electrobank
Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2013
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
My IPAs are
meh.
First, I want to thank everyone, Im on my 10th (?) AG batch, all from instructions gleaned from this site; you guys are fantastic. Now on to my dilemma
My IPAs are unimpressive. The main one Im working on is a Cigar City Jai Alai clone. My first three attempts resulted in something vaguely resembling Jai Alai, but were clearly hot alcohol tainted (I blame my lack of a proper starter size). But even in spite of the hot alcohol, it still lacked the hoppy-ness of Jai Alai (or any other IPA for that matter). It smelled somewhat hoppy, but that grapefruit-pine kick in the teeth taste just wasnt there. Not bad beer, but nothing to compare with a typical west coast IPA/DIPA in the hop department.
(On a side note, Ive also made a Pliny the Elder and Weyerbacher Double Simcoe clone, and while neither was hot alcohol tasting, they certainly lacked the hoppy taste/bitterness of the originals but the aroma was nice.)
Mind you, I've made a Hefe, a Left Hand Milk Stout clone, a few fruit beers...all just fine, no problems, no off-tastes, good stuff. But the IPAs just aren't cutting it.
Now, clearly, by the hop schedule (see below), this beer has plenty of hops going on. Originally, I would simply dry hop in the primary after 2 weeks of fermentation. This last time, I actually transferred to a secondary after 4 weeks in the primary, and then dry hopped for 14 days (per the recipe). Better, but not what Im shooting for. Im using RO water with the recommended CACL and gypsum. I chill the boiled wort down to 70* in about 15 min. I pitch at 65*, and I have a chest freezer with a Johnson control for fermentation, actual wort fermentation temps are 62-65. The hops (pellet) just get tossed in free no bags or anything.
How do I get the hop-bomb taste Im shooting for, if Im clearly using the quantities necessary? What procedure am I missing? Heres the recipe (taken from the Brewing Network interview with Wayne Wambles from Cigar City):
Grain Bill
Canadian 2-row-15.25 lbs
Munich I-12.5oz
60L-12.5oz
Victory- 4oz
Hop Schedule
FWH
Ahtanum-.5oz
Columbus-.5oz
Bittering-60 min
Ahtanum-.657oz
Amarillo-1.115oz
Columbus-.66oz
Flavor-15 min
Cascade-.69oz
Centennial-.625oz
Columbus-.715oz
Aroma-6 min
Ahtanum-.69oz
Amarillo-.57oz
Cascade-.94oz
Dry
Simcoe-2-3oz
Yeast
Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley
Thanks in advance.
First, I want to thank everyone, Im on my 10th (?) AG batch, all from instructions gleaned from this site; you guys are fantastic. Now on to my dilemma
My IPAs are unimpressive. The main one Im working on is a Cigar City Jai Alai clone. My first three attempts resulted in something vaguely resembling Jai Alai, but were clearly hot alcohol tainted (I blame my lack of a proper starter size). But even in spite of the hot alcohol, it still lacked the hoppy-ness of Jai Alai (or any other IPA for that matter). It smelled somewhat hoppy, but that grapefruit-pine kick in the teeth taste just wasnt there. Not bad beer, but nothing to compare with a typical west coast IPA/DIPA in the hop department.
(On a side note, Ive also made a Pliny the Elder and Weyerbacher Double Simcoe clone, and while neither was hot alcohol tasting, they certainly lacked the hoppy taste/bitterness of the originals but the aroma was nice.)
Mind you, I've made a Hefe, a Left Hand Milk Stout clone, a few fruit beers...all just fine, no problems, no off-tastes, good stuff. But the IPAs just aren't cutting it.
Now, clearly, by the hop schedule (see below), this beer has plenty of hops going on. Originally, I would simply dry hop in the primary after 2 weeks of fermentation. This last time, I actually transferred to a secondary after 4 weeks in the primary, and then dry hopped for 14 days (per the recipe). Better, but not what Im shooting for. Im using RO water with the recommended CACL and gypsum. I chill the boiled wort down to 70* in about 15 min. I pitch at 65*, and I have a chest freezer with a Johnson control for fermentation, actual wort fermentation temps are 62-65. The hops (pellet) just get tossed in free no bags or anything.
How do I get the hop-bomb taste Im shooting for, if Im clearly using the quantities necessary? What procedure am I missing? Heres the recipe (taken from the Brewing Network interview with Wayne Wambles from Cigar City):
Grain Bill
Canadian 2-row-15.25 lbs
Munich I-12.5oz
60L-12.5oz
Victory- 4oz
Hop Schedule
FWH
Ahtanum-.5oz
Columbus-.5oz
Bittering-60 min
Ahtanum-.657oz
Amarillo-1.115oz
Columbus-.66oz
Flavor-15 min
Cascade-.69oz
Centennial-.625oz
Columbus-.715oz
Aroma-6 min
Ahtanum-.69oz
Amarillo-.57oz
Cascade-.94oz
Dry
Simcoe-2-3oz
Yeast
Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley
Thanks in advance.