May 5th, Big Brew Day! Al’s Cascade APA

May 5th, a perfect day to brew my 5th batch of delicious homebrew!

Well with May 5th being big brew day, I’m going to brew an APA which showcases cascade hops.  Actually, this should be fairly similar to my previous beer, Al’s Red-Eye Ale, in that both have lots of cascade hops.  This partly reflects the fact that I bought an entire pound of cascade pellets!   I’ve got some different hops on order for the near future, but cascade has done me so well so far, I don’t think I’ll go wrong here!

EDIT: After drinking some of Al’s Red-Eye Ale, I’m going to cut the hops a little for this one.  I want a pale ale, and not another IPA.

I haven’t quite decided for sure on the bittering addition, but I will modify this post when I’ve made up my mind.  For the moment, I’m going to say I’m bittering with Chinook.

I’ve also read a number of posts where people use a little bit of wheat to help with head retention, so I’m going to try a few ounces of wheat in this one.  I haven’t had a problem with head retention yet, but hey, it’s always nice to have a great looking brew!  I suppose it can’t hurt to give it a try.

A new addition to my equipment is a nice scale that will allow me precise control of all ingredient amounts.

Regardless of the final recipe, I’m going to add a lot of hops, so this one might really be more of an IPA, but whatever, I’m calling it Al’s Cascade APA.

This recipe is pretty close (not exact though) to another pale ale I’m going to make soon using Juniper berries.  I won’t use as much hops in the Juniper Pale Ale though, as I don’t want to choke out the Juniper!

Another thing I have noticed is that the website I’m using for the targets doesn’t match software I downloaded when it comes to the numbers.  The downloaded software gives considerably higher bitterness values.  Since I can’t see how they’re doing the calculations in either case, I’m not exactly sure which one is right.  I tend to question free software, but at least it’s fun to play with!  However, this brew should be fine either way.

• Briess Golden Light Liquid Extract  3 lbs, 4 oz
• Briess Golden Light Dry Extract     3 lbs, 0 oz
• Briess 2-Row Brewer’s Malt  1 lbs, 0 oz
• Briess 2 Row Caramel 40  1 lbs, 0 oz
• Briess Flaked Wheat  0 lbs, 4 oz
• Chinook Pellets  0.75 oz @ 60 mins
• Cascade Pellets  0.5 oz @ 15 mins
• Cascade Pellets  0.5 oz @ 5 mins
• Cascade Pellets  0.5 oz @ 0 mins
• Cascade Pellets  1 oz @ Dry
• SAFALE US-05 American Ale

Targets:

OG  1.054

FG  1.014

IBU  30

SRM  8.33

ABV  5.24

Volume: 5.5 gallons

Procedure:

1. prepare checklist
2. lay out ingredients and equipment
3. bring 1.75-2 gallons spring water to 165 F
4. add grains (in mesh bag)
5. steep for 40 minutes at 155F
6. In separate pot, pre-boil 1 gallon spring water
7. when grains are finished steeping, remove grain bag, add 1 gallon boiling water and bring entire pot to a boil for one hour
8. add bittering hops, 3/4 oz chinook at 60 minute mark
9. over the course of the last 20 minutes of the boil, add the LME and DME
10. at 20 minute mark, add wort chiller, pre-filled with hot water
11. begin pre-boiling of 2 cups spring water for yeast rehydration
12. add 0.5 oz cascade at 15 minute mark
13. add 1/4 tsp Irish moss powder
14. add 0.5 oz cascade at 5 minute mark
15. add 0.5 oz cascade at flameout
16. let stand 10 minutes before beginning cooling
17. begin sanitation procedures on spoon, thermometer, bucket, siphon, hoses, wine thief
18. stir occasionally with sanitized stainless spoon during hop rest and during cooling
19. while wort is cooling, add 2 gallons chilled spring water to sanitized primary fermenting bucket, allowing it to fall into bucket to increase aeration
20. add pre-boiled water to sanitized 2L flask for yeast rehydration
21. when 2L flask reaches about 95F, pitch yeast into flask and place on stir plate for about 20 minutes
22. when wort gets to about 75F, add to fermentation bucket using strainer
23. top to 5.5 gallons with chilled spring water
24. take OG reading with sanitized wine thief
25. thoroughly aerate wort with sanitized stainless steel spoon
26. ensure wort is 70F or a little less before pitching yeast
27. pitch yeast
28. gently stir using sanitized stainless steel spoon
29. install sanitized bucket lid and airlock
30. add bucket to large plastic container filled partially with H2O to keep fermentation from getting too warm.  add ice daily if needed to keep fermentation temperatures reasonable.
31. ferment in closet for 7-9 days at 69F ambient air temp.
32. after 7-9 days, add one ounce cascade hops for dry hopping
33. take FG sample and bottle (after a minimum of 14 days)
34. use 4 oz corn sugar at bottling

Actual OG:

Actual FG:

Notes: