New to IPA is this Recipe Balanced?

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JonnyJumpUp

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I want to be able to notice the rye but still have a nice citrus hop flavor. I tend toward the sweet side on IPA's but I don't brew too many and can't seem to ever hit what Im going for with hops... any opinion from a more experienced brewer would be appreciated.

7.0 lb Pale Malt
4.0 lb Rye Malt
0.66 lb Special B Malt

45 Minutes
0.5 oz Simcoe
0.5 oz Centennial

20 Minutes
0.5 oz Centennial
0.5 oz Simcoe

5 Minutes
0.5 oz Centennial
0.5 oz Simcoe

Flame Out
0.5 oz Simcoe
0.5 oz Centennial
 
IPAs aren't balanced. That's kind of their schtick. But it is pretty standard as far as IPAs go, from what I can tell.
 
I suppose balanced was the wrong word. I just still want to be able to taste the rye.

Or is that a lost cause in an IPA and I might as well just throw the couple oz of citra in my freezer in there too!
 
JonnyJumpUp said:
I suppose balanced was the wrong word. I just still want to be able to taste the rye.

Or is that a lost cause in an IPA and I might as well just throw the couple oz of citra in my freezer in there too!

With IPAs, most take the bags that their grains for other brews have come in, shake the leftover dust in the boil kettle, and add about 15 lbs of Simcoe per gallon. Or something like that.
 
Special B is a unique malt and I'd say it DQ's a beer from being called an IPA.

Interesting combo though and I'm SURE you'll taste the Rye in that percentage. Should be a wild brew! And yes, throw the Citra in :)


Hope to hear a report back on the finished product tastes.

Be sure to add some rice hulls for all that Rye.
 
I'd definitely NOT use special B if you want the hops and rye to be noticeable. Special B can be very good in some beers- but not so in an IPA. If you want a sweet finishing IPA, crystal malts like 20L or 40L or 60L would be the way to go. Anything darker is too raisiny/toffee and not really sweet plus it doesn't go well with the rye or hops.

I like to think of rye IPAs in terms of percentages because that's most common. 20% rye in the grainbill will give you a distinct rye flavor. You've got 34%ish there- that's a lot. It's great if you love it and know what a beer with 34% rye will give you, but I'd cut that down. A lot.

For hops, I'd move the 45 minute hops to 60 minutes (so you get more bittering out of them) and increase the late hops to 1 ounce additions to get them to IPA levels.
 
lots of rye IPAs out there, SN Ruthless Rye IPA is very tasty.

clone recipes I've seen are about 75% 2-row, 15% rye, 6% caramel/crystal & 4% chocolate malt or chocolate rye

and centennial/simcoe is good combo
 
I did a rye pale ale with 2 lbs of rye and all amirrillo hops all i could taste was pineapple, this recipe has more rye but also more hops. I think i will add an oz of citra at 10 and one at flame out.

I know spec b sounds odd in an ipa or pa but i like it.UN
 
Oh and my reasoning for the 45 and no 60 is that I'm not getting much sweetness from crystal malts, so eased up on the bittering hops to account for it.
 
I'd do what others have mentioned, do a 60 minute addition instead of 45. As well as move the 20 min down to 10 + do a whirlpool and dry hop.
 
I brewed this, stuck with 4# if rye because people seemed to think that would be real noticeable which is what I am going for. Added 1oz of citra at 10 & 1 at flame out. Also stuck with 10oz of the b after researching a little. yooper i respectfully disagree with you're opinion on that. My counter founders red rye and sn flipside ipa. I suspect both of these use a some special b and dark crystal malts.
 
IPAs aren't balanced. That's kind of their schtick. But it is pretty standard as far as IPAs go, from what I can tell.

I disagree with this.

A good, FRESH, IPA is balanced. The older it is, the more slanted toward bitterness it is - with flavor dropping out, and aroma dropping out even more.

A good, fresh one though - is balanced.

It should hit you with bitterness initially, then flavor and mouthfeel carry it, and after taste and lingering aroma finish it off. When I drink beers, I often think about a line graph - a straight line would be perfect - starting with the bitterness, then flavor, then after taste and lingering aroma. I just drank some Lagunitas IPA, that had a graph that started out high, and dropped rapidly to nothing - because it was old(ish).

When I tried Pliny the Elder (I've only ever drank two bottles), and it was fresh (bottled within 3 weeks of when I drank it) - it had a straight line graph, and that line was HIGH the entire way across.. totally balanced and every aspect of it had a major, lingering impact.
 
eltorrente said:
I disagree with this.

A good, FRESH, IPA is balanced. The older it is, the more slanted toward bitterness it is - with flavor dropping out, and aroma dropping out even more.

A good, fresh one though - is balanced.

It should hit you with bitterness initially, then flavor and mouthfeel carry it, and after taste and lingering aroma finish it off. When I drink beers, I often think about a line graph - a straight line would be perfect - starting with the bitterness, then flavor, then after taste and lingering aroma. I just drank some Lagunitas IPA, that had a graph that started out high, and dropped rapidly to nothing - because it was old(ish).

When I tried Pliny the Elder (I've only ever drank two bottles), and it was fresh (bottled within 3 weeks of when I drank it) - it had a straight line graph, and that line was HIGH the entire way across.. totally balanced and every aspect of it had a major, lingering impact.

The all taste like a hop tea extract with a bit of pine sap stirred in as "sweetener" to me, and yes I've had Pliny and others that are highly rated. It's like someone stole the pine tree air freshener from a taxi cab and put it in the wort at flameout.
 
The all taste like a hop tea extract with a bit of pine sap stirred in as "sweetener" to me, and yes I've had Pliny and others that are highly rated. It's like someone stole the pine tree air freshener from a taxi cab and put it in the wort at flameout.


I weep for you. :pipe:
 
uatuba said:
The all taste like a hop tea extract with a bit of pine sap stirred in as "sweetener" to me, and yes I've had Pliny and others that are highly rated. It's like someone stole the pine tree air freshener from a taxi cab and put it in the wort at flameout.

More for me and my air-freshened loving taste buds. Seriously though, I'm sad for you.
 
Shred said:
More for me and my air-freshened loving taste buds. Seriously though, I'm sad for you.

Why? I'm not the only supertaster out there, nor am I the only one who prefers old-style beers. If a monk would have made it when monasteries were in their heyday, I love it. Otherwise, it's a toss up (some styles I like, some I don't).
 
Use hop standing or whirlpooling for your flameout additions. And forget the 20 min addition. Just dump that portion into flameout. I'd also recommend moving your 45 min addition to 90 min. Do a 90 min boil for an IPA also so DMS is removed. Also, dry hop with at least 2 oz leaf hops. And if at all possible get some citra leaf hops if you want citrus.
 
I disagree with this.

A good, FRESH, IPA is balanced. The older it is, the more slanted toward bitterness it is - with flavor dropping out, and aroma dropping out even more.

A good, fresh one though - is balanced.

It should hit you with bitterness initially, then flavor and mouthfeel carry it, and after taste and lingering aroma finish it off. When I drink beers, I often think about a line graph - a straight line would be perfect - starting with the bitterness, then flavor, then after taste and lingering aroma. I just drank some Lagunitas IPA, that had a graph that started out high, and dropped rapidly to nothing - because it was old(ish).

When I tried Pliny the Elder (I've only ever drank two bottles), and it was fresh (bottled within 3 weeks of when I drank it) - it had a straight line graph, and that line was HIGH the entire way across.. totally balanced and every aspect of it had a major, lingering impact.

Most people are talking about balance between malt and hops, and you're focusing only on hop characteristic. As time drops hop aroma, flavor, and biterness, IPAs will become more balanced (less overly hoppy, more malty) rather than less balanced.
 
This has spent 3 weeks in the fermenter at 62F and 1 week in a keg at 38F (not yet carbed). Still not carbed but the small sample after 4 weeks starts off with a nice bite of that rye flavor fades into the raisiny spec b flavor and finishes tart and bitter.

I will say at 3 weeks when I transfered to the keg after cold crashing the special b and spice flavor clashed a little but everything seems to be blending now. I think this pretty smooth and drinkable and it is still un-carbonated. I only expect this to get smoother as time progresses and that it will turn out to be a solid and "non-standard" IPA.

Taste aside it is the cloudiest beer I've ever seen. Even after a week at 38F it looks like apple ciders. Not sure whats going on there but the 4 lbs of rye, SO5 yeast and my lack of trying to make clear beer these days probably have something to do with it.
 
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