IPA Extract Recipe Help

All,

I'm trying to make an IPA that falls somewhere between a Bell's Two Hearted and a DFH 60-Minute. I've come up with the following, and would love an extra few sets of eyes to make sure I haven't made any egregious mistakes.

Thanks!

Chris

Recipe:

8 lb. Extra-light DME
0.75 lb Caramel malt (40 L)
0.5 lb Carapils
1 tsp. Irish Moss Add with 15 minutes left in the boil.

Hops Schedule:

1.0 ounce Warrior (15-17% AA) from 60-35 minutes, continuous*.
0.5 ounce Centennial (9.5-11% AA) from 35 minutes to flameout, continuous*.
0.5 ounce Simcoe (12-14% AA) from 35 minutes to flameout, continuous*.
0.5 ounce Centennial (9.5-11% AA) at flameout.

1.0 ounce Centennial (9.5-11.5% AA) – dry hop 10 days.
0.5 ounce Simcoe (12-14% AA) – dry hop 10 days.

*For continuous hopping add half of hops at start time, then add a few pellets every two minutes until hops are gone.

Yeast:

WYeast 1056; ferment at lower temperature for added citrus notes.

Analysis (Brewer's Friend Recipe Tool):

Target OG: 1.070.
Target FG: 1.018.
Est. ABV: 6.90%
Est. IBU: 53
Primary fermentation: 10 days at 65 degrees.
Secondary fermentation: 10 days at 65 degrees.

Looks pretty tasty to me. Just don't forget to make a starter and you should be all set.

I might dry hop for a week or less. That's the only thing I would do differently.

Doubt youll need 10 days in primary. I made a very similar 6 days primary, 7 days in secondary....it was crutial after 3 weeks in bottles.

Thanks for the advice. I picked up my ingredients and will be brewing next weekend. Will begin a yeast starter tonight. Hopefully this will be good to drink in six weeks' time--way better than the months of turnaround I've had on my other brews recently.

Chris

Hey Chris,

No huge errors that I can see.

Here's how I would do it:

8 lb. Extra-light DME (half of it added at 0-5 minutes left in the boil)
1 lb. Corn Sugar or Table Sugar (added at 0-5 minutes left in the boil)
0.67 lb Caramel malt (40 L)

0.75 to 1.0 ounce Warrior @ 60 minutes
0.75 ounce Centennial @ 10 minutes
0.75 ounce Simcoe @ 10 minutes
1.0 ounce Centennial @ flameout
1.0 ounce Simcoe @ flameout

1.0 ounce Centennial @ dry hop 7-10 days
1.5 ounce Simcoe @ dry hop 7-10 days

WYeast 1056 Yeast Starter

Target OG: 1.066-1.069
Target FG: 1.013-1.016

Primary: 3 weeks with no dryhops @ 62-66 degrees F (wort temp, not air temp). Then, 1 week with dryhops @ 66-68 degrees F.

Secondary: None

Bob,

when you say you are adding DME with 5min left, you are, presumably, removing it from the burner?
If so, do you just let your timer roll, or do you count the last 5min down after it starts boinling again???

bobbrews said:

Hey Chris,

No huge errors that I can see.

Here's how I would do it:

8 lb. Extra-light DME (half of it added at 0-5 minutes left in the boil)
1 lb. Corn Sugar or Table Sugar (added at 0-5 minutes left in the boil)
0.67 lb Caramel malt (40 L)

0.75 to 1.0 ounce Warrior @ 60 minutes
0.75 ounce Centennial @ 10 minutes
0.75 ounce Simcoe @ 10 minutes
1.0 ounce Centennial @ flameout
1.0 ounce Simcoe @ flameout

1.0 ounce Centennial @ dry hop 7-10 days
1.5 ounce Simcoe @ dry hop 7-10 days

WYeast 1056 Yeast Starter

Target OG: 1.066-1.069
Target FG: 1.013-1.016

Primary: 3 weeks with no dryhops @ 62-66 degrees F (wort temp, not air temp). Then, 1 week with dryhops @ 66-68 degrees F.

Secondary: None

Click to expand...

Bob-

Thanks for your input! Adding the dry hops directly to the primary is something I had wondered about. Glad to see it's not an unreasonable way to proceed.

Two questions:

What's your rationale behind a pound of corn sugar apart from jacking the alcohol level?

Also, can you explain why you'd want to raise the temperature of the wort during the "dry hopping" stage? I don't distrust you on this, I'd just like to know what you're trying to accomplish by recommending it.

Thanks so much,
Chris

Subbing a portion of Extract with Corn sugar helps big extract beers attain dryness. If you prefer a sweeter beer with a higher FG, then don't use sugar. Most of the +1.065 OG IPAs I enjoy taste best at 1.012 or lower FG. You'll be hard pressed to reach anywhere close to that with no sugar. Extract beers tend to require a little more umpff than the typical 5-6% corn sugar we see in big all grain IPAs.

Warmer temps. during the dryhop (but not too warm) help to release the aroma from the dryhops better. I've dryhopped at multiple temperatures and I found the 66-68 F range to play best with the dryhops.

Good luck with your beer!

Brew day went fine for the most part, but my OG was off the charts when I first measured it. I had to bring the total to 6 gallons before I hit my target of 1.070.

To those with questions: yes, I was stirring vigorously to make sure it wasn't just a random spot, and yes, I took a second reading after 15 minutes to confirm. Strangely, the color looked spot-on when it finally hit the target OG. Not sure what happened there, but I've got an extra gallon of beer.

My big concern now is pitch rate. I made a yeast starter late (last night from a WYeast slap pack), and had to split it between two 2.5-3.5 gallon containers. Hopefully there's enough in there to eat through the sugar.

If anybody has thoughts on what might have happened here, I'd love to hear them.

-Chris

Another update:

Final gravity ended up at 1.010, for an estimated ABV of 7.88% before bottle priming. The hop flavor is nice right now, and it should be even better once the dry hopping does its magic. It's a little bit thinner than I had hoped, and I'm sure this can be chalked up to the problems I had with my target OG (which might also mean that the ABV estimate is wrong...). No real loss, though: I got nearly 6 gallons instead of five, and it already tastes great. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out once it's carbonated and chilled.

FG actually came in at 1.009. Carbonated with 4.5 oz. table sugar for est. 2.5 volumes CO2. This is hands down the best thing I've brewed, and easily beats my favorite commercial recipes. A strong malt backbone provides a good vehicle for the Warrior, Cascade, and Simcoe hops. Bitterness is actually pretty subdued, and it has a somewhat assertive, but not unpleasant sweetness. The Cascade and Simcoe hops married nicely, and provide a fantastic aroma. And the color is just fantastic.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Great job. It's almost unheard of for an extract IPA brewer to hit 1.009 FG. 2.5 vol. C02 is a little on the carby side for me, for the style.

Where did the reddish hue come from? I thought you only used Extra Light DME, Corn Sugar, and <7% Crystal 40.

Thanks. My only hunch on the color is that the DME caramelized during the boil. I think I've read somewhere that this can happen.