Specialty IPA: Belgian IPA Belgian Earthquake(Belgian IPA)

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mrdauber64

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
446
Reaction score
93
Location
Oak Grove, MN
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP500
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.070
Final Gravity
1.008
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
68
Color
5.9 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 days
Tasting Notes
Fruity and dry. Yeast esters play nicely with the Citra hops. Very drinkable!
6 lbs. Pilsner
5 lbs. Vienna
.5 lbs. Carmel 20L
1 lbs. Clear Belgian Candi syrup added at flameout
1 lbs. Clear Belgian Candi syrup added 2 days after fermentation has started

1 oz Citra(13.2%) FWH
1 oz Citra(13.2%) 15 min.
1 oz Citra(13.2%) 5 min.
1 oz Citra(13.2%) Hop Stand at 175 degrees for 30 min.
2 oz Citra(13.2%) Hop Stand at 145 degrees for 30 min.
2 oz Citra(13.2%) dry Hop for 7 days

I was never a fan of Belgian beers until I tried a commerical example that combined Belgian yeast with Citra. This is my new favorite IPA. It's very dry thanks to the two pound of sugar and at 8% is dangerously drinkable. The bitterness is very smooth, even non-IPA drinkers enjoy this beer.
 
Which yeast did you use

Sorry, I forgot to include this in the orginal post! I used WLP500. From everything that I read on this yeast it is the one that gave the most fruit esters. I didn't want the peppery or clove esters, I think that would mesh with the Citra.
 
Not to toot my own horn, but this beer just keeps getting better and better! I bottled it on December 7th, so the hop character is starting to fade just a tad which is highlighting the fruity Belgian esters. This would make a great summer beer.
 
Looking at trying this with a pre made pilsner wort from a local brewery for a brew day they are sponsoring. If the wort was 100% pilsner is there anything you might do extract or specialty grain wise to draw it closer to your creation or possibly in a new direction? Also what does FWH stand for on your first hop addition listed? Thanks!
 
Looking at trying this with a pre made pilsner wort from a local brewery for a brew day they are sponsoring. If the wort was 100% pilsner is there anything you might do extract or specialty grain wise to draw it closer to your creation or possibly in a new direction? Also what does FWH stand for on your first hop addition listed? Thanks!


Since this beer finishes so dry the stars of this recipe are the hops and yeast, so a 100% pils wort should be fine. You could heat the wort up to 150 and steep .5 pounds of crystal 20 for 20 or 30 min for color and a little sweetness. You could also sub a pound of a darker Belgian candi sugar(Amber maybe) for the first pound of the clear syrup.

FWH stand for First Wort Hop. As you drain your mash tun you add the hops and let them steep while you sparge. It is suppose to give you a smoother bitterness and add to the hop flavor. In your case you can add them as you are heating your wort to a boil.

If you brew this please let me know how it turns out!


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I'm curious what your IBU is at for this beer. I'm a big fan of the citra hops and due to an unfortunate brew day accident I'm in possession of a pack of belle saison yeast with no kit to use it on. Because of this I've been considering doing my own concoction of a recipe and thought about doing an IPA style beer with the saison yeast but the feedback I've received says to shy away from something too bitter. But I believe that advice is rooted in style guidelines and how a saison or IPA is "supposed" to taste. As I'm not concerned about that and am looking to experiment but hopefully make something that tastes good regardless of what you might call it.

So that being said your recipe looks very close to the kind of thing I've had in mind from the beginning and though my yeast will likely give me a different flavor profile compared to yours I'm hoping to make something very similar and I hope the advice I've got so far is wrong as far as bitterness goes.
 
The IBU's are 65, but it doesn't have the tongue searing bitterness that other IPA's have. Since most of the hop additions are late, and I used FWH hopping you end up with a very fruity flavor without the hard bitterness.

As far as the Saison yeast, I've never used it because I've never had a commercial version that I liked. They always taste overly peppery, which in my opinion would clash with the Citra hops. I could be wrong though since I don't have much experience with that yeast. If you do try it please post your results!


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I absolutely will post the results and thanks for the info.

With the saison yeast I'm using based on what I've read if you keep the temperature down in the 60's or lower 70's you get more fruity notes than spice and pepper. I've actually got a saison fermenting now that has held right around 70. So I'll let you know how that turns out too.
 
If i am starting out with a premade pilsner 5g of 1.048-1.053 from a wort share will the addition of 1lb of candi sugar at flameout get me to your 1.060 OG or should I be thinking about adding some pilsner dme or lme as well? I tried to find a simple calculator to answer this but I couldnt find anything that took into account a premade wort.
 
Looks like 1lb of candi sugar is 1.032 so add that to 5 gallons and you'll add .0064 to your gravity reading putting you in the 1.054 to 1.059 range.
 
It looks like two pounds of sugar will add 12 points(according to iBrewmaster). So if you are given 1.050 wort the sugar will bring it up to 1.062. You could compensate by adding 1 pound DME to get you the extra 7 points needed. Like I said above, all the math was done by iBrewmaster so somebody can correct me if I'm wrong.


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Today was the wort share. We didn't know the actual OG of the other than the .048 - .053 originally quoted. They dispensed it at near boiling temps and then we were off and running.. not sure any of the 30 people there thought to put some to the side to get and actual reading... My guess is it was on the higher side of the given range. I got 6g of wort in which I steeped 1lb of crystal 20 for 30 minutes then added 1lb of pilsner light DME with 15m left and the 1lb or Candi Sugar (Amber) at flame out. I adjusted the hop additions a bit doing the first hop stand (175) and for the fwh I hopped while steeping because this was in essence an extract brew... (I feel like this may turn out to be a hop bomb mistake but we will see). In the end I wound up with a 1.074 OG. I pitched an approximately 1.7L starter which the cal seems to say is barely sufficient... Im wondering if I should pitch something else in there seeing I still have the liquid sugar to add. All I have on hand atm is a pack of 05 a small saved vial of 1214 Belgian abbey which sound more spicy then fruity, and a mason jar with some saved 001 california ale. any thoughts?
 
I think you should be good with the starter you added. Some people actually under pitch Belgian yeast to get more yeast character out of it. Add the other sugar a couple a couple days into fermentation so that the user have reached their full growth stage. Enjoy!
 
Putting together ingredients to do this brew but I am having trouble sourcing the WLP500 yeast locally and don't want to risk having it shipped and getting useless yeast. I google'd and didn't come up with any good equivalences to the WLP500, anyone have any suggestions? I looked at a belgian IPA kit and it used the Lallemand Belle Saison dry yeast, any opinions on if this would be a good alternative?
 
Putting together ingredients to do this brew but I am having trouble sourcing the WLP500 yeast locally and don't want to risk having it shipped and getting useless yeast. I google'd and didn't come up with any good equivalences to the WLP500, anyone have any suggestions? I looked at a belgian IPA kit and it used the Lallemand Belle Saison dry yeast, any opinions on if this would be a good alternative?

I think 3787 is the equivalent for the Wyeast smack pack. All the yeast I have gotten from Northern Brewer has been good. The problem is pricewise it is not worthwhile to buy and ship a single yeast pack.
 
Tasted a sample today while checking gravity. How grapefruity did yours taste? Mine is pretty strong on the grapefruit side but not bad, althought it makes me wonder about dry hopping amounts. I came in over 9% but you don't notice it with the taste.
 
Mine wasn't so much Grapefruit but more tropical fruit(Mangos and passion fruit I would say). Amarillo/Simcoe combo gives me the huge grapefruit, I think Citra gives a different hop characteristic. I would continue as planned with the Dryhop. Citra as a dryhop is outstanding and adds such awesome aroma to this beer! It is amazing how the yeast profile and hops really hide the high alcohol. I love this beer and plan to make it again soon!
 
I went ahead and dry hopped with 2oz of Citra and a week out it was an awful mess. Pretty much like a bitter grapefruit took a dump... it was face puckering. After sitting another 2 week off the dry hops most of the bitter is gone and it is good and very drinkable at 8.9%.
 
What temp did you mash at? I'm thinking about 147 or so to keep it dry with the higher ABV. I did not get the same numbers as you when I put the recipe in beersmith. Using the same hop schedule, I got 75 IBU's not 65 and my ABV and color are slightly lower? Any ideas?

Brewing today, very excited....looks delicious!
 
I mashed at 149 for 90 min. With the two sugar additions it will dry out nicely! I used iBrewmaster for my program, the IBU difference could be how the two programs calculate FWH, or it could be different AAU on the hops.


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Awesome, thanks for the quick reply.

The aau was different. I had it at 13.9 i think yours were at 13.2, you are prob right, the fwh is prob different.

Ill let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.


Thanks again!


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One more question, did you dry hop on day 14 for 7 days to make a total of 21 days or did you dry hop on day 21 and let it condition/dry hop till day 28?

So far so good. Have hit all numbers and had 78% efficiency per pre boil gravity and volume.


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How long of a boil did you guys do? That would definitely affect the bittering. Also my experience has been that citra gets catty when used early in the boil. Does that come through in your beer? This looks like a great recipe.
 
I used a 60 minute boil. I didn't get any cattyness, but my wife did. She got it more during the whirlpool hopping than throughout the boil though.

I'm not sure, but I think the FWH combined with not having a 60 min addition leads to a really smooth bittering in this beer. Definitely brew it and let me know what you think. I don't think you will be disappointed.


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Brewing this today! I too love this Belgian IPA style that has been gaining popularity lately and looking forward to e how it comes out. Had to use Wyeast 3787. Doing this BIAB in a 15 gallon kettle and only my 2nd time trying all grain. One question I had is how much strike water you think is appropriate. I am currently mashing 7.5 so hopefully that will do. I will let you know how it turns out!
 
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