Simcoe Amarillo IPA, what do ya'll think

I've been working on this and looking forward to brewing next week. Here's what I've got so far. How does the hop schedule and malt bill look to you?Would you change anything?

5.5Gal
OG 1.068
FG 1.017

8# Muntons extra light DME (6# in the last 5 minutes)
12oz Muntons wheat DME
12oz Dextrose
1# Crystal 20L (30min steep)

60min - 0.5oz Columbus
30min - 0.5 Simcoe
15min - 0.5 Amarillo
15min - 0.5 Simcoe
5min - 0.75 Amarillo
5min - 0.75 Simcoe
0min - 1oz Amarillo (20 min steep)
0min - 1.5 Simcoe (20 min steep)
7day dryhop 2oz Simcoe + 1oz Amarillo

wyeast1056

Looks great. Make an appropriate sized yeast starter with that 1056.

Maybe cut the Crystal 20 to 10-12 oz. You can afford to hit 10-12% sugar with an extract IPA.

For the hops, move the 5 minute addition up to the 10-8 mark and double your 30 and 15 minute additions.

bobbrews said:

Looks great. Make an appropriate sized yeast starter with that 1056.

Maybe cut the Crystal 20 to 10-12 oz. You can afford to hit 10-12% sugar with an extract IPA.

For the hops, move the 5 minute addition up to the 10-8 mark and double your 30 and 15 minute additions.

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Yeah, I was thinking of a 2L starter with the 1056 and fermenting around 65degF.

I am doing my ibu calculations with beer calculus and right now i'm at 77ibus (rager). I was trying to keep it <80ibu. Won't doubling my hops at 30 and 15 put my ibus into 100+ territory? Don't get me wrong; I love a super-hoppy IPA, but I want to have strike a balance with this one - lots of hop flavor and aroma, but still very drinkable. Make sense?

First, let me start off by saying that it's difficult to achieve 90-100 actual IBUs, especially in an extract IPA. You're going to most likely end up in the 65-85 range with the revision. It will be much more smooth than you think because the 1 oz. 30 minute addition will come off as smooth bitterness in the end. I brew many IPAs like this one and appreciate the lower amount you used at 60. You'll have something more aromatic hoppy than bitter hoppy. Your choice but I think you'll like it. You could also add more sugar to boost you around 1.071-072 OG or bring the 30 min addition down to 25/20 min. I would keep this in the primary for 30 days with the dryhops added during the last week and a half. You will probably finish between 1.014-1.016 FG if you're using 10-12% sugar.

Very helpful, Bob. I'm going with all of your suggestions. Quick question; just dry hop right in the primary?

Time to hit the LHBS. I will report back after brewday

dickproenneke said:

just dry hop right in the primary?

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You could go that route. I still rack to a secondary for dryhopping, put the hops in first and rack on top of them. But the primary would work just as well.

If you avoid agitation and let time, gravity, patience do the job at the right temps., then there's really no need to rack again just for the dryhop. The dryhops can be tossed in loose right into the primary, and when it comes time to siphon, just wrap your racking cane with a mesh bag to avoid sucking up the trub and spent hops.

Secondaries are good for fruit, oak, nibs, long-term aging, etc.

Any benefit DHing whole hops vs. pellets in the primary?

bobbrews said:

The dryhops can be tossed in loose right into the primary, and when it comes time to siphon, just wrap your racking cane with a mesh bag to avoid sucking up the trub and spent hops.

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Seems like whole hops would pose less of a problem when racking; less tiny hop particles to potentially end up in the bottling bucket. Right?

I like it! My last IPA was similar, but we did some first wort hopping, used warrior for bittering, and had some citra in there at the end for flavor and aroma. I am doing a new version of that beer this weekend that is a 50/50 split of only amarillo and citra. I hope it turns out as good as the first!

dickproenneke said:

Seems like whole hops would pose less of a problem when racking; less tiny hop particles to potentially end up in the bottling bucket. Right?

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No. Pellets are actually less of a problem IMO. They sink, don't absorb as much beer, take up less space, and clean up is easier. Particles can be avoided by careful racking and careful siphoning with a mesh bag wrapped around your racking cane.

bobbrews said:

No. Pellets are actually less of a problem IMO. They sink, don't absorb as much beer, take up less space, and clean up is easier. Particles can be avoided by careful racking and careful siphoning with a mesh bag wrapped around your racking cane.

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x2 I do not DH with whole or leaf anymore for those reasons, too messy.

Update:
Here is the recipe for a 5gallon batch I ended up brewing 2wks ago.

3.3# Muntons Extra Light LME (Late)
2# Muntons Extra Light DME (Late)
1.5# Muntons Extra Light DME
1.25# Dextrose (Late)
10oz Briess Caramel 20
8oz Briess Wheat DME

60min .5oz Columbus
30min 1oz Amarillo
15min 1oz Amarillo
8min 1.5 Amarillo
30 steep 2oz Simcoe
DH 7days 2oz Simcoe, .5oz Amarillo, .5 Columbus

WLP001/1000ml yeast starter pitched after 24hrs

Fermented at 67degF for 7days; Raised temp to 69/70degF for the next 7 days. I will leave this in the bucket for another week @ 69/70 before DH.

OG came in at 1.069, which was a little higher than I expected. Checked the gravity last night and to my surprise it finished at 1.012! The sample smelled was divine, so I couldn't resist a little taste... Even very young, flat and without the DH addition, this beer is light years beyond any other brew that I've made. SWMBO agreed too (and she certainly doesn't hold back when something is not quite right either).

The in-yo-face citrusy hops flavor profile was exactly what I was going for with this highish ABV west coast inspired IPA. The simcoe hops add just the right amount of dank pine notes without being overwhelming. My only regret is not adding a full lb of Caramel 20 to balance the bitterness a bit.

Overall I am very impressed with this beer and appreciate the help I received from HBT'ers like Bobbrews and others while developing this recipe.

Update us when this is ready. A recipe endorsed by bobbrews always gets my attention. I may brew this soon, but scale down to 2.5 gallon batch.

cm02WS6 said:

Update us when this is ready. A recipe endorsed by bobbrews always gets my attention. I may brew this soon, but scale down to 2.5 gallon batch.

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Will do. I'm getting so antsy waiting on this one, but I just know it'll be worth it. 3 more days on the DH and then BOTTLING!!!!!

Bottling went pretty smoothly today. The hardest part was avoiding the hop particles in suspension while racking to my bottling bucket. I used a big 5 gallon paint strainer bag on the end of my auto siphon. It took a bit of tweaking with the bag positioning until the beer started flowing freely and without tiny air bubbles. I ended up losing only a 1/2 gallon to trub/dry hops. I primed with 4.4oz of dextrose and ended up bottling 24 bombers and 4 12ozers. My plan is to try a 12oz at 2,3 and 4 weeks to see how the carbonation is developing.

Ok, now for the good part... Tasting!
In the midst of racking to the bottling bucket I manage to set aside an 8oz taster for myself. My first impression was overwhelmingly positive, even without carbonation. This beer just oozes a delicious sweet grapefruit aroma. The tangerine and piney flavors of Simcoe really come through on the first sip. Bitterness is aggressive but not unpleasant, which is very appropriate for this style and very much what I was looking for in this west coast style ipa. I was concerned that the finished beer would end up tasting thin, due to the fact that it finished at 1.012. To my surprise it has a silky body and just enough residual sweetness to play nice with all of those hop... I'll be counting the days until I get to give this beer a try again in a couple weeks. I'll follow up with photos next time.