Beer Forum

Just brewed the Classic Styles APA (non-caramel) this morning, and adjusted it to make a partial mash. I underestimated the efficiency I would get with my stove-top minimash approach, and hit 1.065 on my O.G. (aiming for 1.056). I pitched 11.5 g of US - 05, the recipe suggests 11 g for 1.056. Do I need to up my pitching rate at all due to the high O.G.? I have some 1st gen 05 in my fridge I could wash and add. I'm only 12 hours into fermentation, and already getting some action in the carboy.

Thanks.

Well, it's hard to know, since you didn't post your final volume, but assuming a 5-gallon batch, the pitching rate calculator at mrmalty.com (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html) says you need 1.1 packets of yeast. Meaning, you can probably get by with the yeast you used (as long as you rehydrated properly), but you might not be amiss to add the other yeast you have now.

Good to know that the APA might hit a higher target than the book, as that recipe is our next endeavor (brewing tomorrow, in fact!). I have been adding a bit of corn sugar in lieu of dry extract, since I never tend to get the attenuation I'm looking for with just extract and a few pounds of grains. I posted the partial mash recipe I put together and plan to brew. Any chance you can post your version, to compare notes?

Note - I sized up to a 21L batch.

10-A American Pale Ale

Size: 21 L
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%

Original Gravity: 1.056 (1.045 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.010 - 1.015)
Color: 7.21 (5.0 - 14.0)
Alcohol: 5.56% (4.5% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 44.0 (30.0 - 45.0)

Ingredients:
.5 lb Pale Wheat Malt
.5 lb Munich TYPE I
2.75 lb Pale Ale Malt
.5 lb German CaraAmber
1.0 lb Dry Extra Light
.75 lb Corn Sugar
3.0 lb Dry Extra Light (added at flameout)
1 oz Newport (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
.5 oz Cascade (6%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.25 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.5 oz Cascade (6%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
.5 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 ea Fermentis US-05 Safale US-05

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3

MrBisco wrote:Well, it's hard to know, since you didn't post your final volume, .
....
Good to know that the APA might hit a higher target than the book, as that recipe is our next endeavor (brewing tomorrow, in fact!). ...Any chance you can post your version, to compare notes?

Oops. I did a 7 gal boil, 6 gal into fermenter. It has a nice foam on the surface as I type (20 hours into fermentation). Thanks for the link - I will adjust my added pitch accordingly.

My ingredients for the APA:
3 lb US 2 Row Malt
0.5 lb Light Wheat Malt
0.75 lb Munich Malt
0.75 lb Victory 28L Malt

6 lbs Light LME - added for full 60 min

Hops:
0.66 oz Horizon (12.0%) - 60 min
0.25 oz Cascade (6.5%) - 10 min
0.25 oz Centennial (9.7%) - 10 min
0.75 oz Cascade (6.5%) - 1 min
0.75 oz Centennial (9.7%) - 1 min

11.5 g package US-05

I did not bother to weigh the "6 lb" pail of LME from Austin Homebrew, and that could be a variable as well in my high OG. I plugged this into some online tools and hit something like 70% efficiency on my minimash - given my simplistic grainbag / dunk sparge stovetop approach was expecting something closer to 50-60%. I don't mind a little extra gravity, but this was a little heavier than I was going for.

Omahawk wrote:I did not bother to weigh the "6 lb" pail of LME from Austin Homebrew, and that could be a variable as well in my high OG. I plugged this into some online tools and hit something like 70% efficiency on my minimash - given my simplistic grainbag / dunk sparge stovetop approach was expecting something closer to 50-60%. I don't mind a little extra gravity, but this was a little heavier than I was going for.

I haven't done a Congress mash with the DME, but while several things have changed from my pre-summer brewing to now (using DME instead of LME, introducing a bit of corn sugar for a drier finish), the biggest change seems to be using 5.2 mash stabilizer. I brew in Israel, and the water here is ridiculously hard. Before using the stabilizer I was getting efficiency around 60%, and now I'm hitting about 82-83%. I hear the difference in the US (with more neutral water) wouldn't be as dynamic, but it's worth a shot.