IPA in primary- did I add too many hops?

My instincts say "Too many hops? Never!"

I've been brewing one gallon batches and for this IPA I tossed in one ounce of Cascade and about a half ounce of Saaz.

60' - .25 oz Cascade
45' - .25 oz Cascade
30' - .25 oz Cascade
10' - .25 oz Saaz
5' - .25 oz Saaz
0' - .25 oz Cascade

At 0' I also added about a quarter cup of honey (last minute idea, would it have made a difference if I tossed it in any sooner?) The beer wound up being about a quart shy of a gallon, so I added two cups of water (is this "top-up water?" Still getting used to the jargon). In the past I have added too much water, effectively degrading the mouth feel of the final product, so I didn't want to add too much. I suppose another question I have would be if I should have added any water at all! I don't want to sacrifice quality for quantity.

ANYWHO.

I feel like I should've extended the boil to ninety minutes instead of my usual sixty. According to Brewtoad's calculator, I should be coming out right around 50 IBUs and 7% ABV which are favorable in my opinion, and the wort was a nice dark golden color upon the start of the boil.

The beer does look awfully green right now, however. Should this be expected? I assume it will all settle into trub. I've made a couple IPAs before, but never with this amount of hops, so I'm curious.

It won't be too many, the floral aroma of the Cascade will over power the Saaz.

I wouldn't use Saaz in your next IPA, it is more of a Pilsner / Lager hop...just my $.02

That's not too many at all. But like the above poster said, I wouldn't use Saaz in an IPA, especially with a strong hop like Cascade. Heck, do an all Cascade IPA, or maybe with just a small amount of Magnum or Warrior for bittering. Maybe something like this:

60' - .25 oz Magnum
30' - .25 oz Cascade
15' - .25 oz Cascade
5' - .50 oz Cascade
0' - .25 oz Cascade

It's generally better to use flavor/aroma hops like Cascade later in the boil. Also, I'd do a full boil with a batch this small. Or if you're using just extract, all batches.

A quarter cup of honey certainly wouldn't be a bad thing post boil, but be sure to calculate that into your ABV. I actually just added 12 oz of honey to my American Strong Ale to boost the ABV. We'll see how it turns out.

Hope this helped.

Looks good to me, but I am a hop fiend. I do not know much about Saaz, but isn't more of a low AA pilsner type hop? For my IPA I like piney, citrusy flavors, so I go heavy on the Citra and Simcoe. Just make sure you dry hop some too, to get the flavor and aroma and not just the bitter.

Thanks for the advice! I wasn't sure about the Saaz, I had a half ounce left over from a pumpkin blonde I have and wanted to use it up rather than let it sit in the fridge any longer.

I've been brewing all-grain, I enjoy the mash and sparge aspects of brewing as opposed to dealing with extracts. I think it's the junior chemist in me. I appreciate the replies and thanks for the good vibes!

hellawaits77 said:

Also, I'd do a full boil with a batch this small. Or if you're using just extract, all batches.

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What exactly do you mean when you say "full boil?"

FoggBrew said:

What exactly do you mean when you say "full boil?"

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I mean boiling all the water. Don't add any to the wort after, simply boil it all. Be sure to add a few oz extra to compensate for boil off.

To me that almost doesnt seem like ENOUGH hops for an IPA, seems more APA...?

You have all low alpha bittering hops, no matter how long you boil cascade its not going to compete with something like Centennial or Magnum for bittering.

Just checked and at 5.5% AA Cascades your only looking at 26-27 IBU, which will be a bit low on the bittering but should still come out tasty!

I didn't wanna overload on hops necessarily. I'm a hop head for sure, but I'm looking at getting a good session IPA under my belt, so this is some good news to hear. I'm excited for the turnout. It's been a few months since my last IPA home brew.

FuzzeWuzze said:

To me that almost doesnt seem like ENOUGH hops for an IPA, seems more APA...?

You have all low alpha bittering hops, no matter how long you boil cascade its not going to compete with something like Centennial or Magnum for bittering.

Just checked and at 5.5% AA Cascades your only looking at 26-27 IBU, which will be a bit low on the bittering but should still come out tasty!

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Did you see this is a 1 gallon batch?
OP, if your cascade was about 4.5% I think your calculations are probably right at around 50 IBU. Are you going to dry hop?

FuzzeWuzze said:

To me that almost doesnt seem like ENOUGH hops for an IPA, seems more APA...?

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I would agree, in total thats 42g, thats less than what I would sometimes dry hop with, But at 7% avb it isn't a APA either.

I think my current IPA in the fermenter had approximately 128g and thats should be heading for 5.4% if all goes well.

Queequeg said:

I would agree, in total thats 42g, thats less than what I would sometimes dry hop with, But at 7% avb it isn't a APA either.

I think my current IPA in the fermenter had approximately 128g and thats should be heading for 5.4% if all goes well.

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And again, I'm asking if everyone is seeing that this is a 1 gallon batch. The OP has the equivalent of 7.5 oz or 212 g of boil hops if it was a 5 gallon batch.

Oops missed that, sorry

chickypad said:

Did you see this is a 1 gallon batch?
OP, if your cascade was about 4.5% I think your calculations are probably right at around 50 IBU. Are you going to dry hop?

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I had not intended on dry hopping initially, but I've been inching towards going for it more and more every day. Any recommendations for what I should dry hop with?

FoggBrew said:

I had not intended on dry hopping initially, but I've been inching towards going for it more and more every day. Any recommendations for what I should dry hop with?

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Given your current hop lineup, Cascade would be the obvious choice Any of the "C" hops would compliment the cascade nicely, or Simcoe, maybe some fruity NZ hops even

there's definitely not too much hops in this (rare I make one with less), but there is too much focus on the bittering hops (30+mins). the majority of your hops should be in the final 15mins. next time i'd move that 45 to 5 and the 30 to DH

FoggBrew said:

I had not intended on dry hopping initially, but I've been inching towards going for it more and more every day. Any recommendations for what I should dry hop with?

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you should never intend to not dry hop an IPA. like has been said, any 'C' hop will do

My buddy just finished up a Nelson clone of the Alpine Brewing Co which is just east of San Diego. While nobody has the exact recipe... some are close and it calls for 11oz of Nelson Sauvin for dry hopping.

Just went into the keg this past weekend, can't wait to try it

Toy4Rick

Thanks for the advice everyone!