elemenopee7

Recipes 

Hello all, I've recently joined the ranks of extract brewing and I'm absolutely hooked. This forum has provided a wealth of knowledge and for that I am very appreciative.

I'm having an issue with my second batch, an IPA by design, but it's tasting like a plain bitter. It's got good hop character, but lacks complexity. Kinda tastes like hop water at this point. Here's the recipe I used:

3# Light DME
3# Amber DME
1# Pilsen DME
1/2# dextrose
Falconer's Flight hop blend 1 oz each @ 60min, 30 min, and dry
1 pouch Safale-05

Looking back, it seems like I forgot to add any specialty malts to the wort. Being in the secondary, is it too late at this point to add some steeped crystal malt (or other malt) for flavor?

nanofreak

Recipes 

I wouldnt add anything now that it is in the secondary. Also I wouldn't worry so much about mixing the different kinds of extracts, I would stick with a lighter one. Where you will pick up some sweetness, mouthfeel, and character is by adding in some Caramel malts. Maybe steep 8 ounces of Cara 40 for 30 minutes at 150ish.

Also on the hops, to get more nose I would add an upfront hop addition. Maybe an ounce at 5 or 10 minutes.

This will give you a nice simple IPA, and then next time you can experiment, maybe use a CARA malt just one darker and see the difference that makes. Or the next time add a second kind of hop or use a different hop and see what that does.

Good luck, and I hope some of this helps.