IPA Recipe Critique?

Hi all,

I'm brewing my first IPA this weekend. While I am now pretty familiar with what types of malts I like to use and the flavors they impart I am still pretty ignorant as to the characteristics of a lot of hops so I've had trouble coming up with a good hop schedule. Here is my recipe (the AA for the chinook is just an assumption, I actually don't have the hops yet but I will adjust the amounts based on the actual AA for the hops I buy at the store)

Batch Size: 1.3 gallons
Mash: 75 Minutes
Temp: 151 degrees
OG: 1.067 FG: 1.017
Efficiency: 70 ABV: 6.6
IBU: 45

2 lb 11 oz American 2 row
6 oz Munich (10L)
2 oz Crystal 60
2 oz carapils
1 oz Crystal 20
1 oz Victory

1/4 oz Chinook (7.5%) 60 min
0.275 oz Chinook (7.5%) 15 min
1/10 oz Chinook (7.5%) 5 min
1/4 oz Cascade (6.4%) 5 min
0.15 oz Chinook (dry hop) 7 days
0.1 oz Cascade (dry hop) 7 days

I've used cascade before and like it but I've never used chinook. Does anyone have opinions on its use in IPA's both as a bittering and aromatic hop? Any critique for my schedule? I also have a bunch of willamette in the fridge if anyone thinks I should incorporate that.

Chinook can be right at home in an IPA; however, I've always felt it can cause a harsh bitterness as an early addition. You'll find the AA% will be almost double what you've calculated, so you have a difficult time measuring out such a minuscule quantities based on your IBU targets with a small 1,3gal batch.

I prefer using all late additions, and with a small batch it doesn't eat up a ton of hops. I'd recommend .25 ounce each of Cascade and Chinook at 20, 10, and 0 minutes. Assuming your Chinook will be around 12%, that should result in about 50IBUs which is on the lower side of an IPA, but will be heavy in hop flavors. Then use another similar charge for dry hopping. That uses an ounce of each in total. If you are not using a chiller to cool your wort, you could also do 15, 5, and 0, because with a slow cooling, you will get bitterness out of those flameout hops.

If you can get Stone's Arrogant Bastard, that is a single hop Chinook beer. It would give you an idea of the flavors... to the extreme end of Chinook. So don't let it scare you away.

I don't have a scale that can weight precise amounts. All is fine within say 1/4 oz.

When I need smaller quantities than an ounce, I weigh out one ounce and split visually into equal smaller portions, like 1/4, or 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, or 1/10, etc.

If I may ask, why brew such a small quantity? If 5 gallons is too much, I feel 2.5 gallons is the absolute minimum to get some decent return on all your efforts and patience. 1 case of beer.

I know IPA's are supposed to be very hoppy but have you never found such a short boil to make an IPA too hoppy? Also is would the shorter boil decrease the harshness of the bitterness caused by the chinook even though it's imparting the same IBU's?

Size of batch is direct result of lack of space and proper equipment. I'm a college student with a small suite and one cruddy electric stove with a 2 gallon pot. I make do with what I can :/

I wouldn't shorten the boil, just add the hops later. Too much hop flavor?! Not possible in an IPA. I think there is a difference in the quality of the bitterness that comes from a long boil of the hops compared to less time with more quantity. I made a DIPA recently with only a mash hop addition and then everything else after 15 minutes with a 20 minute hot stand before chilling. I was emptying my open hop inventory before relocating back to the US, so 600g total went into that batch. IBUs calculated over 100, but there was no harshness to the bitterness. It's simply loaded with hop flavor. A total of 7 hop varieties went into it and blended nicely: Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe in at 15, 10, and 5. Amarillo added to the mix at flameout. The dry hop additions included the above plus Citra and Sorachi Ace. That was clearly a splurge and possibly excessive, but the result is fantastic. So much so, that it will likely be recreated at an irrationally high expense. Give the heavy late additions a shot.