For my most recent brew, I found three different Peeper Ale clone recipes and mixed and matched them to come up with what I judged to be a good first stab at it. Here's the recipe I made:
Malt:
7 lb. light malt extract
Steeping Grains:
0.5 lb. Caramel malt
0.25 lb. Red Wheat malt
0.25 lb. American Vienna
Hops:
0.75 oz. Amarillo (60 min.)
2 oz. Centennial (1 min.)
2 oz. Cascade (1 min.)
2 oz. Amarillo (1 min.)
Dry hops (in secondary, 14 days)
2 oz. Centennial
4 oz. Cascade
Yeast:
Safale US-05
The overall result is better than I would have ever expected for a first go. Everything about it is perfect, EXCEPT, it's just a little too bitter on the finish. It's very slight; my neighbor, who is also a big fan of Peeper, does not taste it (and he is not just being polite; we know each other too well for that).
My thinking is that perhaps I left it in the secondary too long with the dry hops. It was not my intention to leave it for two weeks, but life got in the way. But before I try it again next time, I thought I'd post here and see if anyone has any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas that might help me mellow the finish.
What say you?