Question about balance

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Schumed

Schumed

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I have a ton of ingredients on hand and planning on doing a Double IPA with a pound of hops

Here is my initial recipe

15lbs Pale Ale
1lb Caramel 45L
8oz Carpils

2oz Amarillo
2oz Simcoe
2oz Centennial
2oz Legacy
2oz Columbus
1oz Citra
1oz Sorachi Ace

My plan is to mix all the hops together and gradually add them throughout the 60minute boil

I will be dry hopping with Cascade and Legacy

Think I have enough Malt to balance the hops?

any suggestions?
 
Um, I don't know... I'm very software dependent for determining IBUs and bitterness ratio.
If you're making a hop blend can you add up the alpha acid percentages and then divide to find the average so you can determine your IBUs and thus your bitterness ratio?
I'm not going to do that for you but that sounds plausible if you really want to do it.
 
i would reduce or eliminate the carapils and go stronger/all the way caramel. you'll get plenty of head retention from the caramel. i'd consider bumping up to C-60, if that's an option. you are currently at 10% crystal, you could increase to 15% by adding another half-pound.

btw, with that much hops there is little hope of being balanced - you are making a hop-bomb. balance isn't an option. it's like saying you're making suicide wings and you want to be sure the chicken taste comes through :)

do you need to dry-hop with cascade and legacy, only? i'd consider moving some hops with even better aromatics like simcoe or citra to the dry-hop stage.

finally, i would use the only columbus for bittering (use as much as needed to get the right IBUs) and save your mix of everything else for the last 15 minutes. so something like:
2 oz columbus @ 60 mins (or whatever amount required for the desired IBUs)
10 oz mega-mix continuously added from 15 mins to flamout
dry-hop with simcoe & cascade
 
sweetcell said:
i would reduce or eliminate the carapils and go stronger/all the way caramel. you'll get plenty of head retention from the caramel. i'd consider bumping up to C-60, if that's an option. you are currently at 10% crystal, you could increase to 15% by adding another half-pound.

btw, with that much hops there is little hope of being balanced - you are making a hop-bomb. balance isn't an option. it's like saying you're making suicide wings and you want to be sure the chicken taste comes through :)

do you need to dry-hop with cascade and legacy, only? i'd consider moving some hops with even better aromatics like simcoe or citra to the dry-hop stage.

finally, i would use the only columbus for bittering (use as much as needed to get the right IBUs) and save your mix of everything else for the last 15 minutes. so something like:
2 oz columbus @ 60 mins (or whatever amount required for the desired IBUs)
10 oz mega-mix continuously added from 15 mins to flamout
dry-hop with simcoe & cascade
Click to expand...

hmmm...I like the mega-mix idea the last 15
 
12 oz. hops for a 5 to 6 gallon batch is not unheard of for a Double IPA, even at the lower gravity spectrum (1.069-1.074 OG)... Pliny the Elder does it. And come to think of it, that amount of hops is quite common in many of the more modern DIPAs.

I wouldn't use more crystal. I'd keep crystal below 6% of the grist myself. You could also supplement <7% sugar with 2-row to aid dryness.

I don't like the gradual hop addition method. It's a waste of hops when you're striving for a highly drinkable and aromatic DIPA. You're better of bittering to 30-40 IBUs with the first addition, giving it another equal hop charge halfway through the boil, then pounding it late with the bulk of your aromatic hops (15-10-5-0-DH).

Legacy seems to be the best for bittering and middle additions in this case... just because the other hops are so much more suited to offer great aroma for the American DIPA style.

FYI - DIPA's are the opposite of "balance".
 
Just wanted to give an update

Ended up doing

2oz Columbus and legacy at 60
And then mixing the Amarillo, simcoe and centennial and gradual adding the last 15 minutes

Dry hopped with citra and cascade

Just cracked my first bottle....excellent aromas are tropical which is what I wanted and the malts balanced the hops very well
 

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