Please critique my first AG IIPA Grain bill

Hi All,

I've been brewing extract + specialty grain for ~10 batches, and I'm moving up to all grain. I'll be brewing a smaller beer for my first AG batch, but once I've got the process down, I want to make my favorite style, an IIPA. I've read a lot about malt choices for IPAs tonight, and I think I have a good grain bill, but I just want a sanity check.

My specific quetions are about the inclusions and quantities of Wheat Malt, Munich Malt, and Victory malt. I've read of each of them being used in IPAs before, but I want to make sure my numbers make sense. Here's the recipe:



Thanks for the advice!

Edit: Oh, and as for the predicted FG here, I think it's way off. I've brewed two similar beers (with DME, a little dextrose, and just crystal malts for specialty grains). Both times hopville thoght I'd finish around 1.020 but I ended up with FGs of 1.012 and 1.013 respectively. I'll mash this around 150F to get a nice fermentable wort too.

I've had Hopville give some really funked-up gravities, too.

In my limited experience with IPAs, I would tend to want to cut all the specialty malts in half and bump the base up accordingly. Most of what I've read seems to advocate a KISS approach. But do what you want, man. Do you have a specific reason for wanting all those grains in there, besides personal preference?

In what I've read concerning IPAs, base malts are usually 90-95% of the grainbill, with specialties making up the rest (Crystal, Vienna, Munich, etc.). On the other hand, if you're looking for a super complex beer, you could put them all in.

In the end, it's your preference. That's the fantastic thing about AG brewing: within certain limits, you can do whatever the heck you want.

In my past IIPAs with just DME and crystal I thought the malt profile was a little bland. I want to bump it up a bit, but still keep it in the background.

Maybe cut the munich completely, reduce the wheat to 1/2 lb, and up the 2-row to compensate? Or should I go the other way around, and lose the victory, and keep the munich? Or not keep either?

Maybe I just need to try brewing a simple session IPA with one of these grains added and make up my own mind.

It's certainly a lot of different additions to a normal IPA grain bill. I like the additions though. The Wheat will give a bit of a creamy mouthfeel I would think without being overpowering. The victory and munich will add some depth of flavor. Munich giving you a minor buiscut flavor.

What are your hop schedules like?


All in all I like what I see! Let us know how it turns out! :rockin:

Its a complex grain bill for an IPA, but it sort of reminds of Kern River Citra, which has a similar amount of malts, but no sugar. I don't think you'll need 1.5 pounds of plain sugar if you mash at 147-149 though, but that's just a personal preference.