American IPA My 2-time gold winning American IPA

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enohcs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
446
Reaction score
43
Location
Washington, DC
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
White Labs California ale
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
2 vials
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.065
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
65
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7days @ 68f
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14days @ 68f
Additional Fermentation
7 days keg conditioned while force carbing
Tasting Notes
not the hop bomb you normally expect from an american IPA, but damn it's tasty
Mash at 154 for 60min. I had 70%eff
American Rahr (2 row) Pale: 11.50lbs
American Briess Crystal 20 1.00lbs
American Briess Light Munich 0.75lbs
American Briess Carapils 0.75lbs
American Briess Torrified Wheat 0.25lbs

Chinook (Pellet) 1oz 30min
Cascade (Pellet) 1.5oz 30min
Williamette (Pellet) 0.5oz 15min
Cascade (Pellet) 1.5oz 15min
Williamette (Pellet) 1oz 5min
Cascade (Pellet) 2oz Dry in secondary

Don't worry about the lack of a 60minute hop addition. The bitterness is spot on.

This IPA won gold in the IBU challenge at the IBU Open in Iowa earlier this year and gold at 8 Seconds of Froth a few months ago.

If you brew, let me know what you think.
 
I brewed 10gal of this stuff about a month and a half ago. $96 for ingredients! It came out great, but I had to use regular hops instead of the pellets. Using a full 2oz in the secondary was a bit much. Took forever to finish fermenting with an OG of 1.078

Thanks for the recipe, I am impressed. This was my first all-grain and everyone loves it.
 
I brewed 10gal of this stuff about a month and a half ago. $96 for ingredients! It came out great, but I had to use regular hops instead of the pellets. Using a full 2oz in the secondary was a bit much. Took forever to finish fermenting with an OG of 1.078

Thanks for the recipe, I am impressed. This was my first all-grain and everyone loves it.

I'm glad the recipe worked so well for you. It's one of my favorites. It is an expensive brew but I think it's well worth every penny.
 
I brewed a batch of your award winning IPA, and it was awesome.

Aroma was perfect, taste was excellent, head retention was great.

I can't wait to brew it again and scale it up to a 10 gallon batch.

Thanks for sharing.
 
haven't brewed this specific recipe, but I really enjoy the use of both cascade and williamette as aroma and flavor hops.

Congrats on the award!
 
I just cracked open my first bottle of this beer, it's only been in the bottle for a week but it is already PHENOMENAL. This is by far the best beer I've brewed, thanks for sharing the recipe.
 
I know this thread is ancient however I just wanted to point out something. Aurora Water just won the best tasting water in Sep. 2009. The test was done of all metros and smaller cities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Aurora Water will represent the AWWA in Chicago 2010 for the best water! I know this, I work for Aurora Water...hehe

Heres a link to what I said if anyone wants to have a look!
http://www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/News/421674
 
When you mention in the recipe that the Chinook and Cascade are at the 30 minute mark to be added, do you mean wait until the boil has been going for 30 minutes then add them? When exactly should the various hops be added? Is this really a 90 minute boil? I am really looking to try this recipe out, I just got back with al lthe supplies for it. Thanks in advance!
 
When you mention in the recipe that the Chinook and Cascade are at the 30 minute mark to be added, do you mean wait until the boil has been going for 30 minutes then add them? When exactly should the various hops be added? Is this really a 90 minute boil? I am really looking to try this recipe out, I just got back with al lthe supplies for it. Thanks in advance!

It is a 90 minute boil. Don't add any hops for the first hour. This recipe gets all its required bitternes from the final 30 minutes. With 30 minutes left start adding your hopps according to the schedule.
 
What's the point of boiling the wort for 60 min. prior to any hop additions? What would be different if you just boiled for 30min?

90 minutes is habit for me at this point. Reduces DMS for one, not that this beer is much at risk. I make all my recipes based on the efficiency of my setup so that I know the volume I will start with in my boil kettle, and I can expect to be at my gravity after 90 minutes. I expect that if you use this recipe and only boil for 30 minutes you're going to end up with a beer lacking malt charachter, off balance, and worst of all...low in alcohol content.
 
Just wondering, why would this recipe be any more expensive than the average IPA or other AG recipe? Might be brewing it this weekend. Would like to get away from Centennial for once in an IPA.
 
I brewed 10gal of this stuff about a month and a half ago. $96 for ingredients! It came out great, but I had to use regular hops instead of the pellets. Using a full 2oz in the secondary was a bit much. Took forever to finish fermenting with an OG of 1.078

Thanks for the recipe, I am impressed. This was my first all-grain and everyone loves it.

Man you must pay alot for supplies !

Pat
 
Just wondering, why would this recipe be any more expensive than the average IPA or other AG recipe? Might be brewing it this weekend. Would like to get away from Centennial for once in an IPA.

Due to the lack of a 60 minute hop addition you need to supplement with many more late hop additions to get appropriate bitterness. I find the result to be a smooth bitterness with enhanced flavor and aroma...dry hop if so desired.
 
Just wondering, why would this recipe be any more expensive than the average IPA or other AG recipe? Might be brewing it this weekend. Would like to get away from Centennial for once in an IPA.

I'm getting kinda tired of Centennial as well. Bought too many pounds of it! So this recipe (or similar) is next up on my list.

Buying in oz. quantities of multiple hops makes things more expensive, though....
 
I brewed 10gal of this stuff about a month and a half ago. $96 for ingredients!

$96??? Are you joking?
Where in the world are you buying your hops and grains at? Do you get them shipped from Indonesia?
Just pay the shipping and order from brewbrothers.biz...this recipe would only cost you $60ish for a 10 gallon batch.
 
$96??? Are you joking?
Where in the world are you buying your hops and grains at? Do you get them shipped from Indonesia?
Just pay the shipping and order from brewbrothers.biz...this recipe would only cost you $60ish for a 10 gallon batch.

That message was from 2008. I wasn't brewing yet at that point, but I understand there was a hop shortage that year and much higher hop prices as a result.
 
I was planning to try this recipe soon. I have plenty of Cascade, Chinook, and almost of pound of Tettnanger in the freezer. If I adjust for IBUs, I'm wondering how close it would be using Tettnanger in place of the Williamette. I saw it as a sub on a chart somewhere, but I'm not sure how close they really are. Anybody have an opinion?
 
I was planning to try this recipe soon. I have plenty of Cascade, Chinook, and almost of pound of Tettnanger in the freezer. If I adjust for IBUs, I'm wondering how close it would be using Tettnanger in place of the Williamette. I saw it as a sub on a chart somewhere, but I'm not sure how close they really are. Anybody have an opinion?

You'll be fine, just do the math and try and keep the IBUs up there. The fun part about this recipe is all the hops go in at the end of the boil, therefore you need a lot more in order to get the required IBUs. The result is a smooth IPA that has a fantastic aroma without the smack in the face of a dry hop bomb. It's an IPA for people who don't reside in Boulder, CO.
 
I just input the recipe into BeerSmith and came up with an IBU of 31.1 Is this correct?
 
I "finally" got around to brewing this. Hit my numbers perfectly, but wound up with a smaller amount into the fermenter due to a clogged siphon. If this tastes as good as everyone says, I'll be regretting not working harder to get all 5 gallons!

I'll likely dry hop in the keg with bagged leaf hops. Anyone used any other hops for dry hopping this recipe besides just cascades? (I was thinking 50-50 centennial/cascades)

Rich
 
OK, kegged and dry hopped with Cascades - VERY drinkable! No wonder it won awards. This will be on my repeat list, for sure!

Thanks for the recipe,
Rich
 
Got some dry hop in the keg and fully carbed now. Can see how it won some medals. Thanks for the recipe!
 
Long time forum-stalker, first time poster here. I had to break my silence to thank the OP for this recipe—it just won me best in show at a homebrew competition between my university and our rival school. (As determined by popular vote on enemy territory, no less!) My friends are already demanding more, and I can't wait to get another batch going.

Incidentally, I missed the OG by a couple of points (1.061), but my FG bottomed out at 1.005. I'm guessing I finished so dry thanks to a cooler mash than I intended—I've reason to believe my thermometer was wonky by then. I look forward to another shot at this recipe to recover some points on the FG and get a bit more body out. But even though the beer felt a little light on the palate to me, the great hop flavor kept it eminently enjoyable. Thanks for this one!
 
hey i'm thinking of trying your recipe this weekend (inaugural batch on my system). when it says additional yeast: 2 vials, does it mean you used 2 vials total?
 
hey i'm thinking of trying your recipe this weekend (inaugural batch on my system). when it says additional yeast: 2 vials, does it mean you used 2 vials total?

I'd rather pay the extra 6.50 for a second vial as opposed to going through the effort of making a starter.
 
so i need two vials of the california ale then, gotcha! looking forwards to trying this stuff :mug:
 
so i brewed a batch last sunday, let it ferment for the last week or so and transfered it over to secondary (i filtered). I had a quick taste (pre-carbonation) and its a pretty hoppy beer, and really really tasty. Now i think mine may have turned out a little different than the original recipe due to some issues i had during my brew process, ie my kettle would fire up so i had to transfer back to my HLT, as a result i didnt have anything to filter out the trub prior to transferring to my fermenter and some hops made it in there. all in all it turned out pretty well, very drinkable. gonna let it sit and age now according to the recipe and let the flavours mellow out a bit. looking forwards to a cold one 2 weeks from now :)
 
I brewed this yesterday. OG came in a little low (1.061) because I messed up my numbers calculating for a 60 minute boil and adjusting for equipment loss with my system. I'll let you know how it turns out in a month. Thanks for sharing your recipe :)
 
I brewed this yesterday. OG came in a little low (1.061) because I messed up my numbers calculating for a 60 minute boil and adjusting for equipment loss with my system. I'll let you know how it turns out in a month. Thanks for sharing your recipe :)

One month later...

Just tapped the keg. This is a very, very good beer. Mine finished low at 1.010, even at a 62 degrees ferment. 6.7% abv. This is a nicely balanced, but dry IPA. I substituted the Chinook for Simcoe, as I couldn't find Chinook, and that worked very well.
 
I brewed this again (my first time doing a second on any recipes here), with some minor variations based upon what I had on hand. Am expecting good things (again!)

Rich
 
What a great IPA recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it. I unfortunately only brewed 5 gallons of this incredible IPA because my 10 gallon Rubbermaid mash tun can't comfortably handle the grain required to make 10 gallons. Dang. Next time I'll do 7.5 gallons as the corny keg is getting light pretty quickly. The beer is a big hit with all of my friends.

I substituted Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast with good results. I also made a yeast starter on a stir plate with 6 oz light DME to about 1800ml water.
 
Not many in DC, most are in VA and Maryland. The serious brewers (and I am not as good or serious as them) belong to BURP.

Sheldon
 
Hey sorry for the newb question, but what would be the extract recipe for this? Does anyone know? Or partial mash. I love IPAs would like to do a similar recipe but I am not ready for all-grain yet. I just brewed my first batch, don't know how it turned out yet. Looking for recipes for my second batch. Thanks so much.
 
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