Dirktastic Light - AKA Tasty APA Light

I decided that while it has cooled off, it's time to rebrew some old favorites. This time, it was Dirktastic, my version of Tasty APA.

Dirktastic APA

Adapted by Jeff Holt

Mike "Tasty" McDole brewed this Pliny Light recipe. I modified the recipe to 5 gallons and my efficiency (60%).

Estimated OG - 1.056
Estimated IBUs - 42

8# 2 row
3# pilsner
1# Cara-Pils
1/2# Crystal 40L
1/2# flaked wheat
.25 oz Chinook 13%/mash
.25 oz Warrior 19%/60
.25 oz Simcoe 12%/10
.25 oz Northern Brewer 9%/10
.25 oz Centennial 10.5%/1
.25 oz Simcoe 12%/1
2 oz Cascade 5.75/0
1 oz Columbus 15%/dry
.5 oz Centennial 10.5%/dry
.5 oz Simcoe 12%/dry
Irish moss
WLP 001

Now, when I ordered the ingredients, I knew I couldn't get the same alpha acids as the recipe called for. Except for the Cascade and the Centennial, since the amounts were so small, I figured I could adjust the weight as needed.

The water here in Fredericksburg is a bit on the hard side, so I blended that water with distilled water to get something a bit softer. The recipe in the newsletter is Tasty's original recipe, with his brewing notes. Mash at 154°, then ferment around 68°. Add the dry hops when the ferment is about 90% finished. I fermented 14 days and dry hopped for 8 days.

This has a huge hop nose, like opening a fresh pack of hops. The combination of hops give the beer a grapefruit taste that is suprisingly smooth. You might want to make the 12 gallon version. It goes fast!

The name comes from my Forum name on the Brewing Network, Dirk McLargeHuge, and is a riff on Chad's version called Shatastic.

This time around, however, I used on 7 pounds of 2-row, and I couldn't source the Columbus hops, so I replaced them Cascade, which kept my BU:GU ratio in balance with the stronger version. I got an OG of 1.046. I let it ferment one week, then added the dry hops. When I kegged a week later, my gravity was 1.006.