Need advice with a recipe.

If your using distilled water for the beer, you will need to learn about water chemistry and make additions. That's the end of my water chem smarts.
The rest of the recipe looks fine. I usually dry hop for no more than 5 days but 7 may be fine.

The thing to remember when making yer own recipes is to keep records on what you used, how you used it ans what was good or bad. Looking over the recipe page will give you more ideas.

Have fun.

 

Using distilled water is OK for extract brewing. The water minerals are 'in' the extract.

Cheers!

 

I have never brewed with that specific mix of hops but your overall recipe looks fine to me.

I don't comprehend why you are using differing dry hop durations for Cascade vs. Simcoe but...

I personally utilize a dry hop duration between 7 - 14 days in my homebrewing.

Cheers!

 

Do you own a wort chiller? If so, go for the full boil.

Cheers!

 

I sounds like you are making an attempt to create a clone brew of a specific beer that you like. How certain are you of the types of hops used and the relative amounts, or is this an educated shot in the dark? To me, 99% of I like an IPA is the hop character from using hops that I like, and I'm disappointed if I don't nail the right combo. You're using hops that are very popular (although I don't have an opinion on the Apollo), so you should end up with something that is tasty. I hope your aim is good.

 

I have no idea what would be the correlation with "the hops were very weak" but I can report that LME goes stale more quickly than DME. I am reading your description of "had this malty taste to them" as meaning you were not too thrilled with the taste? If so, maybe the LME you used was non-fresh?

Cheers!

 

If it was me...and it's not, I'd only do a 30 min FWH (you'll need a bag) as Apollo is one of the most potent bittering hops known to man

 

True, although mineral additions may still be useful for influencing hop character. But for a relatively new brewer, I wouldn't consider it a high priority.

 

I had a draft pint of this beer this past weekend and I really enjoyed this beer!! It was just a bit hazy (not murky/turbid/opaque) but it sure tasted like a 'NE' style hoppy beer to me; it had a nice 'juicy' quality and a nice soft mouthfeel.

It sounds to me like you know what kinds of beers you like. One benefit of homebrewing is that you can make exactly the styles you like in the manner that you like.

Sometimes when I speak to non-homebrewers I use the analogy of Chili (I assume that everybody has made Chili at least once in their lifetime). The benefit of making your own Chili is that you can make it just the way you like:

• With meat or without meat
• If meat: ground beer or beef cubes or some other meat besides beef
• What ever beans you like (I prefer kidney beans)
• What ever level of spicing you want: mild. medium hot, atomic hot
• Whatever peppers you want (I use Cayenne pepper)
• etc.

Good luck making your beer exactly the way you want!!

Cheers!

 

For instance I think fuggles ruin a good chili