First custom recipe--IPA

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pharmer

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Hi everyone!

I've just spent some time creating my first custom recipe. It will be an extract brew with some specialty grain steeping. I'm using a brewing calculator and have an OG of 1.067 and a FG 1.017.-- 1. Is this too high for a FG? 2. With that OG, what would be a recommended yeast amount and type. I'm currently leaning toward Wyeast 1056. Thanks.
 
Hi everyone!

I've just spent some time creating my first custom recipe. It will be an extract brew with some specialty grain steeping. I'm using a brewing calculator and have an OG of 1.067 and a FG 1.017.-- 1. Is this too high for a FG? 2. With that OG, what would be a recommended yeast amount and type. I'm currently leaning toward Wyeast 1056. Thanks.

Brewing calculators can't really give you a projected FG- they just give you a % of the OG. With an OG of 1.067, an extract brew could finish as low as 1.010, depending on the ingredients, and Wyeast 1056 can do that. Often, the extract itself is less fermentable, so it's good to cut down on the amount of crystal malt and sometimes even replace some of the extract with corn sugar or table sugar so that you don't get the beer to be too "thick". An IPA should be relatively light bodied and easily quaffable!

If you post up your recipe, we can critique it for you if you'd like.
 
Okay so here goes....I hope this isn't too out of whack.

5 gallon recipe
Initial boil volume--3.5 gal

Will steep the following for around 30 min
1 lb Pale Malt
0.5 lb 2 row malt
0.5 lb American Crystal Malt 10L

Then will add:
6 lbs Amber Malt LME
2 lbs Extra Light DME

Hopping:
1.5 oz Columbus--60 min
0.5 oz Cascade--flameout
0.5 oz Cascade--dry hopping in secondary

Pitching Wyeast liquid 1056 yeast

OG 1.073
Predicted FG 1.018
IBU--66
ABV 7.3%

In spite of the fact that the typical IPA will be lighter bodied, I was hoping this beer will have just a bit more of a malty backbone.
 
Just a couple of things I'd consider. One, in order to use the pale malt and two-row (same thing), you have to do a mash with them. That's perfectly fine, and easy to do, but you'll have to go longer than 30 minutes. You'll want to use 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain (so 3 quarts total) and bring the water to 165. Add the grain bag, stir very well making sure to thoroughly wet the grains, and check the temperature. You should be at 150-158 degrees, which is perfect. Cover, and hold it there for an hour.

After an hour, lift up the grain bag and pour 170 degree water over the grains in a colander into your brewpot. You can use up to 1.5 gallons of hot water for this.

Then you can top up to your boil volume and proceed with adding your extract.

About the extract- I'd definitely NOT use the amber LME. It already has crystal malt in it, that's why it's darker than the light LME, but you've got crystal malt in your recipe already. You may be doubling the crystal malt inadvertently. I'd go with pale LME or extra light DME.

For the hopping, most IPAs have a few more hops in them, and I think with IBUs of 65ish, you'll want some flavor hops. I'd use an ounce at 15 minutes, an ounce at 5 minutes, and keep the flame out hops and dryhopping. You'll have a bitter beer without the flavor hops to balance it out if you don't have flavor hops and more aroma hops.

If you want a maltier backbone, one thing you can easily add is some Munich malt or Vienna malt instead of the two-row, and I'd even boost that up to 2 pounds or so. 2 pounds of Munich malt in your mini-mash can make a nice malty backbone for your IPA without being sweet or cloying.

I don't mean to be critical- you've got an excellent start there on that recipe. I would drink that!
 
Just wanted to give an update on this beer. With some help from the advice above, my first created recipe is so far so great. I fermented (all in primary) for about 3.5 weeks. I transferred to a corny and carbonated and after only 3 days of conditioning the beer is pretty darn tasty. Thanks so much for your help. Can't wait to see what this will taste like in 2-3 weeks, if I can wait that long.
 

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