First AG Recipe! Advice Needed

Mashing
1

Below is my buddy and I’s first AG recipe. We are looking for some feedback in terms of ratios, base malts and specialty malts. Thanks in advance!

70% 2 row
5% C10
5% C60
20% wheat

Hop Schedule:
1 oz. Centennial (60 minutes)
1 oz. Cascade (20 minutes)
2 oz. Crystal (5 minutes)
1 oz Citra (Flameout??? - Not sure if we’ll add this or not)

Dry Hop:
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Centennial

2

Looks like a good start for an APA recipe.

Bear in mind that most of my advice is based on my personal experience/preferences.

Regarding the malt bill, I would reduce the total crystal to 5% or less for your first recipe. If you find this batch doesn’t have enough sweet/caramel character, add more next time. No pale ale has ever been ruined by using too little crystal malt.

You’ll get all kinds of suggestions for how to use hops. My two cents:

  • IMO it’s a waste of a great aroma hop to use Centennial as a bittering addition. I’d swap it with the Crystal, adjusting quantities for AA%. (confession: I hate crystal hops). Better yet, go with a clean bittering hop like Magnum or Horizon.
  • I would move the 20 min Cascade addition to flameout with the Citra and do a 30 minute hop stand (turn off the flame, chill to <180°F, put the lid on the kettle and let it sit for 30 minutes).
  • Since Cascade is a low oil hop and Centennial is a high oil hoop, I would add more Cascade to the dry hop. I’d go with 1.5:1 or 2:1.
3

You might want to take a look at NB’s kama citra AG recipe for comparison - it uses the same hops (without the crystal), so it might give you a good reference point.