Style Of The Week 5/7/06 - Apa

[Stuster]

This week it's off to the US for the popular American Pale Ale style, BJCP Style 10A. A style everyone has probably brewed or at least tasted, the distinctive feature of the style is the hop character. This is a suitable style for this time of year with the cool temperatures the 1056 yeast can cope with.

Rather than recipes, I feel it could be useful to discuss particular aspects of the style. What are your favourite yeasts for this style, the old faithful 001/1056/US-56, another American ale yeast, or perhaps an English ale yeast? What hop variety do you like - the old faithful Cascade, or a more recent hop such as Amarillo or Simcoe? Are you a hopburster? Do you dry hop? If so, how much?

For kit/partial brewers, which kits do you like? Do you add hops to improve this kit? Any other ways to jazz up the kit?

So, let's hear all your tips so we can all brew (even) better beer. :super:

10A. American Pale Ale

Aroma: Usually moderate to strong hop aroma from dry hopping or late kettle additions of American hop varieties. A citrusy hop character is very common, but not required. Low to moderate maltiness supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuity). Fruity esters vary from moderate to none. No diacetyl. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.

Appearance: Pale golden to deep amber. Moderately large white to off-white head with good retention. Generally quite clear, although dry-hopped versions may be slightly hazy.

Flavor: Usually a moderate to high hop flavor, often showing a citrusy American hop character (although other hop varieties may be used). Low to moderately high clean malt character supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuity). The balance is typically towards the late hops and bitterness, but the malt presence can be substantial. Caramel flavors are usually restrained or absent. Fruity esters can be moderate to none. Moderate to high hop bitterness with a medium to dry finish. Hop flavor and bitterness often lingers into the finish. No diacetyl. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Carbonation moderate to high. Overall smooth finish without astringency often associated with high hopping rates.

Overall Impression: Refreshing and hoppy, yet with sufficient supporting malt.

History: An American adaptation of English pale ale, reflecting indigenous ingredients (hops, malt, yeast, and water). Often lighter in color, cleaner in fermentation by-products, and having less caramel flavors than English counterparts.

Comments: There is some overlap in color between American pale ale and American amber ale. The American pale ale will generally be cleaner, have a less caramelly malt profile, less body, and often more finishing hops.

Ingredients: Pale ale malt, typically American two-row. American hops, often but not always ones with a citrusy character. American ale yeast. Water can vary in sulfate content, but carbonate content should be relatively low. Specialty grains may add character and complexity, but generally make up a relatively small portion of the grist. Grains that add malt flavor and richness, light sweetness, and toasty or bready notes are often used (along with late hops) to differentiate brands.
Vital Statistics:
OG FG IBUs SRM ABV
1.045 - 1.060 1.010 - 1.015 30 - 45+ 5 - 14 4.5 - 6%

Commercial Examples: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Pale Ale, Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale, Full Sail Pale Ale, Three Floyds X-Tra Pale Ale, Anderson Valley Poleeko Gold Pale Ale, Left Hand Brewing Jackman's Pale Ale, Pyramid Pale Ale, Deschutes Mirror Pond

 

[warrenlw63]

Great link to open the account.

Amarillo APA Tips

Warren -

 

[Steve]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh - APA's now were talking!

I use Grumpys Boston Creams and ESB 3kg APA kits. I used to use the ESB Fresh Wort APA but the 3kg tins are much better in taste I feel. Always use US56. I have tried Wyeast 1056 a couple of times but couldnt really tell much difference? Regarding hops - I love my APAs to be crawling out of the glass to get away from the amount of hops. In the boil ive used combos of Cascade and Amarillo, Chinook and Cascade, straight Amarillo and straight Cascade. Straight amarillo is a lot smoother by itself, and I thought rather boring as I need the zing of cascade in my APAs. I always dry hop with combinations same as in the boil, a small handfull of cascade/amarillo, straight cascade I find is my favourite. I brew at 18 degrees, primary for a week, rack for a week, bulk prime with 140gms sugar (for 23 litres). Now I am getting into partials I wouldnt mind going the skunk fart pale ale that ive read a lot about. I always have two or three APAs on the go at once. Love em.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Jye]

Yummers APA :super:

This is a great style for any new brewers since it is hard to stuff up and can be a simple as pale malt, a bit of crystal and 3 hop additions for bitterness, flavour and aroma. It also allows more adventures brewers to experiment with different hopping techniques, first wort hopping (FWH), mashing hopping, hopback, randalls and I even read of a brewer heating his brew water the night before and passing it through a hopback.

I try and keep the malt bill simple with pale, munich, crystal as the base and one or two other malts depending on what I feel like trying. A single infusion mash at 65-66C for 90min seems to be the normal but I have been using a 30min protein rest at 55C followed by 60min at 65C and this seems to give me better head retention with my setup. Safale US-56 is my yeast of choice at the moment and ferment at 17C for 14 days, cold crash for a day and then into the keg.

My last few APAs have been hopburst and I love it :beerbang: This involves getting 3 different hops and mixing them together, then add the mixture at 5min intervals for the last 25 mins. This works great if you also double to amount added at 10 and 5min :lol: I have no flameout addition since I dry hop on the heavier side with about 50gms straight into the primary after the first 7 days.

Anyone that loves APA should also read the SFPA thread.

Cheers
Jye

 

[Kai]

Only tip I have right now is don't bitter with, or overdo, the Cascade. But people seem to be moving away from that these days anyway.

APAs can make a quite good mid-strength style beer, the freshness of the hops suits the early maturing base beer and the heavy hop flavour and aroma seems to help cover the lower gravity.

 

[DrewCarey82]

What would you guys recommend for a partial recipe.

I am doing a JS amber ale in around a fortnight, and wouldnt mind doing this one afterwoulds it has my taste buds tingling.

 

[DJR]

What would you guys recommend for a partial recipe.

I am doing a JS amber ale in around a fortnight, and wouldnt mind doing this one afterwoulds it has my taste buds tingling.

Try for about a 23L batch

2Kg Pale LME
2Kg Pilsner/Ale Grain
150g Crystal (if you like sweet)/Melanoidin (if you like malty)
250g Wheat Malt

Mash at 65C for a bit, mix, boil with

30g or so Cascade/Amarillo/Simcoe/other bittering hop for 60' for about 25IBU
15g Simcoe/Cascade/Centennial/Amarillo/Chinook 30' for about 10IBU/flavour
15g of above at flameout/whirlpool for aroma

Ferment with US56/WLP001

Then depending on how rough you like it, dryhop with 15-30g of something in secondary. Should end up at about 5%/1050 OG.

Hops is all about preference, really you can use anything in an APA, just the cascade-style US hops are the authentic ones to put in, up to you to experiment and find out what you like. I personally like Simcoe but Amarillo and Cascade are pretty good too, if a little common nowadays

 

[Stuster]

This is a great style for any new brewers since it is hard to stuff up and can be a simple as pale malt, a bit of crystal and 3 hop additions for bitterness, flavour and aroma.

Agreed. This was my first AG attempt. It came out very well, maybe partly due to a 6 week secondary while I was out of the country. :blink: (Do I hold the record for the longest wait between making and tasting my first AG? )

I made a hopburst APA recently, all Chinook, but it didn't come out well at all. (I am a fan of Chinook, but it clearly doesn't work for hopbursts. From what I've read, hopbursts don't have to be a mixture of different hops though there may be a reason most are.

Jye, how many grams are you adding at 10 and 5?

I tried the Country Brewer Xtract APA kit and the Grumpy's Boston Cream. Both were good for kits, but the Country Brewer one was better IMO.

I've used the California Ale yeast (WLP051) and the Pacific Ale yeast (WLP041) and prefer the Pacific though I've never done a straight comparison. Due to autolysis, it looks like my next APA will be made with 1028. Anybody like using this in their APAs?

 

[DrewCarey82]

What would you guys recommend for a partial recipe.

I am doing a JS amber ale in around a fortnight, and wouldnt mind doing this one afterwoulds it has my taste buds tingling.

Try for about a 23L batch

2Kg Pale LME
2Kg Pilsner/Ale Grain
150g Crystal (if you like sweet)/Melanoidin (if you like malty)
250g Wheat Malt

Mash at 65C for a bit, mix, boil with

30g or so Cascade/Amarillo/Simcoe/other bittering hop for 60' for about 25IBU
15g Simcoe/Cascade/Centennial/Amarillo/Chinook 30' for about 10IBU/flavour
15g of above at flameout/whirlpool for aroma

Ferment with US56/WLP001

Then depending on how rough you like it, dryhop with 15-30g of something in secondary. Should end up at about 5%/1050 OG.

Hops is all about preference, really you can use anything in an APA, just the cascade-style US hops are the authentic ones to put in, up to you to experiment and find out what you like. I personally like Simcoe but Amarillo and Cascade are pretty good too, if a little common nowadays

Greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Jye]

Jye, how many grams are you adding at 10 and 5?

Stuster, this is the hop schedule for my case swap contribution, it was meant to have 30gm of mash hops but I forgot to add them :angry:

12.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (25 min) Hops 10.3 IBU
12.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (20 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
12.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (15 min) Hops 7.3 IBU
24.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (10 min) Hops 10.7 IBU
24.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (5 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
45.00 gm Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe Mix [10.10%] (Dry Hop 7 days)

 

[Kai]

With a schedule like that I don't think you'd notice the lack of mash hops anyway.

 

[Hutch]

APA - :chug:
What a great style.
Was my first AG - I spent a great deal of time reading Jayse's SFPA thread (plenty of good info/recipe advice there).

1st attempt was a LCPA clone - EKG bittering, heaps of Cascade for flavour/aroma/dry-hop, and 10g Chinook in at the end. JW Ale malt, Munich, wheat, Crystal, Wyeast 1056 @ 20deg. Kegged and drank 1 month later - my mates couldn't believe it was home-brew!!! (I took that as a compliment ). This will probably become a regular on-tap.

Further attempts have used Amarillo - such a smooth hop - and London Ale 1318 Wyeast. Not so suited to the style IMHO, as the "minerally" yeast flavours tend to compete with the beatiful floral/citrus hop character.

My 2C - Stick with any of the US-Ale yeasts (1056, 1272, 001, US-56) and your hops will really shine through, as is the main characteristic of the style.

Also, The Brewing Network had a great episode in April on this style - well worth a listen: The Jamil Show

Hutch.

 

[Ash in Perth]

My latest: 16L batch
ale malt base with about 5% of wheat, crystal and acid malts

15g williamette at 20, 10, 0 and dry.
15g chinook at 20 and 10

about 40IBU, OG was 1.048 at about 75% efficiency

safale 56

bottled yesterday and it was tasting good!

 

[Jye]

Also, The Brewing Network had a great episode in April on this style - well worth a listen: The Jamil Show

Hutch.

And for you extract guys check out the 02-12-06 Sunday Live Show which features Jim Rossi, he is Americas most award winning APA / IPA brewer and he does it with extract.

Basic Brewing also has some videos on brewing a 6 pack of IPA, it show just how simple brewing can be.

 

[Voosher]

It's all about the hops.
I've tried hopburst and some involved hop additions but I've returned to the "less is more" school of thinking.
My stock APA is Simcoe @ 60m, Amarillo at 1-2g/l @ 10-15m depending on mood, grist, gravity etc, Cascade 1-2g/l @ 0-2m.
First wort hopping, mash hopping and dry hopping are valid and oft used variations.
I'm just about over Wyeast 1056. It's a good enough yeast but it tires quite quickly if you use simple washing techniques as I do.
1272 is the current preference.
US-56 is a damn good alternative to 1056 and seems more robust to me so far.
Wyeast 1028 is fine as well especially with higher gravity or maltier APA's.
Certainly a great style.
I still remember the first time I drank a good example. "This is an American Pale Ale?!?!?!?!? You mean you can get good beers out of America?!?!?"

 

[Steve]

I would also like to add a bit to my bit before......I believe these are best drunk green, and I mean green - 7 days after bottling. Ive left a few in my vault for maybe 3-4 months and was quite disappointed with the results. Just my opinion
Cheers
Steve

 

[Stuster]

As long as you add the right amount of hops, they should be green.

I agree with drinking them early, though 7 days seems quick. I do admit to tasting an APA I made in January after only two days in the bottle. For testing purposes only of course, but it was quite good then. :chug:

 

[Kai]

None of my beers remotely approach ready seven days after bottling, which the possible exception of wheat beers.

 

[wee stu]

None of my beers remotely approach ready seven days after bottling, which the possible exception of wheat beers.

Kai, be honest now, how many of your beers actually make it past the "primary fermenter taste test" stage ??

I'll be honest, then. Most of Kai's beers that do get beyond the PFTT stage and into bottle, are worth waiting the extra 8 days for

 

[wee stu]

What would you guys recommend for a partial recipe.

Never tried it myself, so caveat emptor and all that, but a long standing favourite has been the one from Grumpys.

For kit based brewers, the Boston Cream Ale Masterbrew from the same source has done impressively well in a number of competitions over the last few years also. (No affiliation, ya da ya da....)

DC - Do a search on Skunkfart and I am sure jayse had prepared more than one partial recipe.

And while I have your attention, I would just like to add that APA is one of the single style category classes at this year's ANAWBS (Australian National Amateur Wine and Beer Show) comp.

Single style means that, no matter what method you have used to brew the beer, you can be sure that your beer will be judged solely against other beers entered as the same type. ie APAs will only be judged against other APAs. If you have an APA you are proud of, and want comments from a BJCP sanctioned competion on....... ?

Well, I know where I will be sending my beer .