This American Pale Ale (APA) started as a standard Pale Ale and for most of the time I have been making it, it was made wrong, just wrong: way, way too bitter – tasty, but ended up growing some more hair on your chest – not and easy beer to drink. I guess it is always nice to understand that a recipe is developed, and not just made up, but with this I think I’m done – this is how the “Oh Mama APA” should taste like and how it should stay.
Mash
1.5kg of Crushed Pale Malt
5.25 litres of boiled Brita filtered London tap water, start temp before grains: 78°c, after grains addition: 69°c
Grains taken out and drained (+ squeezed) after 90 minutes total at 63°c.
Roughly 4.5l mash was left with 1070 gravity at 45°c.
Yeast
5g Safale US-05 dissolved in 500ml Brita filtered London water (22°c) and 5g dextrose
Left to activate from the beginning of the boil, about 2 hours.
Wort (boil)
4.5l mash water brought to an immediate boil on a very high flame and another 1L boiled Brita water added
60 minutes: 250g dextrose, 10g Target hops (12.7%)
15 minutes: 10g Challenger hops (5.99%), 10g Marynka hops (9.3%)
0 minutes: in the ice bath with 10g Citra hops (12.5%)
Wort was a total of 3.5l with a gravity of 1080 at 92°c
Fermentation
3.5L of the cooled wort was added to 3L Brita filtered London tap water and the yeast mix
Total of 7L with OG=1050 at 22°c.
Drinking while making
Dry hop (a week after brewing)
Added 20g Citra hops and 4g Celesia hops
Bottling (2 weeks after brewing)
FG=1010 at 20°c, making it a 5.36% ABV beer.
Total of 7L
46g dextrose added for priming to achieve a CO2 volume of 2.3.
Tasting notes
There is a reason this beer is the household favourite – it is just really good. Not as full bodied as some other APAs out there, it is light, fruity and aromatic, which suits our preferences perfectly. I’m pretty sure there will be no changes to this reciepe from now on and I will just be making it regularly every so often. The tasting:
Really nice aroma from the hops, coming from the Citra and the supporting Celesia. Citrusy, red grapefruit and a sweeter finish, maybe some berry and bubblegum notes even.
Clear and golden colour (much clearer than I thought it would be) with a very light haze. White, light and airy head that clings thinly to the beer.
Flavour is great: light bodied but there still a malt presence; bitter and creamy. Quickly the hops take over and the beer is crisp and refreshing with a full hoppy flavour but leaving no bitter after taste.
All together a great beer, cheers!