18B American Pale Ale
Panhead APA (November 2022)
Grain bill
| Gladfield Ale Malt | 4.8 kg | 82.8% |
| Gladfield Light Crystal Malt | 0.6 kg | 10.3% |
| Gladfield Medium Crystal Malt | 0.4 kg | 6.9% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | half tablet @ 10 min |
| Yeast nutrient | half tsp @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 30 min | 10 min | WP 90°C | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simcoe | 10g | · | 20g | 20g | 50g |
| Centennial | · | 10g | 20g | 30g | 40g |
| Cascade | · | · | · | 30g | 70g |
Yeast
| Safale US-05 | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | half tsp in mash |
| Calcium Sulphate | 1 tsp in mash |
| Lactic acid (88%) | less than half tsp in sparge water, target pH ~5.5 |
About This Beer
A later entry in the Panhead lineage. Owen’s notebook labels this “APA (variation of Panhead Supercharger)” — the recipe is no longer a strict clone, it’s evolved into Owen’s own APA template. Brewed exactly one year after batch 18 (November 2021); Owen first cloned the Supercharger as batches 7 and 9 in 2020–21.
This batch is Owen’s consolidation move: batch 22’s process refinements (whirlpool, doubled pitch, sparge pH adjustment, Gladfield crystals) combined with batch 18’s original hop varieties (Simcoe / Centennial / Cascade). The cold crash and priming sugar adjustments are direct responses to batch 22’s under-carbonation feedback.
The Recipe Evolution
| Batch 18 (Nov 2021) | Batch 22 (Feb 2022) | Batch 30 (Nov 2022) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystals | Briess Caramel 20L/40L | Gladfield Light/Medium | Gladfield Light/Medium |
| Hops | Simcoe + Centennial + Cascade | Pacific Jade + Mosaic + Cascade | Simcoe + Centennial + Cascade |
| Late-boil structure | 1-min flameout | 20-min whirlpool | 20-min whirlpool |
| Pitch rate | 1 packet US-05 | 2 packets US-05 | 2 packets US-05 |
| Sparge pH | not adjusted | 5.5 with LA | 5.5 with LA |
| Cold crash | not noted | 11 days @ 13 °C | 1–2 days @ 13 °C |
| Priming sugar | 150 g | 100 g | 120 g |
Grain Bill
5.8 kg total, same as batch 22:
- 4.8 kg Gladfield Ale Malt (base — 82.8 % of grist)
- 0.6 kg Gladfield Light Crystal
- 0.4 kg Gladfield Medium Crystal
Hop Schedule — 300 g, Stable Schedule
300 g total across Simcoe / Centennial / Cascade, each at 100 g:
| Hop | 60 min | 30 min | 10 min | WP 20 min | Dry hop day 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simcoe | 10 | — | 20 | 20 | 50 | 100 |
| Centennial | — | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 100 |
| Cascade | — | — | — | 30 | 70 | 100 |
Same structural schedule as batch 22 (the “Owen Panhead schedule” — 10 g bittering, 20 g flavour, 20–30 g whirlpool, 40–70 g dry hop) with batch 18’s hop varieties restored.
Fermentation — Shorter Cold Crash
2 packets of Safale US-05 pitched at 19.5 °C. Plan:
- 19.5 °C for 5 days
- Dry hop on day 5
- 19.5 °C for further 5 days
- Cold crash at 13 °C for 1–2 days (much shorter than batch 22’s 11 days)
The 1–2 day cold crash is a direct response to batch 22’s under-carbonation problem — 11 days at 13 °C had dropped too much yeast for bottle conditioning. This batch limits the crash to just enough to settle but not strip the yeast.
Dry hop on day 5: 50 g Simcoe + 40 g Centennial + 70 g Cascade (160 g total).
FG hit 1.012 vs 1.008 target. US-05 attenuated less hard here than usual but the 4-point over-shoot on OG (1.054 vs 1.050) cancelled it out for ABV.
Water treatment: ½ tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp calcium sulphate in mash. Sparge water pH-adjusted to ~5.5 with <½ tsp 88 % lactic acid.
Packaging
120 g of sugar for bottle conditioning at 20.5 L = ~5.85 g/L. This matches the level batch 24 used successfully — Owen back to a known-good carbonation target after the under-carbonation experiments in batches 25 and 26.
| Batch | Sugar | Volume | g/L | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazy IPA II (#23) | 130 g | 22 L | 5.9 | — |
| Black IPA (#24) | 120 g | 22 L | 5.5 | — |
| Black IPA (#25) | 105 g | 20.8 L | 5.0 | ”less fizzy” |
| Red IPA (#26) | 100 g | 24 L | 4.2 | unknown |
| Tasman PA (#29) | 140 g | 22 L | 6.4 | ”good head” ✓ |
| Panhead APA (#30) | 120 g | 20.5 L | 5.85 | not recorded |
Numbers
| Stage | Target | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Mash + sparge | 31.5 L | 31.5 L |
| Pre-boil | 27 L | 26.0 L |
| Boil addition | 3 L | 3 L |
| Post-boil | 27 L | 26.0 L |
| Into fermenter | 24 L | 23.0 L |
| Bottle | 22 L | 20.5 L |
| Target | Actual | |
|---|---|---|
| OG | 1.050 | 1.054 |
| FG | 1.008 | 1.012 |
| ABV | 5.51 % | 5.51 % |
Hit target ABV exactly. Target 5.51 % matches batch 22’s actual — Owen targeting recipe replication.
Lineage
- Panhead Supercharger Clone (December 2020 / January 2021) — batches 7 & 9, Owen’s first Panhead clones
- Panhead Supercharger Clone (November 2021) — batch 18
- Panhead Supercharger Clone (February 2022) — Pacific Jade/Mosaic
- This brew — Panhead APA (November 2022) — Owen’s consolidation: own template now
- Panhead APA V2 (August 2024) — follow-up to this stable platform