American Pale Ale: Style Profile
The very first homebrew I ever drank was an American pale ale my neighbor Steve handed to me over our fence. He was trying to make a beer like Sierra Nevada’s pale ale. At the time, that beer was the best beer I had ever tasted and that was the beginning of my own journey into brewing.
Sierra Nevada’s pale ale is now the classic example of American pale ale. The American pale ale style is an offshoot of English pale ale, when American homebrewers began brewing English pale ale with American ingredients and techniques. American pale ale is more about hops and less about malt than English pale ale. Yet, it is not just a hoppier version of an English pale ale. An American pale ale has malt character, but not nearly as much as an English pale ale should have. In addition, caramel character is far more pronounced in an English pale ale than it will be in an American version. There is also a significant difference in fermentation character and hop bitterness, with the English version showing significantly more fermentation character and the American version showing far more bitterness.
It may seem obvious, but I think an American pale should always be pale. The BJCP style guide says American pale ale can range from pale golden to deep amber, but the deeper amber is really more appropriate for the English variety of pale ale. By the time a pale ale reaches deep amber color, it often has too much caramel character or malt character overall and is better categorized as American amber instead. The balance in a good American pale ale can range from slightly bitter to quite firmly bitter. The finish should be medium to medium-dry along with a medium-light to medium body. If you notice a fruity character, it should be coming from the hop selection, as the esters from fermentation should be low for an ale.
You might think that a citrusy character is a requirement in all American styles, but almost any hop character is fine. Generally, American pale ale is citrusy, but fruity, floral, and spicy hop character can be just as welcome. The goal is ample hop character with reasonably firm bittering.
You have some options when choosing base malt for this style. Using North American two-row will give the beer a clean, subtle, background malt character common to many fine American craft beers. Using North American pale ale malt adds a slightly richer background malt character, somewhat of a light bready note. Again, this is the type of malt character common to many fine North American craft brews. Less frequent is the use of British pale ale malt. British pale ale malt provides an even greater depth of malt character to the beer, mainly a biscuit-like taste and aroma often found in British beers. Some folks feel British pale ale malt can be too much for American styles, so if you prefer a more subtle, restrained malt background, go with North American two-row or pale ale malt. All-grain brewers can use a single infusion mash and should target a mash that will leave enough long chain sugars in the beer to help fill out the body. A temperature around 150 to 154 °F (66 to 68°C) creates wort with a nice balance between fermentable and non-fermentable sugars.
American pale ale should not exhibit a lot of specialty malt character, though it can be present. Bready, toasty, and biscuit notes are acceptable, but watch out if you use anything but the lightest caramel malts. It is easy to cross the line and end up with an American amber. If you do use caramel malts, focus more on the light color ones (<30 °L) or use restraint with anything darker. Generally speaking, the darker the malt the less you will want to use in an American pale. Focus your specialty malt usage more on the bready malt notes and make sure that the malt character does not start to overwhelm the easy drinking and hoppy balance that is American pale ale. CaraPils®, wheat malt, Victory®, Munich, and more are common additions to many American pale recipes. Just use restraint so the beer does not become saturated with unfermentable dextrins or cloying flavors. Target between 0 and 15% for these additional specialty grains.
You have quite a bit of flexibility in hopping American pale ales. The balance of bittering versus malt sweetness can range from slightly bitter to firmly bitter. Target a bitterness to starting gravity ratio (IBU divided by OG) of 0.5 to 0.7 for a more balanced beer or 0.7 to 1.0 for a bold American pale. I tend to target right in between at a ratio of 0.7. If you do go toward the upper end of the ratio, just be aware that you run the risk of making something more like an IPA. Hop flavor and aroma varies from moderate to bold. I really like using citrusy or piney American variety hops such as Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Simcoe®, and Amarillo® for flavor and aroma, but there are plenty of great examples out there that use a wide variety of hops from around the world. You can use almost any hop you feel has a pleasant character. It is the overall impression that matters. You can bitter with almost any hop as well, but clean, neutral hops are most common. The big picture is that you want hop character and a firm bitterness, but both should complement your malt and yeast choices. Dry hopping is acceptable as well, but in moderation. Too much will push the beer into IPA territory and can develop resin and grassy notes.
Fermentation for American pale ale is straightforward. Like the majority of American ales, this style most often has a clean profile, with very low to no fruity esters. A slight fruitiness can be welcome, as long as it is not excessive. If you do want some esters and a touch more malty character, a relatively clean English-style yeast such as White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) or Wyeast 1968 (London ESB) at lower fermentation temperatures (63–65 °F/17–18 °C) can produce fine results. However, many English-style yeasts attenuate lower than most American-style yeasts, so you might need to account for that in your recipe formulation. I prefer to use a clean, moderately attenuating yeast, such as White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale). To get that clean, American-style pub character make certain that you oxygenate the wort and pitch an appropriate amount of healthy yeast. Ferment around 67 °F (19 °C), holding the temperature steady or rising slightly throughout fermentation. Temperature control is important to getting a proper level of attenuation and avoiding off-flavors, especially if you are making a bigger beer. Large temperature swings can result in the yeast flocculating early or producing off flavors. Raising the temperature a few degrees near the end of fermentation can also help the yeast attenuate fully and may also help clean up some of the intermediate compounds that are produced during fermentation.
Related Links:
• Read more about brewing American pale ale: www.byo.com/component/resource/article/134
• Read more about brewing hoppy American pale ales with “C” hops: www.byo.com/component/resource/article/1202
American Pale Ale by the numbers
OG: 1.045–1.060 (11.2–14.7 °P)
FG: 1.010–1.015 (2.6 –3.8 °P)
SRM: 5–14
IBU: 30–45
ABV: 4.5–6.2%
American Pale Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.056 (13.8 °P) FG = 1.013 (3.2 °P)
IBU = 40 SRM = 6 ABV = 5.7%
A middle of the road, more malt and hop balanced American PA.
Ingredients
10.2 lb. (4.62 kg) Great Western North American pale malt (2 °L)
10.6 oz. (300 g) Best Malz Munich malt 8 °L
10.6 oz. (300 g) Briess Victory® malt 28 °L
7.1 oz. (200 g) Great Western wheat malt 2 °L
6.89 AAU Horizon pellet hops (0.53 oz./15 g at 13% alpha acids) (60 min.)
4.5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 9% alpha acids) (10 min.)
3 AAU Cascade pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 6% alpha acids) (10 min.)
4.5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
3 AAU Cascade pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 6% alpha acids) (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05
Step by Step
Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.5 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight) and a temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at 152 °F (67 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Infuse the mash with near-boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Sparge slowly with 170 °F (77 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 5.9 gallons (22.3 L) and the gravity is 1.048 (11.8 °P).
Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. The total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil and add the last two hop additions at 10 minutes remaining and at flame out. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 10 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 2 packages of liquid yeast, or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 2-liter starter.
Ferment around 67 °F (19 °C) until the yeast drops clear. With healthy yeast, fermentation should be complete in a week or less. Allow the lees to settle and the brew to mature without pressure for another two days after fermentation appears finished. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
American Pale Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.056 (13.8 °P) FG = 1.013 (3.2 °P)
IBU = 40 SRM = 6 ABV = 5.7%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) pale liquid malt extract
10.6 oz. (300 g) Best Malz Munich malt 8 °L
10.6 oz. (300 g) Briess Victory® malt 28 °L
7.1 oz. (200 g) Great Western wheat malt 2 °L
6.89 AAU Horizon pellet hops (0.53 oz./15 g at 13% alpha acids) (60 min.)
4.5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 9% alpha acids) (10 min.)
3 AAU Cascade pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 6% alpha acids) (10 min.)
4.5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 9% alpha acids) (0 min.)
3 AAU Cascade pellet hops (0.50 oz./14 g at 6% alpha acids) (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05
Step by Step
If you can’t get fresh liquid malt extract, it is better to use an appropriate amount of dry malt extract (DME) instead.
Mill or coarsely crack the specialty malt and place loosely in a grain bag. Avoid packing the grains too tightly in the bag, using more bags if needed. Steep the bag in about 1 gallon (~4 liters) of water at roughly 160 °F (71 °C) for about 30 minutes. Lift the grain bag out of the steeping liquid and rinse with warm water. Allow the bags to drip into the kettle for a few minutes while you add the malt extract. Do not squeeze the bags. Add enough water to the steeping liquor and malt extract to make a pre-boil volume of 5.9 gallons (22.3 liters) and a gravity of 1.0485 (11.8 °P). Stir thoroughly to help dissolve the extract and bring to a boil.
Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. The total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil and add the last two hop additions at 10 minutes remaining and at flame out. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 10 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 2 packages of liquid yeast, or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 2 liter starter. Follow the fermentation and packaging instructions for the all-grain version.
Tips For Success:
Generally speaking, the darker the malt the less you will want to use in an American pale. Focus your specialty malt usage more on the bready malt notes and make sure that the malt character does not start to overwhelm the easy drinking and hoppy balance that is American pale ale.
I really like using citrusy or piney American variety hops such as Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Simcoe®, and Amarillo® for flavor and aroma, but there are plenty of great examples out there that use a wide variety of hops from around the world. You can use almost any hop you feel has a pleasant character. It is the overall impression that matters.
