Let's talk about converting an APA to a DIPA

[ianhoopes]

Hey all.

So for my first brew of 2013 (I know, I'm getting started late), I want to take my first brew ever and convert it to a double/imperial IPA. The original recipe was an APA as follows:

6.6lb Pale LME
1lb pale DME
1lb cracked Crystal 40L
1 oz Simcoe whole leaf
1 oz Centennial whole leaf
1 oz Cascade whole leaf
1 vial California Ale V yeast

My plan:

Steep grain for 30 minutes at 160F
60 min: Boil 3.3lb LME and 1lb DME, add .5oz Simcoe
30 min: Add .5oz Simcoe
15 min: add .5oz Centennial and Cascade
10 min: add 3.3lb LME
0 min: cool and strain hops while pouring into fermenter, aerate, pitch, etc.

My question is this: Does anyone have recommendations on how I should approach "growing" this recipe? I was planning to add more extract at the end, and just double the hop schedule, and add a more aggressive dry hop (The initial beer had a 5-day .5oz dry hop of Centennial and Cascade).

Does anyone have objections to this, or maybe something they'd recommend more? I ask because the first IPA I made didn't really turn out the way I liked. Many other people really enjoyed it, but it wasn't my kind of beer.

Thanks for the input!

 

[bobbrews]

You currently have a little over 11% Crystal 40. Cut that down to 5%. Next, add 10% corn sugar to the recipe at flameout, and then more extract (if needed) to bring you up to about 1.070 OG. I would recommend using about 2/3 of your extract at 5 minutes or flameout to avoid excess wort darkening and increase hop utilization. You should not have any sanitiation issues by not boiling it for a full 15 minutes.

A healthy yeast starter of the appropriate size will be required for a bigger beer. You can use mrmalty's pitch rate calculator or yeastcalc.com for this. Be sure to enter accurate info in every field, e.g. yeast production date, stir method, number of vials used, etc. After oxygenating rather well and pitching the yeast, let sit for 2-3 weeks in the primary, then an additional week of dryhops in the primary before bottling. Keep the actual wort/beer temp. in the mid 60s if possible.

Assuming a 5 gallon batch, full volume boil, with no top off water...

For the hops, double your 60 minute addition, double your 30 minute addition, skip 15-5, then add 3 oz. at flameout, and 4-5 oz. at dryhop.

 

[frazier]

Gotta question for you - why are you making a DIPA? You said yourself that your first IPA was not your kind of beer - and yet now you want to make a bigger version of it. Why?

I also think your overall approach needs to be reworked. Instead of taking a recipe for a different style and shoe-horning it into your target style, find a recipe for a beer you like (within the DIPA category), and go with that.

Then, make friends with a recipe calculator such as Beersmith, Brewtarget, Hopville, etc etc. The effort you expend finding or creating a recipe you enjoy, will repay you over and over through your successive batches.

Cheers!

 

[bobbrews]

He did not say that IPA was not his style of beer.

He said the particular IPA that he came up with was not his kind of beer because it did not turn out the way he would have liked.

 

[frazier]

Well, OK. Nevertheless, I stand by my advice against trying to frankenbrew one style into another. I understand that style guidelins are flexible, and one could well take a favorite APA recipe and hop it up into IPA territory. But APA to DIPA is a big leap. Better to start with a DIPA recipe, and modify as desired.

Anyway, it's not my beer, do what you want.

No worries!

 

[ianhoopes]

The original APA was a modified version of an existing AIPA style I found.

The first IPA I made was a different beer. It was single-hop Citra (Actually was loosely based off a Zombie Dust clone) and just turned out dark and thick. I think I was too aggressive in adding malt early on which really darkened the beer too.

I really, really loved my first beer and think it would be great with more of everything. Thanks for the input!