Session IPA recipe advice

I'm looking to make a 'sessionable' IPA. I like the hop flavor but I'd like to brew something a little lighter then many of the 'hop bombs'. I have a pound of cascade and an ounce of centennial so I'm hoping to use mostly cascade for this recipe, here is what I have, I'd love to hear some opinions, it's easy to make the IBUs work but I have a harder time estimating hop flavor. It will be a BIAB recipe, I don't know how you guys copy your recipes from beer smith so I'll just type it out.

5gal batch
11lb 2-row
8oz crystal 80L
8oz cara-pils
Mash at 149

1.5oz Cascade- 60min
1oz Cascade- 15min
1oz Centennial- 5min
1oz cascade- 1min

1-2oz cascade dry hop?
US-05 yeast

OG 1.052
FG 1.009
5.6%ABV
That gives me 52 IBU (looking for about 50)
colour 8.5SRM

How does this sound?
I'm very open to suggestions on how to change things.

Thanks

What you have there is pretty much a pale ale as far as the hop level/OG goes, with a hop level similar to say a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. You will want to probably double or triple the 15, 5 and 1 minute additions and maybe even add some dry hops. Cascade and Centennial are a super tasty hop combination! If it were me, I would do 1.5 oz of both Cascade and Centennial at 15, 5 & 1 and adjust your 60 minute addition to land you around 50 ibu. If I were to dry hop, I would probably dry hop with .5-1 oz of each as well.

I like the idea of cara-pils to give it some good "thickness" and body to hold up to the hops at a lower gravity. I would probably up the carapils to 12 oz. Crystal 80 is probably darker than you want to go. It would probably be tasty but might turn out more like a "session imperial amber". I would roll with .5# of cry40 instead.

There's a long thread about this on here somewhere...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/session-ipas-lets-hear-183421/
There's also this:http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/01/vienna-malt-session-ipa-recipe.html
And this:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/purring-kitten-session-ipa-361175/
The short version: simply scaling down the 2-row+US-05 IPA template won't give you what you want. You need more maltiness and residual sugar than that will provide. Use a richer base malt (Vienna, MO, Special Pale, etc...) and add some more specialty malts than you normally would. Omit any simple sugars. Mash higher. Consider a less-hungry yeast. Cut back on the IBUs, not on the flavor/aroma hops.

Not to sound like a teetotaling, know-it-all, party-pooper but 5.6% is a bit above the recommended alcohol content for a session beer. 5.1% is supposedly the ceiling: http://www.brewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/5183/BA_2011_Beer_Style_Guidlines.pdf (page 27 is the section on session beers)

It is whatever is a session beer to you in the end though. Just thought I'd point that out for educational purposes. Ok, I'll be going now...

PhelanKA7 said:

Not to sound like a teetotaling, know-it-all, party-pooper but 5.6% is a bit above the recommended alcohol content for a session beer. 5.1% is supposedly the ceiling.

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Well... if the BA actually knew anything about real session beers, they'd know that they are actually under 4%. Or, 4.5% if you really want to push it.

I'll be leaving now.

So I may have used the wrong wording, was taking it from Hops and Robbers, an IPA I enjoy and is advertised as a 'sessionalble IPA' at 5.7%. After reading through the linked thread about session IPAs I realized I may be off on my wording. I guess I'm looking for something right between an IPA and Pale Ale, maybe closer to the IPA side. With the cascade I'm hoping for something lighter/fruitier rather then the 'dank' you may get from a hop like chinook.

<5% abv

10-11lb English and American 2-row blend
8oz crystal 20 or 40L
4oz crystal 40 or 60L
12oz carapils
Mash at 152-154

15 IBUs from Centennial @ 60
15 IBUs from Cascade @ 10
1.5 oz. Cascade @ 0

2oz Cascade & Centennial dry hop

WLP002 yeast

You've hit on my personal "Holy Grail"!

I want a 5% beer, or even less, but with all the hop goodness of a 7.5% IPA.

I've come close-ish, but never been able to say "That's it! It's perfect!". At least not yet.

A couple of things I've learned might help you, though. One is to use some character malt, like Munich malt and/or Vienna malt. Since you're reducing the grainbill but want to keep some malt backbone to stand up to the hops, that really helps. Keep the bitterness (60 minute hops) firm but not too much, and use a neutral bittering hop like magnum.

I'd use mostly two-row, about 2 pounds of Vienna (or light Munich), a tad bit of crystal 40L (.5- .75 pound). Or, all two-row for the base malt but and .5 pound of aromatic malt for the grainbill if you want to skip the Vienna or Munich. A little victory malt (.25 pound) also provides some depth if you'd like that.

For hopping, something like this:
.5 oz bittering hops 60 minutes (again, neutral ones like magnum) or to get you to about 25 IBUs with this addition
1 oz cascade 15 minutes (or amarillo, or centennial, or whatever you like for these additions)
1 oz cascade 5 minutes (or whatever)
1 oz cascade 0 minutes (or other favorite)
dryhop with 1-2 oz

Target an OG of 1.050 or less, using a clean well attenuating American ale yeast.

I love hops like chinook, but for a lower OG hoppy beer it can be overpowering and harsh so I use hops like the ones I listed.

I'd have to dig it up bu Zymurgy had a "Pliny the Toddler" a while back that was really good and clocked it at around 4.9%

Spisuk said:

I'd have to dig it up bu Zymurgy had a "Pliny the Toddler" a while back that was really good and clocked it at around 4.9%

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google

great idea tho


http://www.homebrewersassociation.o...tle=beer-recipe-of-the-week-pliny-the-toddler

or if you dont want to click the link:

Pliny the Toddler - Session IPA
Recipe taken from Zymurgy Magazine November/December 2011 Edition
All Grain
Ingredients for 5.5 U.S. Gallons
3.5 lb. Maris Otter
3.5 lb. Domestic 2-row
1.0 lb. Cara-Pils Malt
0.5 lb. Table Sugar
0.75 oz. Warrior 15.5% a.a. (60 mins)
0.75
oz. Columbus 11.4% a.a. (10 mins)
0.75
oz. Centennial 8.5% a.a. (10 mins)
0.75 oz. Cascade 8.5% a.a. (0 mins)
5 g Gypsum for water profile adjustment

Yeast
1 starter/slurry
White Labs WLP 001 California Ale Yeast

Specifics
Original gravity 1.048
ABV 4.7%
Boiling time 90 min
IBU 56
SRM 37

37 SRM?

Table Sugar and a low mash temp. for a 4.7% session beer?

90 minute boil?

No dryhop?

Not to knock Zymurgy, but there seem to be several adjustments that would be more sensical for a Pliny the Toddler hoppy session beer.

I'd bitter that at 60 with a 0.5:1.0 BU:GU ratio, then get the other 50% of IBUs from a huge, long flameout hopstand at 0 min.

To get more of the malt character what about mashing slightly higher, like 155 or does that start to create other taste issues in an IPA?

I believe when I made it I subs a bit of munich for the table sugar but left everything else the same. It was very very tasty and 2 cases went during a single hockey party. Maybe it won't win any awards, but definitely passed the drinkability test

DHdriver said:

To get more of the malt character what about mashing slightly higher, like 155 or does that start to create other taste issues in an IPA?

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It gives it too much body and "thickness". You still want a nice crisp dry finish, but you also want a malt backbone, just like in a "real" IPA.

I don't see that Pliny the Toddler recipe being 37 SRM- obviously a typo. It looks pretty good to me, actually, except I'd add some dryhops.

What about using some toasted malt to add a bit of malt flavor without the body, the couple times I've used it the beer seems to come out with a little extra malt flavor. That could be from other factors in the recipe or I could be mistaking toasted taste for malty.
Any comments on this?

I think I've tweaked the recipe based on advice I'd appreciate some comments on how it might turn out as far as hoppiness and flavour.

8lbs 2-row
1lb Munich
8oz crystal 80L
8oz cara-pils

.75oz cascade 60min
1oz cascade 15min
1oz centennial 10min
1oz cascade 5min
1.5oz cascade dry hop

That leaves me with 45 IBU
OG 1.050 FG 1.008
5.5%ABV
8.0 SRM

How does this sound?

Looks pretty good to me!

I just dry hopped this, the hydrometer samples taste great will report back on the finished product.
The only thing I changed I first wort hopped the 60min addition, it was BIAB so the hops were thrown in at 170 degrees.

Yooper said:

It gives it too much body and "thickness". You still want a nice crisp dry finish, but you also want a malt backbone, just like in a "real" IPA.

I don't see that Pliny the Toddler recipe being 37 SRM- obviously a typo. It looks pretty good to me, actually, except I'd add some dryhops.

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lagunitas reportedly mashes all their beers around 158, including their ipa and hoppy beers (not sure if they did for daytime)

i prefer on the crisp/dry side but you can still make a successful ipa mashing warmer

i don't think 155 is too high, esp for a session ipa

FWIW my session IPA is mashed low (148F), with an OG of 1.048. I keep the grain bill the same as I would for an IPA, pale with a very small amount of light crystal. I also really like FWHing for these and eliminating the 60min addition. Mine is FWH'd with amarillo and lots of late additions and dry hop with blends of amarillo/simcoe/citra.

I'm very happy with the way my 'session' IPA turned out. Good amount of hop flavor with a bit of malt flavor. It finishes pretty dry, next time I may mash at 150. I will definitely be brewing this again. It seems like it may be a little to popular around the house though. The 'hooked on bitters' ESB that everyone loved last week hasn't been touched since I tapped the IPA.