First IPA recipe, critiques?

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craigpollard

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Designed my own IPA, first recipe I've designed ever. :D Planning to brew on Friday. Please take a look and leave comments. Hops may change slightly, depending on what my LHBS has on hand. I'll post updates as they come. Thanks.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Jada's IPA
Brewer: Craig and Lauren
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.79 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated Color: 9.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 57.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.6 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.9 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 90. Hop 6 46.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 11.8 IBUs
0.30 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.30 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
0.30 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
4.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 5 1.8 %
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 12 -
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 4.46 gal of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (4.23gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I would move the centennial from 30 minutes to 10 or 15. You need a flavor addition and at 30 minutes you'll mostly get bittering.

I'd also drop the victory. I don't see it adding anything.
 
Never tried it, but if that Munich 20L is Briess, someone once told me it was vile sticky-sweet tasting and that I might prefer a more standard Munich grain...

You use an English yeast for your American IPA? Not saying it will taste bad, but I often like clean yeasts for the citrusy american hops.

I always like to do several late hop additions...
Something like : 90, 20, 15, 10, 6, 4, 2, 0. (recheck the IBU with beersmith and tone down the 90 to add more hops later if you have to)

Of course, it's more work but I find it might gice you a more complete flavor/aroma palette... (I mean... How could it not... ;-)

Can't see your post anymore responding on my mobile phone, but you ARE dry hopping this right? and I do mean like crazy...! I'd put no less than 2 oz for an IPA... a good 7 days...

Have fun...! B-)
 
What are your goals for this beer (flavor/aroma/feel) so we can better understand what you are trying to achieve? After we know that, our advice will be more helpful.

----------------

One thing I want to mention now... Try to change your volumes to something more even and easy to remember. This is minor, but it helps with future recipe design and accuracy purposes.

Example:

Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.00 gal
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal

Now this is definitely dependent on your system and your ability to limit transfer loss, yet still more likely... That is: 1 gallon boiloff loss, 1/2 gallon lost to transferring to fermenter, 1/2 gallon loss transferring to bottles.
 
Someone told you wrong.

That old comment was made by Bierhaus15... Let's burn him alive! Burn him alive I tell you!

lol... I tracked down that old post and it was an advice against using it for an English IPA.

His post was more developed than yours... Care to elaborate?
 
I would second the moving of the 30 minute Centennial to the 10 minutes. 30 minutes hops are a bit of a waste because they don't get fully utilized for bittering in 30 minutes and the contribute no flavor or aroma if boiled that long.

1.5lbs of Munich is a bit much as it contributes to malty-sweetness which tends to take away from the hops and this is clearly a high end hopped IPA. I would let the hops shine and just go with base malt and about 8oz of Caramel for color and head retention.
 
That old comment was made by Bierhaus15... Let's burn him alive! Burn him alive I tell you!

lol... I tracked down that old post and it was an advice against using it for an English IPA.

His post was more developed than yours... Care to elaborate?

I've used it before and never noticed anything that was "vile sticky-sweet tasting".

Granted, in an IPA I would use the 10L Munich, but there's nothing wrong with the 20L.
 
Just understand that the Munich 20L in that amount will detract from the typical IPA by giving you more malty sweetness in the beer. It doesnt make it wrong or out of style. If you enjoy that sweetness in your beer, then go for it.

As for the hops additions, you should look at putting more into the 15-5 minute range to give more taste/aroma. Those IBU's in that range dont seem to taste as bitter to me and really give your nose something to inhale deeply!! Once your nose loves the smell you are more likely to enjoy the beer.
 
Guys thank you all very much for your advice. I should have noted grain is ground in the bucket, so there is no changing that at this point. Sounds like I'll have a malty sweetness to my IPA, which doesn't sound all bad. Actually hoped the victory may add a slight toasty biscuit flavor to the malt profile...hopefully this won't detract too much from the hops. Adding my additions later in the boil as well as dry hopping are great ideas! Any suggestions for what to use for the majority of aroma additions or dry hop? I'm looking for a citrusy nose and taste for sure. And as for yeast, I also picked up S-05 because I was unsure about the English yeast myself...are we all in agreement s-05 would work better than s-04 for this? Thanks again.
 
I'd suggest increasing the flavor/aroma hops a bit. Typically, for an American IPA, you want an IBU:GU ratio of about 1.1:1, and you're probably closer to .9:1... Especially with the sweeter malt profile, that's going to be really evident, and you're likely going to have the room to play around. Actually, with the sweeter malt profile, you might even want to bump up your bittering addition to increase the IBU's on that end instead, come to think of it.
 
I'd suggest increasing the flavor/aroma hops a bit. Typically, for an American IPA, you want an IBU:GU ratio of about 1.1:1, and you're probably closer to .9:1... Especially with the sweeter malt profile, that's going to be really evident, and you're likely going to have the room to play around. Actually, with the sweeter malt profile, you might even want to bump up your bittering addition to increase the IBU's on that end instead, come to think of it.

I agree with this.

Your malt bill sounds just like my black IPA I made a few months ago which had about 8% Munich malt and 3% chocolate malt with Caraffa III for dark color. My OG was 1.074 and my IBU's was 89. Even with IBU's that high it doesn't taste quite bitter enough because of the maltiness.
 
You use an English yeast for your American IPA? Not saying it will taste bad, but I often like clean yeasts for the citrusy american hops.

Yep! If you keep it cool (but not so cool that it ends up dry) it's much more unique than the million and one IPAs using 1056.

Edit: I agree on the 10L over 20L. Especially if using English yeast.
 
Yeah true that english yeasts are cleaner when fermenting at the lower temperature range, while keeping a more complex profile than American strains... Thx for the reminder...
 
Ok all, again, thanks for your advice. Plan on brewing tomorrow. To recap, I've adjusted the hop schedule with what I have on hand, altering the addition times for better use of flavor/aroma hops, while upping the IBU to 78.5 and bitterness ratio to 1.15:1. Hopefully I can score 1-2 oz's more of cascade for dry hopping in the secondary. Lastly, I'm still able to use either s-04 or s-05, and have the ability to control temp. Which one to use? I'm intrigued by the s-04, but have read that s-05 would produce a nice, clean tasting IPA. Please note updated recipe below (and attachment) and let me know if you would do anything differently (Again, grain bill is unalterable at this point). Thanks!

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Jada's IPA
Brewer: Craig and Lauren
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.79 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated Color: 9.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 78.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.6 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.9 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.90 %] - Boil 90. Hop 7 45.7 IBUs
4.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 5 1.8 %
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 12 -
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 %
1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 6 28.6 IBUs
0.33 oz Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 2.4 IBUs
0.33 oz Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.3 IBUs
0.33 oz Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 11 0.5 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 4.46 gal of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (4.23gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

View attachment jada's IPA.bsmx
 
The 05 yeast would be cleaner but it's true that if you can control temp, the 04 English yeast would be more complex so I'd go for that... If I remember correctly, you could ferment at 17-18C with this yeast... Wouldn't go below 17C though...
 
Just a few bits of advice. There realy is no need to do a 90 min boil with pale malt, you will just darken the wort a hair and waste propane. A 60 min boil will be plenty. Lose the 4oz wheat, you wont even notice that with your grain bill. If you can go with the 05, its a very nice IPA yeast.

After that i think you will have a sweet/malty IPA. I think it will taste pretty good. Cheers and hope your brew day goes well!
 
There realy is no need to do a 90 min boil with pale malt, you will just darken the wort a hair and waste propane.

Plenty of professional breweries of excellent Double IPAs are doing 90 minute boils for a multitude of reasons. -- Russian River, Ninkasi, Lagunitas, Surly, and Firestone Walker to name a few.
 
I knew about 90 min boils removing dms, but i guess i didnt know about better hop isomerization....so much to learn!!
 
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