Almost single hop IPA - recipe critique please?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

LowerMillHillBackyardBrew

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2010
Messages
84
Reaction score
0
Location
Trondheim, Norway
Hello!
I'm planning some "almost single hop" IPAs, and would really appreciate some critique on this recipe:

2,00 kg Extra Light Dry Extract [Boil for 60 min] (5,9 EBC) Dry Extract 44,4 %
2,00 kg Extra Light Dry Extract [Boil for 15 min] (5,9 EBC) Dry Extract 44,4 %
0,25 kg Caraamber (Weyermann) (70,9 EBC) Grain 5,6 %
0,25 kg Carared (Weyermann) (47,3 EBC) Grain 5,6 %

20,00 g Admiral [15,30 %] - First Wort 90,0 min Hop 33,3 IBUs
10,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - First Wort 90,0 min Hop 6,3 IBUs
30,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 15,0 min Hop 5,1 IBUs
30,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 5,0 min Hop 3,2 IBUs
15,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 0,0 min Hop 0,0 IBUs
15,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Dry Hop 5,0 Days Hop 0,0 IBUs

1,0 pkg Nottingham Yeast

6 gallons (I might scale that down)
OG 1.064
Est FG 1.016
IBU 55,5 (Rager formula, according to BeerSmith)

Steep grains in 1.5 - 2 gallons of water at 160 F for 20 minutes.

Does this look good? It's based on/inspired by TheJadedDog's "All Amarillo IPA" (can be found in the Recipes section).
I'm mostly unsure about the amounts of Caraamber/-red. Also, I'm not sure if First Wort Hopping is worth doing in an extract beer?

I've read about some IPAs out there hopped only with Aurora, and they get pretty good ratings on ratebeer etc. I chose Admiral for bittering because of it's high AA.

Also, if this looks good, would it work to substitute Aurora for e.g. Cascade (or whatever else hop)? I'm considering doing several batches with only one hop for flavor/aroma, to educate myself on the characteristics of each hop, but I also want the beers to be good and drinkable and all that.

Big thanks for any input/critique! :) :mug:
 
I wouldn't let them sit any longer than 1 week if they're pellets.

To the OP...what kind of IPAs do you like? Do you like a more reserved Two Hearted Style, or an "in your face" Western IPA style? This piece of info will help us give suggestions on how much/timing of hops.
 
I wouldn't let them sit any longer than 1 week if they're pellets.
That's why I originally thought 5 days would be good.
To the OP...what kind of IPAs do you like? Do you like a more reserved Two Hearted Style, or an "in your face" Western IPA style? This piece of info will help us give suggestions on how much/timing of hops.

I'm from Norway, so I haven't tried many American IPAs, and don't know exactly what you mean by "reserved Two Hearted style", but some of my highest ratings on ratebeer are: Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Mikkeller Green Gold, Epic Armageddon IPA. I also love the few Norwegian IPAs, like Nøgne Ø and Ægir.

Does that help? I'd like something inbetween "in your face" and "reserved", but more towards "in your face" than "reserved". Does that make sense? Thanks again!
 
That's why I originally thought 5 days would be good.


I'm from Norway, so I haven't tried many American IPAs, and don't know exactly what you mean by "reserved Two Hearted style", but some of my highest ratings on ratebeer are: Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Mikkeller Green Gold, Epic Armageddon IPA. I also love the few Norwegian IPAs, like Nøgne Ø and Ægir.

Does that help? I'd like something inbetween "in your face" and "reserved", but more towards "in your face" than "reserved". Does that make sense?

He was referring to Bell's Two Hearted Ale, and was saying that you were aiming at a reserved version of it.

Bell's Two Hearted is a single hop Centennial IPA, and it's VERY good.


That said, I say a week for dry hop, even on pellets, because that's what has worked for me. 5 days would be the minimum that I would do personally. And upping the dry hop wouldn't be a bad thing, IMO.
 
OK, thanks! I'll up the dry hop then!

Can I assume the malt bill is ok since no one has commented on it?

From what I've managed to gather,
Caraamber ~= Crystal 30-40L
Carared ~= Crystal 20L

Is 11% "Crystal" too much?

OK, so I made several changes to the hops:

28,00 g Admiral [15,30 %] - Boil 60,0 min
28,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 15,0 min
28,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 5,0 min
15,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 0,0 min
25,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Dry Hop 7,0 Days

Beersmith says 63 IBUs with my setup.
 
OK, thanks! I'll up the dry hop then!

Can I assume the malt bill is ok since no one has commented on it?

From what I've managed to gather,
Caraamber ~= Crystal 30-40L
Carared ~= Crystal 20L

Is 11% "Crystal" too much?

OK, so I made several changes to the hops:

28,00 g Admiral [15,30 %] - Boil 60,0 min
28,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 15,0 min
28,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 5,0 min
15,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Boil 0,0 min
25,00 g Aurora [5,80 %] - Dry Hop 7,0 Days

Beersmith says 63 IBUs with my setup.


I didn't pay much attention the first time. 11% Crystal is going to be quite sweet. I'd use no more than 5% Crystal total.
 
Personally, I would go much higher on the dry hop: 2-3 oz's per 5 gallons for an IPA with a starting gravity you are talking about.

(I use whole leaf hops for about 1 week)

I would use more than 1 oz even for a regular pale ale.

FWIW - there is an article on dry hopping in the March/April 2010 BYO magazine, and they recommend:

1 oz in 5 gallons for beers starting below OG of 1.050
2-3 oz's for beers with OG of 1.050 to 1.070
3-4 oz's for beers with OG over 1.070

Which is pretty much in line with my experience, however this is all of course very subjective and also depends a lot on the hop you are using and what you desire in the final product. A more mild hop (like most British and Noble varieties) will obviously produce different effects at the same dry hopping rate as a more aggressive west coast hop (such as columbus, nugget, centennial, etc.)

I have not used Aurora, so I can't help you out there, but I would definitely go 2-3 oz.

(og dit englisk er meget beder en mit norsk... eller dansk...! Det er aarvis siden jeg haar pratet dit sprog!)
 
Back
Top