APA (League of Brewers Greenbacker variant

Brew

Hops

Mosaic10gm at 60min
Sauvin150gm at Whirlpool 75degC for 20 min
Mosaic90gm Dry Hop Day 3
Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin with focus on late additions

Grain

  • 4.0kg American Ale
  • 0.85kg Vienna
  • 0.85kg Wheat Malt
  • 0.5kg Supernova Malt
  • 0.2kg Sour grapes

Yeast

Mangrove Jacks #54 California Lager 2 packets

Water Treatment

1 teaspoon Cal Sulphate, 1/2 Teaspoon Magnesium Sulphate and 1 teaspoon Cal Chloride to mash water, 4 drops Lactic Acid 88% to sparge water

Boil Additions

1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrient and 1/2 whirlfloc tablet at 10 min to go in boil

Brew

  • Mash in at 67°C with 21L, rest for 60 min at 67°C.
  • Mash out: 76C for 10 min
  • Sparge with 15L at 76°C
  • Preboil size 30L
  • Boil time 60mins
  • Postboil size 27.5L
  • Fermenter volume 26L

Fermentation

N/A

Fermenter Additions

N/A

Carbonation

Final pressure in fermenter was 6.3psi at 9C giving 1.6 vol CO2. Have kegged with 10psi CO2 to up the carbonation slightly.

Bottled

20241115

Final Volume

24L

Notes

I brewed the Greenbacker APA kit from League of Brewers in Nelson 3 years ago and it was smooth citrusy light coloured pale ale at around 5.4% ABV. This time round I increased the American Ale Malt from 3kg to 4kg (total grain feed from 5.4kg to 6.4kg) to get the OG up (1.048 to 1.052), and replaced Munich Malt with Vienna. This recipe has Supernova (8%) and Sour Grapes Malt (3%).

Supernova Malt is a roasted malt from Gladfield that adds nutty, toasted caramel flavours to a beer. It can be used as a replacement for traditional crystal malts to change the flavour characteristics and reduce the beers residual sweetness. We start this malt with Canterbury winter barley and take it through our germination process before it is roasted to develop flavour and colour.

This is a great malt to be used in any beer style. We have already seen it used in Pilsners and IPAs between 10–25%. We also recommend its use in an Amber Ale up to 25%, it adds a rich depth of malty flavour and really makes this style shine. It goes well in a Porter up to 10–15%, complementing the darker roast malts and adding complexity. Also great for Pale Ales for great toasty caramel flavours that won’t overtake the hops, use 5–10%.

Gladfield Sour Grapes malt is designed for pH adjustment in the brew house mash. Sour Grapes is produced through a combination of lactic growth during germination from naturally present bacteria on the grain and a lactic bath prior to kilning grown from the same lactobacillus strains. Recommended usage of between 1% and 5% to achieve target mash pH.

The brew is crisp and clear with nice hop forward flavours and moderate bitterness.