Hi! I'm a relative newbie here (~ 5 months brewing experience).
I'm attempting to honor the start of baseball season with my first attempt at an imperial/double IPA. After doing a little research, I've come up with what I consider to be a simple extract w/ steeped grains recipe, which I am going to try this weekend. I'm keeping the batch smaller at 3 gallons to keep costs down, and I like using nice whole numbers for my ingredient amounts, mostly because I buy only for each recipe and I am lazy.
I know it'd probably be easier if I just tried someone else's recipe first, but I consider it fun to con myself into thinking that I'm "reinventing the wheel"!
Anyway, my plans are mostly set, but I have a few questions with respect to my recipe.
Numbers calculated using Brewtarget 1.2:
--- Vital Statistics ---
3 gallon batch
OG 1.096 (Boil SG 1.100)
FG 1.024
ABV 9.3%
IBU 82.9
SRM 11.8
--- Fermentables ---
3 lb Northwestern Extra Light DME - 43%
2 lb Northwestern Extra Light DME - 29% (late extract addition)
1 lb Corn Sugar - 14%
1 lb Caramunich (steeped) - 14%
--- Hops ---
1 oz Magnum 13.5% AA - 60 min
0.5 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - 30 min
0.5 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - 10 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 9.5 % AA - 10 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 9.5 % AA - 0 min
1 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - dry hop
--- Yeast ---
1 pk Danstar Nottingham (pitched dry)
--- Notes ---
Partial boil size of 2 gallons. I'll keep the third gallon in the fridge near freezing and add it to the fermenter after the boil to aid in cooling the wort to ~ 70F (in addition to ice bath).
Vital stats are probably all a little on the high side. I haven't been getting nearly that much out of steeping any grains, and I'm not sure how much I trust Brewtarget's numbers (this might be my own fault though).
Planning on 1 week in primary, 1 week in secondary w/ dry hops, adding 3-4 oz of dissolved priming sugar in 1 cup of water, then into 12 oz bottles for a few additional weeks of conditioning.
--- Questions ---
1. Is there any risk in using 1 lb (14%) of corn sugar in this recipe? Also is it best to boil that for 60 min or add it later?
2. I really like the contribution of Caramunich in the other recipes that I've brewed, but I know that 1 lb (14%), while probably overestimated in the calculations, is probably higher than most people would recommend for an imperial IPA. What can I expect that much Caramunich to do to this brew if I leave this recipe as is?
3. Should I bother with using 1 oz of Magnum as the 60 min bittering hop or should I just get another 1 oz of Simcoe instead? Will there be any noticable difference?
4. For hop flavor & aroma contribution, I was hoping to get a nice combination of pine & citrus. I've heard Simcoe & Amarillo are a good combination. If I were to pick one over the other, which would be a better candidate for dry hopping? Or, should I just dry hop 1 oz of each (perhaps that's too much for 3 gal recipe)?
--- --- ---
Anyway, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Jason
I'm attempting to honor the start of baseball season with my first attempt at an imperial/double IPA. After doing a little research, I've come up with what I consider to be a simple extract w/ steeped grains recipe, which I am going to try this weekend. I'm keeping the batch smaller at 3 gallons to keep costs down, and I like using nice whole numbers for my ingredient amounts, mostly because I buy only for each recipe and I am lazy.
I know it'd probably be easier if I just tried someone else's recipe first, but I consider it fun to con myself into thinking that I'm "reinventing the wheel"!
Anyway, my plans are mostly set, but I have a few questions with respect to my recipe.
Numbers calculated using Brewtarget 1.2:
--- Vital Statistics ---
3 gallon batch
OG 1.096 (Boil SG 1.100)
FG 1.024
ABV 9.3%
IBU 82.9
SRM 11.8
--- Fermentables ---
3 lb Northwestern Extra Light DME - 43%
2 lb Northwestern Extra Light DME - 29% (late extract addition)
1 lb Corn Sugar - 14%
1 lb Caramunich (steeped) - 14%
--- Hops ---
1 oz Magnum 13.5% AA - 60 min
0.5 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - 30 min
0.5 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - 10 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 9.5 % AA - 10 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 9.5 % AA - 0 min
1 oz Simcoe 13.0% AA - dry hop
--- Yeast ---
1 pk Danstar Nottingham (pitched dry)
--- Notes ---
Partial boil size of 2 gallons. I'll keep the third gallon in the fridge near freezing and add it to the fermenter after the boil to aid in cooling the wort to ~ 70F (in addition to ice bath).
Vital stats are probably all a little on the high side. I haven't been getting nearly that much out of steeping any grains, and I'm not sure how much I trust Brewtarget's numbers (this might be my own fault though).
Planning on 1 week in primary, 1 week in secondary w/ dry hops, adding 3-4 oz of dissolved priming sugar in 1 cup of water, then into 12 oz bottles for a few additional weeks of conditioning.
--- Questions ---
1. Is there any risk in using 1 lb (14%) of corn sugar in this recipe? Also is it best to boil that for 60 min or add it later?
2. I really like the contribution of Caramunich in the other recipes that I've brewed, but I know that 1 lb (14%), while probably overestimated in the calculations, is probably higher than most people would recommend for an imperial IPA. What can I expect that much Caramunich to do to this brew if I leave this recipe as is?
3. Should I bother with using 1 oz of Magnum as the 60 min bittering hop or should I just get another 1 oz of Simcoe instead? Will there be any noticable difference?
4. For hop flavor & aroma contribution, I was hoping to get a nice combination of pine & citrus. I've heard Simcoe & Amarillo are a good combination. If I were to pick one over the other, which would be a better candidate for dry hopping? Or, should I just dry hop 1 oz of each (perhaps that's too much for 3 gal recipe)?
--- --- ---
Anyway, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Jason