Would you scale back bittering hops here?

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Malty_Dog

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Brewing a rye IPA this weekend, recipe out of BYO. 1.061 OG, recipe calls for a 90 minute boil, with 0.5 oz Bravo pellets (16% AA) @90 min and enough wort to "make at least 3 gallons". Well, this is going to be a full boil (or as full as I can get with my 7.5 gallon pot, which will likely mean about 6.5 gallons beginning boil size.

I'm considering not reducing anything in terms of bittering. Being an IPA I'm also not planning on reducing later additions, which will occur at 15 and 5. Would you lower the bittering hops?

TIA!
 
No, but I just brew recipes and if they are to hoppy (usually) or not hoppy enough I adjust the NEXT BATCH.

I mean... it is going to be beer and it is going to be consumed...

I think your beer will have plenty of BITE... I usually brew my English Ales with an Ounce of much less potent hops than you plan to use...

Then again I am not a HopHead... I don't care for real bitter beers... a hop aroma YES but not the bite..

DPB
 
I like flavor and aroma additions myself. They do not add nearly as much isoalpha acids and provide a significant amount of the ipa flavor. I like hoppy beers, so I'd just brew it.
 
I'm actually with you on the aroma vs bitter thing. That's my (slight) concern: will it be too bitter? Maybe I can plug the values into brew software or something to get an IBU calculation. Total IBUs listed for the recipe is 55. Magnum and Chinook make up the 15 and 5 additions.

Or perhaps, as DSorenson put it, I should "just brew it" :mug:
 
I'm sure there's plenty of division among the 60 minute/90 minute boil users, but I'd say save some time and money, and just do a 60 minute boil. I've made plenty of IPA's and ryePA's with 60 minute boils, and they're delicious every time.

If you do the half ounce of bravo at 60, I'm guessing that puts you around 40 ibus, which, if you want to keep the bite down, and plan to use a lot of finishing hops, this is near optimal. Out of personal preference, I would try to get closer to 50 with the bittering additions. The rye character may come through a bit more without all the big bittering additions early in the boil. Oh, just saw that you're bittering with bravo, and using magnum late in the boil. I might swap those two. I have no personal history with either hop, but I've heard everyone say how magnum is a clean bittering hop, and I've read bravo described as more aromatic/flavorful. Just a thought. Mostly, do what you feel will make the best beer for you.

Just thoughts, but you should definitely just brew it. :mug:

Oh, and get a recipe calculator. I've been using hopville for months now, and with enough usage, I find it's really easy to dial in recipes, and have a good idea how they'll turn out. But there are plenty of recipe calculators out there, just get one!
 
Great feedback and perspective inthesound. The value of this board and its members continues to impress me as a relatively new brewer. I've not done a rye IPA, so its good to get experienced feedback. I'm going to stick with the recipe, as this particular brew is as much for a friend of mine as for me, and I don't want to screw it up. You were right there with the bittering IBUs, coming in at around 38 using the calculator. I think the recipe's calculated IBUs were for a full boil, despite the "at least 3 gallons" verbage. Bittering IBUs at 3 gallons were like 20. Calculators FTW!
 
As you have suspected, partial volume boils do reduce hop usage efficiencies. The good news is that you're doing a full boil. I have yet to do a full boil yet myself, and the results are still amazing if you have the rest of the process down.

What percentage of your grain bill is rye? I find that commercial brewers have a hard time dialing in the rye with hop character.
 
Actually its really low, in comparison to other rye recipes I've seen. Its only 8% (1lb out of 12.75lbs total!). Its a bit disconcerting when I look at great recipes like Denny's Rye. But its in BYO and it came from SN, and my buddy likes SN Ruthless Rye, so...

The actual BYO recipe called for just 13oz, I rounded up to 1lb.

The 3 full boils I've done have been wonderful beers, and I got a Bayou Classic SP-10 just for that purpose. Well, that and my wife and kids would rather I not "stink up" the house with my boils :D
 
I'm sure there's plenty of division among the 60 minute/90 minute boil users, but I'd say save some time and money, and just do a 60 minute boil. I've made plenty of IPA's and ryePA's with 60 minute boils, and they're delicious every time.

Just thoughts, but you should definitely just brew it. :mug:
!

I would think because mallard reactions a 90 minute boil would be a bit "maltier" and the beer a bit sweeter...

I guess it depends on wha-cha like....
 
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