American Pale Ale help please

[tazuk]

here you go mine going very well went with option 3 with us05

seymore wot other hops could i use...

Many, many, good options there, and you could go lots of fun directions, but here's what I would do. See how I used two hops and split the same amounts three different times? Keep the grainbill and technique the same but...

1. You could make a great American version using Centennial and Amarillo (just take what you have of each and divide it into three equal piles), using the US05/Chico yeast...

2. Or a great English version using Progress and Bramling Cross (stick closer to my original recipe 12g each, each time), using your favorite English ale yeast...

3. Or a great German version using Tettnang and Hallertau (perhaps slightly increasing each addition to 15g each, each time), using a true Kolsch or Alt yeast...

Have fun with it; I look forward to hearing what you decide!
-Seymour

[seymour]

here you go mine going very well went with option 3 with us05

seymore wot other hops could i use...

Many, many, good options there...
3. Or a great German version using Tettnang and Hallertau (perhaps slightly increasing each addition to 15g each, each time), using a true Kolsch or Alt yeast...

Hmmm, a noble American Pale Ale. Pretty cool.

[chrisheartsbeer]

Oh I wish I'd seen this thread a week ago. Have just bodged up an attempt at a SNPA. I'm not holding out too much hope for it. Oh well you live and learn.

[seymour]

Oh I wish I'd seen this thread a week ago. Have just bodged up an attempt at a SNPA. I'm not holding out too much hope for it. Oh well you live and learn.

Don't give up on it yet. Often, time heals all wounds. Plus, you learn each time, and there's always next time...

[tazuk]

seymour how long would you dry hop for ?????????????????????? cheers

[seymour]

how long would you dry hop for ?

It all depends on what you're going for and how you do it. There are many different practices, but it seems general consensus that 7 days is very nice. If you use a hop-back or whirlpool or Randallizer, etc, the process only lasts minutes or hours. On the other end of the spectrum, I've made the mistake of dry-hopping a bulk-aged barleywine for many months, and I really disliked the dissolved vegetal taste. If you do it fewer than a couple weeks, you should be fine. If you keg, you could just drop 'em in the corny and plan on drinking through it before it worsens.

[tazuk]

cheers ill leave them for 7 days in the secondry then bottle mmmmmm can not wait

[AdyG]

Some advanced steps, I know, but worth it. This baby's gonna be a reddish copper colour with huge, fluffy, long-lasting beige foam and lace, lots of grapefruity, earthy, and pine resin aromas of American hops, but with a strong true-to-style English Bitter backbone underneath: sweet malts, husky whole-grain bread, biscuits, crackers, toast, nuts, caramel, plum syrup, figgy pudding, fruit-cake, toffee. Some creamy, vanilla, butterscotch notes from the pils malt. Lighter than expected body due to the simple sugar addition. Awesome appearance and creamy, silky mouthfeel from the oats. The pride-of-ownership you'll get pouring this one will be second-to-none.

That last paragraph really sells this to me, I really like the idea of caramelizing malt yourself! I'm about to try a celebration APA to experiment with American hops, but will have a go at something like this afterwards as I will have most of the ingredients anyway.

I get the step in temperature in the mash, but would this still be as successful as a BIAB?

[seymour]

That last paragraph really sells this to me, I really like the idea of caramelizing malt yourself! I'm about to try a celebration APA to experiment with American hops, but will have a go at something like this afterwards as I will have most of the ingredients anyway...

Cool. It's fine to wait, but I strongly recommend using your own caramelized malt in the APA as well. Sierra Nevada has 6.1% crystal/caramel malt, and Anchor Steam uses two crystal/caramel malts totalling about 9.6%, for instance. So, there's no reason not to.

...I get the step in temperature in the mash, but would this still be as successful as a BIAB?

Sure thing. Good luck!

[AdyG]

Cheers Seymour! It will be great impressing my mates with beer made from malt caramelized myself

[seymour]

Cheers Seymour! It will be great impressing my mates with beer made from malt caramelized myself

Exactly. Now you're a Maltster and a Brewer. Plant some hops and/or other adjuncts in your garden and you can add Farmer to the list.

[AdyG]

Exactly. Now you're a Maltster and a Brewer. Plant some hops and/or other adjuncts in your garden and you can add Farmer to the list.

I did plant a couple of hop plants last year actually a golding variety and the classic fuggle, so this year should be a good crop!

I want to get hold of some of the American hop plants as the vacuum packs are quite a bit more expensive at the moment. I'm drawing the line at farming my own grain though, I did briefly consider it on my allotment, but as it's quite a cheap ingredient it's easier to buy than plant, harvest and extract the grain without commerical equipment. The thought of creating a beer completely from home grown ingredients is very appealing though!

[Redimpz]

I am brewing this one today. I have made a small alteration by substituting the pilsner malt with pale malt, (not got any). the home malted grain went well the other evening and I took the liberty of stirring it all a couple of times to ensure that it all got dried out.
I got Molasses from Asda, at £1.19 for 500g it's not a bad price. I'm planning on boiling that up when I finish mashing. My second alteration is I'm using lime juice as its what I've got. I'm figuring that it is the acid quality that I am needing so it should not make any difference.
Hops I am not fully decided on yet, I have the following:-
fuggles
celeia
chinook
ekg (about 10g)
bobek
target
challenger
first gold
I am also doing this as BIAB, I shall post back later hopefully as to how it all went. got to heat some water for mashing out.

[seymour]

I am brewing this one today. I have made a small alteration by substituting the pilsner malt with pale malt, (not got any). the home malted grain went well the other evening and I took the liberty of stirring it all a couple of times to ensure that it all got dried out.
I got Molasses from Asda, at £1.19 for 500g it's not a bad price. I'm planning on boiling that up when I finish mashing. My second alteration is I'm using lime juice as its what I've got. I'm figuring that it is the acid quality that I am needing so it should not make any difference.
Hops I am not fully decided on yet, I have the following...

All very good choices, I can't wait to hear how it goes. Sounds like the classification may change to American Amber Ale. Of those hops, I highly recommend the Challenger and First Gold together for a nice marmalade essence.

[Redimpz]

Seymour, I had already completed this before your reply, I have gone with the following:-
12g Target @60 mins
12g Chinook @60mins
12g Cinook @10 mins
12g First Gold @10 mins

I have set aside 12g Bobek and 10 g of EKG for dry hopping.

One observation is that this is looking quite a bit darker than I thought it would. This must be down in great part to the home roasted grain and the molasses which had a distinctly black look to them.
I've used Nottingham english ale yeast which is what I had to hand.
the starting gravity is 1.042 and there is 25l so the efficiency looks ok, it is fermenting nicely so fingers crossed it should all be good.