Help with an IIPA recipe - advice appreciated!

Hey guys and gals, I’m looking for a little bit of help please. I’ve been brewing for about a year, with around 16 batches under my belt. Mostly partial mashes since I can’t do a full boil at the moment. I’ve learned a lot over those 16 batches, but I’m still a novice.

Long story short, my dad and I were kicking back with family over Thanksgiving drinking some local Michigan brew. Everyone was chatting about the good beer, some of mine included, and my father offered to buy the ingredients for a batch if we could make one together, no price limit.

His words were “I want an epic Imperial IPA, and I want it to be glorious. I don’t care what it costs.” :rockin: Hah, ok Dad, now we’re talking my language. Then he told me he wants it a minimum of 10%, more if we can. I’m not looking for anything ridiculous, so I don’t really want to aim for more than 11 or 12% at most. Hell, that’s more than enough.

My biggest concern is keeping the beer from being overly sweet, so figuring out what yeast to use really has me stumped. I typically have good brew house efficiency of around 75% even partial mashing, but I’d like a yeast that can handle that high of abv and still attenuate well. I don’t normally make my bears that high. Usually they’re in the 6- 7% range, so my experience is limited here.

Equipment : 10 Gallon Rubbermaid round MLT, about a 5.5 gallon boil pot, two - 6.5 gallon bucket primaries, 6 gallon better bottle primary, and one 5 gallon better bottle secondary.

House efficiency around 75% with roughly 1/3 of the base typically being extract due to the low boil volume. (My mash efficiency keeps getting better and better as time goes on)

So here are my questions:

- What yeast should I use if aiming for good attenuation at 10+abv. I was considering Nottingham since I’ve had excellent results with it in the past, but I haven’t used any other high attenuating yeasts in that high of an alcohol range before. Suggestions would be appreciated.

- He wants a hop profile that is piney, and with me favoring citrus/piney flavors, I was thinking Northern Brewer and Centennial, maybe with a touch of Cascade at flavoring. What hop profile would you folks suggest?

- Is there a point to using MO as part of the base grain, or will the character of MO be lost amongst all of the hops?

- How much crystal malt is worth putting in? I usually aim for around 5% depending on the beer, but I’ve never made an IIPA this beefy before.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I may have some further questions as I have my head buried in recipes and brewtarget.

Thanks in advance!

BlueWolf said:

“I want an epic Imperial IPA, and I want it to be glorious. I don’t care what it costs.”

Click to expand...

Now that is awesome. I certainly wouldn't let that go to waste!

My advice would be not to use Nottingham. I can't see that tasting right with all those American hops. Chinook could be a good addition for piney/citrus.

I'm sure with a thread like this you'll get plenty of replies, so I'll let those with more IIPAs under their belt give better advice than me. I just wanted to chime in after reading your dad's quote.

Sounds like fun.

I have never used Nottingham in an IIPA, but it should be alcohol tolerant enough to get the job done. Last one I made I used Northwest Ale. By all means keep the crystal down as it can be distracting when used with too heavy a hand in this style. To keep it from being overly sweet mash low, especially in such a big beer and if you are going to use extract. Some table sugar will also help to keep it dry, bump up the OG and abv without increasing your boil volume, and can even be added during primary. I tend to use a lb in an IIPA with great results.
Chinook like the above poster mentioned would work for pine, I also find simcoe to have a piney flavor/aroma, but I caution I have never used them together.

Oh and a big starter.... don't forget that...

Chico is a good yeast for IIPA. Clean if ferm temps are under control, and it will dry it out nice. You could probably use no Crystal at all, and you should have plenty of body getting the gravity that high.

When I do something like this I mash low (149). I get around 80% attenuation from Chico with a big starter. I also like Centennial hops. I like to bitter with something like Columbus, flavor and aroma with Centennial, then dry hop with Amarillo ... but thats just me.

nugget or warrior hops would be the two that i would suggest they have a resiny smell/flavor with a citrus aftertaste.

Your biggest problem is going to be with the partial boil. This leads to multiple issues:

1) You'll have to use extract, and it generally doesn't attenuate as well.
2) Your hop utilization won't be great because of the concentration.
3) You'll lose a lot of wort to all the hops you'll need.

I think that you're really going to have to consider boiling in two pots. Maybe one of them is just for the runnings from the mash and the hops, and the other one is to boil some DME in water. This will allow you to get a lot of use out of your hops, and you won't lose as many sugars to the trub. You need to go into this with a high expectation of not hitting your OG, or at least have thought very deeply about how you will measure your gravity and be able to add more DME to compensate.

As for grain composition, I love Maris Otter but I think you'll probably just want to stick with 2row for simplicity. 5% crystal sounds fine - use your crystal for flavor and color rather than sweetness because you'll get that from the extract. I recommend at least 10% granulated sugar to help with attenuation. Just add it to the fermentor at pitching time.

Stick with one of the higher attenuation yeast strains. 001, 051, or even 007 (if you're okay with some extra maltiness). Make a starter that's about 5-10% larger than Mr Malty recommends. If you don't have oxygen capabilities, make it 10-15% larger.

You'll need to aim for an OG of about 1.080-1.095. I'm guessing that you won't be able to attenuate beyond 1.015 and that's if everything goes perfectly. To get 10%ABV you'll need to attenuate about 75 gravity points. Let's say worst case you don't attenuate past 1.025... that means you need to start with an OG of 1.100. If you're lucky and think you can get down to 1.010, then your OG will need to be 1.085. So work with those numbers.

As for hop bill, I recommend mixing some citrus and pine together. Amarillo for citrus, Simcoe for citrus and pine, and a wildcard of Centennial for some coolness and floral flavors. Don't even try to calculate IBUs, just put in a huge charge of a high alpha hop - doesn't really matter which variety - use at least 2-3oz. Then pick out your finishing hops. You should have at least 5oz of finishing hops, and as much as say 8oz or more? At least 2oz at flameout and 2oz at 10min, but feel free to up these.

Considering all the hops you'll use, you might want to figure out a way to really squeeze out everything from the hops after the brew. Maybe you even reserve a whole gallon of clean, hot water just for sparging the hops?

Have you read Designing Great Beers? If you understand the concept of total gravity units and gravity units per gallon then you'll be able to figure out how much DME you'll need to boil in a separate pot.

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!

More questions below.

Kanzimonson: You hit a lot of points I've been thinking about. Getting a good enough attenuation out of it and hitting my OG has been a big question for me, and I'm considering taking this opportunity to say "Screw it" and finally go the extra step for all grain. I don't have trouble getting almost 5 gallons of wort to boil on my stove, what's the likelihood I'll have trouble with 7 gallons on my gas stove?

Losing volume to the mass amounts of trub has been another thing I've been thinking about. I'm wondering if it would be worth using a hop bag(s) for both the boil and the dry hop to help keep the trub level down. Would that help?

I had been planning on using 10-15% corn sugar/table sugar to help boost the abv and dry it out a bit more. With the hop level shooting way into tooth enamel stripping ranges, could I even bump that closer to 20%, or would any off flavors still show through?

The good news is that we're not planning on brewing this one up until sometime in January, so it gives me some time to plan all of this out.

For yeasts, I've used 001 many times, I just wasn't sure how it would perform in those high of ranges. It's one of my favorite strains, along with 005 and Denny's Favorite 50. I didn't think either of the latter choices would be very good, but again, I don't have a lot of experience brewing monster beers in this range.

Thanks again to all for the feedback. I'm still tossing a bunch of hop flavor combination's around my head. Knowing my Dad likes Centennial in the flavor area, that gives me a good place to start at least.

Kanzimonson really highlights some great points so no need to rehash that, 001, 051 or the equivalent 1056 and 1272 are all great, you could do 1084 which is supposed to be great for high gravity according to wyeast website. http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=6

I would suggest trying to go no higher that 10-12% on the sugar, and consider putting some of that in close to the end of fermentation, It'll help reach terminal gravity.

Really consider Late hopping for the flavor development, Simcoe will give you that Signature piney flavor.
Good luck!

I can't give you any experiential advice on boiling that much on a stove top... from what I've read some people have powerful enough ranges to do it but most people don't. It's a good sign that you can boil 5 without a problem.

A hop bag in the boil will help with trub loss, but only because you can suspend it over the BK after the boil and wring it out... but don't spend too long with this because you don't want cooled wort exposed to the air for long. I still think sparging the trub is a better idea (which could be done efficiently in a hop bag).

I think you're just going to have to accept trub loss with the dry hopping... that's not the kind of thing you want to wring out because of oxygenation.

As for sugar, I think you could go as high as 20% with no off flavors. I'm actually less concerned about off flavors than an overly dry beer. It's just a balancing act and having an idea what FG your beer will finish. Look over your previous beers to get an idea of the expected attenuation.

If you've used 001 and like it, use it again. It will be fine at the 10% alcohol range. Personally I hate that yeast because of its terrible flocculation, but that's why it's such a great attenuator. Common wisdom is that any yeast can ferment up to 10%, so long as you pitch ULTRA healthy yeast.

Update - Well, it looks like I'll be taking this one all grain after all. It's a good occasion, so why not. Now to just figure out if I can get a sufficient boil on my stove in a 7+ gallon pot or not. I don't think I'll have a problem, it'll just take a little time. 5 gallons hasn't been an issue so far.

Now on to refining the recipe.

Alright, using many of the suggestions here, how does this look for a start?

My father suddenly decided he'd like some color to it, something close to an amber. (shrug) Okay, no biggy. He's paying so I won't complain.

This is without any software on hand at the moment, so bare with me. I threw something together at home before heading to the office, and I believe it looked like this:

16 lb 2 Row
12 oz C40 (4%)
*8 oz Melanoidin malt (2-ish %)
2 lb corn sugar (10-12%)


* I have 1/2 a pound leftover from a few months ago that I used with great success in an amber, but I don't know if the small value would do anything other than a smidge of color. It's about 35L if I remember correctly. One of those take or leave it things, unless somebody has a better suggestion to add color and a smidge of flavoring that would fit.


Using the suggestions that you guys have given, how does Simcoe for bittering, with both Amarillo and Centennial for flavor and dry hopping sound?

I've never used 1084 before, and I'm not sure how it would fit with this hop profile. I don't mind just sticking to 001 though.

Thanks again for the input guys. If anything, this finally gave me the nudge to go all grain that I'd been putting off. Xmas present to myself I suppose.

I would only use up to 7-8% of sugar, lots of big brewery IIPA's are in that range (Pliny). Also don't get caught up with ABV's, IIPA's are typically better in the 9-10% range. As soon as you start going over 10% it becomes more of a balancing act and may take 3-4 times of brewing it to get your recipe where you want it. IIPA's are supposed to have a slight sweetness and caramel note so I'd personally up the Crystal to 1.5lbs. Whatever yeast you use, just make sure you have a good size starter and mash low. Also check out Austin Homebrew supplies Green Belt yeast thats intended for Hoppy beers. I haven't used yet but I have heard great things.

This was the last IIPA that I did and it turned out fantastic. No super Piny hops though it does have a big citrus/fruity hop flavor/aroma. Mashed at 152 for 60min. Has a nice malty body with a very very slight sweetness up front that quickly fades to hops.

Amount Item Type % or IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.8 SRM) Grain 68.75 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 15.63 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.69 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.69 %
1.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 84.2 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [7.20 %] (15 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [11.00 %] (15 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [7.20 %] (5 min) Hops 2.2 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [11.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 6.25 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.088 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.087 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.019 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.00 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.17 %
Bitterness: 103.4 IBU Calories: 400 cal/pint
Est Color: 9.5 SRM Color: Color

Yeah now that you're gonna do it all grain, I'd make 10% sugar your max. You can aim for an OG of 1.085, but plan for pretty low efficiency (especially since it sounds like this will be your first all grain).

Anywhere from .75-1.5# of crystal (which is about 3.5-7%) is fine. If you want it to be red, just use 2-4oz of black patent.

Again, you'll still need to be prepared for a huge amount of wort loss. Don't be tempted to top off the fermentor to hit your target volume - you will miss your OG big time.

boostsr20, is that recipe for a 5 gallon batch? I like how you've included the citra hops!

s-05 can do it easily up to 11%. But you might have problems bottle conditioning if you get too much higher in the ABV. I would keg just to be safe.

centennial for citrusy, chinook for piney, amarillo for awesome, citra for tropical fruits/tangerine

Hey guys,

Just an update - Christmas was good to the brew house this year. I received a new 8 gallon BK, immersion chiller, false bottom and some other odds and ends.

Since I last posted, I've brewed two AG kits from Northern Brewer, and they've came out great so far. Thankfully my stove was capable of bringing 7+ gallons of water to a boil. Between my old BK and my new one, the pots are so big that I can turn on all four burners and get a good rolling boil out of both of them. My efficiency so far has been 78-80%. I'm estimating with this big of a beer it'll be a lower though.

We've drafted a recipe with the feedback I've gathered here, and was hoping for some more input. I really appreciate it!

Batch Size: 5.500 gal
Estimated Efficiency: 75%
Yeast: WLP001 (Second generation)
Starter: Freaking huge
OG: 1.090
FG: 1.021
ABV: 9.0%
Bitterness: 120.5 IBUs
Color: 10 SRM



15 lb - Pale Malt (2 Row) US (85%)
1 lb - Crystal 60L (6%)
0.5 lb - Munich Malt (3%)
1 lb - Corn Sugar (6%)

Total grain: 16.500 lb + 1 lb dextrose

1.5 oz Columbus (14.0%) @ 60 min (48.6 IBU)
1.0 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @40 min (23.4 IBU)
1.0 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @30 min (20.5 IBU)
1.0 oz Centennial (9.1%) @20 min (12.8 IBU)
2.0 oz Centennial (9.1%) @10 min (15.3 IBU)
1.0 oz Centennial (9.1%) Dry Hop
0.5 oz Simcoe (11.5%) Dry Hop
0.5 oz Columbus (14.0%) Dry Hop


We'll probably mash around 149F, and end up boiling in two pots until it reaches a low enough volume for us to begin a 60 minute boil. It'll be a long brew day, but what better way to spend a Saturday than brewing beer, drinking beer and hanging with the guys?

We're shooting for brewing in a few weeks, so I'm hoping to place an order some time soon. That should give me enough time after the order comes in to get a good yeast starter put together.

Feedback on this recipe would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Why boil in two pots? You should be able to make this recipe in an 8gal BK.

And how about some flameout hops?

I am subscribing to this! I love IPA's

I have an IIPA in the secondary now. I did a partial mash using 12# LME, 3# maris otter 2row, 8oz Amarillo in the boil, and 4oz amarillo dry hop. I was shooting for a bit over 10% abv. It was at 7.75% after a week in the primary.

Keep us posted on this brew. Maybe some brewday pics with your pop, and the new brew gear.

kanzimonson said:

Why boil in two pots? You should be able to make this recipe in an 8gal BK.

And how about some flameout hops?

Click to expand...

I was guessing on liquid volumes, I haven't actually run the numbers yet. I have to physically move the BK between the MLT and stove a good 10 feet or so just due to lousy kitchen arrangement. I can drain it in two trips if I have to, it's not a big deal.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that if I didn't sparge enough water, my efficiency would drop. A lot, depending on the quantity of grain used. If an 8 gallon kettle wasn't enough for the water needed, I could always boil in the second pot until reaching my target volume.

On the flame out hops, I wasn't sure if they would be needed or not. It's dry hopped already. Am i missing out on some aroma there?

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.

Looks good. Only thing I'd consider changing is the Simcoe at 40 min. I'd move some to 30 min and some to the full boil. Just makes your hop additions simpler to remember and there really isn't a flavor benefit over 30 min, might as well get all the bitterness from it. Maybe even do some First Wort hopping and save some more for dry hopping.

Yes, it's true that the more water you sparge with, the better your efficiency will be. But still, most brewers would choose not to have two pots boiling. It's just annoying logistically. I would rather have a lower efficiency and have to add DME than deal with the potential problems of boiling in two pots.

As for the flameout hops - I really think hoppy styles MUST have a flameout addition. It's different from dry hops, different from any boiled hops - I especially like to add the flameout hops, and let it sit for 15 minutes or so before turning on the chiller.

That's a good point Boostsr20. I don't recall exactly why I put one at 40, to be perfectly honest. I use BrewTarget, and was probably trying to drop a bittering addition to keep the IBU's within range of the style. But it's so damn hoppy already (that's a good thing!), I could probably do just that.

kanzimonson: I gotcha. Consider it done then, flame out additions will be in!

I'd also like to add to the bittering comments. I agree with Boostsr that 40min additions aren't that useful.

I think you might actually want to increase your bittering hops, if you can believe it. Yes, most IIPAs say "100 IBUs" on the bottle, but we all know that's basically because it's the accepted maximum you can get in the beer. When you actually calculate the IBUs in a IIPA, the number is usually over 200.

My strategy is to just have a huge charge of high alpha hops at 60 mins (at least 2oz of the strongest I can buy). This is usually enough to max out the IBUs. I don't really even calculate for IIPAs... just go for the max.

Yup, most companies say 100 ibu's and only a few will tell you the "calculated" IBU's. Founders devil dancer is something like 240 calculated IBU's.

kanzimonson said:

I'd also like to add to the bittering comments. I agree with Boostsr that 40min additions aren't that useful.

I think you might actually want to increase your bittering hops, if you can believe it. Yes, most IIPAs say "100 IBUs" on the bottle, but we all know that's basically because it's the accepted maximum you can get in the beer. When you actually calculate the IBUs in a IIPA, the number is usually over 200.

My strategy is to just have a huge charge of high alpha hops at 60 mins (at least 2oz of the strongest I can buy). This is usually enough to max out the IBUs. I don't really even calculate for IIPAs... just go for the max.

Click to expand...

If I move the 40 minute addition of Simcoe to 60 minutes, that would probably bump it around 130 IBU's (that's a guess, no real math done). I guess I don't have enough experience with brewing this big of a beer to know if that much acid is just going to balance out the flavor of all that malt, or actually impart a highly bitter punch. I could always add more Columbus, or even dig out some 17% Summit that I've got in the freezer somewhere.

I know experience usually provides these kind of answers, but at what point does the acid level move from equalizing that much malt sweetness, and move into being really bitter? Would adding more bittering hops be worth it? I honestly don't know, I don't have experience here.

Thanks again for the input guys, this is great feedback.

boostsr20 said:

Yup, most companies say 100 ibu's and only a few will tell you the "calculated" IBU's. Founders devil dancer is something like 240 calculated IBU's.

Click to expand...

Holy crap. Ok, I guess I'll go back to the drawing board on the hop profile. Dayum, that's a lot of bittering hops.

But that's exactly the point with a IIPA - you make a beer with the maximum amount of bittering possible, and then you build a grain bill around it.

I agree with the rest, Do you 90 or 60 minute hops (depending on boil length), and an ass load between 15min and flame-out, then dry hop, for a nice IPA/IIPA.

Man, I don't know if this is sane, but I guess we're not talking about a sane beer here, are we?

Thoughts on the following? I bumped the bittering hops to the point where the AA's wouldn't matter any more, then bumped the flavoring, aroma and dry hop additions. Comments on the following please:

4 oz Columbus (14%) @60 (129.7 IBU)
2 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @20 (32.3 IBU)
2 oz Centennial (9.1%) @20 (25.5 IBU)
2 oz Centennial (9.1%) @10 (15.3 IBU)
1 oz Centennail @ Flame-out
1 oz Simcoe @ Flame-out
1 oz Centennial @ Dry hop
1 oz Columbus @ Dry hop
1 oz Simcoe @ Dry hop

Total hops: 15 ounces
Total IBU's: 202.7

That's enough to send your taste buds screaming to the farthest, darkest reaches of your body, curled into a fetal position crying in a corner. The hop lover in me is having fits of innocent, masochistic giggles of excitement. :cross: I never thought I'd even look at something in this bitterness range, but I've had pleanty of big IIPA's, and I love them. I didn't realize they were hopped to these levels though.

Is this closer to what you guys were thinking, or did I miss the mark somewhere?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that much alpha acid. It's strictly flavoring at this point that I'm shooting for I guess, and I'm not sure if I even need that many hops at certain stages.

Haha this thread is awesome. :rockin:
I can't be much help as far as commenting on your latest recipe but I enjoyed the progression from, this looks good to, oh wait, I need more hops, and finally to, screw just dump it all in. Keep updating with progress. Can't wait to brew my first IIPA.

Would it be feasible to drop the 20 and 10 minute additions down to 1 ounce, and still retain the flavor profile? I think I'm running out of space in the fermenter.

That's more like it, though I'd rather have more hops at 10 and 0min than the 4oz you have at 20.

A lot of big beers have no hopping between 60 and 10, and then have a HUGE addition at 0... like 4oz.

So I ran through some of the hop changes with my father, explaining to him the different flavors that the various hops should impart to the beer. Now at the last minute he decided he would like more of a citrus balance along with the piney flavor. Um...okay. Okay, he's paying for this, so I can't argue if the man wants to adjust it. But this is it, no more last minute changes to the flavor category. The order is going in this week. (Where did the head banging against a brick wall smiley go?)

This still incorporates all of the feedback that you guys have given me, so please excuse the late change in hop flavor. Thankfully it's more to my liking any ways, adding some Cascade to mix with the Centennial. I also tried to simplify the hop schedule a bit more.

Kanzimonson, how does this look for your suggestion on getting more acid from the late additions? Talk about hop bursting. This is a humulus lupulus AA bomb.

2.5 oz Columbus (14%) @ 60 (81.8 IBU)
2 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @ 20 (32.3 IBU)
3 oz Centennial (9.1%) @ 10 (22.9 IBU)
3 oz Cascade (6.0%) @ 10 (15.1 IBU)
2 oz Centennial @ Flame-out
2 oz Cascade @ Flame-out
0.5 oz Columbus @ Dry hop
0.5 oz Simcoe @ Dry hop
1 oz Centennial @ Dry hop
1 oz Cascade @ Dry hop

Total hops: 17.5 ounces
Total IBU's: 151.3

That's 2.5 oz at the beginning of the 60 minute boil, and 12 oz between 20 and flame out. Another 3 ounces for dry hopping.

I think I've spent less on full batches of beer than on this hop bill alone!

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks again.

Wow that's impressive to look at. I like the flavor shift.

And I know this is infuriating to hear, but you could probably cut back a couple oz in the 10 min. But sounds delicious.

Using that much centennial and cascade, you will most likely spend less (not just relatively, but maybe in actual total cost) if you buy a lb of each from hopsdirect or the like and you will still have more than 1/2lb of each left.

Otherwise I like the recipe. I didn't read every post word for word so someone may have suggested this, but are you just going to make a big starter or are you considering maybe doing a small 3 or 5 gal Pale Ale batch and pouring onto the trub? That would allow for awesome oxygenation, plenty of yeast, and a beer to drink while the IIPA ferments and conditions

Also, I know some people mentioned it a bit, but for your sugar additions, adding it during the fermentation will give better attenuation than adding to the boil, it will also allow for better hop utilizataion. I recommend .75-1lb additions daily starting at day 3 or maybe 4 of fermentation (when fermentation is between 50-60% complete). Between the pitch onto trub and late sugar addition, I managed a 1.103 to 1.014 in my belgian quad, and it wasn't "high gravity" yeast. Just food for thought.

Otherwise you have a killer recipe! I hope for the best for this one!
Kyle

kanzimonson said:

Wow that's impressive to look at. I like the flavor shift.

And I know this is infuriating to hear, but you could probably cut back a couple oz in the 10 min. But sounds delicious.

Click to expand...

Oh no worries, I'm fine with toning it down. Figuring out the hop profile has been a trip, and there's enough acid in here still to strip the enamel from my teeth. I love it.

2.5 oz Columbus (14%) @ 60 (81.8 IBU)
2 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @ 20 (32.3 IBU)
2 oz Centennial (9.1%) @ 10 (15.3 IBU)
2 oz Cascade (6.0%) @ 10 (10.1 IBU)
2 oz Centennial @ Flame-out
2 oz Cascade @ Flame-out
0.5 oz Columbus @ Dry hop
0.5 oz Simcoe @ Dry hop
1 oz Centennial @ Dry hop
1 oz Cascade @ Dry hop

Total hops: 15.5 ounces
Total IBU's: 138.6

Look better?


Kyle: Speak of the devil, I do have an IPA currently being dry hopped on the same yeast right now. It's just a simple Two-hearted variation from Northern Brewer. I'll be bottling that batch in another week, but I could certainly wash a larger jar of yeast than I normally would and make a starter from that. Great idea.

Good point on adding the sugar later in the fermentation too. I can hold out on the 1 pound I planned on putting in until later. The yeast I'm using though have been troopers, I'm not too concerned with the beer un-attenuating. It doesn't hurt to play it safe though. Thanks for the input!

BlueWolf said:

Oh no worries, I'm fine with toning it down. Figuring out the hop profile has been a trip, and there's enough acid in here still to strip the enamel from my teeth. I love it.

2.5 oz Columbus (14%) @ 60 (81.8 IBU)
2 oz Simcoe (11.5%) @ 20 (32.3 IBU)
2 oz Centennial (9.1%) @ 10 (15.3 IBU)
2 oz Cascade (6.0%) @ 10 (10.1 IBU)
2 oz Centennial @ Flame-out
2 oz Cascade @ Flame-out
0.5 oz Columbus @ Dry hop
0.5 oz Simcoe @ Dry hop
1 oz Centennial @ Dry hop
1 oz Cascade @ Dry hop

Total hops: 15.5 ounces
Total IBU's: 138.6

Look better?


Kyle: Speak of the devil, I do have an IPA currently being dry hopped on the same yeast right now. It's just a simple Two-hearted variation from Northern Brewer. I'll be bottling that batch in another week, but I could certainly wash a larger jar of yeast than I normally would and make a starter from that. Great idea.

Good point on adding the sugar later in the fermentation too. I can hold out on the 1 pound I planned on putting in until later. The yeast I'm using though have been troopers, I'm not too concerned with the beer un-attenuating. It doesn't hurt to play it safe though. Thanks for the input!

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That looks spot on. Where at in Michigan are you? Try to find Founders Devil Dancer so you can see what a calculated 200+ ibu's is like. Personally I haven't tried to do anything that big. I have mostly stuck to 150 or less. If your dad wants a citrus/fruity hop in there, Citra is hands down the fruitiest. It has tons of pineapple/mango flavors and the aroma is to die for (great dryhop). I use it in almost all my american IPA's.

Just plan to bottle/brew on the same day and pitch your wort on the yeast cake. Just keep a close eye on fermentation temps because it will start fast and furiously.

Three month update -

This went great! I couldn't have asked for a better brew day. We hit our mash temps spot on, and our FG came out at a respectable 1.092. Hit about 75% efficiency and it settled out about 1.020. ~9.3%

The only thing we changed was an extra portion of Columbus in the dry hop. It was a good learning experience, especially when it comes to using pellets. A pound of pellet hops eats up a stupid amount of fermenter and secondary space. I think our total loss was around 3/4 of a gallon or more.

Its been in the cellar for about a month, conditioning nicely. Early tasting is amazing. No excessive sweetness, good mouth feel and no syrupy characteristics. My Dad is very impressed. We're already planning the next one.

Thanks for the help guys, it was much appreciated. I'll post pics as soon as I get my new camera.

A fairly simple beer to brew, and totally worth making again. Final recipe looked like this:


Batch size: 5.5 gallons (turned out to be closer to 4.5 gallons by bottle time)
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.092
FG: 1.020
Abv: 9.3%
IBU: 164.8
SRM: 10.6


15 lb - Pale 2-row (83%)
1 lb - Crystal 60 (6%)
1 lb - Munich (6%)
1 lb - Corn sugar (6%) - Late addition

2.5 oz Columbus @ 60 (85.8 IBU)
2 oz Simcoe @20 (35.7 IBU)
2 oz Centennial @15 (22.2 IBU)
2 oz Cascade @15 (14.7 IBU)
2 oz Centennial @ 2 (3.8 IBU) - Dad threw them in early. Supposed to be FO
2 oz Cascade @2 (2.5 IBU) - Ditto, supposed to be FO, but no biggy.
2 oz Columbus @ Dry
0.5 oz Simcoe @ Dry
1 oz Centennial @ Dry
0.5 oz Cascade @ Dry

Yeast: A freaking huge starter of WLP001. For the love of all that's holy, use a blow off tube. Fermentation is violent.

Mashed at 150F for about 90 minutes.

This brewed for weeks. Within a matter of hours the carboy was swirling with activity like I've never seen before. SWMBO was a little unsettled by it. "Is it supposed to do that!"

Thanks again guys.