Hopicus Imperial IPA

Grain Bill
15.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain
2.00 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain
0.25 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain
0.05 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain

Hop Bill
90 min 1.00 oz Simcoe Pellet [11.90 %] Mash Hop
90 min 1.00 oz Simcoe Pellet [11.90 %]
75 min 1.00 oz Green Bullet Leaf [13.20 %]
55 min 1.00 oz Simcoe BYOB [11.90 %]
25 min 1.00 oz Green Bullet Leaf [13.20 %]
15 min 1.00 oz Simcoe Pellet [11.90 %]
5 min 1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %]

Extra
10 min 1.00 items Servomyces
5 min 1.00 items Whirflock Tablet
WLP002 Yeast, 2L starter 2 days previous

Dry Hops

Schedule
After 4 week primary ferment add first dry hopping for 21 days Hop Bags are used
1.00 oz Green Bullet Leaf [13.20 %] for 21 days
1.00 oz Columbus Leaf [16.80 %] for 21 days

After racking to keg add second dry hopping, let it dryhop for a week then add Simcoe hop tea. Hop bags are used.
1.00 oz Green Bullet Leaf [13.20 %] for 21 days
1.00 oz Simcoe Hop Tea w/leaves Plug [12.9 %] for 14 days

I make hop tea by taking a 32oz french press, adding the hop plugs in, pouring about 1oz of vodka on top, and then pouring about 24oz of boiling hot water in. Let it sit for an hour, and then I pour it into the keg through a hop bag to catch all the extra leafy bits, and then I open up the french press and pour the leaves in the hop bag and then I drop it in.

Mash at 1.25qt/lbs @ 158f for 60 min, sparge as usual (I fly sparge)

I force carbed at 25.6psi @ 70f for 2 weeks, then bottled with my Blichmann Beergun.

Water
Pliny the Water
Calcium: 76ppm Magnesium: 13ppm Sodium: 9ppm Carbonate: 26 ppm Sulfate: 133ppm Chloride: 56ppm

Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Opaque burnt orange copper, light head buildup on pour, nice little ring around the glass head retention and good lacing.

Aroma: Big bold hops, orange/lime citrus and pine hoppiness. The complex rich caramel/malt goodness comes in after to subtly back the hoppiness of this beer.

Flavor: Thick caramel flavors followed by a touch of mild fleeting biscuit (Aromatic malt), then following by big bitter hop flavors, not entirely unlike bitter orange marmalade and a bit of piney-ness. The malts and the hops really come together well on this beer in a big decadent fashion.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, rich, thick, very smooth and nice clean yet not overpowering bitterness.

Overall: Goddamn, this is incredible. Very drinkable!

Notes:

This beer was mainly made to try out this new hop my LHBS received, Green Bullet. I feel like Green Bullet is a lot like the Simcoe of New Zealand.
I had the idea for this grain bill around for a while and wanted to try it as my first all-grain IPA, and then when these hops came in stock it sealed the deal and this recipe was done with some slight modifications.

I really like how this beer came out, I was a little worried when it only attenuated out to 1.030 FG, despite Beersmith predicted that FG, but I tasted it and it tasted incredible so I went with it instead of trying to dry it out a bit more. The maltyness of the high mash complex grain bill really offsets some of the extreme bitterness you would expect for 148IBU.

Its extremely drinkable, if a bit thick. Definitely a beer for hop lovers to savor.
I would do it again exactly as is, but should you feel like drying it out a bit more or balancing out the malt backbone a little bit these slight changes may be appropriate.

First off a change to WLP001 or WLP007 for the yeast, its a bit more attenuative and would make it a bit more drinkable for those that don't like thick rich sipping beers.
Increase the Aromatic to 0.75lbs to beef up the malt aroma a little bit.
A bit finer grind to get better efficiency out of it, and maybe a bit more Maris Otter to up the gravity level some (I love big beers!)

I'm really happy with this beer, I'm going to enter it into some competitions if I can find a good one. Any suggestions?

Holy CRAP that's a big @ss beer.

I like it.

Its only about 7.8%, its got a pretty big flavor going on, but I think its all pretty balanced. I'm happy with it, reminds me a little of pliny the elder but with a thicker body and a bigger malt profile.

Looks great!