Partial Mash Recipe Help - how much grain is too much?

[adkrogue]

Hey all - only brewing my 2nd batch and haven't seen anyone else post this question - so I apologize if it's been posted. I'm hoping to brew an imp ipa and needed to kick up the abv so my lhbs told me to add extra two row. I'm not sure now though if that amount requires me to increase the water during the boil. I had planned on a 4gal boil, and ultimately a 5 gal batch.

Malts:
6lbs DME golden light
3lbs Two Row
1lbs Honey Malt
1/2 lbs Crystal Malt 60L

Planned on steeping the two row, honey malt and crystal malt in 4 gals for 30 mins. Do i need to add more water?

Hopville recipe gives me OG 1.077, IBU 86.4. Below is hop sched if anyone wants to comment there as well (this was initially planned to be a flower power clone, but modified to imperialize and lack of availability of all ingredients at LHBS)...

@60
.25 Centennial
.5 Simcoe
@50
.25 Cent
.5 Simcoe
@40
.25 Centennial
.25 Chinook
@30
.5 Amarillo
.25 Centennial
.5 Chinook
@20
.25 Chinook
@10
.5 Amarillo
@5
.25 Citra
@flameout
.75 Citra

Thanks in advance...sorry if these are dumb questions...

 

[Yooper]

Planned on steeping the two row, honey malt and crystal malt in 4 gals for 30 mins. Do i need to add more water?

You want to mash (not "steep", technically!) with 1.5-2 quarts of water per pound of grain. Since you have 4.5 pounds of grain, that would be 6.75-9 quarts of water total. Four gallons is too much for the mash. I'd go with 8 quarts (2 gallons), since that's a nice easy number.

Bring the water to 160-165 degrees and add the crushed grain in a bag. Stir it well, making sure the grain is thoroughly wetted. Use two bags if they are small, so that the grain isn't in the bag tightly- the grain should be very free flowing. Check the temperature and make sure it's between 150-155 degrees and leave it for an hour.

In the meantime, heat up 2.5 gallons of water to 170 degrees. When the hour is up, lift up the grainbag out of the pot and hold it in a colander and pour the 170 degree water over the grain. Alternatively, you can just pick up the grain bags and dunk them in the 170 degree water also. "Teabag" them, rinsing them well, and then through the grains away. Combine the runnings from the mash and the sparge, and add water to get to your boil volume (you should have just about four gallons, but it might be a tad less). Then bring it to a boil.

Once you get to a boil, remove the wort from the heat and add 2 pounds of the DME. Then bring it back to a boil and add your hops as your recipe calls for. (And I think the hopping schedule needs adjusting- you've got too many bittering hops and not enough flavor/aroma hops, but that's for another post!).

With 5 minutes left in the boil, remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the final four pounds of DME. It'll clump up a bit at first, but keep at it. Then put it back on the heat and finish the boil and hops additions. Once the wort is chilled, you can top it up to 5 gallons.

 

[Yooper]

@60
.25 Centennial
.5 Simcoe
@50
.25 Cent
.5 Simcoe
@40
.25 Centennial
.25 Chinook
@30
.5 Amarillo
.25 Centennial
.5 Chinook
@20
.25 Chinook
@10
.5 Amarillo
@5
.25 Citra
@flameout
.75 Citra

As to the hopping, an IIPA should be all about a firm bitterness to balance all of the malt but then HUGE hops flavor and aroma. You just don't get much flavor and aroma from miniscule hops additions like .25 ounces. You also don't get any flavor or aroma from hops added before about 20 minutes from the end, only bitterness, so I'd make the 60 minute addition enough to give about 45-50 IBUs and then move all of the rest of the hops to 20 minutes or less and increase them. I'd target a total IBU range of 70-80+ for an IIPA of 1.077.

You've also got too many varieties, in too small amounts. It might be a muddled flavor with all of those varieties instead of citrusy and crisp. I'd pick three varieties that go well together (except for bittering) and use them for flavor and aroma.

I'd do this:

Bittering hops @60 (45-50 IBUs with this addition- variety doesn't matter)
1 oz chinook 20 minutes
1 oz centennial 15 minutes
1 oz simcoe 10 minutes
1 oz chinook 5 minutes
1 oz centennial 0 minutes
Dryhop with 1 oz of each for 5-7 days.

Other good combos include:

centennial/cascade/citra
simcoe/amarillo/chinook

 

[adkrogue]

Yooper - thanks a lot for your help. Appreciate it.