Input on my IPA

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amrmedic

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I am using:
13 pounds UK Pale Ale Malt
2 pounds Carapils


Simcoe 1.75 oz Whole Boil
Magnum .5 oz 30 min
Chinook .5 oz 15 minute
Chinook .50 oz 10 minutes

Dry Hopping 1 oz Kent Goldings for 14 days

Thinking of Wyeast London Ale but someone told me that Trappist Ale gives great results.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
My first attempt at my own recipe. Still learning. I am mashing at 151-152. I used BeerAlchemy and in order to get ABV up, I had to add Carapils to meet style guidelines. Should I use Crystal 20 or 40 instead? What about he hops? The IBU's on this will be at 110.

Thanks
 
Well, I don't care much for crystal in American IPAs but some people use .5 pound or so in a 5 gallon batch. I'd definitely ditch the carapils, as I don't see the need for it or a reason to use it. If you need to increase the gravity, you could use more basemalt.

If I was making an American IPA, I'd use an American ale yeast for the "cleanest" flavor. A trappist yeast would be fine for a Belgian.

I'd probably ditch the magnum, since at 30 minutes you're not getting much flavor, but you are getting some bitterness. The IBUs are too high, so you don't need the magnum.

I think the earthy English hops might get lost over the harshness of the chinook.

I'd probably do a re-do of the whole recipe, to be honest. I like UK malt, and I like those hops, but not together. If you want a bitter, hoppy IPA, you could start with thinking about those goals. Simcoe is a great flavor/aroma hop, so I'd probably not use it for bittering. Magnum is a very good bittering hop. The EKG are earthy and not strong, but the chinook is strong and will overpower the lighter hops. English IPAs are less hoppy, but with earthy flavors and UK malt.

I guess to decide if your recipe will work for you is to know what your goals are. If you want a strong malt backbone, you may want to add some malt like Munich. For a sweet flavor, you may want crystal malt. Both (in small amounts) might be nice. For the hops, I'm not wild about the mix but if you know you love the flavor of chinook late in the boil then you've got a decent start. I'd suggest taking a look at the IPA recipe database here, to compare your recipe with some others that have solid reviews. That might help lead you to one way or the other.
 
Well, if it were me...

I would bring the carapils down to only half a pound. 2 pounds plus mashing at 152 is going to make this a beer that you could only drink one of...too much body. Half a pound will give you good head retention without making this beer feel like your eating a meal.

I would add half a pound of crystal 40 or crystal 60. This will contribute color and character to the beer.

I would boost your base malt by 1 pound to make up for the reduction in Carapils.

Next, I would choose either UK hops, or American hops...but not both.

If you're going to use Kent Goldings, think about using them with some other british hops like Fuggles and nixing the others. IF you're going for American, use the Chinooks, but flavor with something like Centennial, Cascade, or Citra and ditch the Goldings. I dont know that the British hops will mesh well with the American "C" hops.


Are you going for a British style IPA (earthy, bitter but not overwhelmingly so) or a west coast american IPA (BITTER, citrusy, hops in the face!!)? That will help choose which way to go for sure.
 
As others have said, it all depends on what you're seeking.

I'm not put off by the idea of mixing the Brit & Am styles of IPA, just know it's not going to be a good example of either, but could still be fantastic bier. As others have said drop all that carapils, personally I'm not a fan of it and no longer use it instead I use 4-6 oz. of flaked wheat/barley in most batches. If you're gonna use the carapils use 1/2 #. I enjoy 4-6 oz. of victory or biscuit malt in my IPA & APA recipes, it adds a nice toasty complexity to the base malt (especially when using american 2-row). Add 1/2 # Crystal 20, 40, or 60 and you're good to go on the grain bill. As 'the fabulous yooper' said consider Munich malt, it's good stuff if you like it.

As for the hop usage others are very correct in the urging of swapping the magnum hops to the bittering addition. I think the Kent Goldings will get lost if used with those more powerful hops. Perhaps you could mix in some english hops like target & fuggle to boost that character and reduce some of the chinook etc. if you want a cross between the styles. It can be done only it has to be done correctly. If you're unsure of this go with a simpler all american or all british hop schedule.

Schlante,
Phillip
 

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