
6% Light Munich
6% Crystal 40
(don't know which brands, was my first AG!)
Hopburst style: Falconer's Flight pellets @20, 15, 10, 5, and FO to ~38IBUs
Wyeast 1056

I found it just a bit too bitter which made the honey/caramel weaker. I am thinking of tweaking it to this:

81.8% Marris Otter Pale
9.1% Munich I (Weyermann)
9.1% CaraMunich I (Weyermann)
Pseudo 10min APA style: 17% Magnum pellets @60 and 83% Falconer's Flight pellets @10 to ~33IBUs
Wyeast 1056

What do you guys think?

Josh.
 
Have a go with either reducing the bitterness, OR increasing the malt bill to accomodate the extra bitterness.

You may end up with a real sweet beer without the bitterness to support it otherwise. MO is normally a bit maltier than pale, and increasing the munich AND crystal may make things out of balance at the other end of the spectrum.

Just tweaking one thing will help you pick up on individual areas as opposed to changing heaps of ingredients/practices/etc and not knowing what was the cause of the initial 'problem' (not that it was a problem, just more of an area which you are focusing on improving)


Sponge



EDIT: Cant speeell.
 
Have a go with either reducing the bitterness, OR increasing the malt bill to accomodate the extra bitterness.

You may end up with a real sweet beer without the bitterness to support it otherwise. MO is normally a bit maltier than pale, and increasing the munich AND crystal may make things out of balance at the other end of the spectrum.

Just tweaking one thing will help you pick up on individual areas as opposed to changing heaps of ingredients/practices/etc and not knowing what was the cause of the initial 'problem' (not that it was a problem, just more of an area which you are focusing on improving)


Sponge



EDIT: Cant speeell.

Cheers Sponge,

Ok, I'll keep the hopping method the same (~38IBU hopburst). I'm actually thinking I might have got MO the first time around too, the LHBS guy said it was a higher quality British malt, does that sound like MO to you? So in that case, upping the Munich and Crystal % should add more of those malt characters right? Or am I more likely to get what I'm after by just dropping the IBUs?

Josh.
 
I think switching the yeast to an english variety in your orginal recipe would also work.
 
What was the SG & FG on your brew and what temp did you mash at?

They could definitely be a contributing factor depending upon SG and mash temps and whatnot. May not even have to change the recipe depending upon those values...



Sponge
 
What was the SG & FG on your brew and what temp did you mash at?

They could definitely be a contributing factor depending upon SG and mash temps and whatnot. May not even have to change the recipe depending upon those values...



Sponge

@ Sponge:

I mashed at 63 degrees, SG was 1.052, and it finished at 1.009. Mash and FG were both lower than I aimed for. Are you thinking that making the brew less fermentable with a higher mash temp could acheive the result I'm looking for?


@ Darkman:

Would an english yeast give too much fruitiness? Not knowing much about them I've avoided them for that reason. Other than my kit days I've only ever used american yeasts, which I've been lead to believe give a crisper, cleaner finish.


Cheers!

Josh.
 
1469 brings out a nice chewy malty flavour. Great in smurtos landlord I have just put it in an esb. Also made a starter with left over ipa and the starter tasted awesome
 
1469 brings out a nice chewy malty flavour. Great in smurtos landlord I have just put it in an esb. Also made a starter with left over ipa and the starter tasted awesome

Wyeast 1469-PC West Yorkshire Ale Yeast
Beer Styles:
Blonde Ale, English IPA, Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale), Oatmeal Stout, Southern English Brown, Special/Best/Premium Bitter, Standard/Ordinary Bitter, Sweet Stout
Profile: This strain produces ales with a full chewy malt flavor and character, but finishes dry, producing famously balanced beers. Expect moderate nutty and stone-fruit esters. Best used for the production of cask-conditioned bitters, ESB and mild ales. Reliably flocculent, producing bright beer without filtration.

Sounds good! :)

Josh.
 
I love both US and UK ales, but i dunno about APA with a UK strain. Just my .02c
 
I love both US and UK ales, but i dunno about APA with a UK strain. Just my .02c

I wonder how Wyeast American Ale II would go?

I'm thinking maybe I should just stick to my original plan and use the same yeast and play with my malts...

Josh.
 
Try mashing a little higher, say 67, to increase the old FG.

Should leave some sweetness to balance the bitterness.

1.051 and 38IBU's shouldnt be out of balance too much.

Stick with the same recipe and change the mash temp and see how it turns out I'd be thinking.

From there, you can start adjusting malts and hops if you're still finding it unbalanced.


Sponge
 
Try mashing a little higher, say 67, to increase the old FG.

Should leave some sweetness to balance the bitterness.

1.051 and 38IBU's shouldnt be out of balance too much.

Stick with the same recipe and change the mash temp and see how it turns out I'd be thinking.

From there, you can start adjusting malts and hops if you're still finding it unbalanced.


Sponge

Thanks for your tips Sponge, I reckon I'll keep my original recipe and do as you suggest :)
 
yeah 63 is low for a ale to mash at I would be doing it at 66. Lowest I ever mashed was 64 for a lager I wanted to finish low and it was only bittered to about 23IBU and no late hops at all only 60min addition.
 
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