BernerBrau Beer of the Year: Emperor's Bane Imperial India Pale Ale

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bernerbrau

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This is the recipe for my IIPA. It will be my first Imperial IPA, and I'm calling it my "beer of the year" if for no other reason than it will be twice as expensive as any of my other beers due to the enormous number of hops. I come from a family of celebrated hopheads--hell, my mom won't drink anything unless it's indistinguishable from hop tea :(. So this is definitely one for the family.

Any suggestions to modify the hop schedule or the grain bill (especially any glaring problems) would be appreciated. Suggestions for alternate yeasts would be appreciated as well. And for the record, I do know max detectable IBUs is 100. I just don't care.

Hopefully it will go into production next month.

Code:
Emperor's Bane Imperial India Pale Ale (5 Gallon Batch)

Partial Mash (Steep 155*F for 60 minutes, sparge at 170*F)
==========================================================

1 lb. Pale American Six-Row (provides enzymes for mashing)
0.5 lb. Crystal 40L (color, caramel flavor, body)
0.5 lb. CaraMunich (rich color, malt flavor, body)
0.5 lb. CaraPils (mouthfeel, head retention)
0.5 lb. Flaked Wheat (head retention)

Extract
=======

8.0 lbs. Briess Pilsen Light Dry Malt Extract (contributes mostly gravity, little color or flavor)

Hop Schedule
============

Boil Hops

1oz. Galena (11.0) @90 (Pungent, Heavy, Bitter)
1oz. Northern Brewer (7.0) @90 (Rich, Aggressive, Distinctive) 
0.5oz. Galena (11.0) @30 (Pungent, Heavy, Bitter)
0.5oz. Glacier (5.5) @25 (Fruity, Floral, Herbal)
0.5oz. Galena (11.0) @20 (Pungent, Heavy, Bitter)
0.5oz. Glacier (5.5) @15 (Fruity, Floral, Herbal)
0.5oz. Northern Brewer (7.0) @10 (Rich, Aggressive, Distinctive) 
0.5oz. Nugget (13.9) @8 (Bitter, Aromatic, Herbal, Spicy)
0.5oz. Northern Brewer (7.0) @7 (Rich, Aggressive, Distinctive) 
0.5oz. Nugget (13.9) @6 (Bitter, Aromatic, Herbal, Spicy)
0.5oz. Fuggles (4.0) @5 (Mild, Spicy, English)
0.5oz. Glacier (5.5) @4 (Fruity, Floral, Herbal)
0.5oz. Fuggles (4.0) @3 (Mild, Spicy, English)
0.5oz. Glacier (5.5) @2 (Fruity, Floral, Herbal)

Flameout

1oz. Nugget (13.9) (Bitter, Aromatic, Herbal, Spicy)
1oz. Cascade (6.6) (Floral, Minty, Spicy)

Dry Hop (two weeks)

1oz. Cascade (6.6) (Floral, Minty, Spicy)
1oz. Fuggles (4.0) (Mild, Spicy, English)

Finings
=======

1tsp. Irish Moss, last 15 minutes of boil
2tsp. Polyclar 2 days before bottling

Priming
=======

3/4c. Turbinado Sugar (carbonation, additional color and flavor)

Fermenting (4 weeks)
====================

2 packages US-05, rehydrated

Beer Profile
============

12 SRM
111 IBU
1.086 OG
1.021 FG
8.3% ABV
 
If it was me I'd move some of those earlier hop additions later. One good addition at 90 minutes should get you all the biterness you need. For an IIPA you want lots of hops at the end, maybe throw in 1/2oz every minute for the last 12 minutes or so.

You seem to be all over the board on the hops. 7 different varieties and some interesting choices. I'm not sure I would use glacier in this kind of beer, when I've used it before it added a heavy grassy/earthy flavor/aroma.

About the yeast, I'd recommend using something neutral like WLP001, WY1056, or safale 05. If you want to save some money just buy 2 packs of safale 05 instead of a liquid yeast culture. Your gravity isn't high enough that it warrants using a high gravity yeast. If you choose that yeast make sure you verify it, since I don't think 3725 is what you want.
 
I did a 1oz. glacier dry hop on my first brew that turned out pretty decent for me. And I'm using 7 different varieties because I definitely want my hop aromas over the top in complexity. I'll look into moving the hop additions later, but I'll see what other people have to say before altering the recipe.

How high is high gravity then? I thought 1.080 was considered high gravity.
 
How high is high gravity then? I thought 1.080 was considered high gravity.

I've never used a high gravity yeast and the biggest beer I've made was 1.110 and it fermented down to 1.016 with 2 packs of Safale05 and hits of oxygen for the first 6 hours. That was an americn barleywine

I just recently made a wee heavy that started at 1.109 and made it down to 1.030. Which is right about where it should be. That was with about a gallon stater of Edinburgh Yeast
 
OK, so I'll do the two packages of US-05 started and rehydrated for this batch. Updated the hop schedule. Any other thoughts? Got a month before I actually make it.
 
I have used one single packet of Nottingham, sprinkled onto the wort for a 1.095 OG which went to 1.023 in 2 days. Mash temp was 154 and I had loads of unfermentables. I would seriously consider a higher percentage of Crystal malt in there. With so much hops going in there you want to help push that flavor up otherwise it will certainly be lost. One other thing to consider (although I am not sure how 'to style' it is for an IIPA) would be to add about 7% clear belgian candi sugar in place of some of the LME.
 
I have used one single packet of Nottingham, sprinkled onto the wort for a 1.095 OG which went to 1.023 in 2 days. Mash temp was 154 and I had loads of unfermentables. I would seriously consider a higher percentage of Crystal malt in there. With so much hops going in there you want to help push that flavor up otherwise it will certainly be lost. One other thing to consider (although I am not sure how 'to style' it is for an IIPA) would be to add about 7% clear belgian candi sugar in place of some of the LME.

I'd up the crystal and the munich but I'm worried because I've never partial mashed with more than 3 pounds. One lady at the LHBS says she's gone up to 5... Not sure why you don't just go all-grain at that point.

In terms of DME substitution BJCP says "Generally All Malt" for IIPA. What would substituting say 2 lbs of dark or amber DME for the extra light do for flavor?

From BJCP:
bjcp 2008 said:
Ingredients: Pale ale malt (well-modified and suitable for
single-temperature infusion mashing); can use a complex variety
of hops (English, American, noble). American yeast that
can give a clean or slightly fruity profile. Generally all-malt,
but mashed at lower temperatures for high attenuation. Water
character varies from soft to moderately sulfate.
Vital Statistics:
OG:
1.070 – 1.090
IBUs:
60 – 120
FG:
1.010 – 1.020
SRM:
8 – 15
ABV:
7.5 – 10%
 
I ran the numbers through StrangeBrew, and got wildly different amounts. I do NOT understand its water math -- apparently it thinks I'm going to lose 1 1/2 gallons to the boil and 3 gallons to kettle sludge and trub!! So I fudged the volume numbers a little to bring my post-boil up to 5.5 gallons and reworked the mash ingredients a bit, with an updated beer profile at the end there. I also changed the hop varieties to ones I can get wholesale.

Code:
Emperor's Bane Imperial India Pale Ale (5 Gallon Batch)

Partial Mash (Steep 156*F for 60 minutes, Sparge at 170*F for 60)
==========================================================

1 lb. Pale American Two-Row (enzymes for mashing, gravity)
1 lb. Vienna Malt (malt flavor, golden color, enzymes)
1 lb. Crystal 40L (color, caramel flavor, body)
0.5 lb. CaraMunich (rich color, malt flavor, body)
0.5 lb. CaraPils (mouthfeel, head retention)
0.5 lb. Flaked Wheat (head retention)

Extract
=======

8.0 lbs. Briess Pilsen Light Dry Malt Extract (contributes mostly gravity, little color or flavor)

Hop Schedule
============

[B]Boil Hops

1oz. Centennial (10.5) @90 (English, Floral, Spicy)
2oz. Nugget (13.9) @90 (Bitter, Aromatic, Herbal, Spicy)
0.5oz. Perle (8.0) @30 (Clean, Spicy, Neutral) 
0.5oz. Willamette (5.5) @25 (Mild, Spicy, English)
0.5oz. Perle (8.0) @20 (Clean, Spicy, Neutral) 
0.5oz. Willamette (5.5) @15 (Mild, Spicy, English)
0.5oz. Perle (8.0) @10 (Clean, Spicy, Neutral) 
0.5oz. Centennial (10.5) @8 (English, Floral, Spicy)
0.5oz. Perle (8.0) @7 (Rich, Aggressive, Distinctive) 
0.5oz. Centennial (10.5) @6 (English, Floral, Spicy)
0.5oz. Goldings (4.0) @5 (Aromatic, Sweet, Spicy)
0.5oz. Willamette (5.5) @4 (Mild, Spicy, English)
0.5oz. Goldings (4.0) @3 (Aromatic, Sweet, Spicy)
0.5oz. Willamette (5.5) @2 (Mild, Spicy, English)

Flameout

1oz. Nugget (13.9) (Bitter, Aromatic, Herbal, Spicy)
1oz. Amarillo (7) (Floral, Minty, Spicy)

Dry Hop (two weeks)

1oz. Amarillo (7) (Floral, Minty, Spicy)
1oz. Goldings (4.0) (Aromatic, Sweet, Spicy)[/B]

Finings
=======

1tsp. Irish Moss, last 15 minutes of boil
1pkg. Isinglass 3 days before bottling

Priming
=======

3/4c. Turbinado Sugar (carbonation, additional color and flavor)

Fermenting (2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary)
======================================

2 packages US-05, rehydrated

Beer Profile
============

11.3 SRM
123.5 IBU
1.082 OG
1.021 FG
8.2% ABV

Feedback, please!
 
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