Experiment in IPA

I am not sure if this will even taste good, but I wanted to run this recipe idea past the forum readers to get their thoughts. This is my first time crafting a recipe as well as my first IPA. It is an American IPA that has it's roots in a Bell's Two Hearted Clone recipe I read.

Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 3.50 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.12 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.073 SG
Estimated Color: 13.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.2 IBUs
Boil Time: 45 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 1 5.1 %
4.0 oz Extra Special (Briess) (130.0 SRM) Grain 2 2.5 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz DME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 25.4 %
6 lbs 9.6 oz LME Dark Traditional (Briess) (8.0 SRM) Extract 4 67.0 %
1.20 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 5 25.7 IBUs
1.20 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 21.5 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 7 -
3.60 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs

Primary=7 days
Secondary=7 Days (Dry Hop)


All estimated values were done with BeerSmith. I am thinking about brewing this Saturday. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback!

I think you're really gonna want to have some late addition hops if you're shooting for an IPA. Additions at 30 minutes are sort of a waste IMO, you don't really get the bittering from them, and you don't really get the hop aroma/flavor either. If I was brewing this I'd have about an ounce or so at 60 minutes, and then another half ounce each at 15 (or 10) and 5 mins.

1 oz at 60
1 oz at 20
1 oz at 0
3 oz DH
Thats all your hops i think, ive made a few beers as of late with the 60,20,0 format recently, I picked it up from Randy Moshers book, its a pretty fun read

Thanks for the input so far.

I am revising my hop schedule to the following:

1.2oz @ 60
1.2oz @ 15
1.1oz @ 5
3.5oz DH

What about the grains/extract choices? I started with the Dark LME and went from there a kept plugging in grains that would produce the red/amber color I desired and one that had a malty and a little sweet charateristic.

I don't think you want dark LME in your IPA. According to this Briess dark LME is 30 lovibond. You seem to have it plugged in as 8.

Oops. I guess I should go back through and verify my info is correct first.

If I were you I'd use all light extract for an IPA and get your color/flavor from specialty malts. Besides the color issue you usually don't know what's in the darker extracts, the darkest ones may have roasted malts.

chickypad said:

If I were you I'd use all light extract for an IPA and get your color/flavor from specialty malts. Besides the color issue you usually don't know what's in the darker extracts, the darkest ones may have roasted malts.

Click to expand...

I agree. Use only light (or extra light) DME and get color and flavor from the specialty malts. I don't know what "extra special malt" from Briess is but 130 SRM is dark. A little of that would go a LONG way so I'd keep that at no more than .25 pounds like you have. Actually, I'd take it out and go a different direction with the grain bill, but if you want to use it, keep it a small amount.

Extra Special malt is Briess' version of Special B. Special B sounds out of place in an IPA, but Lakefront Fixed Gear uses it.

BTW, you certainly don't need 3.5 oz of dry hop. 2 is about as much as you need, assuming you wait until most of the fermentation is done before adding.
I also agree with the others about cutting back on the heavy colored grains/extract. If you want to highlight hops, keep it light and dry and stick with late additions.

In terms of the hops schedule, there is one recipe here called "My Two Time Award Winning IPA" (or some such) where he uses ONLY 30 minutes or less additions, skipping the 60 minute altogether. Because you then have to increase the hops dramatically to get the IBUs with these late additions, the hop flavor is stronger, while the perceived bitterness is way less than other beers. However, since this is your first IPA, you will be best served by taking a more traditional approach to hopping, which you already seem to be going for. Same goes for the malt profile, that is, keep it light! No more than 5% crystal malt, very light handed on anything else, and avoid out of style malts.

With extract, use a max of 1/3 dark extract. Personally, I'd go for 1-2 lbs dark extract max or just use some steeped crystal. It's tempting to try a bunch of stuff all at once, but it's better, IMHO, to get a good baseline and then make small changes. When I look at the best recipes posted here for each style, I find they are not all that different from mine and other's best recipes. They usually just have a slightly different hop profile, minor malt difference, or different yeast. Not to say that something way different may produce an interesting result, but there is a reason most good recipes for a given class are similar.

Thanks to all who have responded. I have decided not to brew this weekend. However, I will go back to the drawing board with this recipe and the great tips in this thread and come up with something better.