7th Hoppin IPA, Pilsner LME with 7 hops

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ianmatth

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I'm currently fermenting an IPA made with 8.5 pounds of Pilsner LME, 7 different types of hops, and Wyeast 1272 American Ale II.

I made a 2-step 1.65 L starter with a half pound of Pilsner LME at 1.040 OG. I smacked the Wyeast 1272 pack on August 10th. Over 24 hours later, it had barely swelled up, but I pitched the pack into the first 0.65 L. I measured it at 1.020 on August 14th, so I added the final liter for my full 1.65 L starter and measured the gravity at 1.032. I measured it at 1.016 on August 16th.

I boiled 4 gallons of 9.5 pH Kangen water (I have an ionizer from Enagic), added 8.5 pounds of Pilsner LME, and brought back to a boil. I used the following hop schedule:

90 minutes: 1/6 oz Warrior, 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

60 minutes: 1/6 oz Warrior, 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

30 minutes: 1/6 oz Warrior, 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

20 minutes:1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

15 minutes: 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

10 minutes: 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

5 minutes: 1/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos)

2 minutes: slowly adding the final 5/12 oz each (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Falconers Flight, Simcoe, Zythos) until flame out

I added another gallon of ice water and stuck my kettle in the freezer. Before I went to bed I pulled it out of the freezer and put it in my room where the temperature is a constant 65 degrees. On the morning of August 17th, I poured it into a 5 gallon bucket, vigorously stirred for a few minutes, and pitched my 1.65 L yeast starter. OG was 1.056. It's been fermenting at 65 degrees ever since. I plan to measure my gravity on August 24th. If it's below 1.01, I'll rack to a secondary fermenter and dry hop, if not, I'll raise the temperature to 72 degrees and ferment for a little longer. I'd love to see it at 1.001 because that would put ABV at 7.34. IBUs calculate ~100, but with over 2 oz added in the last 2 minutes and dry hopping it should have even more hop flavor.

Any suggestions on temperature would be appreciated.
 
I don't think there is any way this is going to get to 1.001 unless you get some wild yeast in there. Ferment at a lower temp, maybe 68 to avoid getting to many esters.
 
The 1.001 was kind of a joke, just plugging in the lowest number the ABV calculator would let me. I'd like my IPA to be 7.33 ABV, but realistically to do that, OG would have to be 1.064. Temperature is at 65 right now, so if gravity isn't 1.01 by Friday morning, I'll only up it to 68. A member named scottland has a Dogfish Head 90 clone where he does 2 weeks of primary fermentation at 64 degrees and 2 weeks of secondary fermentation at 70 degrees. Based on that, maybe a week at 65 and a week at 68 is good for primary fermentation on my IPA. Then I can up it to 70 degrees for secondary fermentation and dry hopping. However, I will admit I am a little impatient, so if gravity hits 1.01 by Thursday night, I might rack to secondary, dry hop, raise to 68 for a day, and raise to 70 for a week before bottling. Would there be a huge difference in esters between 68 and 70?
 
It would be a marginal difference, I would start fermentation low, then as it starts to slow around day 4 or 5, up it to 70 if you really want to try and get everything... Although I think youll get everything at 65 anyways.

Once you are to 2 weeks, temp doesn't make that much of a difference... Unless you are going to lager.
 
Raised temperature to 68 and measured gravity at 1.012. My beer already has a fruity aroma and taste from the hops beyond anything I have ever tried. It also has hops floating in it, so I probably used more than I needed to. I'll see how things are looking on Tuesday. If gravity is less than 1.01, I'll rack to secondary and dry hop.
 
Gravity is still at 1.012, so I raised the temperature to 70 and agitated the bucket. I'm going to rack to secondary either Thursday night or Friday morning.
 
I racked to secondary. Gravity was still at 1.012. I only racked 3 clear gallons as there was so much trub. I ended up with another gallon that looks to be 60% trub at this point. I'm going to see if I can harvest some yeast from it. There was also a lot of trub at the bottom I ended up pouring down the drain. Guess I used too much hops. I dry hopped the 3 gallons with 1/4 oz Cascade, 1/4 oz Centennial, 1/4 oz Simcoe, and 1/2 oz Citra. I guess I'll have to call it 8th Hoppin IPA now.
 
I bottled the beer using Pilsner LME. I took a little taste and I can definitely tell a big difference from the dry hopping. Looking forward to the finished beer in 2 weeks.
 
I've been drinking my beer for the last few days. It turned out really good, has a nice richness from the pilsner malt and plenty of fruity hop flavor from all the high quality hops.
 
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