C4 IPA (Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Citra)

Im brewing an IPA tomorrow that will have 5 oz of hops with 4 varieties, Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Citra hence the C4 name. I was hopping yall could help me out a bit.

I have
10 lbs Pale Malt
1lb Carapils
1lb Vienna
8oz Carmal 20

This is based off of a two hearted recipe and I think 60min as well. Seemed pretty basic.

The hop additions are;
60 Chinook
60 Centennial
15 Cascade
10 Citra
5 or 2 Citra

All are 1 ozs each.

Using Wyeast American Ale 1056.
Beersmith gives me 6.1% and 85IBUS.

Need help on a mashing temp. What do yall think?

Edit Should also mention this is BIAB and grain was double milled.

what are the IBUs on this? 1 oz each of Chinook and Centennial is something like 70 IBUs in bittering hops alone, isn't it?

I like the grain bill and C hops are always nice.

looks like a good one to try, and LOVE the name very clever!

Should I aim for 150-151? And is there much difference between adding Citra at 5 or 2? Or should I do one at 5 and one at 2?

Hi Henry - I think this recipe looks good. I just finished brewing an IPA that is really close your recipe, except in my recipe I had corn sugar where you have Vienna malt.

My brew really dried out and I think its way too bitter. Your use of Vienna should result in a little more malty flavor to balance out the hops. If I had to give any recommendations it may be to back off on the Citra from 1 oz to .5oz additions @ 10 and 5 minutes.

Good Luck!

WildHopHunter said:

Hi Henry - I think this recipe looks good. I just finished brewing an IPA that is really close your recipe, except in my recipe I had corn sugar where you have Vienna malt.

My brew really dried out and I think its way too bitter. Your use of Vienna should result in a little more malty flavor to balance out the hops. If I had to give any recommendations it may be to back off on the Citra from 1 oz to .5oz additions @ 10 and 5 minutes.

Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Im ok with bitter but I dont want it too bitter. Just updated my beersmith recipe with the right alpha and beta acids off the packaging and it came in around 81. If you think I should back off the bitterness shouldnt I scale back the 60min additions?

I have two IPA recipes, one all citra and chinook. I would say 81 IBUs is good for an IPA but if you want to lower it a little I would reduce the 60 min a little. As for the Citra 10 and 5 is good, but I would also add in some dry hop with citra, 2oz or so for 5-7 days. Citra has a wonderful aroma and really comes through with dry hopping

I would mash at 150, but I like my IPAd to be on the dry side. I would also suggest to do 1 oz Citra at like 5, or flameout, and dryhop one oz.

And I would put the Cascade at 10 rather than 15 mins.

60: Centennial and Chinook
10: Cascade
5: Citra
Dryhop Citra for 5-7 days

All 1 oz as stated in the original.

Either way, your recipe as you suggested would be good to. Cheers!

Thanks guys.

I see the IBUs now - 81. With the grain bill and your ABV, I'm guessing an SG around 1.055 or so, right?

I like the mash temp of 150-151 as well, but for what it's worth, this sounds like it might be a highly bitter beer. It's not very high gravity and will be drier (mashed at 150). The is definitely on the high end of bitterness:gravity ratio, even for an IPA.

If it were me (and everyone has a different palate), I would tend to move back the Centennial back to more a flavor addition (to 15 minutes perhaps?) and get something around 60 IBUs with the same amount of hops. More balanced, more hop flavor.

Have you thought about First Wort Hopping? Add the hops to your kettle when you are sparging. It makes a smoother bitterness and will bring down your IBU's a bit.

I would mash 150F - 152F. As Komocabo stated, I also like my IPA's on the dry side.

I would personally move the chinook up in the boil 30-20 minutes and try to achieve the same IBUs, but that is just my preference with Chinook as a bittering hop. It is a very harsh bittering hop IMO.

I would also shoot for ~150 with the mash.

My house IPA uses the same four hops. All but the Citra are my home-growns.
My schedule:
Chinook @ 60
Centennial @ 15
Cascade @ 7
Citra @ FO
Citra Dryhop

Cheers!

I second the 150 mash. Hops look great. Maybe lower the 60 min additions but I would stick to them and lower them on the next batch if you want. Don't forget the dry hop! Cheers