Belgian IPA - need advice on mash schedule and recipe

[illmatija]

Hi peeps!

I've been planning on doing a batch of Belgian IPA. Let me first show you the recipe I had in mind:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/248913/saazey-the-belgian-bish-ipa

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Belgian Specialty Ale
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4.8 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.066
Efficiency: 85% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.19%
IBU (tinseth): 57.74
SRM (morey): 7.85

FERMENTABLES:
7.7 lb - German - Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner (71.3%)
1.1 lb - German - Vienna (10.2%)
0.9 lb - Belgian Candi Sugar - Clear/Blond - (late addition) (8.3%)
0.55 lb - Belgian - Biscuit (5.1%)
0.55 lb - German - CaraMunich II (5.1%)

HOPS:
1.8 oz - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.5, Use: Boil for 90 min, IBU: 34.94
0.5 oz - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 4.03
1.1 oz - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.5, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 15.34
0.9 oz - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 3.43
1.1 oz - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 0 min
1.1 oz - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.5, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 131 F, Time: 15 min, Proteinase
2) Infusion, Temp: 149 F, Time: 60 min, Starch conversion
3) Infusion, Temp: 167 F, Time: 15 min, Mash out.

YEAST:
Wyeast - Belgian Strong Ale 1388
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Temp: 64 - 80 F
Fermentation Temp: 77 F
Pitch Rate: 1.25 (M cells / ml / deg P)

---

So a few things..

1. I have been looking a lot online regarding how modified Weyermann's floor-malted pilsner is, and according to sources it is slightly under-modified and might need a step infusion mash. Which is why I decided to try to do a step mash as shown, and I like the idea of possibly higher efficiency and fermentability.. Now I have no clue whether to do a protein rest at 122F or 133F? Palmer recommends 122-140-158 as popular multi-step mash, NB does 122-149-158 for Tripel, but BYO article on step mashing, and Kaiser seem to favor 133 for well modified malts. So given that I think this malt is just slightly under-modified, I would go for around 133F protein rest followed with one saccharification rest at 149F. Mash-out would be perfomed at usual ~167F during batch sparging.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter16-2.html

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/allgrain/AG-BelgianTripel.pdf

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Infusion_Mashing

https://byo.com/stories/item/1497-the-science-of-step-mashing

2. I spent a lot of time researching aeration and came to the conclusion that without pure O2 I can't do a thing to get the O2 levels above 8ppm, so I would aim to get it to 8ppm and do a two stage starter to get the right amount of yeast propagated. I read that some brewers prefer underaeration and over-pitching and some the other way around (I guess some prefer it perfect haha), so I am aiming for the former given I can't aerate to 12-15ppm. Could that cause any problems with stuck fermentation and such? Could I try to do the olive oil thing?

3. What do you think of the hop schedule? I read someone's advice on this forum that you don't wanna go over 60 IBU's because it will overkill the yeast flavors, so I am aiming at 50-55.

4. Any suggestions on the grain bill? I have the stupid candi sugar already so I will use it, I understand that I buying it again in the future is a waste of money. Other than that, perhaps I can simplify the grain bill, with just pilsner, caramunich, and sugar. But I love that biscuit

I understand that I could just do a pale ale malt + American hops, which would be more common and easier to do with a single infusion, but at this point I kinda want to stick with noble hops flavors and pilsner base malt, as I have a lot of those malts/hops and want such a taste profile, closer to a Tripel or Belgian Strong Ale. The "American-Belgian" IPA is sure to come too though

Thanks in advance!
Matija

 

[m00ps]

I would just do a tradtional 1 step mash with the mashout. I've been using this pilsner malt lately and havent noticed any issues

For aeration, I wouldnt worry about it. Belgian yeasts can produce more esters from being a bit stressed anyway. I just give the bucket a good shake and it seems to work well.

I think you would want to use a traditional bittering hop for most of the IBUs. Saaz and Styrian goldings are not very effective IPA hops in that they are not very assertive and a large amount of them is needed to get a noticeable hops aroma. You could also use more typical IPA hops and select ones that would play off the Belgian yeast esters. This is what I do for my Belgian IPAs. I also jsut hop the crap out of them like my American ones and the yeast still makes itself known.

I'd switch out the caramunich with more pislner or another non-crystal malt. I've never had good results using it in something hop forward. Aromatic malt may be a good choice

 

[hanuswalrus]

I have yet to try a Belgian IPA but I would think you might need more late addition hops than that to stand up to the strong flavor/aroma the Belgian yeast is going to contribute. Especially if your set on Saaz. I might do 2 oz at flameout and another 2 oz for a hop stand.

 

[illmatija]

Sorry if this thread belongs to Recipes subforum. Initially I wanted to do focus on step mashing, but this info on hops helps a lot.

Well, I have a lot of hop options. For bittering I have.. Challenger, Tomahawk, Centennial, Cascade, or even Fuggles or EKG. Not the cleanest bittering hops but some would do.. For aroma I would like to stick to noble hops - I have 3.5oz/100g each of - Saaz, Hallertauer Mittelfruh, Mt. Hood, Tettnager and a lot of Styrian. Maybe I can pick two noble hops for massive late additions and use a clean bittering hop like Challenger for bittering. I just need some help matching it all to the yeast aroma.

 

[m00ps]

I'd go with Tomahawk for bittering, and move all the noble hop additions to 10min or less. Toss in some more saaz/styrian or some tettnanger and that should be enough noble hops that it will seem like an IPA.

WY1388 is the duvel strain if I remember right. Its got apple and pear esters, btu also tthe typical belgian spicyness. I'd try fermenting it on the lower end to accentuate the spice that will work in tandem with the noble hops

 

[illmatija]

Thanks!

I will go with the following hop schedule:

60 min - 0.75 oz Tomahawk (35 IBU)
10 min - 1 oz each - Saaz, Styrian, Tettnager (14 IBU)
0 min - 1 oz each - Saaz, Styrian, Tettnager (-)
5 days (dry hop) - 1 oz each - Saaz, Styrian, Tettnager (-)

IBU = 55.

If you think it would be too much aroma I would cut down on Styrian to half or completely out, and get more IBUs from Tomahawk.

I will keep it in the basement where it's around 65-67 in the beginning, and then maybe move it to the apartment at 77 for the last week to help attenuate and get more oils from dry hopping.

In the end, I will try a two step infusion mash at 133 and 149, as it is so easy for me to do the first step given the tap water at it's hottest gives me exactly the strike water for the first step.. and after 15 minutes i will slowly raise it with boiling water. That way I will thin it from 1 qt/lb, which should be a good thickness for the first step.. to around 1.25 - 1.5 qt/lb.

 

[illmatija]

To follow up, I brewed this on 06/15, bottled on 07/15 and tried the first beer yesterday, after slightly more than three weeks.

For the mashing, I have included the protein rest at 55C/133F because the hottest tap water conveniently equates strike water temperature for that rest, plus I wanted to experiment. I had some issues with underattenuated beers because I would overshoot the target mash temp while using a single infusion rest. This was my attempt to use this protein rest together with boiling water infusions to avoid that from happening by raising the mash temperature. Plus electric stovetops suck for controlling mash temperature (at least in my setup). This protein rest helped a lot, as the head retention is amazing, never had it better (8-9 batches so far)! So I will continue doing so, at least with this malt (as it might be slightly under-modified). With ale malts I will start at 55 and immediatelly raise to sacch. rest. Also, decided to stick with a single malt just to see how it well turn out instead of spicing it up with biscuits, aromatics, wheat and similar stuff.

Fermented on the lower side for the first few days (21C/70F) and then moved it to a hot summer apartment at around 27C/80F for next few weeks because 1388 seems kinda unwilling.

Bottled at 2.85 CO2 volumes, kept for three weeks and the carbonation is perfect. I will keep this for a few months to age out as it's my strongest beer so far to see how it will change.

Overall I am really, really happy with the beer. It turned out super clear, with amazing head retention and carbonation. More importantly, the spicy noble hops played out well with the lower ester profile of this fermentation, making for a balanced beer. The alcohol can definitively be felt though, and I hope it mellows out as the beer ages. I was concerned it might have some fusels while I was bottling it, but it is more likely the ethanol from the sugar, but it has already mellowed out since bottling.

I wouldn't really call this an IPA though, but more of a belgian golden strong ale with a nice hop presence. Will definitively repeat next year, with a probable boost of noble hops!

Here's the final recipe.

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.072
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 8.15%
IBU (tinseth): 56.43
SRM (morey): 3.44

FERMENTABLES:
4.5 kg - German - Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner (90%)
0.5 kg - Belgian Candi Sugar - Clear/Blond - (late addition) (10%)

HOPS:
15 g - Tomahawk, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.8, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 24.82
15 g - Tomahawk, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.8, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 19.07
25 g - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.1, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 2.68
25 g - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 5.41
25 g - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.1, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 1.47
25 g - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.7, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.98
25 g - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.1, Use: Boil for 0 min
25 g - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.7, Use: Boil for 0 min
25 g - Saaz, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.1, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days
25 g - Styrian Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.7, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days
50 g - Tettnanger, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 55 C / 133 F, Time: 15 min, Proteinase
2) Infusion, Temp: 64 C / 147 F, Time: 60 min, Starch conversion
3) Infusion, Temp: 75 C / 167 F, Time: 15 min, Mash out

 

[hanuswalrus]

Nice! Glad it came out well. I'd definitely hold onto a few bottles for aging and to compare with next year's batch