American Pale Ale

Today I'm brewing an American Pale Ale. This may not be the most exotic of craft brews but it's very enjoyable and I've been craving a lighter session beer with some nice hop character. This is also the first brew session using my new heat exchanger (HEX), hot liquor tank (HLT), and mash tun (MT). I haven't done a write-up on the new HLT and MT yet but like the HEX they're essentially inspired by Kal's Electric Brewery.

This recipe is based on the American Pale Ale recipe from Brewing Classic Style. I've adjusted the grain bill based on an expected efficiency of around 83%.


8 lbs 10.8 oz Briess Pale Ale Malt 2-Row
9.2 oz Dingemans Munich Malt 7L
9.2 oz Briess Victory Malt
6.1 oz Rahr White Malt
0.66 oz Chinook - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Centennial - Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Cascade - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Cascade - Hopback
1.00 oz Centennial - Hopback
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) in 1L starter

Mash at 152F for 60 min.  60 min boil.

Ferment at 67F

Brewing Notes
The HEX seems to be performing well. Strike temp was a little low but I was able to raise the temp by almost 1.5F per minute. The old HEX was a bit over 1F per minute, so this seems to be performing at least as well as the original.

Brewhouse efficiency came in at 84.01% on this batch. This is consistent with the old equipment, so I'm glad I'm not seeing any huge differences.

OG 12.9P, 1.052

Update 5/18/2013
I put this one on tap a few weeks ago. This is a very good beer with some really nice bready and biscuit flavors. It has a real nice hop/malt balance; definitely lower hop flavor and aroma than my last SNPA clone but a great beer nonetheless.