APA recipe for review

[jageraholic]

8 SRM
59 IBUs
OG 1.060

Steeping grains at 155 for 25 min:
.75 lbs melanoidin 24L
.75 lbs Carared 20L
.5 lbs flaked oats

Boil:
6 lbs Pilsner DME
1 oz zythos 10% AA 30 min
.5 oz Citra 13.2% AA 10 min
1 oz zythos 10% AA 5 min
.5 oz citra 13.2% AA 5 min
1 oz zythos 10% AA F/O

Salfale S-05 yeast after chill

Dry hop:
2 oz zythos 10% AA 7 days
1 oz citra 13.2% AA 7 days

I was hoping for a really fruity tropical red hued ale with a little thicker body from the oats. I don't think it'll be as red as I expected but I'm good with a fruity tropical pale ale. What do you all think?

 

[planetscott]

The Melanoiden goes a long way. .75 lb should be plenty. Why use pilsner malt for an APA? It won't ruin the beer if that is all you have. Typically APAs utilize 2 row based malts.

If you want fruity, replace the Zythos with Azacca. Also, I did not see any dry hopping. To be a really full APA, at least an oz for a week. I suggest the Citra.

EDIT: I just now see the part about dry hops.

<-----Full time idiot!

Again, look in to Azacca hops. They have a nice apricot/guava flavor and aroma.

 

[jageraholic]

The Melanoiden goes a long way. .75 lb should be plenty. Why use pilsner malt for an APA? It won't ruin the beer if that is all you have. Typically APAs utilize 2 row based malts.

If you want fruity, replace the Zythos with Azacca. Also, I did not see any dry hopping. To be a really full APA, at least an oz for a week. I suggest the Citra.

EDIT: I just now see the part about dry hops.

<-----Full time idiot!

Again, look in to Azacca hops. They have a nice apricot/guava flavor and aroma.

I went with pilsner because I'm trying to not get too much caramel flavor in the beer. Seems like when i use golden light DME and then some caramel malt, my beer comes out very caramel forward so I wanted something a little more hop forward which I'm hoping the pilsner DME does. Have you had any experience with the zythos hops? just curious about a flavor profile. Seems like they'll be pretty citrusy with a slight pine in the background which sounds good to me. I like azacca but my shop didn't have them. I was really looking for calypso for tropical notes.

 

[planetscott]

I went with pilsner because I'm trying to not get too much caramel flavor in the beer. Seems like when i use golden light DME and then some caramel malt, my beer comes out very caramel forward so I wanted something a little more hop forward which I'm hoping the pilsner DME does. Have you had any experience with the zythos hops? just curious about a flavor profile. Seems like they'll be pretty citrusy with a slight pine in the background which sounds good to me. I like azacca but my shop didn't have them. I was really looking for calypso for tropical notes.

Caramel? You sure maybe it is not butterscotch? It takes a LOT of caramel malts to give you that flavor. How long do you leave it in the primary? I suspect, but could be wrong, the caramel you tastes could be diacetyl. At low levels, it can be caramel. Be sure to let the beer finish.....At least 2 weeks in the primary.

I think the pilsner malt will be fine, just a little bland for an APA. You want a decent amount of malt flavor to balance the hops.

Calypso are good hops, as well as Jarylo for that tropical fruit. I know Yakima Valley Farms has both for sale. I bought a pound of each as I like fruity IPA/APAs.

 

[jageraholic]

Caramel? You sure maybe it is not butterscotch? It takes a LOT of caramel malts to give you that flavor. How long do you leave it in the primary? I suspect, but could be wrong, the caramel you tastes could be diacetyl. At low levels, it can be caramel. Be sure to let the beer finish.....At least 2 weeks in the primary.

I think the pilsner malt will be fine, just a little bland for an APA. You want a decent amount of malt flavor to balance the hops.

Calypso are good hops, as well as Jarylo for that tropical fruit. I know Yakima Valley Farms has both for sale. I bought a pound of each as I like fruity IPA/APAs.

I always do at least 2 weeks in primary and if dry hopping an additional week in primary or secondary depending on where I do the dry hop. I haven't heard of jarylo, i'll have to look them up.

 

[bobbrews]

Remove the flaked oats; they will only offer starch (which is bad) to an extract brew. For starch-to-sugar conversion, you need to mash them with a base malt that contains enough enzymes. This is done for a specific time and temperature, at a specific ratio of water to grain.

Go with a simplified hop schedule that can maximize the bitterness you seek to the optimal flavor/aroma potential:

2.00 oz in the boil as you see fit.
2.00 oz. for a warm hopstand, post-boil.
3.00 oz. for a 5 day dryhop.

Consider cutting the Melanoidin and Carared to 5% each (or half of what your are currently using).

6 lbs Pilsner DME
.33 lbs melanoidin 24L
.33 lbs Carared 20L

I went with pilsner because I'm trying to not get too much caramel flavor in the beer. Seems like when i use golden light DME and then some caramel malt, my beer comes out very caramel forward so I wanted something a little more hop forward which I'm hoping the pilsner DME does.

Pils malt is bready, crisp, clean... Think of a pale German Lager or even most American Adjunct Ales; the base malt there is usually Pils malt. IMO, 2-row pale or other pale ale base malts are better choices for hop forward ales.

Too much caramel is not due to use of Golden Light DME. Rather, it is due to using too much cara- malts in your recipes. 0-5% is the typical percentage used in most decent American hop-forward ales. Your recipe in the opener contains roughly 10% cara- malts. This toasty, caramel profile is accentuated even further by the additional 10% of nutty, biscuity, rich, caramel-forward melanoidin malt.

 

[jageraholic]

Remove the flaked oats; they will only offer starch (which is bad) to an extract brew. For starch-to-sugar conversion, you need to mash them with a base malt that contains enough enzymes. This is done for a specific time and temperature, at a specific ratio of water to grain.

Go with a simplified hop schedule that can maximize the bitterness you seek to the optimal flavor/aroma potential:

2.00 oz in the boil as you see fit.
2.00 oz. for a warm hopstand, post-boil.
3.00 oz. for a 5 day dryhop.

Consider cutting the Melanoidin and Carared to 5% each (or half of what your are currently using).

6 lbs Pilsner DME
.33 lbs melanoidin 24L
.33 lbs Carared 20L



Pils malt is bready, crisp, clean... Think of a pale German Lager or even most American Adjunct Ales; the base malt there is usually Pils malt. IMO, 2-row pale or other pale ale base malts are better choices for hop forward ales.

Too much caramel is not due to use of Golden Light DME. Rather, it is due to using too much cara- malts in your recipes. 0-5% is the typical percentage used in most decent American hop-forward ales. Your recipe in the opener contains roughly 10% cara- malts. This toasty, caramel profile is accentuated even further by the additional 10% of nutty, biscuity, rich, caramel-forward melanoidin malt.

Thanks for the thorough review. this one is fermenting away so we'll see how it comes out but I appreciate the feedback and will use this going forward as a reference to further refine my flavor profiles.

 

[jageraholic]

I'm surprised about the flaked oats at least about they can increase chances of infection. I've used them in prior recipes due to the recipe calling for it and have had no issues. Sure the beer might be hazy, but its homebrew and that doesn't bother me at all as long as it tastes good. The melanoidin sounds like it could be an issue. hopefully it doesn't kill the beer with malt flavor.