Willamette based PA/IPA recipe advice

I'm planning on brewing an extract-based pale ale/IPA (I feel like it might be a tweener) using Willamette finishing hops. My planned recipe is as follows:

5 gals:

7 lbs extra light DME
1 lb caramunich
1/2 lb carapils
1 oz. Bravo hops @ 13.6% AA - boil
1 oz. Willamette @ 4.4% - 20 minutes
1 oz. Willamette @ 4.4% - 5 minutes
1/2 oz. Willamette dry hop


How does this sound to you guys? I'd appreciate any feedback as I'm relatively new to formulating my own recipes. Thanks.

In Beer Alchemy this comes in a little high on the IBU for an American IPA, at about 74, but if you're only doing a partial boil you'll likely not get full utilization of the hops. ABV comes in at ~5.8, but that's based on 75% attenuation, which could very well be higher than that. You might consider using regular light DME instead of extra light, because it looks like the color is supposed to be around 6 SRM, but again, using DME and putting it in early in the boil, you'll likely get a darker beer in the end anyways, so extra light should be fine too.

Doesn't look too bad to me.

I love Willamette and your recipe looks good. I have never dry hopped with them though so maybe someone will come along and relate their experience. How large is your boil volume. If it is less than 3 gallons consider adding at least one half with 15 minutes remaining as you will get better hop extraction and it won't be quite as dark.

Welcome greenbirds! Willamette hops make excellent flavor/aroma hops so I'll bet your IPA turns out great. You could even get away with dry hopping a little more, but I'm a hop head so maybe that's overkill.

cheers

Thanks for your input.

Blender, my boil will be about 3 gallons, so are you saying I should add half the DME for the whole (60 minute) boil, and half with 15 minutes left? I'll update the thread periodically to let you know how this thing ends up.

greenbirds said:

Thanks for your input.

Blender, my boil will be about 3 gallons, so are you saying I should add half the DME for the whole (60 minute) boil, and half with 15 minutes left? I'll update the thread periodically to let you know how this thing ends up.

Click to expand...

I should let blender speak for himself, but I believe that's exactly what he's saying. A late extract addition will reduce caramelization and thus lighten the color of your beer. I'm not sure how this increases hop extraction though. Maybe less extract in the water allows for more of the hop goodness (that's a technical term) to be released?

greenbirds said:

Thanks for your input.

Blender, my boil will be about 3 gallons, so are you saying I should add half the DME for the whole (60 minute) boil, and half with 15 minutes left? I'll update the thread periodically to let you know how this thing ends up.

Click to expand...

Yeah, because your boil will have less gravity it will make hop utilization rise as well as keep the beer lighter. Just be very careful when adding it during the last 15 minutes and make sure the pot is off the heat so the DME won't scorch. Bring it back to boil for the final 15 minutes.

I used some Willamette as a dry hop in my Sacred Summit Pale Ale and it was very nice.

Gives a tasty floral aroma to the beer.

FYI. See here. Check out the discussion below the recipe. If you're hoping for a strong hop character from this small amount of Willamette, I'd think again. I used 6.5oz of willamette in addition to everything else, and it's still pretty mild. That was my experiment with Willamette. If you expect it to be like a typical American IPA, don't. It's nice and spicy and mild, more of a british style IPA.

Wow, Evan. That's quite a recipe. Perhaps I'll pick up an extra ounce or so and change the schedule to 20, 10, and 2.

Thought I would update this thread. As predicted, the beer is quite mild despite the 3 ounces of finishing hops and an ounce dry hop. The bittering was very smooth after about a month -- I'm very impressed with the Bravo.

Something about the malt character is not quite right though, and I think it had to do with fermenting too warm, around 76-77F.

I have tried a number of IPA batches with Willamette as the flavour & aroma hop (right now I'm working my way through a pound of Millenium-excellent bittering hop).

My experience is that this hop, with around 5-6% A.A. is best for an American Pale Ale with 3-4 oz per batch, or if doing an IPA with OG around 1.060-1.070, use about 6 oz. It always turns out very soft and floral, and never as pungent and bold as the C hops. Dry hopping with about 1.5 oz for a week to 10 d is recommended.

That's my experience anyways...

Nice hop. But be aware, this is a Fuggle type hop, as is Styrian Golding. This will lend your beer more of a British hop character. Which is nice, but something to be aware of.

http://www.probrewer.com/resources/hops/willamette.pdf

MattHollingsworth said:

This will lend your beer more of a British hop character.

Click to expand...

Seems appropriate for a true IPA though. We tend to forget it's the Brit's that created the style in the first place. I prefer an American style IPA loaded with "C" hops, but Willamette is a fitting hop for a British style IPA.

HOOTER said:

Seems appropriate for a true IPA though. We tend to forget it's the Brit's that created the style in the first place. I prefer an American style IPA loaded with "C" hops, but Willamette is a fitting hop for a British style IPA.

Click to expand...

Agreed. And it's not just Fuggle, it's got a little American twist from what I remember. I just think it's always good to know the roots of where the hops are from. Better to know and recognize the flavor when it does certain things, methinks. I've used a lot of the Hallertauer Triploids in American IPAs and APAs too (Liberty, Crystal, Mt. Hood). They work great too, though they're all different from each other.