IPA Recipe Critique

[VonAle]

Hello, How does this recipe look for a 7% IPA.

I have been building RO water to Ca-145, Cl-44, SO4-342, 1 ml Lactic acid in the mash and sparge
I am considering changing the water build, to Ca-96, Cl-22 and SO4-230.

Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks.


Recipe Type: All Grain
Batch Size (Gallons): 6.25
Original Gravity: 1.064
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 83.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 75
Color: 6.4

Yeast: US-05 (2-packages, sprinkled at 60 degrees)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 @ 66F, then allow to rise to 72 for 10
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): None, DH in primary then crash.

12.5 lbs - 2-Row
4 oz – Crystal 120 (This is for color)
13 oz – Table sugar at end of boil

Mash at 151F for 60 minutes. Double batch sparge

1.5 oz - Chinook - 60 min
0.5 oz – Columbus - 15 min
0.5 oz - Chinook - 10 min
0.5 oz - Centennial - 5 min

1.5 oz - Centennial - Post boil Hop stand @165 for 45 min
1.5 oz – Columbus - Post boil Hop stand @165 for 45 min
1.0 oz – Mosaic - Post boil Hop stand @165 for 45 min

1.0 oz - Centennial - Dry Hop – 7 days
1.0 oz – Columbus - Dry Hop – 7 days
2.0 oz – Mosaic - Dry Hop – 7 days

 

[chuckthebutcher]

What I would do is lose that second packet of dry yeast (1 pack of us-05 will be fine for this beer), and use the money you save to buy a few more ounces of hops to add as late additions. Maybe cut the 60 minute addition a little. But it's your beer!

 

[cantrell00]

Drop the sugar.

 

[giraffe]

Looks pretty standard west coast IPA to me. Id go with the milder water profile, but I live in an area with very soft water, and when I taste homebrew with that high of sulfate levels it tastes overly metallic to me.

 

[VonAle]

Drop the sugar.

Why you say? I put the sugar in there to lower the FG.

 

[giraffe]

The sugar is fine. The ~10% sugar would more be used in a DIPA with a OG in the 1.080-1.090 range, likely a 1.064 IPA would be dry enough. (or you could mash lower.) If you want it real dry then go for it, that seems to be popular lately. My only concern is with the bland base malt/sugar/us-05 you are pretty much going to have no malt flavor whatsoever (some like that in an IPA).

 

[ong]

This looks pretty good to me as is. I like the big whirlpool addition.

 

[cantrell00]

Why you say? I put the sugar in there to lower the FG.

Minimalist approach. You should be dry enough without it. Mash at 148 if need be.

You will taste very little difference between .10-.12 FG on a beer in a OG range of .64-.68

Just one person's opinion

 

[VonAle]

The sugar is fine. The ~10% sugar would more be used in a DIPA with a OG in the 1.080-1.090 range, likely a 1.064 IPA would be dry enough. (or you could mash lower.) If you want it real dry then go for it, that seems to be popular lately. My only concern is with the bland base malt/sugar/us-05 you are pretty much going to have no malt flavor whatsoever (some like that in an IPA).

I've been putting Munich and C60 in all my IPA's and they just lack the hop punch I'm looking for. They've been a little too sweet and muddled.

 

[joshesmusica]

I've been putting Munich and C60 in all my IPA's and they just lack the hop punch I'm looking for. They've been a little too sweet and muddled.

if that's the case, then the fix isn't necessarily to add sugar. like others have said you could just as easily just mash lower.
another approach if it's too sweet is to bump up the IBUs slightly more. don't go overboard or anything, but perceived sweetness/bitterness is all about finding that perfect balance for your taste. what are your typical FGs?

I personally have found this formula very helpful to balance out beers to my personal preferences:
http://www.madalchemist.com/relative_bitterness.html

 

[VonAle]

if that's the case, then the fix isn't necessarily to add sugar. like others have said you could just as easily just mash lower.
another approach if it's too sweet is to bump up the IBUs slightly more. don't go overboard or anything, but perceived sweetness/bitterness is all about finding that perfect balance for your taste. what are your typical FGs?

I personally have found this formula very helpful to balance out beers to my personal preferences:
http://www.madalchemist.com/relative_bitterness.html

My typical FG's have been .012 -.014
Thanks for the link, I'll try to digest that a see what I come up with.

 

[Yooper]

My typical FG's have been .012 -.014
Thanks for the link, I'll try to digest that a see what I come up with.

I don't like that much sulfate. I know some brewers go up to 300 ppm with some IPAs, but I only have one that I love at that level. Most of mine are 150-250, so I do like the water profile you listed.

I really like the hopping, and I like the sugar in there!

 

[joshesmusica]

My typical FG's have been .012 -.014
Thanks for the link, I'll try to digest that a see what I come up with.

my personal tastes says that's not overly sweet. anything above that does start to get on the sweet side, for sure.

the other question is how well are you carbonating them? are you using a priming calc for amounts of sugar to make sure it's reaching IPA levels of carbonation? this will also help give a "crisper" feel. if you are shooting for typical IPA volumes of co2, then maybe try aiming just a bit higher. i think when trying to find where your own personal preferences land, it's best to test small differences each brew until you find it. it may seem boring because you're not trying all kinds of different styles, but it will help in future brews to help cater new styles to your preferences.

 

[VonAle]

my personal tastes says that's not overly sweet. anything above that does start to get on the sweet side, for sure.

the other question is how well are you carbonating them? are you using a priming calc for amounts of sugar to make sure it's reaching IPA levels of carbonation? this will also help give a "crisper" feel. if you are shooting for typical IPA volumes of co2, then maybe try aiming just a bit higher. i think when trying to find where your own personal preferences land, it's best to test small differences each brew until you find it. it may seem boring because you're not trying all kinds of different styles, but it will help in future brews to help cater new styles to your preferences.

I do carb at the low end, 2.3 vols. I'll up that a bit and try it.

 

[joshesmusica]

I do carb at the low end, 2.3 vols. I'll up that a bit and try it.

i would personally not recommend trying all kinds of tweaks at once. then you won't know what worked.

 

[cantrell00]

As a side note, a IPA base of 88% maris, 9.5% munich & 2.5% dextrine/carapils has provided excellent results for me...

 

[chickypad]

I say go for it as most of the tweaks are personal preference. For example I'm really put off by significant amounts of Munich in hoppy styles but the hubby digs it. Someone might chime in that Chinook is going to be too harsh but I like it for bittering IPA's. I do agree with using the second water profile.