Not Hop 100

[IPAAAA]

So I decided to make my first recipe and this is what I have come up with.

Light colored ipa with about 100 ibu bitterness and 6-7% alcohol. I am going for a kinda piney flavor/aroma to it so I am looking for some feedback on what you think of the hopping schedule and just the recipe in general.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.071 SG
Estinated FG: 1.017
Estimated Color: 7.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 96.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------

12 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (45 min)
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (15 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (5 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (1 min)

3.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (Dry Hop 10 days)

So what do you guys think?

 

[ericd]

Well, I for one am not a big fan of the "1oz for every hop addition" school. I've found it makes unbalanced beers that can be joltingly bitter.

I think it's better to look at the IBUs from every addition and hop accordingly, but it's all personal preference.

 

[IPAAAA]

So try and have each early hop addition have a similar ibu or what do you mean?

 

[Yooper]

WAY too much crystal! 3.5 pounds of crystal is more than twice what you need. I don't use any, but up to a pound would be ok if you like that in an IPA.

IBUs aren't really involved with late hopping, so you can ignore the IBUs in 15 minutes and later. It's more about the balance of flavor and aroma. I think the hopping is ok, personally, except for the dryhopping. Chinook is "stronger" flavored, but you have enough cascades to balance it. I'm not too sure about the 45 minute simcoe- you'll get bitterness from it, and no flavor, so I don't usually add hops between 60 and 20 minutes, but it's certainly not a problem if you want the bitterness from it and don't want to use it at 60 minutes.

I love the flavor of simcoe along with cascade, so I'd probably change it up a bit and use the chinook for bittering, and the simcoe and cascade for flavor and aroma. Three ounces of chinook from dryhopping may take the enamel off your teeth- I'd probably use an ounce of chinook, an ounce of simcoe, and an ounce of cascade for dryhopping instead of all three ounces of Chinook.

 

[IPAAAA]

WAY too much crystal! 3.5 pounds of crystal is more than twice what you need. I don't use any, but up to a pound would be ok if you like that in an IPA.

IBUs aren't really involved with late hopping, so you can ignore the IBUs in 15 minutes and later. It's more about the balance of flavor and aroma. I think the hopping is ok, personally, except for the dryhopping. Chinook is "stronger" flavored, but you have enough cascades to balance it. I'm not too sure about the 45 minute simcoe- you'll get bitterness from it, and no flavor, so I don't usually add hops between 60 and 20 minutes, but it's certainly not a problem if you want the bitterness from it and don't want to use it at 60 minutes.

I love the flavor of simcoe along with cascade, so I'd probably change it up a bit and use the chinook for bittering, and the simcoe and cascade for flavor and aroma. Three ounces of chinook from dryhopping may take the enamel off your teeth- I'd probably use an ounce of chinook, an ounce of simcoe, and an ounce of cascade for dryhopping instead of all three ounces of Chinook.

I only have 1.5 pounds of crystal listed and am using 2 pounds of the carapils to help with head retention. I think I must be missing something unless carapils is a crystal malt. (I didn't know that).

Ya I know ibus are early in the boil and that is why I questioned what ericd was trying to say. I didn't quite understand what he meant.

I have had an all simcoe ipa and it was really good. Super bitter and real strong but I may switch it up. I was just trying to go by 2 oz totals for each hop because that is the amount I buy them in.

 

[ericd]

So try and have each early hop addition have a similar ibu or what do you mean?

This works great for lower IBU beers. In the case of an IPA it isn't practical so I just mean to hop by IBUs, not by weight.


Your beer looks fine, but if it were my beer:

I'd replace the crystal with something that has more flavor. I made an IPA with victory and I liked it quite a bit.

My suggestion:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 77.4 %
2.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 12.9 %
1.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 9.7 %
0.90 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (60 min) Hops 33.0 IBU
0.85 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (45 min) Hops 28.7 IBU
1.10 oz Chinook [13.00%] (15 min) Hops 20.0 IBU
2.20 oz Cascade [5.50%] (10 min) Hops 12.4 IBU
2.20 oz Cascade [5.50%] (5 min) Hops 6.8 IBU

 

[DKershner]

WAY too much crystal!

+1.

Also, 3oz of Chinook is going to be VERY strong.

Overall, I don't think I could drink this beer, but if you are going for a cloyingly sweet and more arrogant than arrogant bastard...then you have found what you are looking for.

You don't detail mash temps, but I would do this LOW to try and get rid of some of the sweetness...or you could just reduce the crystal.

 

[IPAAAA]

Is 1.5 lbs of crystal that much? I see lots of recipes with a lb. That extra .5lb make that HUGE of a difference?

Definitely not going for a sweet beer. I was just thinking I use 1.5 lbs of crystal to help give this beer good head retention.

 

[DKershner]

Is 1.5 lbs of crystal that much? I see lots of recipes with a lb. That extra .5lb make that HUGE of a difference?

Definitely not going for a sweet beer. I was just thinking I use 1.5 lbs of crystal to help give this beer good head retention.

Anything with CARA in the name is crystal. You have 3.5lbs.

 

[Yooper]

I only have 1.5 pounds of crystal listed and am using 2 pounds of the carapils to help with head retention. I think I must be missing something unless carapils is a crystal malt. (I didn't know that).

Yes, carapils is a crystal malt. I don't use it at all (no need when you use crystal or other ingredients like flaked wheat or barley) but if you use it, calculate it into the amount of crystal you're using.

If you look at a good IPA recipe, often you'll see NO crystal at all. I don't use crystal very often in my IPAs, either. If you feel that you must use some, don't use more than about 7%-10% as an absolute maximum.

 

[Yooper]

Is 1.5 lbs of crystal that much? I see lots of recipes with a lb. That extra .5lb make that HUGE of a difference?

Definitely not going for a sweet beer. I was just thinking I use 1.5 lbs of crystal to help give this beer good head retention.

Again, you've got 3.5 pounds of crystal malt, or almost 23%! That's even more than I'd use in an American amber, let alone an IPA. In one of my IPAs, I used 5% crystal malt and it turned out really good. I normally use something else, like biscuit malt or amber malt or even a bit of Munich malt, for malty character without cloying sweetness. An IPA should have high attenuation, and be easy to drink without sweetness.

 

[DKershner]

Again, you've got 3.5 pounds of crystal malt, or almost 23%! That's even more than I'd use in an American amber, let alone an IPA. In one of my IPAs, I used 5% crystal malt and it turned out really good. I normally use something else, like biscuit malt or amber malt or even a bit of Munich malt, for malty character without cloying sweetness. An IPA should have high attenuation, and be easy to drink without sweetness.

I use munich in place of her biscuit or amber malt, in case you needed an alternative. It is closer to the taste of caramel but attenuates much more than crystal malts and leaves less sweetness.

 

[slowbie]

I only have 1.5 pounds of crystal listed and am using 2 pounds of the carapils to help with head retention. I think I must be missing something unless carapils is a crystal malt. (I didn't know that).

IPAs rarely need help with head retention. The hops will take care of that.

 

[IPAAAA]

Anything with CARA in the name is crystal. You have 3.5lbs.

Yes, carapils is a crystal malt. I don't use it at all (no need when you use crystal or other ingredients like flaked wheat or barley) but if you use it, calculate it into the amount of crystal you're using.

If you look at a good IPA recipe, often you'll see NO crystal at all. I don't use crystal very often in my IPAs, either. If you feel that you must use some, don't use more than about 7%-10% as an absolute maximum.

I was totally ignorant of that...thanks for the heads up. I will revise and post up later tonight.

 

[IPAAAA]

What would you guys suggest to use to add some color to this beer without raising the cara malts?

Also, what is the best way to go about making sure I get 5 gallons of water after I dry hop? Should I just raise my batch size to 6 gallons to make up for that? Usually with a 7 gallon boil size I end up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter.

 

[slowbie]

What would you guys suggest to use to add some color to this beer without raising the cara malts?

Also, what is the best way to go about making sure I get 5 gallons of water after I dry hop? Should I just raise my batch size to 6 gallons to make up for that? Usually with a 7 gallon boil size I end up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter.

A smaller amount of darker crystal and/or victory would be my suggestion. Most of the grains that others have suggested (biscuit, amber, etc.) will also add some color.

As far as the dry hopping goes, I don't really worry about coming out with exactly five gallons, but if you want to up it to 6 gallons feel free. I think with 5.5 you'll still come out pretty close to five even with dry hopping though.

 

[IPAAAA]

Didn't even notice those other malts in the program...doh! Thanks...guess I will leave it at 5.5 and see what happens.

So here is the revised version...this sounds much better.

--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.069
Estimated FG: 1.016
Estimated Alcohol: 6.9 %
Estimated Color: 7.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 97.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------

14 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 93.3 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) 3.3 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 3.3 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (60 min) 39.1 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (45 min) 35.9 IBU
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (15 min) 19.4 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (5 min) 3.3 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (1 min)

1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (Dry Hop 10 days)
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (Dry Hop 10 days)

1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Mash for 60 minutes at 154.

How does this all sound?

 

[hopvine]

Yes, carapils is a crystal malt. I don't use it at all (no need when you use crystal or other ingredients like flaked wheat or barley) but if you use it, calculate it into the amount of crystal you're using.

Everything I've ever read about Carapils states that it doesn't contribute anything in terms of flavor, but only adds body and head retention. Is that in dispute?

It is certainly different than the other crystal malts in regards to the texture and appearance of the grain itself; Carapils are like little bits of broken glass, and you KNOW when you're running them through the mill if cranking by hand.

 

[xiang]

I would drop or move your 45min addition. All it is going to do is add bitterness without much flavor if any. Might as well save some of that simcoe and just increase the hops in the 60min addition for better utilization.

Or add a 10, 15 or 20 minute addition if your looking for a hit of simcoe flavor. Just my 2 cents......

 

[IPAAAA]

I was mainly doing it to hit my 100 ibus.

So most of the time 45 minute additions aren't really worth it when it comes to flavor?

 

[slowbie]

I was mainly doing it to hit my 100 ibus.

So most of the time 45 minute additions aren't really worth it when it comes to flavor?

Generally speaking, flavor comes from the 0-20 minute additions, with more aroma and less flavor coming later in the boil. (0 minute is generally regarded as aroma only). Anything before that is basically just bitterness.