Sumcoe APA

[Monkeybrew]

Any thoughts on my first APA recipe, especially the hop combo?

Sumcoe APA

Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.100
Total Hops (g): 200.0
Estimated Original Gravity (OG): 1.050
Estimated Final Gravity (FG): 1.010
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.40 %
Colour (EBC): 14.0
Bitterness (IBU): 40.0 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 76
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Mash (Minutes): 90 @66C

Grain Bill
4.600 kg Maris Otter Pale Malt 5.0 EBC (100.0%)
0.250 kg Munich Malt 20.0 EBC
0.250 kg Pale Crystal Malt 60.0 EBC

Hop Bill
5.0 g Summit Pellet 15.50%AA @ 60 Minutes
5.0 g Simcoe Whole 13.20%AA @ 60 Minutes
45.0 g Summit Pellet 15.50%AA @ 5 Minutes
45.0 g Simcoe Whole 13.20%AA @ 5 Minutes
50.0 g Summit Pellet 15.50%AA Dry Hop
50.0 g Simcoe Whole 13.20%AA Dry Hop


Misc Bill
1 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Yeast
Safale S-05 @18-19C

Cheers

MB

[seymour]

Looks good to me, though I'm not a huge fan of the marshmallowy candy sweetness of Munich malt. There are plenty of commercial APAs which call for Munich malt, but I usually feel that German-style caramel is out of place. Wanna know a trick I've recently learned to make any APA better? And it so happens to involve authentically English ingredients: a small quantity of CaraStan malt (3-5%), or even smaller quantity of amber malt (.5%). Some CaraPils/Dextrine/Mild malt would improve the mouthfeel and head retention too.

Your hop schedule should be just fine. That's really a matter of personal preference. Just plan on tweaking next time based on these results.