next beer to make? (and what do you think of my recipes)

Ok, I have a brew day planned Sunday, but I'm not sure what to make, I'm down to 2 choices: IPA or Honey Blonde, both are extracts

Recipes:

IPA (modeled loosely after DFH's different IPAs)
6# Pale DME
3# Amber DME
3# Dark DME
(yes that much, looking for a heavy, high abv)
Seep at 155 for 45min:
-0.75 Crystal 60
-0.75 Chocolate

Hop mix (mix in bowl, add some every 3-5minutes)
-2 oz cascade
-0.5 oz Simone
-0.5 oz Warrior

Boil for 60minutes adding hops as we go!

Dry hop
1 oz cascade



Honey Blonde Ale

6# Pale DME
3# Wheat DME
Seep at 155 for 45min
-0.5lb Crystal 10
-0.5lb something else(not sure yet)
1oz Hallertau(60min)
0.5oz Saaz(15min)
1# Honey (2 min)
Zest of a lemon(2 min)



Either way both beers seem good, the Honey Blonde is more of a request for the SWMBO, and the IPA is a request of a fellow brewer

Any advice?
Any critiques to the recipes?

I'm an IPA lover, so I always vote for the IPA. That sure is a, well, dark, IPA, though. Why the stout colored IPA?

mainly because thats what I have around (minus the hops) You think I should drop the dark DME for more amber or pale?

You're looking at something with an OG of 1.110 or so. That's *huge*. And also black. In my completely inexpert opinion, I'd drop the dark DME and the chocolate malt altogether; you'll still wind up with ~8% abv, and the color would be more in IPA range.

Yeah that's more of a really hefty Porter (maybe, I don't know what the dark extract gives you in terms of flavor/color, never used it) with loads of hops. I'd be in sync with uncleozzy's advice.

zoebisch01 said:

Yeah that's more of a really hefty Porter (maybe, I don't know what the dark extract gives you in terms of flavor/color, never used it) with loads of hops. I'd be in sync with uncleozzy's advice.

Click to expand...

Yep, me too.

I'd also change the hops schedule and use warrior for bittering, and then the simcoe and cascade for the later hops additions. I'd add the warrior at 60, and then start the simcoe and cascade at 20. I'd probably do equal amounts at 20,15,5 and 0 minutes. I'd also dry hop it.

+1, with an OG that high and 3 ounces of hops, you aren't making an IPA, its a black barleywine. Also, what is your boil volume and do you plan on doing a late extract addition?

In my extract batches I never used anything but light or pale extract, and got all the color from the specialty grains. It allows you to better control the beer, because the darker extract are made with a variety of grains to enhance the color, some of which may not be appropriate for the style of beer you are making.

You are looking at an OG of 1.106 and an ABV of almost 11%, that will require some extreme care and special attention. Perhaps not adding all the wort at once, but slowly over a few days, pitching two different yeasts at different stages in the fermentation, pitching a MASIIVE yeast starter, aerating periodically every couple hours for the first day of fermentation, the list goes on and on when it comes to high hravity fermentations.

My suggestion is to completely drop the dark extract and the chocolate malt. You will still be in the double IPA range. I would also suggest that if not doing a full boil, to add half your extract at the end of the boil to aid in hop utilization, and perhaps think about altering you hop schedule, although I know you want to do it DFH style.

If it were I, I would try to make the SWMBO happy BEFORE I entertain a friend. I mean you live with her, you dont live with him. Easy decision in my mind...but then again, i've been married for more than 10 years...you keep her happy, she may let you have a bit of fun when she is not around...

6

BarleyWater said:

My suggestion is to completely drop the dark extract and the chocolate malt. You will still be in the double IPA range. I would also suggest that if not doing a full boil, to add half your extract at the end of the boil to aid in hop utilization, and perhaps think about altering you hop schedule, although I know you want to do it DFH style.

Click to expand...

Oh, I missed that completely. I really have been happy with my DFH 60 clone, but I never tried the extract version. The extract version got good reviews, though, if you want to check it out. The hopping is explained in post #1, and the extract recipe is around post #27-29ish.

I just experimented and made my version of a honey blonde. It included honey malt instead of real honey, along with cascade hops. After 20 days in the bottle, it has a great honey flavor, almost too much ( only used 1/4 lbs in 5 gallon batch). I haven't used real honey in a beer, so I can't compare, but so far it is a winner.

I could always go for a nice honey blonde. I like IPAs but can't drink 3 pints at once. However, I could drink 5 pints of a honey blonde easy

I'd say Honey Blonde, because, personally, I have to brew whatever will ferment best at whatever temps are available- here in central Illinois right now my closet is keeping beers at about 65 degrees, perfect for fermenting a blonde ale with american ale yeast

also, honey malt is a great choice over real honey- gives you just a hint of that super-sweet flavor you find in heavy scotch ales

Thanks for all the replies... I'm still not too sure which one to do, but 6fidd did make a good point by keeping SWMBO happy... but still, I figure this would be the best time to fix both recipes since they will be my next two, in some order...

For the IPA
-I've always had Amber and Dark extracts in my beers, they seem to come in all the kits I've gotten in the past... but, popular consent seems to be to drop the dark entirely, which I can do. Also, didn't see the post on the DFH Clone (actually took the base for the recipe from some random google search site) So i figure I'll base it a lot more off that one. ThinkI'll drop the amber and dark, and replace with either 3 or 6# pale, and drop the chocolate from the grain bill... easy enough...

Honey Blonde
-The main reason I don't have honey malt is because my LHBS doesn't carry it. Would it be worth it to order it online, since it will only be a lb at most? Other then that, the recipe has been mostly ignored, so I figure its nothing that bad...

BarleyWater said:

+1, with an OG that high and 3 ounces of hops, you aren't making an IPA, its a black barleywine. Also, what is your boil volume and do you plan on doing a late extract addition?

(cut out)

Click to expand...

Forgot to answer these:


I'd do a 1/3 late extract addition (guess I should have put that in the recipe) usually with about 10 minutes to go.

I do a 3gal boil.

Obviously I'd have one hell of a starter going.