How to Balance Malt and Hops

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wobrien

wobrien

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I'm brewing an IPA this weekend based on Eschatz's Two Hearted Ale recipe. Instead of just centennial, I'm using simcoe and cascade. Here's my recipe:

11# 2-row
2# Vienna
.5# Carapils
.5# Crystal 40L

.75 Cascade (60)
.75 Centennial (60)
.75 Simcoe (60)
.5 of each (15)
.5 of each (10)
.5 of each (5)
.5 of each (1)
1.0 of each (10 day dry hop)

I forget the exact number beersmith gave me, but i think the IBUs were in the 80-90 neighborhood. When I did Eschatz's recipe I mashed at 150 and got a nice dry beer, but I'm worried that with this hop schedule I need to bump up the malt profile. Should I mash higher, like 155-156? I appreciate your thoughts.
 
wobrien said:
I'm brewing an IPA this weekend based on Eschatz's Two Hearted Ale recipe. Instead of just centennial, I'm using simcoe and cascade. Here's my recipe:

11# 2-row
2# Vienna
.5# Carapils
.5# Crystal 40L

.75 Cascade (60)
.75 Centennial (60)
.75 Simcoe (60)
.5 of each (15)
.5 of each (10)
.5 of each (5)
.5 of each (1)
1.0 of each (10 day dry hop)

I forget the exact number beersmith gave me, but i think the IBUs were in the 80-90 neighborhood. When I did Eschatz's recipe I mashed at 150 and got a nice dry beer, but I'm worried that with this hop schedule I need to bump up the malt profile. Should I mash higher, like 155-156? I appreciate your thoughts.
Click to expand...

You don't need to bump up the mash temp- you have a pound of crystal malts in there along with the malty flavor from the Vienna malt. I do usually mash my IPAs at 150-153. Many of my beers that I mash at 153 will finish at 1.010, including one like this.

I'd probably cut down some of the 60 minute hops, just a bit. I'd probably drop the cascade from the 60 minute addition.
 
Well, I guess the question is: what are you looking for here? An IPA should be mashed at a lower temp for a crisp, dry beer in order to showcase the hops. However, you have Vienna in there which will give a maltier profile and you want to mash higher....both of these things go against the IPA style.

Seems to me you either go for the IPA style and mash lower (maybe even get rid of the Vienna for more 2-row) or keep the grain bill and scale back the hops and do more of a late-hop addition amber.
 
broadbill said:
Well, I guess the question is: what are you looking for here? An IPA should be mashed at a lower temp for a crisp, dry beer in order to showcase the hops. However, you have Vienna in there which will give a maltier profile and you want to mash higher....both of these things go against the IPA style.

Seems to me you either go for the IPA style and mash lower (maybe even get rid of the Vienna for more 2-row) or keep the grain bill and scale back the hops and do more of a late-hop addition amber.
Click to expand...

I'm new to designing my own recipes so I was worried about bumping up the hops too much and ending up with hop tea. I think I'll take Yooper's suggestion and take the Cascade out of the 60'min addition, but still mash low and keep it dry. Maybe I'll do 152 for 60 minutes.
 
broadbill said:
....both of these things go against the IPA style....
Click to expand...

I know what the different styles look/taste like, but do you have a good reference for me to learn more about brewing to style guidelines?
 
You know it really is worth brewing this twice and changing the mash temp the second time, and tasting the difference.. I have found I like to mash higher at 155 and add 8 oz of cane sugar over a lower mash temp for IPAs. FWIW! This for 1.070 and up...
 
wobrien said:
I know what the different styles look/taste like, but do you have a good reference for me to learn more about brewing to style guidelines?
Click to expand...

Google "BJCP style guidelines" and "BJCP style chart"....the first couple links are to pdfs with all the info you could want.

Also, Ray Daniel's book "Designing Great Beers" is a good read for those interested in brewing to style. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular style and he takes recipes that placed in the second round of National Homebrew Competition and analyzes how those recipes are brewed to hit that particular style. It is a good way to bridge the numbers given by BJCP and and how that translates into actual ingredients.
 
broadbill said:
Google "BJCP style guidelines" and "BJCP style chart"....the first couple links are to pdfs with all the info you could want.

Also, Ray Daniel's book "Designing Great Beers" is a good read for those interested in brewing to style. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular style and he takes recipes that placed in the second round of National Homebrew Competition and analyzes how those recipes are brewed to hit that particular style. It is a good way to bridge the numbers given by BJCP and and how that translates into actual ingredients.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I will definitely check that out.
 
ArcaneXor said:
There's nothing wrong with a little Vienna in an IPA.
Click to expand...

I brewed this same grain bill but with all centennial and it is my all-time favorite. It's now in my regular rotation.
 
This recipe has a killer grain bill. I use it for all my American IPAs. Like Yooper said, just dial back the 60 minute addition of either Cascade or Centennial. You can take the .75oz you cut from the 60 minute and add it at 10 or 5 minutes. I'm currently drinking a version of this beer I brewed with 8 ounces of Simcoe and dry hopped with 2 ounces of Chinook. It is absolutely delicious, and even with all those hops, the malt and sweetness comes through nicely.
 
KayaBrew said:
This recipe has a killer grain bill. I use it for all my American IPAs. Like Yooper said, just dial back the 60 minute addition of either Cascade or Centennial. You can take the .75oz you cut from the 60 minute and add it at 10 or 5 minutes. I'm currently drinking a version of this beer I brewed with 8 ounces of Simcoe and dry hopped with 2 ounces of Chinook. It is absolutely delicious, and even with all those hops, the malt and sweetness comes through nicely.
Click to expand...

I'm really looking forward to brewing this recipe, loved the all-centennial version.

Another question, last time I dry-hopped in the keg, how does that compare to dry-hopping in secondary before kegging? Really going OT at this point...
 
BTW, I may have to name this one "Hurricane IPA" since I'm brewing this weekend in the Philly area. Local news makes it sound like the end of the world is coming...
 
I would change the 60 minute addition. 60 minute hop additions generally don't add flavor so you would better be suited to just do less of a single high alpha variety like magnum or something.
 

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