Belgian IPA recipe

Hi all brewsters,

I've been brewing for a year now, and I am ready to fine tune my brewing a little bit. I'm still a beginner, yet enthusiastic and ready to improve.

I have been looking to this forum for many of my brew questions, and it has been incredibly helpful. I figured it was time for me to get more involved and post some of my own questions and recipes.

Here is an invention I threw together at the LBS. I've made quite of a few IPA's and APA's and, for the most part, they have turned out good to great. I figured this time I would try to put a Belgian twist on it. Here is my recipe for a Belgian IPA. If anybody has any tips or suggestions for me it would be greatly appreciated.

Original Gravity (OG): 1.063 (°P): 15.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.19 %
Colour (SRM): 9.8 (EBC): 19.3
Bitterness (IBU): 69.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
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10.000 lb American 2-Row (74.07%)
1.000 lb Crystal 60 (7.41%)
1.000 lb Maris Otter Malt (7.41%)
1.000 lb Vienna (7.41%)
0.500 lb Carapils (Dextrine) (3.7%)

Hop Bill
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1.00 oz Chinook Pellet (11.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
1.00 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 oz/Gal)

Misc Bill
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Single step Infusion at 156°F for 75 Minutes.
Fermented at 63°F with Wyeast 3522 - Belgian Ardennes


Thanks, salud and cheers!

Dan

Good luck on it. I'm one that doesn't like crossing my Belgian yeast with an IPA formula. I just don't like the taste combination of Belgian funk with strong hoppy IPA's. Your recipe looks fine, although i'd prefer to hold my mash at 152-153 for 75 minutes. It's what works in my setup.

There is quite a bit of variation in opinion/preference of what they should taste like. I have a house Belgian IPA I make. I agree somewhat with aiptasia. Simply swapping the yeast from your favorite IPA with a Belgian strain can result in some strongly competing flavors, and not in a good way. It can be done though.

My personal take for what *I* want in a Belgian IPA. I like it a little cleaner and a bit more bitter (but a very smooth bitter!) I back off on the crystal malts a bit and up the bittering hops a little, and then back off a little on the flavor and aroma hops, and use half of what I normally use to dry hop. For hops, I like to use American hops, but the ones that have been breed from the classic noble European varieties as they seem to play well with the Belgian yeast flavors (Liberty, Sterling, and I really like Pallisade in this style - Tettnang is one of it's parents)

I'd do the opposite with the hops. I'd move the 30min addition to 20 or 15 mins and keep the rest of the hops the same. I'd also lower the mash temp to 150 or 152. 156 is way too high for a belgian anything.

Also might want to look into raising the fermentation temp to around 66 or 68. That should give you a healthy fermentation without over the top esters and phenols. That yeast isn't too fond of cooler temps.

I have a question about the hop pellets. This is what you have.

0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
1.00 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 oz/Gal)

Would there be any issue changing it to this? I'm thinking about trying this.

1.00oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
1.50oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)

Thanks for the input. Sometimes I get a little bit too adventurous when making my recipes. I want to make the best beer possible, but I like to try and explore different varieties without doing the necessary research. The reason I am using so many of one kind of hops (Northern Brewer) is to help me gain a better understanding of said hops. I will think about lowering the crystal malts a little bit, and take into consideration upping the bittering hops a little, and revise the Northern Brewer flavor/aroma hop schedule a little bit. And, I'll definitely lower the mash temperature.

This was really a last minute decision I made at the LHBS. I was going to make a regular IPA with American Ale yeast, but I'd used that strain so much I wanted to try something different. I figured I like Belgian styles and IPA styles, so might as well try to bring the two together. Then the owner of the LBHS gave me a free slightly swollen package of Wyeast 3522 - Belgian Ardennes for free, so why not try it out, I figured.

I'll post what changes I made, and how it turned out latter!

Salud!

I recommend bittering with a lower AA noble hop like Saaz and getting your aroma from the Northern Brewer with a late addition. Belgian IPAs are all about the marriage of delicate floral hop characters and fruity estery yeasts. Going overboard with hops in a Belgian IPA tends to result in a beer that tastes like fruit rinds.