cascade "empty the closet" ipa

I made the following today. just what i had left over in my grain buckets.

6.5 gallon boil
5.3 gallons in to the fermenter

8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 72.7 %
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.5 %
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 36.2 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (10 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (5 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (Dry Hop 6 days) Hops -
1.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9.1 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Mashed at 151
SG 1.064


I wouldnt normally put sugar in an IPA, but had a lot of trouble getting my last IPA to ferment all the way, and figured this would help. anyone brewed something similar? curious to how it will turn out. This is my first homemade recipe

Its great to be able to brew with what you've got, isn't it? I think this looks like it will be a great pale ale.

I don't know what to think about the sugar - it will definitely help to dry it out, but I don't know why, using Nottingham, you would have trouble. Where (at what specific gravity) did you get stuck on your last IPA?

Vinnie uses sugar in Pliny the Elder.

i got stuck at 1.028. worked with it for a couple weeks and got it to 1.020 before it didnt go any lower. i have it dry hopping now. im sure itll be ok. i mean itll be beer right?

ive never used notti before so maybe i didnt actually need it.

Most put sugar in the boil (sometimes near the end of the boil). But that tends to inhibit yeast growth. Instead, I add it in the primary fermenter (dissolved in some sanitized water) once primary fermentation begins to slow (around 3 days). So I allow my yeasts to grow well, and the sugar gets them busy again making ethanol. Results in a drier beer.

nootay said:

i got stuck at 1.028. worked with it for a couple weeks and got it to 1.020 before it didnt go any lower. i have it dry hopping now. im sure itll be ok. i mean itll be beer right?

ive never used notti before so maybe i didnt actually need it.

Click to expand...

I think its going to be really good beer!

Yeah, 1.028 means something wasn't right. It sounds like things are progressing fine on this batch, though.

well, i know the main reason my last IPA didnt ferment well. I forgot to make a starter. So just threw in an inflated bag of pacman. The SG on that brew was 1.084, so really needed a starter. i guess all the work i had to do with that one made me a little nervous. this one is fermenting pretty good now, so im not worried. cant wait to taste!

hey guys, this keg is long gone, but ive made the same recipe several times and absolutely love it. I only have about 15 beers under my belt, but my wife and friends cant get enough of this one. Would love to hear other's opinion of this if you have the spare ingredients to make it. i just recently did the same recipe with centennial hops in place of cascade. Will have it ready to taste in about 2 weeks and will let you know how that one compares!