1st BrewPal Recipe

So I snagged the BrewPal app for my iPhone. I have a recipe I have been playing with, and put it in BrewPal to see what IBUs I would end up with. Everything looks good, but the amount of sparge water it recommended really surprised me. It suggested 4.9 gallons!! Does that sound right? Here is the recipe. I put in amounts/times/temps and let the software calculate water volumes and stats:

Mini Mash IPA
2.5 # 2 Row Pale Malt
2.5 # Light Munich Malt
1.0 # Crushed Crystal Malt 64 L
1.0 # Flaked Barley (roast @ 325 for 15 mins)

3 # Amber DME @ 30 mins

Single Infusion Mash 2.6gallons of water @ 155 for 60 mins

Batch sparge w/ 4.9 gallons @ 176

2 OZ Cascade Leaves @ 60 mins
2 OZ Citra Leaves @ 15 mins
2 OZ Amarillo Pellets Dry Hop

Pre Boil: 1.049 (mash w/o DME)
OG: 1.059 (5.25 gallons)
FG: 1.013
(assuming 77% attenuation)
IBU: 66 Tinseth
ABV: 6%
Two packets US 05 Yeast

Ferment @ 62-67 14 days
Secondary/Dry Hop 7 Days
Keg and age @ 45 7 Days

I just put in the actual Alpha Acid numbers from the hops I have and it bumped the IBUs up to 81. My Citra claims 14.4 AA, the default was only 11.

Looking at the total water volumes makes more sense now, too. I thought maybe the extract was throwing it off, but I removed t and the water volumes didn't change.

I think I may reduce the sparge volume a bit, because my boil off doesn't seem quite as high as what BrewPal is using as a baseline.

Stoked about this beer regardless! Even if my numbers are off a bit I am sure it will be delicious. I am a pretty laid back brewer.

I'd reduce the amount of crystal and swap the amber extract for light or extra light. IPAs dont typically have much crystal malt, and with the munich you need the crystal even less.

its personal preference, but theres really no reason to use a secondary just to dry hop. it works just as well in a primary and involves less work/risk. you can even just dry hop in the keg as well

Yeah, I have been thinking primary dry hop. I want a deep color, almost too deep for an IPA, ya know. Like a mahogany kind of color, is that where I am headed?

kinda tough to say on the color cuz of the barley toasting, but i'm guessing that'll be around 25ish SRM which puts you slightly shy of mahogany as is (~14 SRM). it'll be a really nice dark amber.

I have read that toasting Flaked barley adds a nice copper hue, which I would really like. Not sure if it would be over powered by the DME and crystal, but it would be good for head retention either way, right?

no the dme and crystal shouldnt take away too much from the toasted barley. the head retention will be there regardless from the extract, crystal and good dose of hops.

not sure exactly what you want in this beer, but if it were me, id drop the mash temp to 150ish (155 is kinda high for an IPA) swap the amber extract for light (if you're adding grains there's no point to not have full control over whats added), half the crystal and use 120L instead (lower the crystal w/o hurting the color, will add more intense caramel/raisen vs the C60 tho), add an oz of carafa III (to make up for lost color from the extract), and move up the citra to about 5mins to get more aroma out of it. its your recipe tho, so take whatever advice you want. I'm sure it'd be great as is, the grain bill is on the malty/sweet side for an IPA, but the high IBUs should balance that pretty well.

oh also, 1 pack of S-05 will be enough (actually exactly the right amount according to mr malty: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html )

Thanks for the tips!

I didn't even consider using a higher l crystal in smaller amounts, that's a really good idea.

And good call on the yeast! I just rechecked and BrewPal calls for 11 grams, which is almost exactly 1 pack.

Basically I am looking for a big mouthfeel, solid malty/sweet backbone and a strong level if bitterness with some piney and citrus flavors (no Simcoe available at the moment, hence the Chinook) and an earthy hop aroma. I'd like a deep copper/mahogany color and big white head.

I guess it's not REALLY an IPA, but that's the closest style I could think of. I envision a big tasting, deep colored but not overly boost IPA, I guess.

Sorry, forgot to mention I have swapped the Citra out for Chinook. Hoping for a bite of that pine bite..

I would play around with your hop schedule. 81IBUS is a lot for a 1.059 beer. 60IBUs would be more balanced with that gravity.

Also, you've got a lot of hops early, but not many late hops. It's those 15, 10, 5, and 0 minute additions that give the really good strong hop aroma and flavor.

You're also using Cascade early and Citra late, i would switch those two. I would do something like:

1oz Citra @ 60min (42IBU)
1oz Cascade @ 15min (11IBU)
1oz Citra @ 5min (8IBU)
1oz Cascade @ flameout (0IBU)

That would give you ~ 60IBU, and much more intense hop flavor and aroma without as much bitterness you would get from 81 IBUs. Your dry hopping amound sounds perfect, stick with that.

A Lil less bitter and a Lil more hoppy sounds good! I will make some adjustments based on all this input and post the new recipe...

sendkyleanemail said:

Basically I am looking for a big mouthfeel, solid malty/sweet backbone and a strong level if bitterness with some piney and citrus flavors (no Simcoe available at the moment, hence the Chinook) and an earthy hop aroma. I'd like a deep copper/mahogany color and big white head.

Click to expand...

sounds like you basically want a IIPA within an IPA. I think you're heading in the right direction, but amarillo isn't gunna give you earthy, its more citrus. btw, i'd consider First Wort Hopping your bittering hops to get more character out of them.

so I took some advice and suggestions and this is what I have at this point.

2.5 # 2 Row Malt
2.5 # Munich 10 Malt
1.0 # Crystal Malt 60 L
1.0 # Flaked Barley (roast @ 325 for 15 mins)

3 # Light DME @ 30 mins

Single Infusion Mash w/
3 gallons @ 152 for 60 mins
(strike temp 168)

Batch sparge w/
4 gallons @ 175

1 OZ Cascade Leaves @ 60 mins
1 OZ Chinook Leaves @ 15 mins
1 OZ Cascade Leaves @ 10
1 OZ Chinook Leaves @ 5 mins
2 OZ Amarillo Pellets Dry Hop

Estimated Pre Boil: 1.049 (-DME)
Estimated OG: 1.059 (5.50 G)
Estimates FG: 1.013 (5.25 G)
(assuming 77% attenuation)
IBU: 66 Tinseth
ABV: 6%

1 Pack US 05 Yeast

Ferment @ 62-67 14 days
Dry Hop 7 Days
Keg and age @ 45 7 Days

Should be a nice IPA.