Tweaking my Black IIPA

shibbypwn · 07-01-2011, 08:18 PM

This will be my 5th brew, and my 2nd attempt at a black IIPA.

the original recipe is here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/591764/imperial-ipa-recipes/yodas-darkside-ipa

OG was 1.092
FG was 1.022

Here's what I'd like to fix:

I want to lower my FG- I've heard subbing sugar works well for boosting gravity while keeping FG low. How much sugar should I sub, and what kind of sugar?

I'd like my FG to be around 1.012

Also, I'd like the malt profile to be a little more complex- what are some good specialty malts that can add a more caramel/bread like character to the malt profile? And how much should I add?

Thanks!

g-star · 07-01-2011, 08:33 PM

How much yeast are you pitching? What is your ferment temp? With that OG, make sure you're pitching at least 18g of re-hydrated S-05. That's more than 1.5 packs. Ferment closer to 70F to promote attenuation. Still, you're hoping to achieve ~ 85% attenuation which is tough with this yeast. I've only gotten that with Belgian strains when fermenting over 80F.

Its tough when using that much LME to really dial in your FG, as you have no way of knowing what the mash conditions were for producing the LME. AG brewers would mash around 148F to promote that kind of attenuation.

You could add some more crystal or sub some Munich or Vienna for some of the LME, if you can do partial mashes for more maltiness.

shibbypwn · 07-01-2011, 08:40 PM

does DME ferment better than LME? Perhaps LME+DME+Sugar could do the trick?

I pitched 23g of Safale-05, and fermented around 68 (used ice bath last time- now i've got a chest freezer with temp control).

**usfmikeb** · 07-02-2011, 02:38 PM

The only difference between LME and DME is that LME still has some water in it. Therefore, the same issues exist around what parameters were used to mash the DME.

From a sugar perspective, I use dextrose as an adjunct, it fully ferments without adding a flavor profile. You should be able to get it at your LHBS, or via the online stores.