So... What is it?

XPA beers are known for their lighter color, often golden to light amber, which is achieved by using paler malts. The defining characteristic of XPA is the generous use of hops, typically showcasing a variety of hop flavors and aromas, typically sitting between 4.5-5.5%. This results in a beer that is more hop-forward than a standard Pale Ale but not as intense as an India Pale Ale (IPA).

What's our like?

Well first and foremost, we stuffed up! there was a couple hiccups on the brew-day which resulted in the aroma and whirlpool (flameout hops) steeping for too long at too high a temperature, so end result was an XPA that was just wayyy too bitter! But ignoring that the actual zesty fresh fruit and citrus flavours of the hops came punching through, the colour was a little dark despite the body being very balanced and the abv finished at a relatively sessionable 5.5%, so all in all a great summer beer for when you want a bit more than just a pale ale, but not quite a full IPA!

I would recommend taking note of the adjustments we would make to our recipe before brewing this one like we did in the video! notes below!

POST BREW GRAIN ALTERATIONS

• In hindsight we would swap out the medium crystal with either honey malt or toffee malt for a lighter colour and sweetness

POST BREW HOPS ALTERATIONS

1. Instead of adding hops at 10 minutes left, instead add those hops to the flameout hops and only hop steep for 15 mins
   OR
2. add the hops as in the recipe, but before adding the flameout hops drop the temperature of the wort down to 75-80°C (167-176°F) then add the flameout hops for hop steeping

Batch Size & Stats

• 19L / 5 gal finished beer
• 24L (6.3 gal) wort
• Starting gravity – 1.051
• Final gravity 1.009
• ABV – 5.5%

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What ingredients?

Water 

With sparging

• 15L (3.9 gal) strike water approx. 66°C (15.8°F)
• 20L (5.2 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)

Without sparging

• 30L (7.9 gal) strike water approx. 66°C (15.8°F)

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Malts

Total Grain Bill 5kg (11 4lb)

• Pale ale malt – 3.8kg (8.38 lb)
• wheat  – 800g (1.76 lb)
• Medium Crystal - 200g (0.44 lb)
• Carapils malt  – 200g (0.44 lb)

POST BREW ALTERATION - In hindsight we would swap out the medium crystal with either honey malt or toffee malt for a lighter colour and sweetness

Hops & whirlfloc tablets  

Chinook

• 15g (0.53 oz) - 60 minutes left in the boil

Galaxy

• 15g (0.53 oz) - 10 minutes left in the boil
• 20g (0.7 oz) - hop steep at flameout for 20 mins
• 20g (0.7 oz) - dry hop near end of fermentation

Amarillio

• 15g (0.53 oz) - 10 minutes left in the boil
• 20g (0.7 oz) - hop steep at flameout for 20 mins
• 20g (0.7 oz) - dry hop near end of fermentation

Whirlfloc 

• 1.5g (0.052 oz) / 2 tablets – 15 minutes left in the boil

Yeast options & fermentation temperatures

• US-05  – ferment at 20°C (68°F) 23g (0.81 oz) / (2 packets)
• AUS-05  – ferment at 20°C (68°F) 23g (0.81 oz) / (2 packets)
• S-04  – ferment at 18°C (64.4°F) 22g (0.81 oz) / (2 packets)

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Step by step process

Step 1 – Milling

• Mill grains to medium crush (set mill rollers to a gap of approx. 1.00mm / 0.039 inches (credit card width)
• Just keep in mind roller gap settings are not universal so as you brew more batches you will find the ideal crush size for your setup
• Alternatively if you don’t have a grain mill you can order your grains crushed from most homebrew stores, both online and in person

Step 2 – Mashing 

Mash for 60 minutes at 66°C (150.8°F) with 15L (3.9 gal) of strike water

• Set your strike water to a few degrees above the target mash temperature (you can use the calculator in our website for this)
• ensure you mix in the grains thoroughly with a mash paddle to prevent dough balls from forming (big spoons, spatulas or whisks will also work)  
• its easier to mash the grains and prevent dough balls if you add a little grain at a time, mix, add more grain and repeat until all the grains are mixed

if you don’t have a mash tun with heating then ensure after you have finished mixing the grains in to insulate your mash tun (thick neoprene or heavy blankets both work well)

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Step 3 (optional) – Sparging

• if your setup has the capability to sparge then do so with 20L (5.2 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
• if you are not sparging and using a BIAB (brew in a bag) method then remove grains from mash tun and twist and squeeze the bag to get as much liquid out of the grains as possible
• as you start sparging (or straining your BIAB bag) begin raising the temperature of your wort to a boil

Step 4 – Boiling

• once your wort begins to boil start a timer for a 60-minute boil and add your bittering hops, 15g (0.53 oz) of Chinook
• at 15 minutes left in the boil add 1 whirlfloc tablet (OR granulated whirlfloc 0.7g (0.025 oz)
• at 10 minutes left in the boil add 15g (0.53 oz) each of amarillio and galaxy
• after 60 mins of boil turn off your heat source and add 20g (0.7 oz) of galaxy & amarillio and allow to steep for 20 minutes

POST BREW ALTERATION - In hind sight we would reccomend making 1 of 2 changes!

1. Instead of adding hops at 10 minutes left, instead add those hops to the flameout hops and only hop steep for 15 mins
   OR
2. add the hops as in the recipe, but before adding the flameout hops drop the temperature of the wort down to 75-80°C (167-176°F) then add the flameout hops for hop steeping

Step 5 – Whirlpooling / cooling

• After 20 mins total of hop steeping begin chilling wort down to yeast pitching temperature
• once you’ve reached yeast pitching temperature take an original gravity reading of your wort

Step 6 – Yeast Pitching

• It is best to make a yeast starter before beginning your brew day (ideally 1 day before) to ensure your yeast are as active and healthy as possible before pitching, but not completely necessary – you could also just rehydrate yeast 30 minutes before pitching.
• Wort Aeration (Optional) if you have a paint mixer give your wort a quick blitz before pitching yeast to help add more dissolved oxygen into the wort to help the yeast have a healthier kick start into fermentation
• Now add your tincture of Vanilla extract! (or you can wait till end of fermentation if you prefer)
• Pitch yeast in wort a degree or two higher than the target fermentation temperature to help yeast take off more aggressively 

• To make a yeast starter you can use either:

• DME (dry malt extract) at a ratio of approx. 100g per 1L water (3.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) for gravity of approx. 1.040 
• some unfermented wort kept cold and sanitary from a previous brew day
• 70g of table sugar per 1L water (2.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) – however, it is best to use malt sugar (wort / DME) whenever possible to reduce the chance of shocking the yeast with a different food source from starter to wort pitching

• To rehydrate yeast

• Add yeast to approx. 10 times as much room temperature water as the weight of the yeast e.g. 10g yeast in 100 ml water (0.35 oz yeast in 3.5 fluid ounces water)

Step 7 – Fermentation & Dry Hopping

• Allow yeast to ferment over the next two weeks (aprox)
• If you have a temperature-controlled system keep the fermenter temperature to the recommended fermentation temperature for each yeast strain (stated in the yeast ingredients section above)

• After 7 days of fermentation or around 1.011 gravity, its time to dry hop, add 20g (0.7 oz) each of galaxy and amarillio and allow fermentation to continue for a further 4 days
• It's important to note that fermentation times will vary based on your circumstances like temperature, amount of yeast pitched, the healthiness of yeast, the gravity of the wort, pH, etc. so don’t stress be patient and know that these times are just a rough guide
• If you have temp control then when there are 2 days left of fermentation raise the temperature by 2 degrees for a diacetyl rest (once gravity reaches roughly 1.014) & gravity is the same 3 days in a row move onto cold crashing! (If you can’t / don’t want to cold crash go straight to kegging/bottling your beer!)

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Step 8 (optional) – Cold crashing 

• begin cold crashing your fermenter (bring the temperature of your fermenter down to as close to 0°C (32°F) as possible, for 2 days to a week depending on how patient you are
• If you don’t have a temp-controlled fermenter, you can cold crash by putting your fermenter in a fridge or temp-controlled chest freezer
• After you have finished cold crashing it's time to keg/bottle your beer! If you are bottling your beer from the fermenter uncarbonated, remember to add about 5-7 grams (0.17 - 0.24 oz) of priming sugar to your bottles to carbonate your beer.

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