How does this look for an IPA?

First time formulating an IPA recipe, any suggestions on the below?

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.050
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.94%
IBU (tinseth): 66.42
SRM (morey): 11.37

FERMENTABLES:
11.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (90.2%)
10 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (4.9%)
8 oz - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (3.9%)
2 oz - American - Roasted Barley (1%)

HOPS:
0.6 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 50 min, IBU: 27.52
0.8 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 17.09
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 11.88
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.37
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.77
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 2.79
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 166 F, Amount: 15.94 qt, Strike Water
2) Temperature, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Mash Temp
3) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 10.06 qt or enough for 6.5 gallon boil

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Crushed Whrilfloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Fermentation Temp: 65 F for five days, bump to 67 F until final gravity is reached

I think youll need a lot more hops than that to get a pungent hop character that defines IPAs

Might also consider mashing lower to get it nice and dry. IME, Dry is key for IPAs to not have the sweet malt charcter interfere with your hops

m00ps said:

I think youll need a lot more hops than that to get a pungent hop character that defines IPAs

Might also consider mashing lower to get it nice and dry. IME, Dry is key for IPAs to not have the sweet malt charcter interfere with your hops

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Hmm, I was trying to stay within the style guidelines brewers friend gave me. I tried to add as much hops as I could but I always ended up with too many IBUs. Should I not worry too much about IBU contribution? Maybe bump up the dry hops?

What final gravity do you go for on a IPA? I thought 1.013 would still be on the fairly dry side. I just recently had an APA finish at 1.014 and it's quite nice, hops still shining through.

No_Nrg said:

First time formulating an IPA recipe, any suggestions on the below?

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.050
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.94%
IBU (tinseth): 66.42
SRM (morey): 11.37

FERMENTABLES:
11.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (90.2%)
10 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (4.9%)
8 oz - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (3.9%)
2 oz - American - Roasted Barley (1%)

HOPS:
0.6 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 50 min, IBU: 27.52
0.8 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 17.09
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 11.88
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.37
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.77
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 2.79
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 166 F, Amount: 15.94 qt, Strike Water
2) Temperature, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Mash Temp
3) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 10.06 qt or enough for 6.5 gallon boil

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Crushed Whrilfloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Fermentation Temp: 65 F for five days, bump to 67 F until final gravity is reached

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Why the Roasted Barley?

Schemy said:

Why the Roasted Barley?

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I'm using it in a small amount to add color without having to go overboard on crystal malts.

Got the idea from https://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=549

About 5% maximum crystal malts is a good guideline for an American IPA, where you want to the hops to pop. I would never consider roasted barley, even in small amounts, unless for a Black IPA, but that's just me. Maybe play around with small amounts of a darker base malt like Munich, and use some darker crystal for a bit of color and head retention. Carapils isn't necessary. I would up the dry hops - at least 2 oz, but 3 or 4 is usually better.

more hops better good.

I sometimes use 2oz of Black Malt for colour correction, so 2oz Roasted Barley wouldn't be any different. But when I use Black Malt I tend to use less Crystal than that (or none). You could drop the 15m addition completely and double the late Citra & Mosaic additions.

No_Nrg said:

I'm using it in a small amount to add color without having to go overboard on crystal malts.

Got the idea from https://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=549

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I'd be hesitant to use that much roasted barley, because it may come through in the flavor. 1% isn't much, but I"d rather use .75 pounds of 60L or .5 pound of 80L and ditch the carapils (you don't need it in this beer with that many hops). Or, if you really want a black malt, try midnight wheat. It gives the dark color, but without the harshness of roasted barley. It's not much, I know, but using grains just for color seems unnecessary in an IPA when you could use something like victory malt for a toasty flavor and a little color or some crystal malt. I find that 5-7% is a good amount for a medium crystal malt in IPAs that have some.

As far as hopping, I"d go with my first addition to be 35-40 IBUs and then do 1 ounce additions at 15/5/0/whirlpool/dryhop to get the maximum hops flavor and aroma.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone, I'm gonna go back to the drawing board. :rockin:

I'll post the revised recipe when I figure it out.

No_Nrg said:

Hmm, I was trying to stay within the style guidelines brewers friend gave me. I tried to add as much hops as I could but I always ended up with too many IBUs. Should I not worry too much about IBU contribution? Maybe bump up the dry hops?

What final gravity do you go for on a IPA? I thought 1.013 would still be on the fairly dry side. I just recently had an APA finish at 1.014 and it's quite nice, hops still shining through.

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I like to get my IPAs below 1.010, but thats just me. I like them as dry as I can get them to help the hop character. Ive started spiking it with saison yeast at high krausen to get it super dry

Ive never bothered with IBU calculations. All IPAs I do are entirely focused on hopstand additions and as of yet, there is no conslusive way to caluclate the IBUs from it. And even if there was, the bitterness is nearly negligible anyway. Its much softer than any boil additions. I routinely will use upwards of 10oz for a 5gal batch just for the flameout additions and it drinks like fruit juice. Fruity hop juice

Ok, simplified the grain bill and tweaked the hop schedule. Think it looks pretty solid, let me know.

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.049
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 6.69%
IBU (tinseth): 67.42
SRM (morey): 8.73

FERMENTABLES:
11.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (93.9%)
12 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.1%)

HOPS:
0.8 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 39.2
0.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 10.85
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 12.07
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.3
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min (flameout/whirlpool)
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 166 F, Amount: 15.94 qt, Strike Water
2) Temperature, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Mash Temp
3) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 10.06 qt

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Crushed Whrilfloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Fermentation Temp: 65 F

Looks good. A lot of excellent IPAs have similarly simple grain bills. I recommend doing another IPA to explore some specialty grains, like victory malt (my favorite addition in IPAs) and honey malt, both compliment the hops beautifully. Regular crystal/caramel grains aren't at all necessary in IPAs. I still think you should add more dry hops.

add 8oz Biscuit (victory) and 12 oz OATS. mash at 149.

This is sorta close to the A-IPA I've been brewing over and over again, trying to get my brewing legs underneath me.

I would add an ounce of Citra to the dry-hop. Mosaic and Citra make beautiful music together in the dry-hop. I'll be throwing an ounce of each into my fermenter in the next day or two.

No_Nrg said:

Ok, simplified the grain bill and tweaked the hop schedule. Think it looks pretty solid, let me know.

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.049
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 6.69%
IBU (tinseth): 67.42
SRM (morey): 8.73

FERMENTABLES:
11.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (93.9%)
12 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.1%)

HOPS:
0.8 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 39.2
0.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 10.85
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 12.07
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.3
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min (flameout/whirlpool)
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 166 F, Amount: 15.94 qt, Strike Water
2) Temperature, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Mash Temp
3) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 10.06 qt

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Crushed Whrilfloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Fermentation Temp: 65 F

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Nice. I don't love the SD strain, but others do. You may want to mash a wee bit cooler- 150/151, just to make sure it fully attenuates.

DoctorDuvel said:

I recommend doing another IPA to explore some specialty grains, like victory malt (my favorite addition in IPAs) and honey malt, both compliment the hops beautifully. Regular crystal/caramel grains aren't at all necessary in IPAs. I still think you should add more dry hops.

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whovous said:

This is sorta close to the A-IPA I've been brewing over and over again, trying to get my brewing legs underneath me.

I would add an ounce of Citra to the dry-hop. Mosaic and Citra make beautiful music together in the dry-hop. I'll be throwing an ounce of each into my fermenter in the next day or two.

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Yooper said:

Nice. I don't love the SD strain, but others do. You may want to mash a wee bit cooler- 150/151, just to make sure it fully attenuates.

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Thanks again for all the suggestions everyone.

I'm playing around with different yeast types right now. Reading Brülosophy he seems to be a fan of San Diego Super and it has a high average attenuation, so thought it would fit well with an IPA. I just did a pale ale with California Ale V, was actually quite good. May give that a shot in a future batch.

Tweaked the hop bill a bit to add an ounce of Citra to dry hop and an additional half ounce Citra at 1 minute boil.

HOPS:
0.8 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 39.12
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 12.05
0.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 10.83
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.29
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 1.05
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min
1 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

Also bumped the mash temp down to 150. Going to roll with the recipe like this and see how it turns out. Running a scaled 2 gallon batch this weekend to test it out.

This is just my opinion, but I've moved away from complicated hop schedules like that. I'm not against adding a variety of different kind of hops, but rather I don't like to be constantly watching the timer to make sure I don't miss an addition. Your recipe specifies boil additions at 60, 15, 5, 1, and 0. Do you honestly think there'll be a perceptible difference between the 15 and 5 minute additions? The 5 and 1? The 1 and 0?

When I make an IPA now, I don't even actually add ANY hops to the boil. I do First Wort Hops (FWH) for the bittering charge. I then conduct the boil, adding dextrose and Irish moss, but no hops. At flameout, I get a whirlpool going and add my whirlpool hops (flavour). Then after fermentation completes, I clobber it with another 3-4 ounces of dry hops (aroma). I get all 3 dimensions from my hops (bittering, flavour, and aroma) without having to watch the clock like a fiend.

Yooper said:

Nice. I don't love the SD strain, but others do. You may want to mash a wee bit cooler- 150/151, just to make sure it fully attenuates.

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Agree w/ Yooper.

No_Nrg said:

Thanks again for all the suggestions everyone.

I'm playing around with different yeast types right now. Reading Brülosophy he seems to be a fan of San Diego Super and it has a high average attenuation, so thought it would fit well with an IPA. I just did a pale ale with California Ale V, was actually quite good. May give that a shot in a future batch.

Tweaked the hop bill a bit to add an ounce of Citra to dry hop and an additional half ounce Citra at 1 minute boil.

HOPS:
0.8 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 39.12
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 12.05
0.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 10.83
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.29
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 1.05
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min
1 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

Also bumped the mash temp down to 150. Going to roll with the recipe like this and see how it turns out. Running a scaled 2 gallon batch this weekend to test it out.

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I'm not sure what Yooper's thoughts are, but I felt that the SD Super just left the beer flat. No character. Didn't enhance the hop or malt character. It is a great attenuator for sure, but didn't do anything for my palate.

te-wa said:

add 8oz Biscuit (victory) and 12 oz OATS. mash at 149.

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I was going to suggest this as well, except wheat instead of oats.

Also, get rid of the Crystal 60 and replace it 4-6 oz. of Carapils.

Recipe still needs more late hops, IMO. And a bigger dry hop.

kombat said:

This is just my opinion, but I've moved away from complicated hop schedules like that. I'm not against adding a variety of different kind of hops, but rather I don't like to be constantly watching the timer to make sure I don't miss an addition. Your recipe specifies boil additions at 60, 15, 5, 1, and 0. Do you honestly think there'll be a perceptible difference between the 15 and 5 minute additions? The 5 and 1? The 1 and 0?

When I make an IPA now, I don't even actually add ANY hops to the boil. I do First Wort Hops (FWH) for the bittering charge. I then conduct the boil, adding dextrose and Irish moss, but no hops. At flameout, I get a whirlpool going and add my whirlpool hops (flavour). Then after fermentation completes, I clobber it with another 3-4 ounces of dry hops (aroma). I get all 3 dimensions from my hops (bittering, flavour, and aroma) without having to watch the clock like a fiend.

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Yeah, I get that. Watching the clock during the last 15 minutes of the boil isn't a big deal to me.

I'd hope there would be some difference between the 15 min (Cirta/Mosaic) and the 5 min (Cascade) since they are different hops, but who knows if it's noticeable without brewing two batches differently and tasting them.

I've looked into first wort, is there a method for BIAB? Would you add the hops and steep for 15-20 minutes at the end of the mash while I do a small sparge?

No_Nrg said:

Yeah, I get that. Watching the clock during the last 15 minutes of the boil isn't a big deal to me.

I'd hope there would be some difference between the 15 min (Cirta/Mosaic) and the 5 min (Cascade) since they are different hops, but who knows if it's noticeable without brewing two batches differently and tasting them.

I've looked into first wort, is there a method for BIAB? Would you add the hops and steep for 15-20 minutes at the end of the mash while I do a small sparge?

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I think there is. While I agree that needlessly complicated hops additions (continous hopping, like my DFH clone) aren't fun, adding a traditional charge at 15 and 5 does make a difference.

I don't BIAB, but that's what I would do- add the FWH to the wort while you sparge and then bring the wort up to a boil.

No_Nrg said:

I'd hope there would be some difference between the 15 min (Cirta/Mosaic) and the 5 min (Cascade) since they are different hops

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Sorry, I should have been clearer; of course you're right, there will obviously be a difference based on different varieties of hops. I merely meant that combining the 15 and 5 minute additions, and adding them all at the same time (either at 15 or at 5), would result in a very minor difference. Even less so for the 5 and 1 additions, and I'd be shocked if anyone could detect the difference between the 0 and 1 minute additions (versus adding them at the same time).

As Yooper mentioned, there will be a subtle difference between adding hops at 15 minutes or adding them at 5. If added at 15, more of the alpha acids will be converted to iso-alpha acids, which will increase the perceived bitterness. Conversely, more of the volatile hop oils will be driving off, decreasing the hop flavour and aroma contribution.

My point is simply to not depend on mid-to-late hop additions for bitterness. Hit your bitterness target all at once, with your 60 minute (or FWH) hop addition. Then know how much flavour and aroma contribution you want from your Citra/Mosaic/Cascade charges, adjust their quantities accordingly, and add them all at flameout or whirlpool. Adding them so late will minimize the amount of their flavour/aroma compounds that are driven off, meaning you can use less of them than if you'd added them at 10, 15, or 30 minutes. Of course, it also simplifies the boil logistics.

No_Nrg said:

I've looked into first wort, is there a method for BIAB? Would you add the hops and steep for 15-20 minutes at the end of the mash while I do a small sparge?

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Hmm, that's a good question, I hadn't really thought about that. I guess I'd do similar to what you describe, adding the hops as I remove the bag of grains and begin sparging and heating to a boil.

Yooper said:

While I agree that needlessly complicated hops additions (continous hopping, like my DFH clone) aren't fun, adding a traditional charge at 15 and 5 does make a difference.

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Probably everyone who homebrewed back when DFH made that popular gave it a try.

It was fun . . . . . once.

No_Nrg said:

I've looked into first wort, is there a method for BIAB? Would you add the hops and steep for 15-20 minutes at the end of the mash while I do a small sparge?

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Yup. Like kombat said. Add them when you pull the bag.

kombat said:

Sorry, I should have been clearer; of course you're right, there will obviously be a difference based on different varieties of hops. I merely meant that combining the 15 and 5 minute additions, and adding them all at the same time (either at 15 or at 5), would result in a very minor difference. Even less so for the 5 and 1 additions, and I'd be shocked if anyone could detect the difference between the 0 and 1 minute additions (versus adding them at the same time).

As Yooper mentioned, there will be a subtle difference between adding hops at 15 minutes or adding them at 5. If added at 15, more of the alpha acids will be converted to iso-alpha acids, which will increase the perceived bitterness. Conversely, more of the volatile hop oils will be driving off, decreasing the hop flavour and aroma contribution.

My point is simply to not depend on mid-to-late hop additions for bitterness. Hit your bitterness target all at once, with your 60 minute (or FWH) hop addition. Then know how much flavour and aroma contribution you want from your Citra/Mosaic/Cascade charges, adjust their quantities accordingly, and add them all at flameout or whirlpool. Adding them so late will minimize the amount of their flavour/aroma compounds that are driven off, meaning you can use less of them than if you'd added them at 10, 15, or 30 minutes. Of course, it also simplifies the boil logistics.

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Ah, I see what you mean. Something like this as an example:
HOPS:
1 oz - Simcoe, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 48.9
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.29
0.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.84
0.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.35
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min
1.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9,Use: Aroma for 0 min
1.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13.9, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
1.5 oz - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

May try a batch of this and the other schedule I have and note the differences. This did allow me top bump up the overall qty of hops in the batch.

douglasbarbin said:

Also, get rid of the Crystal 60 and replace it 4-6 oz. of Carapils.

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He's already scrapped Carapils once in place of Crystal, on advice from others here.

slym2none said:

He's already scrapped Carapils once in place of Crystal, on advice from others here.

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In that case, I'd still say to replace the Crystal 60 in favor of Munich or Vienna. I don't like any Crystal at all in my IPA's, and I've never had an IPA without it where I said, "Gee, I wish this had some Crystal malt in it". Just my 2 cents.

douglasbarbin said:

In that case, I'd still say to replace the Crystal 60 in favor of Munich or Vienna. I don't like any Crystal at all in my IPA's, and I've never had an IPA without it where I said, "Gee, I wish this had some Crystal malt in it". Just my 2 cents.

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Understood, but not every person thinks that all IPAs shouldn't have crystal malt. Some, like me, have several recipes they love that have no crystal at all, and other favorite recipes have up to 10%. Not better or worse, just different.

Yooper said:

Understood, but not every person thinks that all IPAs shouldn't have crystal malt. Some, like me, have several recipes they love that have no crystal at all, and other favorite recipes have up to 10%. Not better or worse, just different.

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Agreed. And I don't mind, say 5% of Crystal 20. That's not so bad to me, but Crystal 60 is pretty up there in terms of sweetness, at least on my palate.

OP, the best way to find out is to brew it, taste it, and revamp the recipe if needed. We can make suggestions, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference.

Also, if you like a dry IPA (which I do), then some cane sugar can be a good thing. Try to keep it under 5% of the total recipe, and 10% at most.

douglasbarbin said:

OP, the best way to find out is to brew it, taste it, and revamp the recipe if needed. We can make suggestions, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference.

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Yep, totally agree there.

The point of this thread was to make sure I didn't have any major technical issues with the recipe and gather ideas to formulate multiple variations to test out.

Once I've landed on a variation that shines above all others I'll set it in stone and call it official.

Appreciate all the tips given by everyone, got a bunch of ideas.

I am no expert, but all my reading tells me 15 minute additions are for flavor while 5 minute and later are for aroma. I would keep them both (I do 21 and 6, but that is just me).

The best regularly available commercial IPA I have ever had is Ballast Point Sculpin. They brag about doing five different hop additions right on the box containing the cans. Hop schedules do not have to be complicated, but neither are they necessarily a bad thing. For me, Cascade is the odd man out in this recipe, but it does not bother me enough to say it needs to come out.

whovous said:

The best regularly available commercial IPA I have ever had is Ballast Point Sculpin. They brag about doing five different hop additions right on the box containing the cans. Hop schedules do not have to be complicated, but neither are they necessarily a bad thing. For me, Cascade is the odd man out in this recipe, but it does not bother me enough to say it needs to come out.

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Cascade is a pretty classic IPA hop. It isn't a "sexy" new hop like Citra, Mosaic, etc., but it is pretty standard in a lot of IPAs. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that Sculpin uses Cascade.

whovous said:

For me, Cascade is the odd man out in this recipe, but it does not bother me enough to say it needs to come out.

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I had Cascade in there as a flavor/aroma companion for Citra and Mosaic. The grapefruit highlights really play well with them.

I do a similar, albeit smaller single Cascade addition in a Simcoe and Citra pale ale I do. Compliments them well.

I guess I was pretty unclear there. I do not suggest taking Cascade out. I recognize that it is a classic IPA hop. But right now, I am not putting it in my recipe. That's all.

In my case, I am playing with a single recipe over and over until I don't think I can brew it any better. I am new enough to this game to find improvements every time without changing the hops in my recipe. I bitter with Warrior and use Citra/Mosaic for all the rest. Taking the hop bag out after a week of dry hopping is intoxicating all by itself.