New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

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Braufessor

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Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
4,206
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Location
NE Iowa
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Conan
Yeast Starter
Repitch Harvested Yeast
Batch Size (Gallons)
6.5
Original Gravity
1.055
Final Gravity
1.011
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
50(?)
Color
4.0
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
12 days @ 64-->70
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
2-3 days @ 65
Tasting Notes
In the style of: Tree House, Toppling Goliath, Hill Farmstead....etc.
SPECIFICATIONS:
OG 1.055
FG 1.011
IBU's...... 30-35 from bittering, not sure of utilization from all the late addition hops. Perception is much more than 35 IBU's though.
SRM 4
ABV 5.3% - This is definitely more of a "session" IPA - but, the heavy late hops and full body really make it drink like a regular IPA without the 6-8%+ abv of a lot of the popular IPA's and DIPA's

Edit: For those looking for recent versions, updates, and my most recent/current version of how I am making this beer - you will find that information in post #1418 in this thread. The original recipe is good as is... but I have shifted some of my practices, and also simplified/clarified some things in this original post..... Please check out #1418 for updates: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost...postcount=1418

Edit #2: For those looking for recent versions, updates, and my most recent/current version of how I am making this beer - you will find that information in post #5803 in this thread. The original recipe, and the #1418 update are both good as is... but I have shifted some of my practices, and also simplified/clarified some things in this original and #1418 post..... Please check out #5803 for updates/clarifications:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/page-146#post-8203827

**I brew 6.5 gallons of finished beer (post boil)..... this allows me to leave some hop/trub behind in boil kettle and fermenter and get 5 gallons eventually into serving keg. If you finish with 5 gallons post boil, you might want to adjust hops down a bit.
6.5 gallons post boil
5.75 gallons into fermenter
5 gallons into keg

GRAIN BILL:
% and the actual amt. I use for 6.5 gallons @ 84% mash efficiency (your efficiency may vary)
44% Rahr 2 Row ( 5 lbs)
44% Golden Promise (or similar.... Pearl, Maris Otter) (5 lbs)
4% Flaked Oats (1/2 lb)
4% Flaked Barley 1/2 lb)
2% Wheat (1/4 lb)
2% Honey Malt (1/4 lb)

60 minute mash @152-154)

HOPS:
**60 Min. = .75 oz Warrior
**Flame Out = 1oz. each of Citra/Galaxy/Mosaic
**Chill to 160 or below and add 1oz. each of Citra/Mosaic/Galaxy. Stop chiller and allow hops to sit for 30 minute or so. Stir up/whirlpool wort every 5 minutes or so.
Chill to 62 and let hops settle out as much as possible. Transfer wort to fermenter. I tend to leave behind .75 gallons of true and hops (this is why I brew 6.5 gallon batch).

**Dry Hop #1- At day 5-7 - add the following to primary fermenter:
1.5 oz. Citra
1 oz. Mosaic
.5 oz. Galaxy

**Dry Hop #2 - Around day 12, transfer to CO2 purged dry hopping keg with
1.5 oz. Citra
1 oz. Mosaic
.5 oz. Galaxy
(I use this strategy: http://www.bear-flavored.com/2014/09/how-i-dry-hop-my-ipas-with-no-oxygen.html )

Day 14-15 - Jump from Dry hop keg to serving keg. Force carbonate to moderate/moderate-low.

WATER PROFILE:
I use 80% RO water, 20% Hard (Carbon Filtered) tap water in Mash, 87% RO in sparge water:
I add per gallon of mash and sparge water -
Gypsum = .2 grams/gallon
CaCl = .6 grams/gallon
Epsom = .1 gram/gallon
Canning Salt = .2 grams/gallon
Lactic Acid = .5ml/gallon mash, .25 ml/gallon sparge ( I am using 5 gallons mash water and 6 gallons sparge water).

Using B'run Water

Ca = 96
Mg = 12
Na = 28
Sulfate = 67
Chloride = 128
Bicarbonate = 70

Mash pH = 5.37-5.42
Final runnings pH = 5.60
Pre-boil Kettle pH = 5.40-5.45
Post Boil pH = 5.3-5.35

Water Profile - the simple solution:
***Many people ask about a more general guide to water because they do not know what their own water profile is, or they have not made the jump to using a water profile software. I use B'run water, and the above profile. However, if you just want to get in the ballpark of something "similar" to start with..... The simplest solution is this:
100% RO water for both mash and sparge.
Per 5 gallons of mash water: 1 tsp of CaCl + 1/2 tsp Gypsum
Per 5 gallons of sparge water: 1 tsp of CaCl + 1/2 tsp Gypsum

This should bring you in around 140 Chloride and 80 Sulfate.

This does not take into account trying to get Na or Mg numbers. It ignores bicarbonate and as it is 100% RO, it should bring your mash pH in around 5.41 without any acid addition.

ROUGH estimate of grams to tsp of minerals:
1/4 tsp Gypsum = .9 grams
1/4 tsp CaCl = 1.1 grams
1/4 tsp Epsom Salt = 1.3 grams
1/4 tsp Canning Salt = 1.8 grams


FERMENTATION
Yeast - Conan(vermont IPA), 1318 is also a yeast many choose to use in beers like this.
I tend to start fermentation off around 62 at let it free rise to 66-68 degrees through the first 3 days or so of fermentation. At that point, I like to move it somewhere that it can finish off in the 68-70-72 range.

OTHER THOUGHTS/NOTES:

I keep almost everything the same in brewing IPA's to this style. However, I do mix up the hops. I always bitter with warrior, and always use 4 sets of 3 ounce additions at Flameout, Whirlpool, Dry Hop #1, Dry Hop #2....... but, not always the same hops. I sometimes do 100% Citra. I sometimes do equal parts of Citra/Mosaic/Galaxy for all 4 additions (Grapefruit!!!!), I some times do equal parts (1.5 ounces) citra/mosaic at all 4 additions... But always the same basic amount, in the same basic schedule.

The water is important for getting this "style" of IPA. It is important to go higher on chloride and lower on gypsum (I think). I also ...... and I don't know exactly why...... have had more success including some my high bicarbonate water and using lactic acid to shoot for pH in the 5.4 range (as opposed to a lower pH).

I have found this strategy to get very much in the ball park of these types of beers...... Hazy, full bodied, juicy/fruity hops. :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Latest batch:mug:

juicy.jpg
 
Wow, that looks great.
Any idea on OG, FG and IBU?

I tend to brew all my "IPA'S" on the low side of gravity and high side of late hops. This beer is not bitter.... but it is packed with hop flavor and aroma. I don't really attempt to calculate post boil IBU's. Probably getting around 30-35 from the warrior addition..... I would say "perception" of hops is 50-60-70 IBUs maybe??

Gravity I am starting at 1.055 and ending around 1.010-1.012 usually.

Like I said - I brew to the low end of gravity so I can drink more:)
 
I've got to try this, your beers look delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

I actually just had my first Toppling Goliath today (Golden Nugget) and its damn good.
 
I've got to try this, your beers look delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

I actually just had my first Toppling Goliath today (Golden Nugget) and its damn good.

Cool - I hope it comes out well for you. I am about 10 minutes from TG...... they turn out some very good beers. Just finished off my last bottle of King Sue the other night (Citra DIPA). King Sue, Pseudo Sue and Sosus are probably my favorites of theirs.
 
Cool - I hope it comes out well for you. I am about 10 minutes from TG...... they turn out some very good beers. Just finished off my last bottle of King Sue the other night (Citra DIPA). King Sue, Pseudo Sue and Sosus are probably my favorites of theirs.

I almost drove there today from work for the hell of it. I'm about 3 hours away and would definitely like to make the trip to check it out. I still have yet to try any of these NE IPA's, but they look like they're all my style. I've got pounds of hops ready to use just for these.

Is this your best IPA that you've made?
 
Definitely my favorite - to my personal tastes. I have pretty much dedicated a lot of my brewing to this type of beer over the last year..... I would say I have brewed 30 batches of this type of IPA in the last year. Pretty well settled in on this basic process and recipe at this point and have not made a lot of changes recently. I am sure I will continue to tweak it and experiment going forward - but this beer is what I like to drink. I have to brew it every 2 weeks to keep it on tap it goes so fast.

I would say a beer you may have had that would be in the same ballpark (although a lot stronger) is Todd the Axeman from Surly.

Depending on when you make the trip to TG, perhaps I can make it there and have a beer with you. Pulpit Rock is another new/good brewery in Decorah. They have 1-2 IPA's in this style too.
 
Definitely my favorite - to my personal tastes. I have pretty much dedicated a lot of my brewing to this type of beer over the last year..... I would say I have brewed 30 batches of this type of IPA in the last year. Pretty well settled in on this basic process and recipe at this point and have not made a lot of changes recently. I am sure I will continue to tweak it and experiment going forward - but this beer is what I like to drink. I have to brew it every 2 weeks to keep it on tap it goes so fast.

I would say a beer you may have had that would be in the same ballpark (although a lot stronger) is Todd the Axeman from Surly.

Depending on when you make the trip to TG, perhaps I can make it there and have a beer with you. Pulpit Rock is another new/good brewery in Decorah. They have 1-2 IPA's in this style too.

I really enjoyed Surly's Todd the Axeman, but like you said, a bit too high in alcohol compared to this. Citra/Mosaic is a pretty good combo and hard to beat. I just recently got a pound of Galaxy, but have never used them before so I'm excited to try it out.

Thanks for the offer, I'll send you a message when I can get down there and see if it works out for us.
 
This recipe looks great. I love the color and the style. 1 question: what wheat did you use for the "2% Wheat"? Flaked or American White Wheat?

I would like to make an IPA similar to this (without the honey malt or oats).
 
This recipe looks great. I love the color and the style. 1 question: what wheat did you use for the "2% Wheat"? Flaked or American White Wheat?

I would like to make an IPA similar to this (without the honey malt or oats).

I used Weyerman Wheat.... not flaked.
Honey is 25L.... So if you wanted you could sub in some Cara 25 or something for a bit of color. I have also used Flaked Barley and Flaked wheat depending on what I had available..... Basically, played around with the flaked portions all the way up to 15%. I found 8-10% to be about right for me.
 
Do you determine the amounts of the water adjustments based on the 6.5g or the 5g?

I figure it based on the amount of mash water I use and the amount of sparge water I use..... So, I list grams/gallon..... that way anyone can take the total amount of water they use (mash, sparge) and put that many grams per gallon....

For instance, I use .6 grams CaCl per gallon. If I have 5 gallons of mash water - I add 3 grams. If I have 6 gallons of sparge water I add 3.6 grams. If someone wanted to do a smaller scale batch and used 3 gallons of mash water, they would use 1.8 grams, and so on.
 
You can play around with color a bit too..... the darker one was same grain bill plus an additional 1/4 lb of Cara 35. The lighter one was same with an additional 1/4 lb of Cara 15. In my recipe, this would equate to the same amount as the Honey Malt and the Wheat.


Subbed! Those beers look fantastic...the first one looks EXACTLY like HF Edward. I just started harvesting some Conan, looks like I know what I'm going to make first.

I am curious though...what purpose does the honey malt and wheat malt serve at 2% each? Personally I think I would probably substitute those for the Cara malt.
 
What's a good source of Conan yeast? Gigayeast? Omega? I haven't seen other options that I can buy. My chances to harvest Heady Topper are slim to none.
 
Subbed! Those beers look fantastic...the first one looks EXACTLY like HF Edward. I just started harvesting some Conan, looks like I know what I'm going to make first.

I am curious though...what purpose does the honey malt and wheat malt serve at 2% each? Personally I think I would probably substitute those for the Cara malt.

I tend to always throw 1/4lb of wheat in for head retention..... it may or may not matter. Honey malt is 27L - so it adds some color. It also is a bit more flavorful/sweet than crystal malts. I have transitioned toward less and less crystal/caramel malts in my IPA's. Honey malt is a way to get some flavor and color in a relatively small amount. There are probably other ways to do what I perceive them doing. I don't think either is probably the "critical" element of a beer like this..... but, I have used them in the past, and have not really gotten around to experimenting with taking them out or replacing them with something else.

** also - I always like to brew a generic blonde ale with my first pitch of harvested/cultured Conan yeast. Low alcohol, low hopped - then I harvest 5-6 jars of yeast slurry from the blonde ale. I use 5 of them to brew heavily hopped IPA's, and I use the 6th to brew another batch of blonde ale for more yeast. Easy way to generate a bunch of clean yeast. I have brewed 30 beers from a single can of Heady Topper on more than one occasion. Same with a single pitch of Gigayeast.
 
What's a good source of Conan yeast? Gigayeast? Omega? I haven't seen other options that I can buy. My chances to harvest Heady Topper are slim to none.

If I don't have any Heady Topper yeast.... I have used Gigayeast. If I am being honest, I don't know that I could say I have noticed any difference between Gigayeast and harvested Conan yeast from Heady Topper.
 
If I don't have any Heady Topper yeast.... I have used Gigayeast. If I am being honest, I don't know that I could say I have noticed any difference between Gigayeast and harvested Conan yeast from Heady Topper.

Maybe I'll go with a Yeast Bay. http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/vermont-ale

The double pitch Gigayeast pack is pretty tempting.

I've been going through your post and it has lead me to quite a few improvements I can make.

Kind of off topic, but since you're so familiar with Toppling Goliath. The Golden Nugget beer has a fantastic mouthfeel to it. Kind of a pillowy smooth lush feel. I've never had that in the beers I've made. Know what contributes to this and how to replicate it?
 
Maybe I'll go with a Yeast Bay. http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/vermont-ale

The double pitch Gigayeast pack is pretty tempting.

I've been going through your post and it has lead me to quite a few improvements I can make.

Kind of off topic, but since you're so familiar with Toppling Goliath. The Golden Nugget beer has a fantastic mouthfeel to it. Kind of a pillowy smooth lush feel. I've never had that in the beers I've made. Know what contributes to this and how to replicate it?

Some of their other beers (pseudo sue) have even better mouth feel to them. If you can find their beers in 22 ounce bombers they are brewed in Decorah. The 12 ounce bottles and cans are contract brewed out of florida. I think the Decorah stuff tends to be fresher and more on point consistently. In my experience, some of the florida stuff has been a bit hit and miss.

In my experience - as far as the mouthfeel, I really think a lot of it actually ends up coming from two things:
1.) the heavy doses of late hops/hop oils
2.) lower-medium/low carbonation.... so there is not any real CO2 bite.

***Edited to include PeteNMA's suggestion on higher chloride/lower Sulfate ratio - absolutely important - I forgot to add it.

Also, I think the flaked oats and barley add to that - although, TG does not use that high of a percentage of flaked malts. However, it is a different way of getting to the same place.
 
Love the look of your beers. I just got in a pack of Conan from omega and plan on making a starter for a beer next week, trying a recipe I've made before but this time using the Conan and its citra, mosaic and simcoe with warrior for bittering. What would you say are the ideal ferment temps for Conan? My basement is where I ferment everything and it's ambient is 62 right now so I usually pitch just below that and let it free rise and according to the fermometers I'm usually at 68 during peak fermentation then I'll move the carboy upstairs where it's 71 to finish out, and I dry hop in primary usually at day 10 then cold crash at day 14 for 2-4 days.
 
A "different" balance of chloride/sulfate also does wonders for mouthfeel. Try targeting about 180ppm chloride and 100ppm sulfate.
 
A "different" balance of chloride/sulfate also does wonders for mouthfeel. Try targeting about 180ppm chloride and 100ppm sulfate.

+1 for sure - should have included that too.

I will give those numbers a try - maybe even this week. Gonna brew another batch tomorrow as normal. I will try to get a second batch in this week with those numbers to put them head to head.
 
Love the look of your beers. I just got in a pack of Conan from omega and plan on making a starter for a beer next week, trying a recipe I've made before but this time using the Conan and its citra, mosaic and simcoe with warrior for bittering. What would you say are the ideal ferment temps for Conan? My basement is where I ferment everything and it's ambient is 62 right now so I usually pitch just below that and let it free rise and according to the fermometers I'm usually at 68 during peak fermentation then I'll move the carboy upstairs where it's 71 to finish out, and I dry hop in primary usually at day 10 then cold crash at day 14 for 2-4 days.

That is about exactly what I do for fermenting temps. Only difference is I tend to do a first dry hop around day 5 or 6, and then transfer to the dry hopping keg for dry hop #2 around day 12 - 14. That second dry hop is just 2-3 days and I jump to serving keg.
 
I'm very interested in trying this recipe, that first photo looks absolutely beautiful! What can I expect from the taste/flavor of this beer, is there anything commercially available to compare it to besides the rare Treehouse styles etc. that I can't get my hands on?

If I can't get my hands on some Conan, what would be the next best choice? I can get my hands on any White Labs or Wyeast or dry yeast easily.
 
I'm very interested in trying this recipe, that first photo looks absolutely beautiful! What can I expect from the taste/flavor of this beer, is there anything commercially available to compare it to besides the rare Treehouse styles etc. that I can't get my hands on?

If I can't get my hands on some Conan, what would be the next best choice? I can get my hands on any White Labs or Wyeast or dry yeast easily.

Where are you located? Might be able to suggest something comparable.

What to expect? Well, if I were to describe beers like this and the ones I brew.... I guess I would first point out a couple ways they are different. I think "in general" the basic "west coast" IPA is obviously clear. I think they are drier. I think the hops in a regular IPA tend to be crisper, more assertive, a more pronounced bitterness.

I would say an IPA to this style tends to be full as far as mouthfeel. There is less bitterness, but perhaps more hop flavor and aroma. The hops tend to be less assertive and sharp but, perhaps more rounded. Fruity, tropical, juicy (at least if you are using hops like Citra, Galaxy and Mosaic). Some of the best examples I have had (commercial and home-brewed) are almost like a glass of orange juice or grapefruit juice...... but with hops..... which may or may not make any sense.

Yeast - you can also look for giga yeast version of Conan(vermont IPA) and The Yeast Bay - Vermont Ale. Lots of places have these mail order. Omega Yeast DIPA Yeast 052 I think is conan also.

1318 is a yeast a lot of people use on beers like this. Denny's Favorite 50 might be another yeast that would work in a beer like this.
 
Braufessor-How long is your flame out steep before dropping to 160 for the whirlpool?
Also, what volume of CO are you carbing at?
 
Braufessor-How long is your flame out steep before dropping to 160 for the whirlpool?
Also, what volume of CO are you carbing at?

Not long.... I throw the first 3 ounces of hops in at flameout, and get the chiller going within a couple minutes.... only takes another couple minutes to hit 160 or so..... then I throw the other 3 ounces in. Maybe 5-7 minutes is all. Then I leave it set for 30-40 minutes stirring it up every 5-10 minutes.

Carbonation.... not positive on the precise volumes. But, likely in the 2-2.3 range - something that leaves the beer without any CO2 bite at all. Smoother/rounded. Kind of like a nice stout.
 
I haven't had Treehouse or Trillium yet, but I have had the usual VT suspects. Heady, HF, and Fiddlehead. All delicious beers with a great flavor and soft mouthfeel. I'm gonna try out this recipe. Subscribed!
 
You can play around with color a bit too..... the darker one was same grain bill plus an additional 1/4 lb of Cara 35. The lighter one was same with an additional 1/4 lb of Cara 15. In my recipe, this would equate to the same amount as the Honey Malt and the Wheat.

What SRM is this?
 
+1 for sure - should have included that too.

I will give those numbers a try - maybe even this week. Gonna brew another batch tomorrow as normal. I will try to get a second batch in this week with those numbers to put them head to head.

if you use these numbers please post results on how it differs from you numbers. Thanks!
 
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