Need comments on first recipe (IPA)

[adamhimself]

I am working on my first recipe ever. Now, I may still be a little new to brewing, but I have done all the reading I could find on creating your own recipe. I looked over all the ones here, books, and other websites for guidelines and basically took a guess at how I think a recipe should go...

I also wanted something basic and to me IPAs seem to be pretty straight forward on the malts. It's in the hops that make an IPA shine, so I thought this would be a first good recipe to make...

I used BeerSmith to figure out everything. I am calling it "West Texas IPA" due to the use of Amarillo Hops and of course being made by me in West Texas :fro: I also focused heavily on cascade hops because one of my favorite IPAs uses all cascade and I really liked the aroma.

Anyways, I am looking for input...

West Texas IPA *UPDATED* (4/23/2010)
Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Wyeast - 1056 (American Ale)
Yeast Starter: No. But a 1L starter couldn't hurt
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 62
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 68 deg
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 68 deg

7lbs Light DME
1/2 lb Crystal Malt 40L
1/2 lb Honey Malt

2 oz Amarillo [9.1%AA] for 60 Min
1 oz Cascade [5.5%AA] for 60 Min
1 oz Amarillo [9.1%AA] for 30 Min
1 oz Cascade [5.5%AA] for 15 Min
1 oz Amarillo [9.1%AA] for 5 Min
1 oz Cascade [5.5%AA] at flameout
2 oz Cascade [5.5%AA] (Dry Hop 14 Days)
1 tsp of Irish Moss (15 min left in boil)


Directions:

Clean & Sanitize your gear. After that is all done, then bring 2.5 gallons of water to 150 deg. Steep the grains for 20 minutes. After you are done steeping, remove the grains. Take the brew pot off the burner and slowly mix the DME, making sure everything is adequately mixed. Once the DME is dissolved return to the burner and bring to a nice rolling boil. Once you have achieved your boil mix in the 2oz of Amarillo and 1 oz of Cascade hops into the wort and start your timer for 60 mins. Once you have 15 minutes left in your brew add the 1oz of Amarillo and 1oz of Cascade. Also, at this time, add 1 tsp of Irish Moss to the boil. Once you have 5 minutes left in your brew add the 1oz of Amarillo. Once the 60 mins is up, remove your pot from the burner and mix in 1oz of Cascade (flameout). Now, chill your wort either with a wort chiller, ice bath, or both. Try and bring it down to about 90 deg. Pour 2 gallons of chilled water into your fermenter. Then, take your wort and pour it into the fermenter. You should roughly have 4 to 4 1/2 gallons. Top if off to a little more than 5 gallons. Take the temperature of the wort. It should be roughly 70 deg. Also, at this time, take the original gravity of the wort. It should be roughly 1.062. Once this is done then pitch your yeast and seal the fermenter. Let it sit for 14 days at 68 degrees. Though, 70 is ok. 60-65 degs would be ideal. Once the first 10 days is up then prepare to rack to secondary. Take 1 oz of Cascade and put them in your secondary fermenter. Rack the beer onto the hops in your secondary fermenter. Leave for another 14 days. Once this is done then keg your beer or prime with sugar in a bottling bucket. Roughly 3.8 ozs of priming sugar are needed. Bottle condition for 4 weeks at room temperature, but if you can keep it slightly colder then do so...

So, what do you guys think?

 

[COLObrewer]

Looks good to me, if you like more hop flavor/aroma the only other thing you could try is first wort hopping but might be tough with extract, maybe just put an ounce in a hop bag and steep it with the grains. Then you could pull it out before boil, personally then I would throw them in with the flameout or 15min addition, depending on your taste.

Brew on my friend

 

[Malticulous]

I would use about half that much crystal. It looks good, just thicker and sweeter than I'd make it.

 

[adamhimself]

I would use about half that much crystal. It looks good, just thicker and sweeter than I'd make it.

So, if I dropped down to 1/2 lb of Crystal that would lighten the sweetness?

I was considering dropping the Carapils/Dextrine ... would that make it less thick? I want a little thickness, but not overwhelming.

 

[wildwest450]

Crystal malt adds body and head retention also. That being said, is this a mini mash or are you just steeping the grains? If so, I don't believe you'll get any benefit from the carapils, and just color from the 40l.

Although it's been so long since I did an extract,I may be talking out of my butt.

 

[McGarnigle]

He'll get more than color from the 40L even if just steeped. And he does appear to be doing a (somewhat brief) mash for the Carapils.

The DME probably has some light crystal in it, so all the more reason to consider cutting the 40L in half. Maybe keep the 1/4 pound of Carapils; I don't think the beer will be too thick.

 

[Malticulous]

40L has a honey-like sweetness that I only like in small doses for balance. Personaly I prefer the more caramel-like 60L (or a mix of both.)

 

[EonBlue66]

I've made beers very similar to this, I would suggest taking some of your bittering hops and using them towards the end of the boil. Take that .5 of Amarillo and add it towards the end of the boil, I think it would be more useful there. Either way it will be a great beer you can't go wrong with Amarillo and cascade!

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I would just say try to get your IBU's up to around 60ish

 

[adamhimself]

Thanks guys.

I do want some sweetness. If it means anything... I prefer Dogfish's 60 min IPA to Stone's IPA. I want sweetness with bitterness, but not overwhelming sweet like 90min IPA.

I am updating the recipe as we speak. I am thinking of taking away the .5 like EonBlue said and upping the IBU to 60 (as YankeeHill suggested). I think I will add 1oz of Cascade @ 60 mins.

I am still undecided on the CaraPils. I will be steeping the grains... I need to learn more about mini mash...

 

[EonBlue66]

If you are looking for a little sweetness try a little honey malt.

 

[adamhimself]

If you are looking for a little sweetness try a little honey malt.

Yeah, I was considering that. I saw it on another IPA recipe. What % of the grain bill or amount should I use?

 

[EonBlue66]

I usually use a 1/2 a lb in my IPA, if this was my recipe I would sub .5 of the crystal for the honey malt, you can than use that point to adjust the recipe up or down after this batch.

 

[adamhimself]

Ok, so I updated the recipe. I also just ordered everything.

I ordered all my malts and yeast from AHS. Hops seemed a bit expensive from AHS when compared to Hops Direct. I mean $8.75 for a lb of cascade... damn that's good when its $1.99 per oz from AHS. I figure I can rely on these hops for my next few recipes and if I decided to change things up on the 2nd batch.

 

[adamhimself]

Thought i'd toss in how the brew went and it helps to keep track via this thread...

So, I broke not only my hydrometer, but also my main thermometer. Luckily, I had already used them for what I needed, but I still need to buy another of each now. Oh well.

My OG came in spot on: 1.061. I picked up a digital scale from Wal-Mart for 22 bucks. I just got the postal one, but it was well worth it. This was almost my first time using the "smack pack" and the little nutrient release appears to me to help jiven the yeast up.

I used some hosing from wal-mart to soak/steep my grains. It was real awkward having to ask where they were and both ladies who helped me gave me "that look." They worked well and it makes for easy grain disposal, but I think I get a nylon bag. If this beer turns out well I will make a Imperial version of it. It came out a littler darker than expected, but I hope the Irish Moss will cause it to lighten up. The color I was going for was present in the grain steeping, but got much darker than expected when I added the light DME. Maybe Extra Light DME next time?

So, the two things I I feel I need to learn more about from here on is: aeration and yeast starters.

Oh well. I updated the recipe too.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Thought i'd toss in how the brew went and it helps to keep track via this thread...

So, I broke not only my hydrometer, but also my main thermometer. Luckily, I had already used them for what I needed, but I still need to buy another of each now. Oh well.

My OG came in spot on: 1.061. I picked up a digital scale from Wal-Mart for 22 bucks. I just got the postal one, but it was well worth it. This was almost my first time using the "smack pack" and the little nutrient release appears to me to help jiven the yeast up.

I used some hosing from wal-mart to soak/steep my grains. It was real awkward having to ask where they were and both ladies who helped me gave me "that look." They worked well and it makes for easy grain disposal, but I think I get a nylon bag. If this beer turns out well I will make a Imperial version of it. It came out a littler darker than expected, but I hope the Irish Moss will cause it to lighten up. The color I was going for was present in the grain steeping, but got much darker than expected when I added the light DME. Maybe Extra Light DME next time?

So, the two things I I feel I need to learn more about from here on is: aeration and yeast starters.

Oh well. I updated the recipe too.

Glad to hear it went well!

As far as smack packs/aeration/yeast starters go, it's always recommended to make a yeast starter with those smack packs - you can search on it around here. To aerate your wort all you need to do is seal it in the fermenter, shake like crazy for a few minutes, then pitch your yeast. Straining the wort from the boil kettle to the fermenter also helps aerate as well.

As far as color goes - when I brewed with extract I noticed that the color always came out darker than I would have liked - even when using light DME. I would recommend always using extra light DME no matter what the recipe calls for and getting your color from the specialty grains. You might also read up on "late extract additions" - there's actually no need to boil all of your extract for the entire time - in fact if you do it decreases hop utilization and darkens your beer.

Cheers!

 

[adamhimself]

So, I took a gravity reading 2-3 days ago. This was roughly a week into fermentation. It was much higher than I expected sitting in at about 1.021. I think my hydrometer might be off since I broke the top of it, so I will be taking another reading today with my new hydrometer (took advantage of AHS' free shipping day).

I also realized I had left a little bit of yeast in the smack pack. This leads me to believe I pitched less than a 100 billion cells. I think this is a big part of it, so I am now going to suggest doing a starter. At least 1L. Though, 2L would be ideal. I splurged and got a 2L flask, stopper, and airlock from AHS along with enough DME to do some starters.

Fermentation was super vigorous too. I made sure to aerate the wort more so than previous batches and I could notice a difference. To me, it seemed to have a great fermentation that lasted a good 3-4 days of intense airlock bubbling. I am also going to change it to 2weeks/2weeks (primary/secondary).

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

The tip of your hydrometer breaking off would definitely skew your readings. I think since it weighs left after the break it would probably float higher, thus giving a higher reading.

What temperature are you fermenting at? Sometimes if you ferment too high you'll get a very vigorous fermentation but it will finish high and leave some off flavors.

 

[adamhimself]

The tip of your hydrometer breaking off would definitely skew your readings. I think since it weighs left after the break it would probably float higher, thus giving a higher reading.

What temperature are you fermenting at? Sometimes if you ferment too high you'll get a very vigorous fermentation but it will finish high and leave some off flavors.

Solid 68 deg F.

 

[adamhimself]

So, my new hydrometer and 2L flask came in the mail yesterday. I decided to go ahead and take a reading this morning to see how I was fairing. Wow, either I am crazy, but I am pretty sure my reading was 1.012. BeerSmith predicted 1.015, but I came up with 1.012? Whhaaaaatttt!

I am racking to secondary on Wednesday. I'll take another reading then to make sure.

 

[EonBlue66]

1.012 should be perfect, did you taste the hydro sample? I'm curious to see how this one turned out.

 

[adamhimself]

1.012 should be perfect, did you taste the hydro sample? I'm curious to see how this one turned out.

Sorry I haven't had a chance to really respond to you. I will give the low down either late tonight or tomorrow on how things are... I have just been exhausted with work and school.

 

[adamhimself]

OK! So, here's the update!

My FG was 1.012. My OG was 1.062 and according to brewheads.com stats calculator that puts my apparent attenuation at 79%. This is my best yet! But, its no surprise because I did a few things different this time around. This biggest thing that I did different this time was aeration. I purposely swirled that bucket around like crazy for a good 4-5 minutes. I think this made a huge difference not only in flavor but allowing the yeast to kick start.

I also used Wyeast for the first time. The little activator inside of it makes a big difference in my opinion. The fermentation kicked off quicker than any of my other beers. I am VERY pleased with their product and I will continue to use them.

It spent a little extra time in primary more so than I wanted, but that's ok. It maybe spent 2-3 days more than the two weeks I originally thought.

So, now on to taste...

First off you can smell the floral aroma of the cascades mixed very well with the slightly citrusy Amarillo. It was very heavy smell when I opened the fermenter. There was also a hint of a slight sweetness from the honey malt. I did some more research on honey malt and next time I might do this recipe as a partial mash to get the full effect.

In the glass, it smelled like a typical IPA. The smell reminded me of Stone IPA and the taste did as well. I couldn't help but think of Stone IPA as I drank it. The taste was very good. It wasn't amazing, but it was amazing to think I made this! It was quite bitter just like Stone IPA. The aroma was there but not as powerful as I hoped. I was hoping for a more slightly sweet taste, but that was also lacking. You could smell the honey and the aftertaste was better than Stone IPA's aftertaste.

It was very smooth and honestly didn't have any weird off flavors or esters that were in my previous beers. I think this is due to a quick started fermentation and very good aeration. This is definitely something I am going to remake. I can see it being very very good once I get it bottled and carbed. Also, after the dry hopping I see my aroma coming across much better.

Overall, this turned out very well. I think its even better than some of the IPAs I have personally tried. After thinking about it for a while, I would say I would give Crystal 60L a shot and add 2-3 ozs more of honey malt, so it would have a slightly more sweet and malty profile, but ONLY A TAD! In the end I would say this is closest to Stone IPA in flavor and bitterness.

Oh, and finally.. the color turned out nicely. It was a little darker than I hoped for, but it was pretty spot on. I can't wait to get this carbed.

I will be adding this to the recipe database once I get it bottled.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to PM me or respond to this thread. If you are interested in making this recipe, nothing more would be an honor to me and I would be happy to send you a few bottles to try it out, so long as you promise to send some of your homebrew to me as well

 

[EonBlue66]

Awesome, glad it turned out well! I wouldn't be so hasty to change the grain bill let it carb up and condition first.

Prost!