Need help with PM IPA (too much vienna?)

I'm about to brew a single hop partial mash IPA this weekend. I'd like to have a good recipe as I hope to make a few other single hops w/ the same recipe. I can PM up to 4# of malt and would like to have an OG of around 1.6 and IBU about 50. Currently, I have 6# LME, 5# vienna, and 1# crystal 20

Will 4# of vienna and crystal make a good IPA...too sweet? How much of each should I use? Have sugar as well. I'm thinking either 3 or 3.5# of vienna and .5-1# crystal 20.

My hop schedlue is:
60 chinook to 50 ibu
15 1 oz chinook
5 1 oz chinook
dry hop 1 oz chinook

p.s. i can go to lhbs is needed though always nice to just wake up and brew!

Vienna is a malt that has a slightly sweet, yet roasty/ nutty flavor. It may be out of style for an IPA.

That said, I'd always thought of doing an IPA using vienna to add a more malty backbone. The way I see it, any unwanted sweetness which may be present will probably be covered up by both bittering and flavoring/aroma hops. I say go for it. The vienna will add a very nice color too.

Keep in mind, more vienna should mean less crystal. An IPA doesn't need too much color, and even though vienna doesn't add too much color, it certainly will add some. The crystal may be a bit overkill. With the amount of vienna you plan on using, I would go with about .25-.5 pounds of crystal at the most.

ghank15 said:

Vienna is a malt that has a slightly sweet, yet roasty/ nutty flavor. It may be out of style for an IPA.

That said, I'd always thought of doing an IPA using vienna to add a more malty backbone. The way I see it, any unwanted sweetness which may be present will probably be covered up by both bittering and flavoring/aroma hops. I say go for it. The vienna will add a very nice color too.

Keep in mind, more vienna should mean less crystal. An IPA doesn't need too much color, and even though vienna doesn't add too much color, it certainly will add some. The crystal may be a bit overkill. With the amount of vienna you plan on using, I would go with about .25-.5 pounds of crystal at the most.

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Well I just made a 3.5 gallon batch of IPA (actually ended with closer to 4 gallons so missed OG by a little) saturday AM with:

4# 6 row
3# vienna
1# crystal
6 oz carapils
1# DME.

I hopped it with Chinook and Cascade and will probably dry hop it with cascade. Fermented with US-05 at 65 and actually was still bubbling 1 every 6-8 sec this AM 4 days in.

OG was 1.054 (was shooting for 1.060 but missed it because of the extra 1/2 gallon, probably should have boiled closer to 90 minutes rather than the 60 I did).

It seems like most of my pale ales and IPA's are missing a little malt backbone so wanted to see where I could get with a pretty heaping dose of Vienna and Crystal. Can't wait to keg her up.

I know its a little late but I add only 1 lb. of Vienna to all my Pales. Also the C20 is a little light (more Blonde) I use C60 most of the time and C40 on occasion. You will have a great beer though so dont worry about it.

brewit2it said:

Well I just made a 3.5 gallon batch of IPA (actually ended with closer to 4 gallons so missed OG by a little) saturday AM with:

4# 6 row
3# vienna
1# crystal
6 oz carapils
1# DME.

Click to expand...

Somewhere there is a post about a beer that Yooper makes pretty close... lakewalk maybe? Anyway its essentially a session type and has another 2 pounds of munich too and has gotten rave reviews. I think you're fine.

chiteface said:

Somewhere there is a post about a beer that Yooper makes pretty close... lakewalk maybe? Anyway its essentially a session type and has another 2 pounds of munich too and has gotten rave reviews. I think you're fine.

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That's funny, I ordered some Munich as well that I wanted to use with this recipe but they sent me twice as much Vienna (20 lbs instead of 10) and 5 lbs of Munich Crystal malt but no regular Munich. I didn't complain since the prices were good and I actually ended up with 5 extra lbs more than I paid for.