Simple Extract IPA

Simple Extract IPA

6 Gallon Boil / 5 Gallon Batch

6.50 to 7.00 lbs. Briess Pilsen Light DME, or Muntons Extra Light DME
0.50 lb. Corn Sugar, or Table Sugar
0.50 lb. Light to Medium Crystal Malt or Honey Malt (crushed & steeped at 155 F @ 30 mins)

Boil 60 mins, 0.50 oz. High-alpha % American pellet hops like Columbus, Magnum, Horizon, Chinook
Boil 25 mins, 0.50 oz. High-alpha % American pellet hops like Columbus, Magnum, Horizon, Chinook
Boil 10 mins, 1.00 oz. Aromatic American pellet hops like Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra, Nugget, Centennial, Cascade
Boil 5 mins, 1.00 oz. Aromatic American pellet hops like Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra, Nugget, Centennial, Cascade
Post-boil (100-150 F) aroma steep 30 mins, 2.00 oz. Aromatic American pellet hops (see above)
Dryhop 6-9 days, 2.50 oz. Aromatic American pellet hops (included during primary time)

Safale US-05 dry yeast

ahem..........haven't tried it.

It's a moldable recipe. Try it, come back in a month, tell us what you did, and vote on the outcome.

Why do you suggest pellet hops?

My last recipe I used 8 pounds of Light lme and a pound of crystal 60l and it's a little too sweet and malty for me. I'm gonna use the extra light extract next time. I think I'll try your ecipe next time but maybe add a little more bittering hops. I used 2 oz. of warrior last time and I think that came out about right for me.

What's the benefit of using dextrose instead of more malt?

I'm gonna make a ten gallon batch, should I just double the recipe? Also, should I hydrate the yeast? Sorry so many questions.

You can use leaf hops if you wish. Pellets are easier for new brewers in terms of storage and usage. I still prefer pellets, not for these reasons, but because they dissolve quicker and give me more aroma when used at the 10-5-0-DH time frames.

Try going with the lighter crystals (or none at all). C10 through C40 taste better in IPAs (for my tastes at least). Once it gets too dark and toasty, things taste sweeter to me.

The thing about huge bittering additions is that you're using most of your hops for bitterness (no flavor/aroma) and not enough late and in the dryhop (where all the flavor and aroma is). I prefer using 5% of my hops early, adding a small charge around 30 or 20, then blasting it late with hops (6-8 oz. total hops for a 5 gallon IPA).

Sugar, in replace of more malt, will help to dry out the beer. It's not mandatory to put sugar in the grist, and it's more practiced for double IPAs than single IPAs... but I find that extract brewers benefit from sugar additions because DME/LME beers tend to finish higher than their All Grain equivalents. Reason being, as an extract brewer, you have no control over mash temperature to effectively create a drier beer.

Yes, hydrate the yeast. I would look at some Youtube videos if you're new to using dry yeast.

Since I created the recipe, I've realized a few tweaks that could give you more flexibility with the hop bill:

option 1) You could skip the 10 and 5 minute addition and simply add 2 oz. at 15 minutes.
option 2) You could skip the 5 minute addition and double up on the 10 minute addition.

...And with the grist:

option 1) You could double the sugar addition, lessen the Extract by 1/2 lb., & get a beer than may dry out more.
option 2) You could skip the sugar addition entirely and get a beer than may not finish as low (FG).

I know this is an old thread, but I'm bringing it back up because I just recently did something similar. I had some leftover extract and hops, and decided to see what kind of simple IPA I could make from it. I just kegged this, so I'll have my results in the next few days.

Here's what I brewed:

CTB Leftover IPA

Fermentables
3.15 lbs Light LME
3.15 lbs Amber LME (added at flameout)
1 lb Amber DME (added at flameout)
1 lb Light DME
.5 lb corn sugar

Hops
.5 oz CTZ (13.9 AAU) @ 60 min
.5 oz CTZ (13.9 AAU) @ 15 min
1.5 oz Amarillo (8.7 AAU) @ 15 min
1.5 oz Amarillo (8.7 AAU) @ 5 min
1 oz Simcoe dry-hop

Yeast
US-05

OG:1.068
IBU: 67.6
SRM: 8.2