Belgian IPA - First use of Legacy hops

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Chris7687

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Hey guys,
Please critique my Belgian IPA. This is my first Belgain IPA and my first time using Legacy hops. For those of you that aren't aware of Legacy hops their description is Dual Purpose hop with a clean grapefruit, floral, blackcurrant , and spicy aroma.

This is for a 5.5 Gallon Batch

Grain Bill:
12lbs Pilsner
1.5lbs Wheat Flaked
10oz Aromatic
10oz Caravienne
10oz Vienna
1lb light Candi sugar

Hop Schedule (all pellets except dry hops):
2oz Hallertauer @ 60min
1oz Hallertauer @ 15min
1oz Czach Saaz @ 15min
.5oz Legacy @ 5min
.5oz Citra @ 5min
1 oz Legacy Whole Leaf Dryhop
1oz Citra Whole Leaf Dryhop

Thinking this needs to be a medium body ale, so I weill be mashing at 152.

Yeast:
US-05 to get started, once fermentation has started I am going to pitch WLP530 and ferment at room temp which is about 68-70 in my house right now.

Beersmith Estimates:
Est OG: 1.077
IBUs: 41.8
Color: 6.8
Est ABV: 8.2%

I obtained the grain bill and 60 and 15 minute hops from the BYO Belgian IPA recipe that was printed back in October 2012.
 
What's the rationale behind waiting to pitch the WLP530? It's not a snark question, I'm genuinely interested in the reply.
 
Sweetcell - thanks for the quick reply. Headed to the LHBS in an hour to pick up two recipes.

The author didn't go into to far in the article, but I am assuming it is to get some of the yeast flavors from the "neutral yeast" he called it, before the addition of the Belgian yeast which will have strong esters. Give is some of the IPA taste, I guess.
 
The author didn't go into to far in the article, but I am assuming it is to get some of the yeast flavors from the "neutral yeast" he called it, before the addition of the Belgian yeast which will have strong esters. Give is some of the IPA taste, I guess.
yeah, that's essentially it. i read the article and i can't remember the exact details, but the general idea is that a really strong belgian yeast character clashes with the hops, so you want to subdue it. that is achieved by giving the neutral ale yeast a head-start.

i gotta agree with that idea. i've had full-on belgians that happened to be hopped like a west coast IPA. doesn't work for me. all those esters and phenols just don't play nice with the hop flavors and aromas.
 
yeah, that's essentially it. i read the article and i can't remember the exact details, but the general idea is that a really strong belgian yeast character clashes with the hops, so you want to subdue it. that is achieved by giving the neutral ale yeast a head-start.

That was my suspicion, but didn't want to ask a leading question.

I've made a modified version of the Hop Chewey, which has an IBU level of 60, and while it's an interesting beer there is definite competition between the yeast and hops.
 
I made a Belgian IPA a little over a month ago and I only used one yeast, Wyeast 3522 Ardennes, and American hops Amarillo, Centennial and Chinook. I just tasted a bottle the other night and it was delicious! I loved the flavor interactions of the yeast and the hops. This particular yeast strain has some more spicy and ester flavors and not so many fruity notes. I suppose I could see the appeal of using a cleaner yeast first, but for my tastes I really enjoyed this combination. I'm gonna let my bottles condition for a while and see how the flavor matures.
 
Very excited to make this beer. What all did you mash at? High side or low side? I usually mash on the lower side for IPA's, but I am not an expert on Belgian's. This is onlym y second Belgian and still haven't bottled my first! It is still aging, at 3 months now. Going to bottle soon.
 
general rule with belgians is mash low. belgians are typically very well attenuated, and IPA tastes best when not sweet, put the two together and i think you'd want it really dry all around. you'll already have belgian flavors and a ton of hops in there, i doubt you'll want sweetness on top of it all. all the BIPAs i've tasted have been really dry.
 
yeah, that's essentially it. i read the article and i can't remember the exact details, but the general idea is that a really strong belgian yeast character clashes with the hops, so you want to subdue it. that is achieved by giving the neutral ale yeast a head-start.

i gotta agree with that idea. i've had full-on belgians that happened to be hopped like a west coast IPA. doesn't work for me. all those esters and phenols just don't play nice with the hop flavors and aromas.

Drinking a pretty hoppy beer fermented with wlp530 as I type. No reason to use the SAF-05, IMO. Just keep the fermentation temp on the lower end and under control for a few days before you ramp it up to finish. Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Wild is one to look for if you want to try a hoppy beer brewed with 530/3787.
 
No fermentation temp control yet, luckily we just got a "cold front" here in florida so the high is 57* for the next two days. Hoping that will keep it at ideal temp for fermention.
 
No fermentation temp control yet, luckily we just got a "cold front" here in florida so the high is 57* for the next two days. Hoping that will keep it at ideal temp for fermention.

Swamp bath will do the trick. All you need is a towel and something that will hold your carboy and some water.
 
Hey guys, just got done brewing.... didn't get a good effic. on this. Finished with to much wort. 6.2 gallons at 1.066 for only 67.1% effic. Lowest I've had in a while. Don't think I was able to start with or maintain a good mash temp. Better luck next time on that. Pitched some US-05 just now, cold crashing the Belgian starter, and will pitch the starter tomorrow. I will let you all know how it turns out in the end though.
 
I would have skipped US-05 as well. Those Belgian yeasts don't clash with hops as we've been told all these years. At least that's my experience. And when making a Belgian IPA, the whole point is to have that Belgian character. Otherwise, why not just skip the Belgian yeast entirely.

I LOVE Belgian IPAs and have made them using WLP530, 545, 570 and Wyeast 3522 and 3711. All of them were great except WLP545, which I simply don't like. Brewed 2 beers with that yeast and just don't like the character. Resulted in 2 harsh beers for me, and I used it in split batches both times and the other yeasts were great, so I will simply stay away from that yeast.

Of the others, hard to say which is my favorite with hops. They all work very nicely with Belgian IPAs, IMHO. They have different characters, but all of them play very well with hops.
 
Well I am dry hopping my beer with Citra and Legacy whol leaves, so in about 2 more weeks I'll give you all an update! Looking forward to the beer!
 
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