Slacker's Late Hopped IPA

Hopville

I wanted to create an IPA with increased late hop additions to mellow out the bite a little but still impart a whole lot of hop flavor that would quench the "hop-thirst".

Recipe Type: American IPA
Yeast: Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.069
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 57.5
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 8 SRM
Primary Fermentation: Until FG is hit @ 65-67F

• 11.5# 2-row
• 1# Crystal 10L
• 1# Victory
• 2 oz. Chinook
• 4 oz. Cascade

Mash @ 152F for 60 minutes.

Hop Additions:

• 0.5 oz. Chinook @ 30 min.
• 0.5 oz. Cascade @ 25 min.
• 0.5 oz. Chinook @ 20 min.
• 0.5 oz. Cascade@ 15 min.
• 1 oz. Chinook @ 10 min.
• 1 oz. Cascade @ 5 min.
• 2 oz. Cascade dry-hopped for 7 days. (possibly 14 days?)

Just wondering what you all think of this recipe and if there is anything you would change or alter or recommend. I have heard too many hops in secondary for too longer will lead to nasty flavors. Could I potentially leave the 2 oz. of cascade in for a full 2 weeks to get the most out of their citrusy goodness?

I think the theory is that the longer you leave the hops in, the more you increase your chances of extracting "grassy" flavors (the hops become "over extracted" if you will). Whether or not this is true in practice is debatable if you care to search the forums. The solution to this potential problem is to add MORE hops for a shorter period of time, say, 3-4 oz cascade for 4-5 days instead of 2 oz for 14 days. Assuming you subscribe to said theory.

You don't have to skip a bittering addition if you want smoother, more mellow, hop quenching, and highly drinkable.

These goals, and other improvements, can be better attained in an IPA by:

Replacing rich, nutty Victory with Light Munich, or none of these
Adding Wheat malt for head retention
Adding Corn sugar for dryness
Mashing between 149-151 F
Lowering the current OG and FG to 1.062 / 1.010
Using a lower cohumulone, less harsh hop for the bitter
Bittering with 20-30 IBUs, or FWH as some like to do

...And Hopbursting with the majority of your hops late (15-0) -- You don't have to go crazy with hopping every 5 minutes though as long as you hit your target IBUs.

People typically dryhop anywhere from 5-14 days. Your choice. But half of us don't experience those grassy flavors. I'd add another oz. for a 5 gallon batch though and do a standard 7 day dryhop (less time, but not too less, and more dryhops). Maybe add a fruity hop like Amarillo for added complexity.

Are you doing a full volume boil with no top off water?

I pretty much always dry hop for a full 14 days and have never had any problems. In fact, having dry hopped for one week and dryhopped for over three weeks and have found less aroma with in the former and no off flavors in the later.

I made a batch this summer that I just couldn't seem to get to bottles. May 11 I dry hopped 7/8 oz. Fuggles (that's all I had) pellets. JULY 11 I dry hopped 1.75 oz. Cascade pellets (again, that was all I had). July 30 I bottled. I have some good news and bad news...and they're the same...this batch tasted great! It had a very mellow flavor we eventually all agreed reminded us of apricot. It was "hoppy" but in a mellow way with a hint of sweetness...if that's what "grassy" tastes like...bring it on! I can't say it seems like anyone in these forums would recommend my procedure but now I find myself actually wanting to replicate it. I'll probably try 2 weeks fuggles and 1 week cascade and see what happens (It won't suck, I'm pretty sure). By the way, 48 hours cold crashing before bottle bucketing really seems to let the hops goo settle down so you don't lose so much precious brew! My experience with Cascade only would suggest 4-7 days of dry hopping with 2 oz. cascade will yield a nice citrus (often grapefruit to me) flavor and a really nice "hop cone" aroma. I would welcome comments on if you all think this beer tasted so good BECAUSE it spent so long in the secondary.

I don't mind introducing some bittering hops. I have this flavor in my head that I am trying to recreate and wanted to avoid the harsher, more bitter tones brought out early in the boil.

I am trying to create an IPA with a little bit more of a body on it hence the victory but just a really lush and mouth watering hop blast. I think the closest explanation of what I am trying to get to is almost like a gusher of pure hops with a mellow bitterness. I have found this in local micro-breweries "wet-hopped" ales and such and was trying to figure a way to get that flavor via pellets... maybe it won't be possible.

I also wanted to play with late hop additions to see how much of an IPA I could create without dealing too much with additions before the 30min mark.