Hops better tasted than seen
The nose full of hops on our APA is bright and citrusy. The taste is nearly perfect; it’s a solid dose of bright bitterness without assaulting the palate. The finish is distinctly bitter but light as opposed to the resiny or oily. It toes the line of an IPA without crossing it which is exactly where an American pale should land. The hop profile is more grapefruit than anything else. I get a little bit of graininess that blends nicely. This isn’t all that unique as it’s not an unorthodox or creative blend of hops, but the classics are classics for a reason. As much as I want more and crazier bitterness, the pale ale is distinguished by resisting that impulse and this recipe does so well.
The American ale is of course built on American two-row malt, a total of nine pounds. Ten ounces each of Munich and Victory malts add a bit of character and color, and there was also six ounces of wheat malt presumably mostly for head retention. The hop schedule was two thirds an ounce of Horizon at sixty minutes, then a third of an ounce each of Cascade and Centennial at ten minutes, and another half ounce each of the two Cs at flameout. The yeast was good old WLP001 that’s effective and unobtrusive; hops are the star here. Like the Belgian Dark Strong Ale, I don’t have proper gravity readings for this beer. The plan was 1.056 OG. It’s much harder to guess by taste whether or not we came close to that mark with a more session-y ABV target.