first all grain today

Going to be graduating to my first all grain batch today. Im going to be doing a IPA with 11 lbs of 2 row and 1 lb of crystal 40l. and a whole lotta centennial hops.

wish me luck.

Good luck that sounds tasty. Don't forget to dry hop!

any ideas on how to avoid infections when dry hopping?

Yes I fretted the first time dry hopping as well, but the results were wonderful. The chance of infection by dry hopping is small. The beer has fermented out by that time. Dive in head first, you won't regret it. Centennial is a great dry hop.

i want leaf hops for dry hopping correct?

beeber said:

Good luck that sounds tasty. Don't forget to dry hop!

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The last 2 IPAs I've made I forgot to dry hop.

Hops in any form are fine for dry hopping. My preference is for pellet hops but as I said hops in any form will work just fine.

I found whole hops easier to clear from the wort and they impart more aroma from my experieince. I've dry hopped three times, twice with pellets and once with whole leaf. I had better results with whole hops for aroma and flavor but could certainly taste the vegetal flavors in both. I will dry hop my next batch but will only let it sit in secondary for a week to see if I can reduce the grassy flavors. BTW, your grain bill is almost identical as mine and I have chosen Centennial as one of my hop additions...I hear a trade looming?

Congrats on all grain batch 1 ...

Close to my grain bill on my Centennial IPA ... I dry hop a lot of my beers. Normally at day 21 I add the dry hops (leaf) and 7 days later bottle it. I use leaf hops exclusively, I just like them, they work better in my setup. I have used plugs 2nd choice and pellets, which I don't really like as they tend to plug up my equipment. Any will work for dry hopping

Good Luck!

11lb 2-row
1lb Crystal 40L

0.75oz Centennial @60min
1oz Centennial @20min
2oz Centennial @5min
1oz Centennial Dry Hop

US-05

clever_name said:

11lb 2-row
1lb Crystal 40L

0.75oz Centennial @60min
1oz Centennial @20min
2oz Centennial @5min
1oz Centennial Dry Hop

US-05

Click to expand...

This is a great recipe. Basically a clone of Bell's 2-hearted. So simple. Mash at 152. Ferment it cool (at 60 degrees or slightly above) and you will really be rewarded.

brew day went very well. LHBS only had crystal 60l so i did a pound of that instead, but it came out great. according to beersmith i had 78.4% measured efficiency. cant complain about that on my first all grain.