IPA recipe thoughts

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Francis

Francis

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Hello! Just built a mash tun cooler today and I'm excited to use it. Wanting to brew a nice citrusy IPA as my first AG brew with my equipment (3rd AG overall). Please see recipe below and let me know what you think. Thanks!

13lbs 2-row US
1lb Crystal 40L

1 oz Chinook - 60min
.50 Simcoe - 45
.75 Cascade - 30
.50 Simcoe - 15
.75 Cascade - 5
1oz Citra - dry hop 7 days

Mash 4.375 gallons at 154* for 60 min
Batch Sparge 3.945 g at 168 for 10 min (or longer?)
6.5 pre-boil volume
 
The grain bill and hop schedule look great! Should be mighty tasty. I think it'll encompass all sorts of different hop bitterness and aroma. What ratios are you using for your water? Id use closer to 3.5-4 gallons for the mash and 4.5 gallons for your sparge. The times and temps look good though.

:mug:
 
I like the hop amounts, but not their timing. I would move all hop additions to 60 and 0-15.

The additions at 30 and 45 will contribute little to no flavor. If you want more IBUs, move some to 60. If you want more hop flavor, move some to 15. If you want more hop aroma, move some to 5.

Aside from that, looking good.
 
Mashing at 1.25 qt/lb is what I liked using when my cooler MLT still worked, though I do like a little lower of a mash temp (around ~150*F or so), but that's up to your tastes. Also, I'd personally move the half oz of Simcoe from 45 up to 15 to make a full oz addition. Other than that, it looks really good to me.
 
For your batch sparge, just stir in the sparge water, vorlauf, and runoff. No need to let the sparge water sit after adding it. You can ruoff as fast as your system will allow.
 
If you're going as simple as 2 malts, then you probably want something fairly clean and hop focused. Crystal can hinder that goal instead of add to it. For that reason, I'd use some sugar and a small portion of carapils or wheat, 0-5% crystal tops... the lighter the better. In the same respect, mashing high can mess with a clean, crisp, dry hop focused beer. I like between 146-151 F at the 1.5 liter per lb. ratio myself. Even if you choose not to make any of these changes, I do suggest a hop revamp... something like this will make a better citrusy IPA.

0.50 - 0.75 Chinook - 60 min
0.25 - 0.50 Chinook - 30 min
1.00 Simcoe - 15 min (you could even add more here)
1.00 Cascade - 5 min
1.00 Cascade - 30 min warm aroma steep
1.00 Citra - 30 min warm aroma steep
2.00 Centennial - 10 day dryhop
1.00 Amarillo - 10 day dryhop

More hops are needed as seen above. The yeast selection also matters.
 
bobbrews said:
If you're going as simple as 2 malts, then you probably want something fairly clean and hop focused. Crystal can hinder that goal instead of add to it. For that reason, I'd use some sugar and a small portion of carapils or wheat, 0-5% crystal tops... the lighter the better. In the same respect, mashing high can mess with a clean, crisp, dry hop focused beer. I like between 146-151 F at the 1.5 liter per lb. ratio myself. Even if you choose not to make any of these changes, I do suggest a hop revamp... something like this will make a better citrusy IPA.

0.50 - 0.75 Chinook - 60 min
0.25 - 0.50 Chinook - 30 min
1.00 Simcoe - 15 min (you could even add more here)
1.00 Cascade - 5 min
1.00 Cascade - 30 min warm aroma steep
1.00 Citra - 30 min warm aroma steep
2.00 Centennial - 10 day dryhop
1.00 Amarillo - 10 day dryhop

More hops are needed as seen above. The yeast selection also matters.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree that more dry hopping can only help.
 
Man I love this site - thanks for the great tips! I'm going to add/adjust the hop schedule for later additions and bump up the dry hop amount.

For the grains should I do:
13lbs 2-row
.50 Crystal 40L
.50 Cara-pils or Wheat. What does Cara-Pils bring to the party compared to wheat?
 
Francis said:
Man I love this site - thanks for the great tips! I'm going to add/adjust the hop schedule for later additions and bump up the dry hop amount.

For the grains should I do:
13lbs 2-row
.50 Crystal 40L
.50 Cara-pils or Wheat. What does Cara-Pils bring to the party compared to wheat?
Click to expand...

At that amount, the wheat will primarily help with head retention, just like carapils. I usually use carapils.

For yeast, if you want the hops to be more pronounced I would use S-05 (or WY1056 or WLP001 if you want to spend 2x the money and make a starter).

I have been using a lot of S-04 lately (or WLP002/WY1968 liquid). It lends a little fruiter flavor. Attenuation isn't as good with these English strains, so i would mash a couple degrees cooler with it than the American yeast.
 
Francis said:
Oh yeah, what yeast should I use?
Click to expand...

I've used this one a lot wyeast American ale II 1272. My next ale will be with wyeast Denny favorite 1450. I have never used it and want to know what its profile is like
 
Your malt bill is simple and clean. Roll with that idea and go with a clean yeast. Let it be all about the hops.

First choice: White Labs WLP001 or Wyeast 1056 starter
Second choice: Safale US-05 no starter, but perhaps you need multiple packs
Third choice: White Labs WLP007 starter
Fourth choice: Wyeast 1272 starter
Distant Fifth choice: White Labs WLP002 starter

You really have to make sure you're pitching the appropriate amount of yeast at the proper temperatures.
 

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