American IPA Grain Bill Discussion

I am a stickler for AIPA's, IIPA's all the hoppy good stuff. I am trying to perfect my standard AIPA grain bill and judging by last few IPA efforts I think I am losing the focus of the beer:

Hop Flavor
Hop Aroma
Drinkability
Balance


I have been using grain bills sometimes consisting of 4 or more specialty grains and think the complexity and layers of flavor from these grains somewhat takes the attention away from what should be the focus. I just went to the LHBS today to pick up grains for my next IPA and I really dumbed it down.

6 gallon batch

13 pounds german pale ale two row malt
1 pound crystal/caramel 60
1 pound red wheat
insert hops here
Mash at 153-154 for 60



I think this should provide a nice pallete to layer hops upon, and I love the addition of wheat because of the fantastic head retention it provides. This beer will be an orange or light copper color, very similar to sierra nevada pale ale in color.

I also think that I have been mashing to low. Mashing at 149-150, often leaves my beers lacking body, somewhat watery. I am going to start mashing my IPA's just a tad higher at about 154 to see if I can strike a nice malt/body balance in the beer. I will still mash by IIPA's lower to encourage attenuation. With the yeast strains I use, US-05, nottingham and Pacman, I have found over attenuation to be more of an issue than underattenuation.

I wanted to start this thread so that we could all compare and discuss our favorite grain bills for IPA's.

I agree that simpler is better. I used to throw in 0.25 lb of this, 0.5 lb of that, but here's my house IPA grain bill:

12 lb 2-row
1 lb munich
0.5 lb crystal 60L

I think it's pretty much the same as Ed Wort's IPA grain bill.

If you're worried about attenuation, drop a pound off your 2-row, mash at ~156, and add a pound of dexrtrose in during the boil.

AZ_IPA said:

I agree that simpler is better. I used to throw in 0.25 lb of this, 0.5 lb of that, but here's my house IPA grain bill:

12 lb 2-row
1 lb munich
0.5 lb crystal 60L

I think it's pretty much the same as Ed Wort's IPA grain bill.

If you're worried about attenuation, drop a pound off your 2-row, mash at ~156, and add a pound of dexrtrose in during the boil.

Click to expand...

That does raise an excellent point about dextrose. I use dextrose in my IIPA's but I have never used any in a standard IPA. I have found that dextrose actually thins the body of the beer out by adding a straight shot of alcohol. I have found that adding dextrose incrementally to an IIPA is a great way to encourage attenuation. I had a 1.095 IIPA finish at 1.010 by feeding it two pounds of dextrose in the fermenter. The beer is fantastic, 100 IBU and %10 ABV.......but still has a little "fire" to it....another month of conditioning and this thing will be really great.

permo said:

That does raise an excellent point about dextrose. I use dextrose in my IIPA's but I have never used any in a standard IPA. I have found that dextrose actually thins the body of the beer out by adding a straight shot of alcohol. I have found that adding dextrose incrementally to an IIPA is a great way to encourage attenuation. I had a 1.095 IIPA finish at 1.010 by feeding it two pounds of dextrose in the fermenter.

Click to expand...

yeah, if you mash at ~150 and add dextrose, you'll really dry out your beer - think Longhammer.

In theory (I haven't done it), the higher mash temp and the dextrose would give you some body, but still get your FG down where you want it. I think

AZ_IPA said:

yeah, if you mash at ~150 and add dextrose, you'll really dry out your beer - think Longhammer.

In theory (I haven't done it), the higher mash temp and the dextrose would give you some body, but still get your FG down where you want it. I think

Click to expand...

So theoretically, if you mash high and find that your final gravity is a tad to high, you could add some dextrose to the fermenter and get our FG to be lower simply because of the addition of alcohol, but wouldn't the same amount of dextrines still remain in the finished beer?

I am using the base form Yoopers Dogfish head clone.

90% domestic 2-row
10% British amber (I use Crisp)

simplicity is key,

95% 2row
5% crystal

maybe a little munich if I feel like it.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

I am using the base form Yoopers Dogfish head clone.

90% domestic 2-row
10% British amber (I use Crisp)

Click to expand...

humann_brewing said:

simplicity is key,

95% 2row
5% crystal

maybe a little munich if I feel like it.

Click to expand...

Yep, either of those. I rarely use the second example, but will on occasion. I've used other grains in IPAs (like maris otter) but they weren't as hops forward as I like. I like a strong, clean bitterness, hop aroma and flavor, and a simple malt backbone to support the hops. I don't use dextrose, except for IIPAs, and I like to mash at 152-153 so that I get a finish at 1.010-1.012.

I agree. I usually mash at 154 and let the cooler drop a degree or two over the rest. About a half pound or so of crystal, or a whole pound for a IIPA. Lots of hops need a bit more malt flavor. I'm thinking about trying different crystals and see what they all taste like.

I'm a fan of the American hops, like Simcoe, Centennial, and Cascade. Lots of hops at flame out and lots of hops in secondary for the IIPA.

I like that you can get similar yet different tastes by changing hops and yet they all still seem like AIPA or IAIPA.

Right on, I am huge fan of Chinook, willamete and cascade together......chinook has such a pungent aroma...you can almost see it coming off the top of the beer.

So I am currently working on my very first IPA recipe and I cannot tell you how helpfull all this info is. I am a farely new brewer and a brand new member to HBT. Just wanted to thank you all for this topic