Elusive Piney IPA Recipe

The first time I tried SN Extra Torpedo I thought I was sucking on pine cone juice. I didn't like it at first, but I've been after that taste since. Odd that none of the Extra Torpedo I've had since has been like that.
My first real attempt at achieving a piney IPA has netted me something more like a slightly more bitter Ranger, which is still good. Just not what I was after.
I tried boiling 4.5 gal of water in my 5 gallon pot, which didn't work out so well on the stove I'm now using. I boil off about 1.2 gallons/hour and topped it off with ~ that much to bring it back up to 4.5 gallons.

5 lbs 6 oz pilsen LME
1 lb 7 oz Bavarian wheat LME
6 oz honey
6 oz DME (starter)
12 oz crystal 20
12 oz crystal 40
.5 oz Cascade (5%)/ .5 oz Centennial (9.9%)/ .5 oz Chinook (12.2%) @ 60 mins
.5 oz Centennial/ .2 oz Chinook @ 15 mins
.5 oz Centennial/ .2 oz Chinook @ 5 mins
.15 oz Cascade/ .5 oz Centennial/ .1 oz Chinook 10 day dry hop after 2ndary

I like this IPA, but it just didn't get the piney taste I was after. Can I get some help with a better hop schedule?
I have ordered Chinook, Columbus, Liberty, Willamette, Simcoe, and lots of Centennial, but will order anything else morebeer.com has to offer if I should try something else.

part of the problem is you have nearly as much hops for bittering as the rest. you need to load the additions towards the end of the boil much more. try something like
1-1.5oz chinook @60
0.5 oz chinook, 0.5oz simcoe @15
1-2oz chinook, 1-2oz simcoe @0
1-2oz chinook, 1-2oz simcoe @dry hop

I agree with dcp, load up the later additions especially with chinook and simcoe for lots of piney.

I was told to back off of late addition Chinook, that from experience it's not very good.
Was he just afraid of pine cones?

Does loading up the aromatic portion do much? I had figured, by the sound of it, that the flavoring would be the most beneficial for taste.
I also love bitter. And I'm not above coloring outside of the lines as far as guidelines go.

a large portion of your taste is based on smell. the aromatic adds should be the largest part of any IPA

i actually dislike chinook late myself. since u have so much centennial, maybe split the chinook additions with that or do 2:1 simcoe to chinook

If a 3.5 gallon batch doesn't last more than 1.5-2 months is dry hopping all that important?

Doesn't the bittering addition kill a lot of the taste or does it still come through?

rodwha said:

If a 3.5 gallon batch doesn't last more than 1.5-2 months is dry hopping all that important?

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rodwha said:

Doesn't the bittering addition kill a lot of the taste or does it still come through?

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aroma is the first thing to fade, so its the most important thing early on. the longer hops are boiled, the less flavor they give, hence why you load up at the end. some hops like chinook do retain some flavor even as bittering adds tho

I'm curious as to whether you could really tell a difference as to what type of hop you used for bittering (IBUs the same)?

rodwha said:

Does loading up the aromatic portion do much? I had figured, by the sound of it, that the flavoring would be the most beneficial for taste.
I also love bitter. And I'm not above coloring outside of the lines as far as guidelines go.

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I agree with dcp about leaving chinook out of the late addition. Adding 1.5 oz chinook at 60 min has always seemed to work for me to add a good bitterness. I always use a good amount of simcoe and cascade at 15 min to flameout and in the dry hop for a nice aroma for my ipa's ( I do also add .5 oz chinook for dry hopping)

I've only cracked one of my 2 cases of IPA early since I drank one too many Extra Torpedo a few days ago and I'm ready to revise my recipe.

Should I use Centennial/Columbus for bittering and Chinook, Simcoe, and Centennial/Columbus for my flavoring/aromatic/dry hopping additions? Or would it help any to also use Chinook and/or Simcoe for buttering as well?

rodwha said:

I was told to back off of late addition Chinook, that from experience it's not very good.
Was he just afraid of pine cones?

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Arrogant Bastard has a ton of late addition Chinook. It's a GREAT beer...

rodwha said:

Should I use Centennial/Columbus for bittering and Chinook, Simcoe, and Centennial/Columbus for my flavoring/aromatic/dry hopping additions? Or would it help any to also use Chinook and/or Simcoe for buttering as well?

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Go for a clean bittering hop like CTZ, Magnum or Warrior. You don't really need to blend them at 60.

I would do something like:
60m - CTZ
15m - Simcoe/Chinook
5m - Simcoe/Chinook
0m - Simcoe/Chinook
Dry - Centennial

I love Arrogant Bastard! I just hate there's no label to peel so I toss the bottle.
What is it classified as?
I found that it's not so good when your old drinkin buddy comes in from out of town and you drink that late in the evening.

How's this?:

3.5 gal yield

5 lbs pilsen LME
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
8 oz crystal 15
8 oz crystal 40
4 oz extra light DME
.4 oz Centennial (10%)/.4 oz Columbus (15.4%) @ 60 mins
.4 oz Chinook (13%)/.4oz Simcoe (13%)/.2 oz Centennial/.2 oz Columbus @15 mins
.3 oz Chinook/<3 oz Simcoe/.2 oz Centennial/.2 oz Columbus @ 5 mins/10 day dry hop
1272 American Ale 2

Will the piney taste come through?

Needs more late additions

EDIT: nm, I see you put 5/10 and dry on the same line. You could prolly leave the CTZ off.

This thread has the recipe for a Torpedo clone, straight from SN.

Crystal, Citra, nor Magnum have a piney taste... Hmmm?
The first try of it was from a 24 oz bottle, and it literally tasted like it was made from pine syrup. I've yet to get that same piney taste any of the other times I've bought it. Wondering if that one just had some sort of problem.
Thanks for the recipe!

There's a Sierra Nevada podcast on the sunday session on the brewing network where they talk some about Torpedo (and also get the recipe for Celebration). Yup, the brewmaster talks about dry-hopping with Magnum, which is apparently unusual since it's normally just used for bittering. Maybe that's where the pine flavor is coming from that you pick up on. I think he said that there was one really good crop of Magnum, and it hasn't been quite the same since.