House APA recipe?

Beer Recipe Design
1

Hey all,

I’ve brewed probably 7 or 8 APAs over the course of this year with varying grain bills and hop additions. I was curious to hear if any of you all have created a pale ale recipe that was been dynamite? My latest all Columbus pale was delicious, but very one noted in terms of flavor and complexity. Everyone that tried it couldn’t stop talking about it, but I’m still in search of something a little more special. For my APAs I usually use 90% base malt, 5 - 10% crystal selection (10 through 60), and some carapils. I’ve also thrown in Vienna a couple of times. Usually do a fwh, small bittering charge with magnum at 60, then a 15 or flameout addition. I try to keep the ibus in the 35-50 range.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

2

My favorite that I try to keep on tap most of the time is:

(Note this is for 10 gallons)

22 lbs 2 row
1 lb Crystal 60
1 lb Crystal 40
0.5 lb Carapils
1 oz Magnum 60 mins
1 oz Perle 30 mins
2 oz Cascade 5 mins
2 oz Cascade 0 mins
US-05

I think this actually started as a SNPA clone recipe but I’ve brewed it so many times, I’m not sure if it still matches that recipe or not.

I brew this often with the same grain bill but mix up the hops based on what I have on hand but the above combo is my favorite.

I’ve also brewed it with Maris Otter but like the 2 row better.

3

I developed a great, simple APA recipe some years ago that everyone seemed to love. Then for the past few years I’ve been experimenting with different hop and nothing has worked out as well. Time to go back to this:

5 gal, OG=1.052, IBUs = 47

9 lbs Pale Ale Malt
1 lb CaraAmber (or Crystal 40)
8 oz Cara-Pils

1/2 oz Cascade FWH
38 IBUs of Perle or Magnum 60 min
1/2 oz Cascade 15 min
1/2 oz Cascade Flame out
1/2 oz Cascade Dry Hop

Mash at 152

4

Simple. I like it. I have 3 oz of pacific jade that I might use in place of the cascade. We shall see how it works; can’t find too much on the flavor profile of pac jade except for the peppery/ citrus notes it provides.

5

I’ve brewed a bunch of pale ales in the last couple years and have yet to settle on a recipe that blows my mind. This summer in particular I’ve brewed several single-hop APA’s just to see what different hops bring to the table.

I brewed two batches with this:
85% Rahr 2-row
6% Munich I
5% C40
4% Carapils

Had nice body, but I found it too malt forward. Not bad. Just didn’t strike the note I wanted. I adjusted to:

89% Rahr 2-row
5% Munich I
3% C40
3% Carapils

Better.

Regarding your comments about the Columbus single-hop being too one-noted, I’ve found that to be the case with all of the single-hop beers I’ve brewed this summer. The other night I pulled a bit of my Summit, Columbus and Centennial APA’s into a glass and found the outcome much more enjoyable. I’m starting to think that most hops benefit from some level of blending.

6

My pale has been getting better lately. Recently brewed it for the 3rd time using:
77% 2 row
14% rye
4.5% crystal 60
4.5% carapils
Horizon for bitter
3 cascade additions plus dryhop
Wy1056
OG 1.050
38 IBU

Pretty happy with the results. :cheers:

7

My current APA is listed here. I need to bump the hops up a little bit next time (maybe to .75 oz each addition) but otherwise it is a good little beer.

9 lbs. Marris Otter
1 lb crystal 20L

1 oz Northern Brewer (60)
.5 oz Cascade (15)
.5 oz Willamette (15)
.5 oz Cascade (5)
.5 oz Willamette (5)

US-05 or WY1056

Mash around 152