Northland IIPA - Opinions?

10 lbs Briess Extra Light LME
1 lb Crystal 60L
1 lb Malted Rye

1.5oz Columbus pellet (15%) 60
0.5oz Willamette pellet (5%) 30
0.5oz Cascade pellet (5.75%) 15
0.5oz Cascade pellet (5.75%) 5

I haven't made this yet but am planning on this (or something very close) being my next batch. What do you guys think? I'm going for a huge, hoppy brew with floral and citrus tones. Do I need the Cascade at 15? Should I add CaraPils? How about the malt...this should be about right for an IIPA, right?

It looks big enough but I think you have to mash rye malt so I would keep the water temp at 151 or so for an hour and rinse a little after draining. You might consider 2 packs of yeast for something in your OG range. How big of a boil can you do? IPA's tend to be light but with the 60L and extract it will likely be fairly a dark brew.

Yes, I'm planning on mashing the rye. Should I mash the crystal along with it or just do the 20 min. steep? Also, I can't do a huge boil, only about 2.5 gallons (I'm sure I can push it a little larger). Should I wait to add the extract, say at 30 minutes? Should I use 40L crystal instead, or is that purely personal preference? Obviously I'm pretty new to brewing, and this is my first truly original recipe, so any input is greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I forgot to ask about the yeast. Are there any possible negative side effects to using two packets of yeast?

With 10 lbs of extract I would definitely wait to add the majority of the extract until the last 10--15 minutes otherwise I would think the wort would be very thick and lower hop utilization.

Mash the crystal along with the rye.The type of crystal malt is personal preference and brew another beer with the 40L and see if you prefer one to the other.

One pack of yeast may do it but my concern was the gravity and whether the yeast could fully ferment it. It probably will but I sometimes error on the side of caution.

Made it today. I used what I had on hand for malt, which wound up being one 3.3 pound can of light LME and six pounds of Extra Light DME (which equals nearly 11 pounds of LME, total). I also lessened the Crystal to .5 pound 60L. I may well go back to one pound; I don't know yet. The color, according to ProMash, should be around 8.8. The OG was 1.068, a bit lower than I anticipated (but maybe I didn't stir it enough before measuring). I'll come back and let you guys know how it turned out...I'm really excited to see what they rye malt did to it!

One week in, and this stuff smells great. There's still a touch of activity. I'm sure I'll leave it in primary for two solid weeks...can't rush perfection (though I sure want to). However, because it exploded on me last Sunday AND because it smells so good and so hoppy I just want to jump up and down like an idiot, I'm renaming this beer Ourburst IIPA.

HOLY COW! The primary is still bubbling once every 30 seconds so I know it isn't ready for secondary, but I was curious about the beer. I sanitized my thief and hydrometer and measured it. Right now, it's at 1.018, about what I suspected. I took out about an ounce to sample, and all I can say is I am in beer heaven!!! It's a tawny-gold color, very beautiful. The nose is very hoppy: mostly floral, with notes of citrus (lime, especially) and spice. It's a beautiful, wonderful, strong aroma that doesn't overpower. But the taste...it is exactly what I wanted. The rye contributes a clean, crisp spicy undertone that doesn't at all distract from the floral/citrus/fruity flavors. It's perfectly balanced for my palate: dry but not too dry, with just a hint of fruity sweetness. I absolutely cannot wait to taste this after it's been in the bottle for a month or two. It's going to take a lot of willpower for it to last that long!

Meh...the hops are no longer strong enough. I suppose people with more experience than I looked at my recipe and surmised as much. I didn't realize when I made this recipe -- my first -- that I had to adjust for boil volumes when coming up with a recipe in BeerSmith. That's okay, though. It still tastes very good, just not as hoppy as I'd like it. Live and learn, I guess. It's bottled and I'll sample it after two or three weeks to see how it's coming along.