It has been a long time since I brewed up a batch for no one but myself. Frankly, a style I rarely brew is an American IPA and that's because so many of my beers are for parties, events, my own education, experimentation, or at the request of my girlfriend. But probably my favorite style of beer to drink is the American IPA and so this time around, I brewed up a batch all for me.
I decided to use 100% "new school" hop varieties because I prefer those kinds of hops when I drink an IPA. For the sake of being novel and because it's what I had lying around, all the hops I used had a name that started with the letter "A." Since so many classic American IPA's are powered by the notorious "C" hops of the pacific northwest (Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, etc...), I thought that a 100% A-hop IPA would be a fun and interesting way to showcase new school hop varieties. The hops I used in this beer were Apollo, Ahtanum, and Amarillo.
Apollo is a super high alpha hop with a pretty intense aroma. I would describe the aroma as somewhat between Simcoe and Columbus - two excellent and well-known dual-purpose varieties. That being said, this hop is fairly new to me. I recently made an all-apollo pale ale for my club's single-hop pale ale project, but the high alpha nature of Apollo forced me to use no 60 min bittering hops, so I really don't know how the bittering charge from this hop will effect my A-Bomb IPA.
Ahtanum is known in large part for the part it plays in Stone Pale Ale. Ahtanum has been described as a cross between Goldings-type hops and Cascade-type hops, but I would say it is more aligned with Cascade, Amarillo, and other citrusy West Coast US hops in flavor and aroma. Like Cascade, and unlike most other Northwestern Citrusy hop varities, Ahtanum has a relatively low percentage of alpha acids, which means you can use more of it for flavor and aroma without overly bittering a beer - a fine quality in a hop variety when your beer has loads of Apollo in it!
Amarillo is just about the most desirable US hop to brew with. With a super-smooth bittering quality and an intense citrusy aroma that is more fruit-forward than Cascade or Centennial (which are more floral), Amarillo is an excellent all-purpose Northwestern hop for American-style beers and particularly well-suited to IPA's. That being said, I have found in the past that Amarillo does best when paired with other hops. While some hops like Columbus/CTZ, Cascade, and Simcoe are excellent on their own, Amarillo really shines when it is paired with another hop varietal. Even if I just use a different hop for the 60 min bittering charge and then Amarillo for everything else, I have noticed a marked improvement over a 100% Amarillo beer. That said, most people I know whose brewing opinions I respect believe Amarillo to be among the ultimate single-hop choices. Regardless, this beer will showcase three hops and I am happy that Amarillo will be one of them.
Everything went pretty smoothly. I used a bunch of slurry from a previous brew (the Apollo single hop pale ale), and it took off immediately. I fermented a bit warmer than usual, for no reason other than I wanted to see how a more typical 66 to 68-degree ferment would alter the beer's profile (I usually go a lot cooler, like 58F). Oh, and I lost my hydrometer, so I had to just guess at the efficiency of this one. I used a slightly looser crush than usual, so I figured about 75% seemed right (though it may well have been higher). So here's the recipe:
Recipe: A-Bomb IPA
Style: 14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA
Wort Volume Before Boil: 16.00 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 13.00 US gals
Volume Transferred: 11.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 11.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 10.50 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.054 SG
Expected OG: 1.067 SG
Expected FG: 1.012 SG
Expected ABV: 7.3 %
Expected ABW: 5.7 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 73.4
Expected Color: 6.5 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 81.1 %
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Duration: 110.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 66 degF
Fermentables
US Pale Ale Malt 17lb 0oz (53.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
US 2-Row Malt 13lb 0oz (40.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Dextrin Malt 1lb 0oz (3.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 10L Malt 8.00 oz (1.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 20L Malt 8.00 oz (1.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
Hops
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 14 g Loose Whole Hops used 60 Min From End
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 57 g Loose Whole Hops used 15 Min From End
US Amarillo (9.3 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Ahtanum (6.0 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Ahtanum (6.0 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 5 Min From End
US Amarillo (9.3 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 5 Min From End
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 57 g Loose Whole Hops used 5 Min From End
US Ahtanum (6.0 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Amarillo (9.3 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 57 g Loose Whole Hops used At turn off
US Apollo (19.0 % alpha) 57 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped in Primary
US Amarillo (9.3 % alpha) 57 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped in Secondary
US Ahtanum (6.0 % alpha) 57 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped in Secondary
Yeast: DCL US-05 (formerly US-56) SafAle
Mash at 150 degF for 60 mins
Recipe Notes
Pitched full slurry left over from a 5.5 gal batch of pale ale.
Tasting Notes: This one finished a little high and came out a bit maltier than I had hoped. It's still a good beer, but not really "my style." I am not sure why it came out as it did, but I have a second carboy of it that appeared to restart fermentation when I racked it, so perhaps that one will be inaffected by whatever made the first keg so malty. On second thought, based on the 80% efficiency I had with the Wet Hop American Summer, I suspect I got 80% or so with the A-Bomb IPA, too - meaning that I have an Imperial-strength beer with the bitterness of a regular IPA. That would explain the malty lack of balance that has been bugging me.
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