Hound Dog APA

[Madbrewer]

May I present this Friday's mash .... an American Pale Ale.

Actually it's slightly out of range in terms for an APA of OG but am hoping (hopping ) for a noticable hop flavour when it's cleared. Am also gutted that this will use up the last of my Cascades and the local HBS has run out.
As it will be my first ever brew with First Gold hops, I would like to know what to expect from First Gold if anyone here's a fan of? Also regarding the Bittering hops, has anyone experimented extensively in substituting the 90 min hop addition for other hop varierties in other recipes? My theory being that with lots of the volatile aroma's etc driven off - would I get a noticably different beer if I had not bothered to get the First Golds and bittered with say Target? Although I do have substitution tables for hops, was just considering how vital the authenticity of the exact bittering hop was. I suspect there's alot more to it though as when I tried a Northern Brewer hopped Guiness, there was a distinct hop aroma that you dont get with Guiness, not unpleasant - just different.


Name Hound Dog
Type American Pale Ale
Date Brewed 21/11/08
OG 1.043
Volume 23l
IBU 40

Grist - to be mashed for 90 minutes at 67c & Batch Sparged
----------------------------------------------------------
4000g Pale Malt
200g Crystal
200g Flaked Maize

Hops
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First Gold (aa% 7.5) 25 IBU’s 90 29g
Challenger (aa% 7.1) 15 IBU’s 60 22g
Cascade (aa% 6.9) 5 IBU’s 10 15g
Cascade Steep 10g
Cascade Cask 8g

Water treatment (New one for me) am not boiling this time and am using 3tsp of CRS plus 3g Calcuim Chloride, 3g of Gypsum & half a campden Tablet.

Lastly not being advocate of like for like yeast use - I am using Nottingham. For one thing I have lots of it! Also to get around the 'dryness' I am mashing at 67c as I hope this will add some sweetness in the form of dextrins that Nottingham can't munch through. (Or am I being optomistic?).

My Caramelising experiment last time worked and I have just had some great feedback on my Beast viewtopic.php?f=24&t=17149 beer that posted a while back. I think I will Caramelise my first pint and a half too.

Anyone care to critique my recipe?

Many Thanks

Phil

[Madbrewer]

Got started Early and it's in the mash tun as we speak ... more firsts for me this time. i) As well as the obligatory CRS I added 3g of Gypsum and 3g of Calcium Chloride as per advice of Graham's water Calc. ii) Also .... forget which post suggested it but am going to use my caffetierre with a percentage of the hops to seperate the volatile aroma's from the bittering compounds so when the wort gets close to boiling, i'll steep some of the hops in the caffetierre - thus saving the 'hop tea' for adding once the boil is done but also allowing the (already steeped) hops to go into the boil (unwasted) seperated from the tea & will boil for the full 90 anyway. However am dubious as I think these nice flavours will get fermented out regardless - will keep you all posted. There's 40 IBU's so the brew can tolerate a few of the hops being donated to science this time.

Have taken Chris's advice though re hop freshness and all the hops are stongkingly fresh this time (thanks Chris)!

Oh and PH 5.2 - I think I may need a ml or two less CRS

[Whorst]

Sounds good, although I'd ditch the flaked maize. What yeast are you using? I've head great success with adding hops once the wort has cooled a little. Whirlpool 'em in there before you transfer to your fermenter.

[Madbrewer]

Sounds good, although I'd ditch the flaked maize. What yeast are you using? I've head great success with adding hops once the wort has cooled a little. Whirlpool 'em in there before you transfer to your fermenter.

Drat didn't read this till I had finished the brew which TBH wasn't the easiest of brew days. I batch sparged but it 'stuck' after the firts runnings so I let it drain slooooooowly giving up at 4 gallons instead of the intended 5. This meant a finising volume of 21 litres, nothing quite as drastic as your stuck mash earlier this week though.

I take it you were suggesting the whirlpool cos you use pellets?

Danstar Nottingham Yeast used - I recently obtained 500g of the stuff. This beer's an attempt to clone one of my favorite brews actually & the maize in an attempt to mimic the 'body' of the original. Though exactly a year ago I did an APA with a higher OG, without the maize and it was terrific. Of all things that one used Hallertau in it's make up first for me putting a lager hop in a Pale.

How long do you age your brews? What sort of quanity of Steeping hops did you use?

[Whorst]

My beers are not aged for long. Usually close to a week in the fermenter, then maybe 2 weeks in the corny, depending on strength. My Mild I just brewed was done in under 3 days, but it got hit with pure oxygen and a nice chunk of 1469. Starting gravity was 1.036. I'm serving it in one week. For steeping I use about 28g(depending on style) when the wort is really cooling off. What I've noticed is you get a round, mellow flavor component that's a little bit like dry hopping, but not as intense. A word that comes to mind is soft. Do you not like Safale-05? That's my favorite for US styles. I cannot tell the difference between it and White Labs WLP-001, although some people claim they can.

[Madbrewer]

Whorst,

Never tried s05 - didn't I maybe read that it doesn't flocculate too well? I like S04 but never tried that one. Though I like no-faff-just-throw-it-in you get with dry packaged yeasts so next APA I do I may just take your advice.

cheers

[Whorst]

05 is killer, the only disadvantage is it doesn't floc worth a shit. I just use gelatin and it knocks it on its arse. Don't let it discourage you from using it. Gelatin will make it look filtered.

[oblivious]

Windsor yeat could also be another interesting option to try

[Madbrewer]

I think Windsor may need a bit of rousing from time to time? At least I'm Sure Andy was saying he needed to rouse his last Windsor brew? Forgive my ignorance but is the extra work these yeasts take worth the different flavour they impart?

FYI Transferred to Wine Fermenter last night @ 1.034

Nice 'Tagerine' aftertaste from (I think) the First Gold Hops. I have a good feeling about this one.

[Whorst]

05 is a great yeast. Don't let the use of finings deter you from using it. I use it exclusively in summer for hoppy, golden ales. You can also do pseudo lagers with it when fermented cool.