1st AG IPA - Please Review

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macabra11

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This is my first attempt at creating an all grain IPA from scratch. Please critique and let me know what you suggest. Should I add 1/2 lb of rice hulls to help prevent a stuck mash? This seems like a lot of grain, but I DO want an ABV around 7% and I want some serious IBUs. Fire away! :drunk:

5.5 Gallon Batch AG - American IPA

14 lb. American Two-row Pale
3 lb. American Crystal 40L
8 oz. Cara-Pils
1 oz. Roasted Barley
1 Tbs Gypsum (I have real soft water) in mash
Mash at 153 degrees for 90 min

60 min 1.0 oz. Chinook 13.0%
60 min 0.5 oz. Simcoe 13.0%
40 min 1.0 oz. Cascade 5.5%
30 min 1.0 oz. Cascade 5.5%
15 min 0.5 oz. Willamette 5.5%
1 min 0.5 oz. Willamette 5.5%

1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast American 1056 w/starter

Ferment 7-10 days at 67 degrees
Secondary Dry Hop w/1.0 oz. Cascade 5.5% for 10 days
 
In my opinion WAY too much Crystal! :drunk:

Most folks try to limit their crystal to ~5% in IPA - you can get away with around 10% of your grain bill, but anything more than that is pushing it in my opinion.

Also, at ~75% efficiency, that grain bill will give you ~9% ABV. I would drop the 2-row to 12lbs and the crystal to 1lb.

I'd also cut out the 40 min cascade and add that to the dry hop.

What's your lauter vessel? Probably won't need the rice hulls, in my opinion...

oh, one more thing -- let this one sit in the primary AT LEAST 3 weeks.
 
+1 on the 40min hop addition, you should get enough utilization and hoppy flavor from the Chinook. If you are looking for aroma, I would defintely dry hop some cascade. According to my calculations, you are defintely over 80 IBU, so you got one hoppy beer there.

I'm an extract brewer so I don't know much about AG but that is a lot of 2-row.

Primary for 3 weeks then bottle/keg, you will be fine. Don't worry about secondary, it would be a waste for this style.
 
At 72% efficiency, I get 1.079 OG, 8.1% ABV, 111 IBU, 15 SRM from the OP's recipe - fits all the numbers for IIPA, but would probably be an unpalatable beer (to me) with all that crystal and bitterness. AZ_IPA's suggested tweaks give me 1.062, 6.2%, 101 IBU, 9 SRM. Still too bitter for me, but reads like a much tastier beer.

IIWY I'd just take a popular recipe from the HBT Recipe Database and plug in what hops I have/can get.
 
Cut the crystal in half, have just one hop addition at 60 min for bitterness, chinook and simcoe, ditch the 40 and 30 min hop additions and move the cascade to the late hop additions with the willamette.
 
I am using a 10 gal Igloo cooler with ss braided line as a MLT, and will be batch sparging. I am unsure of the efficiency of the system because I have not yet made an all grain beer before. I WILL be doing my first AG beer this weekend (organic kolsch), so that should give me an idea of my efficiency so I can plan for this IPA better.

I designed that beer with a 60% efficiency, does that seem like an average for a system like mine? At 60%, I calculated 6.9% ABV and 83.8 IBU, which is in the ballpark I want to get to. I don't have any good brewing software, so I have been using the recipe calculator from hopville.com

A few people said NOT to transfer to secondary. If I leave the beer in the primary, when should I dry hop? After 10 days?
 
Depends mainly on the crush, but I usually get 70-75% efficiency from a similar MLT and batch sparging. Lowest was 66% on a 8.5lb grainbill, highest was 82% with a triple decoction.

I would dry-hop JUST as active fermentation is stopping. That way any oxygen in the hops can be taken up by active yeast but not too much aroma gets blown out the airlock.
 
OK, here is the recipe modified with some of the suggestions you guys had mentioned. Let me know if I am getting closer.


5.5 Gallon Batch AG - American IPA

12 lb. American Two-row Pale
1 lb. American Crystal 40L
8 oz. Cara-Pils
4 oz. Roasted Barley

1 Tbs Gypsum (I have real soft water) in mash
Mash at 153 degrees for 90 min

60 min 0.75 oz. Chinook 13.0%
60 min 0.75 oz. Simcoe 13.0%
15 min 0.5 oz. Willamette 5.5%
15 min 0.5 oz. Cascade 5.5%
1 min 0.5 oz. Willamette 5.5%
1 min 0.5 oz. Cascade 5.5%

1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast American 1056 w/starter

Ferment in primary 7-10 days at 67 degrees then Dry Hop with 2.0 oz. Cascade 5.5% for 10 days
 
Are you going for an IPA or a double IPA?

I am running a double in primary right now that I have done in the past, was very well received and the IBU's on it were 136. If you love those huge hop monster beers like the Dogfish head stuff, I would stay with the higher hop concentrations. I used 8 ounces of hops in my double IPA.
 
Are you going for an IPA or a double IPA?

I am running a double in primary right now that I have done in the past, was very well received and the IBU's on it were 136. If you love those huge hop monster beers like the Dogfish head stuff, I would stay with the higher hop concentrations. I used 8 ounces of hops in my double IPA.

I don't want a MONSTER :tank: like yours, but I do want to be in the 75-85 IBU range and around 7% ABV. What kinds of grains did you use in your IPA Echo?
 
14.75 lbs 2 Row
1.00 lbs Munich
.25 Crystal 20L
1 lbs Corn Sugar

2 oz Centennial @ 60 min
2 oz Chinook @ 60 min
1 oz Centennial @ 15 min
1 oz Galena @ 5 min

2 oz Galena Dry hoppped

Gave me 136.6 IBU and 9.89 ABV
 
Your grain bill is fine although I have never used roasted barley in an IPA before you may want to change that to a wheat malt.

Also if you are going to dry hop, I would not dry hop on top of the yeast cake. When I dry hop is the only time I use a secondary fermenter.
 
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