Experimenting with the Northern Brewer Chinook IPA

[KC_Rockaholic]

I've never brewed before, but I've spent a better part of the past 90 days learning all about brewing. So I got the Chinook recipe kit from NB.

But I want to mix it up and make this a bit more of a fruit IPA as it will be ready by the end of June.

It comes with 3oz of Chinook. But I went to a HBS for the first time yesterday and grabbed 1oz Cascade and 1oz Citra. I'm also wanting to add orange peel to the end of the boil.

My current plan

1oz Chinook at 60m
1oz Chinook at 30m
1oz Cascade at 15m
1oz Chinook at 0m

Dry hop after 5 days with Citra.

Does this sound like it'll bring a bold fruit flavor like I'm aiming for? Any tips are appreciated. I'm doing the brew day tomorrow.

Also, I think this kit makes a 6% abv beer. I'm wanting to bump it up to closer to 7% if possible. Any suggestions?

 

[SilverZero]

I personally think that 30 minute hops aren't worth the time. Either you're isomerizing acids (in which case, why not just put them in at 60 minutes?) or you're trying to keep the oils which volatilize in boiling wort (in which case, why leave them in there at all?). A lot of brewers are shifting to a single bittering charge at 60 minutes - or just using hop extract - and then "hop bursting" in the last 15 minutes if not 10, 5, or ONLY flameout hops. Orange peel should follow the same rules.

If it was my recipe, I'd do the 60 minute addition as is, then move the 30 minute Chinook to 15 minutes along with your orange peel, and put the rest at flameout. Dry hop after 5 days is fine, but only leave it in for 3-5 days.

If you want a higher ABV, add a pound of table sugar. That will get you about 9 gravity points in 5 gallons, which should put you up in the ABV you're going for.

 

[Calder]

Move the 30 minute to later in the boil, and move the cascade to 0 mins. My thoughts:

1oz Chinook at 60m
1oz Chinook at 15m
1oz Chinook at 7m
1oz Cascade at 0m

Dry hop with Citra.

Not sure it is going to give you want you want, but it will give you a decent beer. That really isn't a lot of hops for a hop forward beer.

If it is an extract kit, I would recommend adding a pound of table sugar to help dry it out a bit. Extract tends to end a little high. That will give you your extra 1% abv too.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

I personally think that 30 minute hops aren't worth the time. Either you're isomerizing acids (in which case, why not just put them in at 60 minutes?) or you're trying to keep the oils which volatilize in boiling wort (in which case, why leave them in there at all?). A lot of brewers are shifting to a single bittering charge at 60 minutes - or just using hop extract - and then "hop bursting" in the last 15 minutes if not 10, 5, or ONLY flameout hops. Orange peel should follow the same rules.

If it was my recipe, I'd do the 60 minute addition as is, then move the 30 minute Chinook to 15 minutes along with your orange peel, and put the rest at flameout. Dry hop after 5 days is fine, but only leave it in for 3-5 days.

If you want a higher ABV, add a pound of table sugar. That will get you about 9 gravity points in 5 gallons, which should put you up in the ABV you're going for.

Thanks a ton for the advice. I'm ready to rumble for tomorrow. But I'm also going to do what Calder said with the hop cycle.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

Move the 30 minute to later in the boil, and move the cascade to 0 mins. My thoughts:

1oz Chinook at 60m
1oz Chinook at 15m
1oz Chinook at 7m
1oz Cascade at 0m

Dry hop with Citra.

Not sure it is going to give you want you want, but it will give you a decent beer. That really isn't a lot of hops for a hop forward beer.

If it is an extract kit, I would recommend adding a pound of table sugar to help dry it out a bit. Extract tends to end a little high. That will give you your extra 1% abv too.

It is an extract kit. What kind of IBU would a hop cycle like this give me? I'm hoping for something around 70 at least. And I grabbed the sugar from the store a little bit ago.

 

[SilverZero]

IBUs will depend on your alpha acid percentages. Assuming your Chinook is around 12%, one ounce at 60 mins will net about 50 IBUs in 5 gallons. The 15 and 7 minute additions would add just under 20 more total, so you're essentially right at 70 with that.

As for late and dry hop amounts, see how this one works out, then adjust next time. One thing I wish I'd done from the very beginning is to repeat just one recipe several times to see how variations affected the final product.

If the aroma or flavor isn't where you want it, consider shooting for more like 0.5oz or even 1oz per gallon for dry hops in the future.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

Today is day 6, and after a pretty vigorous fermentation the krausen has begun to fall off.

Something I didn't learn more about until recently is that I needed to pitch the yeast just below fermentation temperature. I pitched mine at 80 degrees which could easily be why it has such a quick activation.

I did dry hop with citra yesterday. But I wish I had learned more about yeast prior to the boil. Brewing is certainly a science. I'm just hoping this batch is still drinkable and can learn for next time.

 

[JayEff]

Most people here will tell you this: relax. Very rarely will a beer be undrinkable. You have to combine bad luck and bad sanitizing to get an infection, for example. Pitching the yeast when it's too warm almost certainly won't ruin your beer, though it could introduce unexpected flavors. I've also heard it said that dry hopping can mask unwanted flavors, so really, I don't think you have anything to worry about, so long as the airlock/beer doesn't smell rotten or something along those lines.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

Most people here will tell you this: relax. Very rarely will a beer be undrinkable. You have to combine bad luck and bad sanitizing to get an infection, for example. Pitching the yeast when it's too warm almost certainly won't ruin your beer, though it could introduce unexpected flavors. I've also heard it said that dry hopping can mask unwanted flavors, so really, I don't think you have anything to worry about, so long as the airlock/beer doesn't smell rotten or something along those lines.

Thanks for the positive news. It doesn't have any strange smells coming out. It smells like an IPA. Luckily the weather has calmed down a bit lately so it's been easier to maintain the 66-68 degree temp. So now I'm thinking about getting a hydrometer reading on Tuesday and seeing how close it is to bottling. I'm not moving it to a secondary.

 

[JayEff]

Thanks for the positive news. It doesn't have any strange smells coming out. It smells like an IPA. Luckily the weather has calmed down a bit lately so it's been easier to maintain the 66-68 degree temp. So now I'm thinking about getting a hydrometer reading on Tuesday and seeing how close it is to bottling. I'm not moving it to a secondary.

I'm almost certain you will be left with a tasty beer.

Yeah, many people here seem to suggest that secondary is not super necessary, depending on what you wanna make. As I understand it, for a beginner it's more than fine to skip secondary. It also introduces oxigen into your wort which you want to avoid.

Since you're saying you're taking a hydro reading, I wanna mention that you shouldn't be looking to reach the expected final gravity, but instead you should take a reading and then another one 2-3 days later. If both are the same, that's when you can be almost certain that fermentation is complete. You probably know this, since you've done a ton of research, but I wanted to make sure.

If there's still a point or two of gravity left for the yeast to chew on, and you go ahead and add your priming sugar and bottle, this can lead to significant overcarbonation and even bottle bombs.

Be sure to taste the gravity sample and let us know what it's like

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

I'm almost certain you will be left with a tasty beer.

Yeah, many people here seem to suggest that secondary is not super necessary, depending on what you wanna make. As I understand it, for a beginner it's more than fine to skip secondary. It also introduces oxigen into your wort which you want to avoid.

Since you're saying you're taking a hydro reading, I wanna mention that you shouldn't be looking to reach the expected final gravity, but instead you should take a reading and then another one 2-3 days later. If both are the same, that's when you can be almost certain that fermentation is complete. You probably know this, since you've done a ton of research, but I wanted to make sure.

If there's still a point or two of gravity left for the yeast to chew on, and you go ahead and add your priming sugar and bottle, this can lead to significant overcarbonation and even bottle bombs.

Be sure to taste the gravity sample and let us know what it's like

I've talked with some IPA "experts" and they all say it isn't necessary for the secondary, so I'm fine with skipping it this time around.

Maybe day 8 is too early to take a hydrometer reading. I want to bottle on June 2nd so that I can begin the next batch on Saturday June 3rd. June 2nd would make it 18 days in the carboy. Hopefully that's enough time, but I'll be checking the readings on June 1st and 2nd as well. The goal is to have a beer that's ready to drink by June 20th or even earlier.

 

[Calder]

Maybe day 8 is too early to take a hydrometer reading. I want to bottle on June 2nd so that I can begin the next batch on Saturday June 3rd. June 2nd would make it 18 days in the carboy. Hopefully that's enough time, but I'll be checking the readings on June 1st and 2nd as well. The goal is to have a beer that's ready to drink by June 20th or even earlier.

You should be fine to bottle day 18. The longer you leave it, the less sediment you will get in the bottle.

You know you can re-use the yeast from this batch in the next brew (assuming the yeast is appropriate for the style). After bottling, swirl up the sediment and pour into sanitized mason jars, and store in the fridge.

If used within a coupe of weeks you can straight pitch the slurry (no washing, and no starter). Use about a third of the cake for a beer of similar gravity. Using the whole cake is over-pitching.

Leaving the slurry longer than 2 weeks, the general advice is to make a starter. I will straight pitch up to a couple of months, but will wash the yeast before using.

 

[flars]

Try the Chinook IPA without modifications for your next brew. It is a great tasting IPA. This is one I keep in the house year round.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

Today is day 8. FG is 1.006. Took a sip from the hydrometer tube, and it tasted pretty decently. Although I had just brushed my teeth, so the first taste gave that strange orange juice/toothpaste flavor. I think after carbonation it'll be solid and more of the hops will come through. So far I just tasted bitters primarily.

My OG after adjustments was closer to 1.055 and final is 1.006. So my ABV is 6.5%?

This was a very quick fermentation process. I don't expect my other beers to be so fast.

I'll be sure to pitch the yeast in the low 60's from now on, then let it heat up rather than pitching at 80 degrees and cooling down to 68.

Should I attempt to cold crash on Thursday, then bottle on Saturday?

 

[bradleypariah]

Something I didn't learn more about until recently is that I needed to pitch the yeast just below fermentation temperature. I pitched mine at 80 degrees which could easily be why it has such a quick activation.

This is kind of a copy/paste from my comment on another thread - during the interview with Dave Logsdon of Wyeast on the Basic Brewing Radio Podcast, Dave suggested pitching at a higher temperature than your final fermentation temp. Each yeast has its own directions, so 80° might be okay, but Dave suggested closer to 75°, then let it drop to the mid-to-high 60s.

The conversation was hours long, so you should listen instead of taking my word as the entire gospel.

Your beer will be fine, and the high pitching temp is almost certainly why you had such an active fermentation. Quick fermentation can be okay.
If you enjoyed yourself, just adjust your technique on your next batch.

 

[stz]

On the topic of hop schedules I'm starting to lean towards simple/purposeful additions. I've read enough on at what temperature aromatic compounds volatilise at and at what rate to decide that in order to keep things efficient bittering hops are for bittering and aroma hops are for aroma and this has the nice side effect of simplifying brew day.

The only difference is if I do not want noticeable aroma to be a key aspect of recipe design I do not recirculate before making my late additions and I adjust my bittering addition down to take into consideration subsequent utilisation from the knock out addition. If aroma is to be a significant feature then I adjust the bittering addition up and recirculate to 80-85C before making my knock out addition, again time to transfer handles 'range'.

So instead of getting all complex with additions at 20, 15, 10, 5 and knock out in order to get a range of utilisation and hopefully aroma from late additions I just add the lot at knock out and consider the length of time taken to chill and transfer to handle my 'range'. This works fine for beers where you'd traditionally not expect a great deal of aroma, but you would expect hop character and some finishing hops. If the wort stays above 80C I estimate 20-30% of the utilisation of the same duration boiled. This can result in 50/50 split for theoretical IBU's from initial bittering and late additions.

Benefits for me are using less hops all around, high AA bittering hops are very economical in comparison and there is less losses to absorption and less to potentially filter. I can reserve the high aroma hops/expensive hops for the intended purpose and use less of them than if they went into and sat in hot wort during a long transfer.

I know brewers who work almost backwards, adding hops during the boil to give the IBU's, then adding hops during a whirlpool while chilling at various temperature ranges for various times in order to build the flavour.

Of course as always your results will vary, you need to know your system and if you brew consistently you develop a great yard stick with which to adjust from. Too bitter? Less bittering hops. Happy with the aroma? Leave them where they were. Not bitter enough? More bittering hops. This is much better for me because you adjust one variable, if I'm happy with the aroma I'd much rather leave that where it was than move a portion of the late additions to earlier in the boil potentially influencing the aroma which I might be happy with.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

I decided to just move it the secondary today. The guy from my HBS talked me into it. It wasn't a big deal. It allowed me to clean out the main fermenter to prep it for my next batch, which I'll be boiling up on Saturday. Going with an American Wheat this time around. I'll have to bump this thread again once I have drank a couple of these Chinook IPA's and let ya'll know how it turned out with my twist on it.

 

[KC_Rockaholic]

So today was drinking day, and I really disliked the aftertaste flavor I got off this. The hops didn't come out like I wanted, and it lacked much of an orange taste despite an orangy aroma.

Personally, I didn't like my beer for this one, something was wrong. But my friends and wife told me they liked it, or that it wasn't bad, and they continued to drink some more of it.

I'm about to brew my 4th batch tomorrow now. I think I'm getting better with all aspects of the process.

I just wish I could pinpoint exactly what it is that gives my beer this off flavor that I can't stand in batch #1.

It looks better than it tastes, unfortunately.

I needed a beer tasting expert to tell me where I went wrong.

One thing is for sure, I'm back loading my hops from now on. This came out way too bitter. Then had a dryish, band-aidish, almost chlorine-like aftertaste.

Edit: Now that I've dug in and searched around a bit, I believe this off flavor to be due to the high fermentation temp from the beginning. Remember, I pitched at 83 degrees. I didn't know any better at the time. After that, the temps fluctuated between 66-72 daily. Luckily my most recent beer in the fermentor hasn't gone through that.

 

[ChadAF]

I too just brewed my first batch of IPA from Northern Brewers.
I pitched the yeast at around 80-85 degrees so had a quick first fermentation which lasted until day 4. I did not transfer to secondary container, so now at day 15 (11 days in secondary fermentation). I need to leave for a trip, and will be away for 21days. My question is do I bottle now (day 15 or 16) or wait until I return (day 35+). I would hate to have over-carbonation or exploding bottles.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

So today was drinking day, and I really disliked the aftertaste flavor I got off this. The hops didn't come out like I wanted, and it lacked much of an orange taste despite an orangy aroma.

Personally, I didn't like my beer for this one, something was wrong. But my friends and wife told me they liked it, or that it wasn't bad, and they continued to drink some more of it.

I'm about to brew my 4th batch tomorrow now. I think I'm getting better with all aspects of the process.

I just wish I could pinpoint exactly what it is that gives my beer this off flavor that I can't stand in batch #1.

It looks better than it tastes, unfortunately.

I needed a beer tasting expert to tell me where I went wrong.

One thing is for sure, I'm back loading my hops from now on. This came out way too bitter. Then had a dryish, band-aidish, almost chlorine-like aftertaste.

Edit: Now that I've dug in and searched around a bit, I believe this off flavor to be due to the high fermentation temp from the beginning. Remember, I pitched at 83 degrees. I didn't know any better at the time. After that, the temps fluctuated between 66-72 daily. Luckily my most recent beer in the fermentor hasn't gone through that.

View attachment 403867

This was my first batch, because it came with my NB kit. I also felt like there was some kind of taste in the beer I didn't like, or at least wasn't used to in drinking IPAs, which are my favorite. Although it wasn't a bad beer, it just tasted a bit off. It was like an overly toasty malty flavor I was getting.

After learning a lot about brewing over the past few months, my theories for the taste are :

- the steeping grains used caramel 120, which are not typically used in IPAs and seem to add more malt flavor than lighter grains.
- maybe I scorched the extract adding it to the boil. It was my first batch and I definitely wasn't careful about this