Working on a decent grain bill for my APA that I keep constant and just switch out the hops with varieties I have never tried.
This was my first grain bill:
73% pilsner
20% munich I (6L)
7% caramunich I
It was good but overly malty and darker than I expected. I do like a pale ale with some malt character but the malt character seemed to cover the hops more than I would like. There was also a biscuity/nutty character that was nice and provided some uniqueness. As the next step, I am thinking of changing it to this:
80% pilsner
15% munich
5% caramunich
Any feedback on that? It seems to get me closer to what I want without going too far in the other direction.
Hops are
Magnum 60 min / Simcoe FWH for ~35 IBUs?
1 oz Azacca / 1 oz El Dorado - hop stand starting at 170F for 30 min
1 oz Azacca / 1 oz El Dorado - dry hop
Calculated IBUs are somewhere around 48 however that is probably not too accurate considering my settings for IBUs contributed from hop stand is just a guess…
Looks good to me! I’ve done similar many times. Those IBUs may calculate to 48 but it won’t taste like it with the late hopping all done via hopstand (I do the same for hoppy styles). And Azacca are great in APA btw.
My first version of this beer featured Jarrylo and Zythos blend which was very nice but underwhelming. A lot of that has to do with the amounts but the malt character didn’t help either. I ended up throwing a combo of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Cascade into the keg which helped.
My only other thought would be to switch out the original amount of Munich for Vienna. I am brewing this in the next couple of days so I think I will just go with the reduced Munich amount.
Remember too that gypsum will help dry out a beer that could seem overly malty (assuming you don’t already use it). 15% Munich isn’t too much for APA by any means. Gypsum would dry out the finish and bring the hops to the forefront. I like ~ 200ppm sulfate from gypsum in APA FWIW.
You guys like Azacca? I tried them in an IPA and thought they were bland. They seemed to smell citrusy when I added them to the boil, but when I tasted the final beer they were not citrusy and more like earthy, herbal type of character. I also didn’t get much aroma from them when dry hopped. I thought they might be nice in an amber or brown ale.
I loved the Azacca I bought. They were very peach and mango with some citrus. The dry hop aroma held up nicely, too. This was in a hoppy pale ale and they overpowered the Cascade pretty easily.
EDIT -These definitely weren’t herbal. I wonder if they shipped you the wrong hops. It’s happened to me a few times.
I am excited to give them a shot although I am not sure how they will work with the El Dorado. I was disappointed by Jarrylo so hoping to get more out of the Azacca.
I should probably just be doing single hopped beers…
They’ll work fine, but El Dorado is stronger. To have them give equal aroma and flavor you’d need to back off on the El Dorado or up the Azacca a little. But at 50/50 it’ll still be good.
I have a saison using Azacca and tonight added 1 1/2 ounces Azacca for dry hopping. Had a nice aroma when boiling and hoping that carries through to the finished beer. I also thought the aroma was citrusy, some orange and some grapefruit. I didn’t get the mango and pineapple some say they smell.
Your malt bill seems pretty weird for a APA. I would suggest an American Pale Ale malt or standard 2-row instead of the Pilsner. Then you can drop the Munich way down.
That’s a nice bill for an APA. I don’t know that I’d ever do it but I do like a little caramel character in my APA. So much so it may be “out of style.” On of my favorites it the Carinal Pale Ale from Nebraska Brewing Co. If I remember the “Can You Brew It” correctly they use 15% caramel malt and 5% Munich for some caramel and bread character. I use 90% 2-Row and 10% C-60. I’ve considered subbing half of the 2-row for Pilsener just to see if that adds more depth.
I still haven’t tried to understand the difference between caramel and crystal malts however caramunich is a crystal malt so I do have a bit of it in there although less than the first attempt.
Wow, I’m not surprised that there is a problem with hop perception with those grists. I went down that ‘complex’ malt bill path a decade ago and came to the conclusion that I was fighting with the hops.
Those bills are too malt focused to enable the hops to exhibit. I would knock the munich and crystal down appreciably to leave a malt flavor that is more 'singular '.