How does this look?

[btsager]

Edit:

Ok I am completely changing this and I think I will make this my first AG. This will be a English Pale, Premium Bitter.

(Special/Best/Premium Bitter)
Grains:
6# Marris Otter
1# Victory
.5# Carapils
.5# 20L Carmel Malt

Projected OG 1.045

.75oz Northern Brewer @60
.5oz EK Goldings @20
.25oz EK Goldings @5 min.

IBU = 36.7

London Ale Yeast





::Edited to change to English Pale.

[beerking]

Looks good. Just about any grains can be used in a partial mash, assuming you are actually mashing. Some people confuse steeping grains with partial mash. The two are very similar, the onlly real difference is the degree of temperature control.
If you are just steeping grains in hot water, the pale and carapils won't work, and you will get startches into your wort. As long as you hold the temp at 145-160 for 20 plus minutes (until conversion is complete by starch test), and use 1-2 quarts per # of grain, you will be fine.

[markaberrant]

You say you are making an APA, but your finishing hops and yeast are inline with an EPA. Regardless of the APA/EPA debate, I'd cut back the IBUs to about 30-35.

Are you familiar with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? It's considered the classic APA and weighs in at 1.052 and 37 IBUs. Here is a dead ringer homebrew hop schedule to give you an idea of an APA hop schedule:

0.50 oz. Magnum 60 min
0.50 oz. Perle 30 min
1.00 oz. Cascade 10 min
2.00 oz. Cascade 0 min

Way more finishing hops, and they are citrusy grapefruit, instead of earthy spice.

[btsager]

Yes I do plan to do a mash and batch or makshift fly sparge on this.
My plan is to hold the mash temp at 150 for 1 hour, then sparge at 170. From what I have read up on, I think I will go 1.25qt per lb, so 5 quarts for the mash, and then 1qt per lb for the sparge.

As for the hops, I may mix it around. I haven't used any of the american ale yeasts yet, so I was unsure about them, in my first pale ale I used the london ale yeast and like it, so I may change this to a English Pale, I am not sure yet.

That brings up another question though, for something to be called american or english or german or what ever, do the grains have to come from that country? Or is it more dependant on the Yeast and Hops??

[markaberrant]

That brings up another question though, for something to be called american or english or german or what ever, do the grains have to come from that country? Or is it more dependant on the Yeast and Hops??

It depends on what the finished product tastes like.

[Beer Martin]

It depends on what the finished product tastes like.

I agree, unless your a purist
________
Mexicocity hotel (http://mexicocityhotel.info)

[btsager]

Yeah, after I posted that I went to the bjcp web site and started reading, It looks like grains and hops can be anything as long as they impart the correct flavors, but Yeast is more specific.

I think I am going to stick with a London Ale Yeast and do more research on the hops.

Question about Sparging, is it ok to sparge with more then 1qt of water per lb of grain? From what I have read, you don't want to sparge with too much water because you could pull tannins, but how do you know what is too much?

[beerking]

For an APA, you would want to try the WLP001 yeast, which is the Sierra Nevada yeast. There are others that work as well, but you won't get the clean (low ester) character of an APA if you use the London or British Ale yeasts.
As far as country of origin, it is true that for certain styles this CAN be important if you are looking to exactly duplicate things. IMHO, this would be most important for Bavarian lagers, Bohemian Pils, some lighter Belgian beers, such as Strong Golden, and Brown and Scottish Ales.
It will make a small difference in APA/EPA, but probably not a noticable one at your level.
Now, if you were specifically going for a national competition...

[btsager]

I've tried the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I am not a huge fan, when I buy beer, I can always find something I like better.

[btsager]

This is only my 4th beer and I likely won't enter it into any competitions, but I want to keep in the habit of brewing to bjcp style guidelines.

[beerking]

I've tried the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I am not a huge fan, when I buy beer, I can always find something I like better.

In that case, you could try WLP051, which is the yeast used by Anchor for Liberty, or WLP008, the Sam Adams Ale yeast.
In the Wyeast lineup, you have 1272 which is Liberty.

[Mill Rat]

You begin your post stating EPA, and then lead off with Cascade and Centennial hops. Much of the citrusy flavor of these hops should be lost in the boil, but why not a higher AA english hop like Challenger or Target? I concur with your initial selection of an english or british yeast strain. Even for a lower gravity beer like this, a starter is a good idea to help you get the most attenuation.

[btsager]

I am leaning more towards Northern brewer for bittering and EK Goldings for aroma.

[Mad Scientist]

If you want to the english route, cut some of the carapils, and add some bready, toasty malts such as a little biscut. And for english hops, I like bullion.

[beerking]

If you want to the english route, cut some of the carapils, and add some bready, toasty malts such as a little biscuit.

Victory or Maris Otter would be more traditional.

[Mad Scientist]

Yeah, I meant to comment on Marris Otter in place of the two row.

[darylM]

If you can't get Marris Otter, make sure you get English 2row. The malt character is different than American 2row.

[btsager]

Should I use all Marris Otter for the base malt or mix with 2 Row?

[darylM]

Marris Otter is a base malt so you don't have to mix if you want.

[Mill Rat]

Maris Otter (MO) is a English variety of 2-row barley. There's no reason not to use it for all your two-row ales, unless it's a continental style for which pils malt would be more appropriate (belgians, koelsch, alt, etc.). I get MO in 55-lb bags. That way it's no more expensive than other 2-rows sold in smaller increments, and I don't have to stock much more than MO, pils, and wheat malt to handle any of my base malt needs. Golden Promise (GP) is a scottish barley variety that is equal to MO in quality and versatility, so anything I said here about MO applies to GP.

[Mad Scientist]

I bought a full sack of MO a while back, and it cost me approx $10 more than my usual 2-row