BCS American Pale Ale but Single Hop? (+ water questions)

[keelanfish]

I've been brewing my way through the recipes of Brewing Classic Styles (BCS) and have been very pleased with the results of each recipe and have won four medals and a best of show in local comps with the beers. So far, I've stuck almost exactly to each of the recipes brewed to good result.

But, I've been wanting to brew session single hop beer that showcases the qualities of that one hop while still balanced. My idea is to brew the American Pale Ale recipe from BCS, but instead of following the Horizon, Cascade, Centennial, Cascade, Centennial hop schedule, only use Centennial. I was a little concerned about replacing the bittering hop (Horizon) with Centennial, but checking with Brewmaster's Warehouse, the AA% of the in-stock Horizon is only 8% (BCS assumes 13%) and the AA% of the in-stock Centennial is 8.7%.

I really like Centennial and was a big fan of Two-Hearted a few years ago (seems different to me now, still very good, just not quite as magical), but I'd be open to suggestions for other hops to try in this beer. I'd like your thoughts and feedback.

[NHBrewer]

Go for it. I brew single hop beers a lot. Just adjust the bittering charge based on Jamil's 13% AA horizon with your 8% Centennials and change out the other hops one for one. Have fun and enjoy.

NHB

[brewinhard]

Single hop beers are really the best way to get to know a hop's true character from bittering to flavor and all the way through aroma. I couldn't think of a better recipe to try it out with either!

[Afterlab]

But, I've been wanting to brew session single hop beer that showcases the qualities of that one hop while still balanced. My idea is to brew the American Pale Ale recipe from BCS, but instead of following the Horizon, Cascade, Centennial, Cascade, Centennial hop schedule, only use Centennial. I was a little concerned about replacing the bittering hop (Horizon) with Centennial, but checking with Brewmaster's Warehouse, the AA% of the in-stock Horizon is only 8% (BCS assumes 13%) and the AA% of the in-stock Centennial is 8.7%.

I borrowed my BCS book to a friend last weekend so I don't have the Hop Schedule in front of me, but here is something you can try. When substituting out hops you should not only look at Alpha Acids and Flavor but you should examine the amount of Total Oil and Co-Humulone that is present in both hops. The Co-Humulone level will give you an idea of how intense the bitterness may be and the Total Oil level can give you an idea of how present the volatile aromatic oils will be.

You can substitute out 1 oz of Horizon for 1 oz of whatever hop and if your Co-Humulone and Oils levels are way off chances are you will notice. This doesn't mean you will make a bad beer but it typically means you won't be as close as you had hoped. Long story short you may want to back off a little on your Centennial bittering.


Horizon
Alpha: 11% - 13%
Co-Humulone: 16% -19% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 1.5 - 2.0 ml/100g

Centennial
Alpha 9.5% - 11.5%
Co-Humulone 28% - 30% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 1.5 - 2.5 ml/100g

Peter Hoey mentioned in the Single Hop Beers episode of the Sunday Session that he brewed a lot of standard Pale Ale recipes but just switched out the hops each time to see what each hop did. The only thing he changed was the 60 min bitterness additions to make sure it matched the same IBUs. For his aroma hops he just substituted pound for pound without altering hop times and amounts.

[LeSinge]

APA is a great starting place for single hop beers, especially when dry-hopped
I've done over a dozen split-wort single-hop batches with the same 20, 5, 0 and dry charges, and just adjusting the 60 min bittering addition...the results are very illuminating when you start to notice that the AAs are not the only key indicator of the strength of each hop's characteristics...and especially when comparing singlehop beers brewed with the same batch of wort.
so I guess my advice is to split the wort and do two single-hop brews or do the BCS recipe and your Centennial, and compare them to find out more that way.

[keelanfish]

Thanks for all the great input. I've decided to stick with my original plan and brew the BCS APA recipe with 100% Centennial. Order is in and I'll pick up the kit from Brewmasters warehouse tonight on my way home. Brewing in honor of Martin Luther THE King Day monday.

Cheers!

[keelanfish]

So, now I have questions about water. A couple of recent water analyses from my area have been shared with me from fellow BNers. The pertinent information for both are listed below.

Ca 9 13
Mg 2 2
Na 9 12
Cl 9 12
SO4 12 18
HCO3 16 22

Using a nifty spreadsheet someone shared on this forum called EZ Water Calculator Spreadsheet 3.0, I've entered this data and find the local tap water by itself results in a mash pH that is too high (using the grains involved in this mash) and that all of the five suggested ranges for Ca Mg Na CL and SO4 are low.

Using 7.4 gallons of strike water and 9.0 gallons of sparge water, and playing with the spreadsheet, I'm finding that I need to adde the following

CaSO4 Mash 3 grams Sparge 3.6 grams
Cacl2 Mash 7 grams Sparge 8.5 grams
MgSO4 Mash 5 grams Sparge 6.1 grams
NaHCO3 Mash 4 grams Sparge 4.9 grams

I also need to add 4 ml of Lactic Acid to the mash to result in a pH of 5.5.

Doing these adjustments, the spreadsheets gives the following results

Ca 101 suggested range 50-150
Mg 19 suggested range 10-30
Na 48 suggested range 0-150
Cl 130 suggested range 0-250
SO4 141 suggested range 50-350

Questions: am I doing this right? are the end results of the water profile appropriate for an APA? Do I add the water additions to the hot liquore tank or to the mash tun?

[keelanfish]

Yesterday's brewing went flawlessly. Hit all temps, volumes and O.G. was 1.050, only two points higher than the expected 1.048. I'm still tweaking my mash efficiency, for this brew it was at 75%, may need to bump that up one or two points.

Anyhow, after a little more research and relistening to the first three water shows with Jamil and Palmer I went ahead with adjusting the water. I added Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, Epsom Salt and Baking Soda to the mash along with lactic acid to achieve a calculated room temp mash pH of 5.51. I then added additional water adjustment directly to the boil kettle once all the sparging was complete as Palmer suggested in the shows. This should give the following results (assuming I did everything correct).

Calcium 80 ppm
Magnesium 19 ppm
Sodium 48 ppm
Chloride 78 ppm
Sulfate 161 ppm
Chloride/Sulfate Ratio 0.48

I know this brew is done, so no changing it now. I would however appreciate anyone's input with regard to the water adjustments. This was my first time and I feel a bit unsure of this. I'll report back once I have a chance to taste the finished product.

Cheers!