Recipe Advice-IIPA too much going on?

I have made a few IPA's in the past but never a double/imperial IPA. Took a stab at a recipe based on hops I like and have experience with but don't know if this is overkill. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Extract Recipe: Hopdiculous

Og: 1.08
Fg: 1.02
ABV: 8%
Yeast: US-05

Steep @155 (30 Min):
1 # Crystal 20
1 # Carapils

Boil 60
7 # Golden DME
1 # Cane Sugar

Hop Schedule (Approx 100 IBUS)
Warrior (1 oz) 90 FWH
Chinook (.5oz) 60
Cascade (1 oz) 30
Amarillo (.25 oz) 20---Centennial (.25 oz) 20
Amarillo (.5 oz) 10---Centennial (.5 oz) 10
Amarillo (.25 oz) 0---Centennial (.25 oz) 0---Chinook (.5 oz) 0
Dry Hop Leaf Centennial (1 oz)--- Leaf Simcoe (1 oz)---7 days in seconday

BEERISGOOOD said:

I have made a few IPA's in the past but never a double/imperial IPA. Took a stab at a recipe based on hops I like and have experience with but don't know if this is overkill. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Extract Recipe: Hopdiculous

Og: 1.08
Fg: 1.02
ABV: 8%
Yeast: US-05

Steep @155 (30 Min):
1 # Crystal 20
1 # Carapils

Boil 60
7 # Golden DME
1 # Cane Sugar

Hop Schedule (Approx 100 IBUS)
Warrior (1 oz) 90 FWH
Chinook (.5oz) 60
Cascade (1 oz) 30
Amarillo (.25 oz) 20---Centennial (.25 oz) 20
Amarillo (.5 oz) 10---Centennial (.5 oz) 10
Amarillo (.25 oz) 0---Centennial (.25 oz) 0---Chinook (.5 oz) 0
Dry Hop Leaf Centennial (1 oz)--- Leaf Simcoe (1 oz)---7 days in seconday

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I would do away with the chinnook and double or more the last three additions for more flavor/aroma.

hoppymonkey said:

I would do away with the chinnook and double or more the last three additions for more flavor/aroma.

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With that FWH additon you will get plenty of bitterness. Agree with hoppymonkey more flavor additions are always good.

Thanks. That was my initial thought. I also wasn't sure if all of the flavor/aroma hops would mesh with the bittering warrior hops.

You really don't need that carapils. DME already has it included, so you would be doubling up.

There really is no "overkill" for hops in a IIPA. Go ahead and load up on the late hop and dry hop additions.

I'd concur that you should drop the carapils. No real need for it in there. Also, any reason you want the sugar in there? Thats not really going to dry it out unless you are subbing it out for some grain/extract, and it'll just ramp the ABV up is all.. Which I can see you doing, if you aren't getting your beers under 1.020.. If you can get it to 15 points I think it would taste pretty good from 1.080.

I would lose the 60 and the 30, and add them, or in addition to some others later in the boil. 25 minutes to go is where I start getting hot and heavy with the hop additions. I'll pack over 5-7oz sometimes in my IPAs from 25 till flame out.

You want the blown out, unbalanced hop flavor and aroma in the IPA's. You'll get plenty of bittering from the FWH, as it'll be boiled the entire time too.

Your hop choices sound really good.

Move the Chinook to 25 minutes, and take the Cascade and add it in between the Amarillo additions to layer it.

I would change your FWH from Warrior to Cascade. If you read the study on FWH you will notice that only low AA hops (noble hops) are used. Cascade is generally around 5.5 % and would fit there better (for a lot of reasons). I would move the warrior to 60 as well. Then I'd drop the carapils as it cannot be steeped and as others have said, you don't need it with extract. I would change the cane sugar out with honey as well, only as I like what a good floral honey at flameout can add to a IIPA. Then of course, add and adjust your flavor/aroma additions so everything is 15 minutes or less.

Herky21 said:

I would change your FWH from Warrior to Cascade. If you read the study on FWH you will notice that only low AA hops (noble hops) are used. Cascade is generally around 5.5 % and would fit there better (for a lot of reasons). I would move the warrior to 60 as well. Then I'd drop the carapils as it cannot be steeped and as others have said, you don't need it with extract. I would change the cane sugar out with honey as well, only as I like what a good floral honey at flameout can add to a IIPA. Then of course, add and adjust your flavor/aroma additions so everything is 15 minutes or less.

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All of that sounds good, and whatnot, but FWH with whatever the hell you want is perfectly fine. It'll soften the bitterness with the higher AA hops, and still give you the nice rounded bitterness the DIPA needs, and the right amount of IBU's.

I wouldn't toss the cascade in that early unless you just want to use cascade, because after it's boiled that long, you won't even know it's there.

I can't find the study at the moment but here is the relevant section from John Palmer: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-1.html Most sources suggest using aroma or dual purpose hops for FWH because of the flavor addition that is created. The general amount to use is also 30% of the total hops. Obviously, if the OP wants to use warrior that's ok too. I'm just saying that I wouldn't do that after reading the study and the advice of other notable sources like John Palmer.

Thanks for all the useful info. Will be adding some more aroma/flavor hops at the end. Brewing this next week.

Without adding sugar and taking out the carapils addition, my OG drops to 1.067. Would adding more LME up front make the overall IIPA too sweet. Maybe adding a couple more lbs late in the boil?? Trying to keep my original gravity around 1.08-1.085 without being to malty. Also i have never used a yeast starter. Would a heavy yeast starter with US-05 bring the gravity below 1.02. With everything punched in Ibrewmaster I would be slightly over my desired FG.