I want to make an Imperial IPA - just not hoppy

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
jamesnsw

jamesnsw

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
842
Reaction score
14
A lot of my friends have had the same reaction when trying an IIPA- they love the maltiness for the first second, and then HATE it.

So I am contemplating making a beer similar to an IPA, but dialing back the hops quite a bit.

Are there styles that would fit this description? Or am I better off just taking an IIPA recipe, and cutting the hops in half?
 
jamesnsw said:
A lot of my friends have had the same reaction when trying an IIPA- they love the maltiness for the first second, and then HATE it.

So I am contemplating making a beer similar to an IPA, but dialing back the hops quite a bit.

Are there styles that would fit this description? Or am I better off just taking an IIPA recipe, and cutting the hops in half?
Click to expand...

IMO, that is the real mark of an IIPA. It's a very malty backbone, balanced with ample hops. I find IPA's much more hop foward than IIPAs. I think IIPAs are really balanced. I'm thinking that cutting the hops would make the beer way to malty, maybe even too sweet.
 
Yeah maybe use an IIPA malt bill so its a high gravity ale, and just scale back the IBU/SG ratio. You could also maybe use english hops to give it more of a mild hop taste. Do they not like the citrus flavor or what is it they hate about it?
 
They don't like the bitterness- to them, it's a malty backbone with way too much hops- not really balanced. I agree that IPAs are more hop forward, but IIPAs are still pretty bitter.
 
If they don't like the bitterness, keep in mind that with higher alcohol, the bitterness will be lessened, with the same amount of hops. I once made a rye IPA that was over 8% and around 80 IBU's. I'm not a huge bitter hophead, but I liked the way it turned out; could barely discern the bitterness. It was enough to get the job done.
 
Late addition hops will bring the bitterness down...cut back the 60 min hop additions and boost the 10, 5, 0 min additions.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions- and I don't want to waste my good IPA on someone who winces :).

One response I got to this was to make a Scottish Ale- I'm not terribly familiar with the style- what are your thoughts?
 
I just bottled a scotch Wee Heavy I brewed a couple of months ago. There is a total of 1 oz of hops in the entire 5 gallon batch. It's seriously malty, smells like vanilla toffee and caramel, and SWMBO just told me to make sure we always have some. Its around 9%, and is essentially diametrically opposite of an IIPA in terms of bitterness. The kit from Northern Brewer is the one I recommend to try it out.
 
I just read the style description for Strong Scotch Ale/ Wee Heavy. I think this may be what I'm looking for. I think my apprehension was having some overly smoked Wee Heavys, and I'm not looking for rauch at all.
 
jamesnsw said:
I just read the style description for Strong Scotch Ale/ Wee Heavy. I think this may be what I'm looking for. I think my apprehension was having some overly smoked Wee Heavys, and I'm not looking for rauch at all.
Click to expand...

I'm actually drinking one right now, and there is absolutely NO rauch in this beer. In fact, smoked malt isn't even in the same time zone. I have seen a few recipes for Wee Heavy that have some smoked malt, and I also have a lb of peat malt in my fridge right now for an upcoming 80 /- experiment, but the kit from NB has no smoked malt.
 
I'd recommend looking into doing a barleywine then. They are pretty similar to IIPA's without as much bitterness. Scotch ales are great too but, quite differnet from a IIPA. Either way I'm sure you will end up with a great beer.:mug:
 
I made an IPA that was around 8% with English hops, I don't rmember amounts, nor do I have my recipe in front of me, but it was EKG and Fuggles, and it has an assertive hop presence, but those mellower hops really leave the malt shine through also. Well balanced I guess is the best way to describe it.
 
IMHO, there's really so much overlap between IPA and IIPA, not to mention commercial versions deviating from BJCP, that the only thing you can say about the difference is that IIPAs are usually higher in alcohol.

When you compare two beers like DFH 60 (IPA) and 90 (IIPA) minute, the obvious difference is that the 90 is just bigger in every way. High malt backbone and sweetness but equally more aggressive in hop bitterness. However, look at Pliny, which is also an IIPA which is way drier and perceptively bitter than the 90 minute.

How bout brewing a 90-minute clone and hopping it as if it were a 60?
 
Bobby_M said:
IMHO, there's really so much overlap between IPA and IIPA, not to mention commercial versions deviating from BJCP, that the only thing you can say about the difference is that IIPAs are usually higher in alcohol.

When you compare two beers like DFH 60 (IPA) and 90 (IIPA) minute, the obvious difference is that the 90 is just bigger in every way. High malt backbone and sweetness but equally more aggressive in hop bitterness. However, look at Pliny, which is also an IIPA which is way drier and perceptively bitter than the 90 minute.

How bout brewing a 90-minute clone and hopping it as if it were a 60?
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good idea for the OP. It gives me the idea to do a 90min DFH with the Pliny hop schedule :rockin:
 

Similar threads

Gadjobrinus
SMaSH IPA - 100% Warminster & EKG. Samuel Smith - "toasted," crystal?
Replies
18
Views
827
Gadjobrinus
Gadjobrinus
Brooothru
How Should I Submit This Beer Under BJCP Style Guidelines?
Replies
13
Views
1K
Brooothru
Brooothru
Clint Yeastwood
Prose from the Pros
Replies
6
Views
443
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
Hoppy2bmerry
Who’s Making Hop Water?
Replies
21
Views
2K
beersk
beersk
Gadjobrinus
Counterpressure bottle filler....I know.
Replies
19
Views
902
DuncB
D
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top