Belgian IPA with American Hops

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Chris135

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6 Lbs Pale Malt (US)
6 lbs Pale Malt (Bel)
2 lbs Crystal 60
8oz Carafoam
1oz Centennial 60min
6 oz Brown Sugar
1oz Centennial 30min
1oz Cascade 20min
1oz Cascade 10min
1pkg Belgian Ale Yeast #1214
2oz Citra Dry Hop 5 Days

Next time I'll drop the crystal to 0.5-1 lbs and add something else. I'll also add more hops. Make sure you ferment it in the mid to low 60s. Any suggestions on how to make it better? I've tried a lot of Belgian yeasts for IPAs and I haven't found one I like yet.
 
I would omit the 30 min hop addition and just focus on late/flameout additions for the aroma. Also, I used White Labs Abbey Ale Yeast (WLP530) on a Belgian IPA and it turned out great. I think that the spicy phenolics of some Belgian yeasts overpower the hops in most cases. The Abbey Ale yeast had enough flavor to let you know that it was a Belgian type yeast without getting in the way of the hop flavor/aroma.

Cheers!
 
Try a saison yeast- I like Belgian IPA's with a saison yeast. I too would push your hop additions 10m closer to the end of your boil (your second cascade addition at flameout). You also definitely need a hefty dry hop. Also, I think you have waaaaay too much crystal in there. Go to just 1lb of C60 and no carafoam. You're not going to need any help with sweetness/head retention in this beer.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely lower the crystal next time and move the hop additions later in addition to using more hops overall. I'm thinking of using some Belgian candy sugar/syrup instead of the brown sugar. The beer definitely turned out too sweet and unbalanced. I've also been considering adding some burton salts to my water when brewing very hoppy beers.
 
I'd highly recommend simplifying the grain bill first and foremost. Pilsner malt with some Aromatic malt as you see fit (could potentially be none, which is just fine), and leave it at that. Maybe some Munich or Vienna instead of the Aromatic, but that's about all I would recommend. If you're going the Tripel route add table sugar (NOT candi sugar/syrup, just plain ol' table sugar will do just fine), if you're keeping the ABV a bit lower (Belgian Blonde kinda range) go all malt lest any sugar additions dry the beer out too much. I'd also suggest going with a hop burst for your Belgians. No bittering addition, just lots of hops in the last 20m of the boil. Personally I find that approach gets the best results.
 
Have you tried Wyeast 3522? I love the Chouffe yeast but have not tried it with Centennial or Citra.
 
SixStringBeer said:
I'd highly recommend simplifying the grain bill first and foremost. Pilsner malt with some Aromatic malt as you see fit (could potentially be none, which is just fine), and leave it at that. Maybe some Munich or Vienna instead of the Aromatic, but that's about all I would recommend. If you're going the Tripel route add table sugar (NOT candi sugar/syrup, just plain ol' table sugar will do just fine), if you're keeping the ABV a bit lower (Belgian Blonde kinda range) go all malt lest any sugar additions dry the beer out too much. I'd also suggest going with a hop burst for your Belgians. No bittering addition, just lots of hops in the last 20m of the boil. Personally I find that approach gets the best results.
Click to expand...

Checked out your site. Good luck with Six String.
 
Much appreciated. +1 on the wyeast 3522 might I add. I'm a big fan of that yeast in general (largely because of it's versatility), and really like it in the IPAs I've made with it.
 

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