Here's the hops I got, which and how much should I use for this IPA?

[MikeRobrew]

Bare with me, I'm a new brewer, on my third batch. I'm doing a Black IPA tomorrow. I was going to follow a recipe, but my local store didn't exactly have some of the right hops it called for (among other things) so this is turning into more of a custom recipe.

Here's what I got. I'm looking for some suggestions on how much to use (and when) for bitter/flavor/aroma/dry.

2oz Cascade 5.6%
2oz Columbus 12.3%
2oz Amarillo 8%
2oz Magnum 14.7%

It's a partial mash with crystal, carapils, and caramunich + 9lbs of coopers light english.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[BarleyWater]

Was it the Black IPA recipe from the guy on the Sunday Session? If so, no wonder you couldn't find those hops. I know Pacific Hallertau was one of them, and you don't really have a sub for that in your list there. I don't remember the other, but I don't think it was an American type hop, which is all you have.

For your purposes, I would use the magnum for bittering, and the other three are all really nice aroma varieties. Columbus and Amarillo might go well together for dry hopping, and cascade is my go to late addition hop.

 

[MikeRobrew]

Thanks for the reply. This recipe wasn't from the Sunday Session (i don' know what that session is)

Taking your suggestion into consideration and playing with an IBU calculator, I came up with this.

1oz   Magnum    14.5%   60 min
1oz   Columbus  12.3%   20 min
.5oz  Amarillo  8%      10 min
.5oz  Cascade   5.6%    10 min

Ferment 2 weeks, and toss the remaining columbus, amarillo and cascade into the secondary for another 2-3 weeks.

 

[mysteryberto]

Sounds like a good blend. Only suggestion I might make is increasing the amarillo and cascade to an oz each late in the boil.

Also it's not going to be a black IPA without some darker malts. How much of the different malts are you using?

 

[s3n8]

It is going to be a nice copper color (depends on the color of the Crystal)

In any case, I would do hop additions similar to this, but then again I like heavy late additions.

1oz Magnum 14.5% 60 min
1oz Columbus 12.3% 20 min
1oz Amarillo 8% 10 min
1oz Cascade 5.6% 5 min
.5oz Amarillo 8% 0 min
.5oz Cascade 5.6% 0 min

Let the 0 min additions steep for 5 or 10 minutes after killing the heat, then cool as normal. I would then dry hop with the remaining hops minus the other oz of magnum. Send those to me

 

[MikeRobrew]

Thanks guys.

Also it's not going to be a black IPA without some darker malts. How much of the different malts are you using?

The only darker stuff the recipe called for was 1/2 lb of carafa. I ended up substituting (not even knowing if it was a good substitute) with caramunich based off the 'cara' part .. so maybe not exactly a black IPA huh.


RE: The increased hops from both of you

For this batch, I was trying to keep the IBUs within the American IPA guidelines. I figured it would be a good place to start, and then figure out if I like more on the next batch.

I'm wondering at what point does an IPA turn into a double? I read that it was the malt, but then I've heard someone refer 'too much hops' as turning their batch into a double.

 

[s3n8]

I think IPA vs IIPA is more to do with OG than IBU's.

With that said, adding more late addition will not increase IBU's much but will add quite a bit of hop flavor and aroma. Late additions do not contribute significantly to bitterness.

It is your beer, and pretty soon you will know what you like. One change to your original hop bill I would suggest is to add some very late (0 - 5 minutes). Much of the aroma compounds will be boiled away with 10 minutes.

I say go for it however you like, take good notes, and keep track of how the bitterness flavor and aroma turn out. Keep in mind that the first one you try will be the most harsh and bitter, and the last one you drink will be the most mellow and balanced. Hop character fades and mellows over time.

 

[Calico Jack]

It is going to be a nice copper color (depends on the color of the Crystal)

In any case, I would do hop additions similar to this, but then again I like heavy late additions.

1oz Magnum 14.5% 60 min
1oz Columbus 12.3% 20 min
1oz Amarillo 8% 10 min
1oz Cascade 5.6% 5 min
.5oz Amarillo 8% 0 min
.5oz Cascade 5.6% 0 min

Let the 0 min additions steep for 5 or 10 minutes after killing the heat, then cool as normal. I would then dry hop with the remaining hops minus the other oz of magnum. Send those to me

I love late additions also. Preferably everything after 15 min. It brings out more aromatics.

 

[BarleyWater]

I think IPA vs IIPA is more to do with OG than IBU's.

With that said, adding more late addition will not increase IBU's much but will add quite a bit of hop flavor and aroma. Late additions do not contribute significantly to bitterness.

It is your beer, and pretty soon you will know what you like. One change to your original hop bill I would suggest is to add some very late (0 - 5 minutes). Much of the aroma compounds will be boiled away with 10 minutes.

It is low on the gravity for a IIPA, but it does have around 75 IBUs. Late hops add IBUs, about 50% has been extracted within the first 15 minutes. I have an IPA that has no regular bittering additions at all, just late hops and one first wort addition.

I second the 0min suggestion, I always add a little at flameout for hoppy styles. Maybe just move the 10 minute Cascade to 0 minutes, that won't affect the IBU level too much.

Cara-munich is a German crystal malt, carafa is a huskless roasted malt. They are two VERY different grains, but it won't make a huge difference at that level aside from the color (carafa is A LOT darker than cara-munich).

Also, the Sunday Session is a hombrew podcast from The Brewing Network.com

 

[nosmatt]

the FWH adds a significant amount of IBU according to beersmith... that is the reason i used my 60min hops for fwh in the last two brews. i think i will do the more traditional meathod next time so i can compare.

although, i like the idea of say 1oz fwh of a magnum, and nothing untill the last 20 mins... hmm.
so many ideas, so few brew days.

 

[MikeRobrew]

thanks guys, the insight was much appreciated and put to use.

here's what i ended up doing:

1oz   Magnum    14.5%   60 min
1oz   Columbus  12.3%   20 min
.5oz  Amarillo  8%      10 min
.5oz  Cascade   5.6%    10 min
.5oz  Amarillo  8%      0 min (for 10 min)
.5oz  Cascade   5.6%    0 min (for 10 min)

6 gal
OG: 1.075
IBU: ~78

I was going to do a 5 gallon batch, but the OG and IBU both were a little high for what I was shooting for, so I added an extra gallon of water and got the results above.

Looks like caramel.

And a side note: I saw a post here about hooking up a water pump to recycle ice water through the wort chiller. It worked pretty good except I had more water than ice and it slowed down a lot once the ice started melting. At first, it was cooling about 5 degrees per minute. I purposely kept it out of the ice bath to see how fast it would cool with the wort cooler alone.

Next time I'm going to just try an ice water bath alone. I suspect I'll have similar results.