Suggestions for IPA hopping?

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
rhys333

rhys333

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
3,274
Reaction score
1,693
Location
Edmonton
I've been brewing for a few years but haven't done an IPA yet due to my preference for more sessionable pale ales. Well... that plus I'm a cheapskate with hops. I'd appreciate feedback on the recipe below, mainly the hop schedule as I'm not too familiar with heavy hopping. I'm thinking magnum [edit: I meant Warrior] for a 60 minute bittering charge, but I also have about 4oz Mosaic, 2oz Chinook, 1oz Cascade, and 1oz Mt. Hood on hand. I'm listing one option for hops below, but I'm totally open to creative suggestions! Also, it's a 4 gallon batch, so hop amounts are about 20% less. Thanks in advance.

AMERICAN IPA (6.5% abv, 60-70 ibu)
91% 2 Row
6% Munich 10 L
3% Carapils
Hops:
0.4oz Mosaic FWH
0.2oz Warrior @ 60
1oz Mosaic & 0.5oz Cascade @ 10
1oz Chinook & 0.5oz Cascade @ 0 (15 min post-boil hot steep)
1oz Chinook dry-hop 5 days
US-05
 
Definitely use the Magnum for the bittering addition, which could be a standard 60 minute addition or a FWH 60 minute addition. Clean bitterness with little flavor or aroma and cost effective.

I love Mosaic as an aromatic and flavorful hop and wouldn't waste it on the FWH - I would save some for the dry hop and the late additions.

I like to use Chinook both for bittering, flavor and aroma additions. I think your Cascade additions make sense - late additions. You could also dry hop with them.

Another thought - I usually dry hop an IPA with no less than 3 ounces of hops for five gallons.
 
Thanks guys. I'll maybe add some mosaic at FO and another ounce for dry-hop?

So what's the deal with first-wort hopping? I'm reading that it adds smooth bittering and complex aromas and that aromatic late addition hops (like mosaic) should be used for that. It goes against convensional doctrine I know, but they say it retains a lot of character lost in standard boil additions. I normally wouldn't do FWH, but with the extra mosaic on hand i thought what the heck. You think I should get rid of it or move forward?
 
rhys333 said:
Thanks guys. I'll maybe add some mosaic at FO and another ounce for dry-hop?

So what's the deal with first-wort hopping? I'm reading that it adds smooth bittering and complex aromas and that aromatic late addition hops (like mosaic) should be used for that. It goes against convensional doctrine I know, but they say it retains a lot of character lost in standard boil additions. I normally wouldn't do FWH, but with the extra mosaic on hand i thought what the heck. You think I should get rid of it or move forward?
Click to expand...

Ive tried FWH and didnt really think it made much of a difference vs a 60min. The general thought it that it imparts a less harsh bitterness due to the wort not being at boil when you first add it. But for both a FWH and 60min addition, you will not taste or smell anything from the hop. IME, to get any discernable flavors or aromas from the hop, you need to at it at about 20min from flameout or later.
 
m00ps said:
Ive tried FWH and didnt really think it made much of a difference vs a 60min. The general thought it that it imparts a less harsh bitterness due to the wort not being at boil when you first add it. But for both a FWH and 60min addition, you will not taste or smell anything from the hop. IME, to get any discernable flavors or aromas from the hop, you need to at it at about 20min from flameout or later.
Click to expand...

I agree, they are both 60 minute bittering additions, just different techniques. I usually go with one or the other, not both.
 
I ended up doing the following hop schedule for just over 5 ounces in 4 gallons:

0.25oz Warrior @ 60
0.67oz Mosaic + 0.5oz Chinook @ 10
1oz Cascade + 0.5oz Mosaic & Chinook @ 0 (30 min hop stand)
Will add 1oz Chinook and 0.75oz Mosaic dry hop.

I dialed back the mosaic dry hop a bit as its pretty potent stuff and I want the chinook to come through as well.
 
rhys333 said:
I ended up doing the following hop schedule for just over 5 ounces in 4 gallons:

0.25oz Warrior @ 60
0.67oz Mosaic + 0.5oz Chinook @ 10
1oz Cascade + 0.5oz Mosaic & Chinook @ 0 (30 min hop stand)
Will add 1oz Chinook and 0.75oz Mosaic dry hop.

I dialed back the mosaic dry hop a bit as its pretty potent stuff and I want the chinook to come through as well.
Click to expand...

nice! I have a house brew like this and it's awesome. I love the mosaic/Chinook combo. I didn't use any cascade though and dry-hopped with some nelson too.
 
scallopking said:
nice! I have a house brew like this and it's awesome. I love the mosaic/Chinook combo. I didn't use any cascade though and dry-hopped with some nelson too.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested to see you're recipe if you'd like to share. Totally understood if its a top secret i'd have to kill you if I told you recipe. ;)

I'm running low on Mosaic and just about ready to place an online order. I'm getting a pound of Chinook for sure plus a pound of either Mosaic or Citra. I really do like me some Mosaic.
 
rhys333 said:
I'd be interested to see you're recipe if you'd like to share. Totally understood if its a top secret i'd have to kill you if I told you recipe. ;)

I'm running low on Mosaic and just about ready to place an online order. I'm getting a pound of Chinook for sure plus a pound of either Mosaic or Citra. I really do like me some Mosaic.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm liking Mosaic more and more and want to try it with other hops but haven't tried it on it's own - worried about too much berry flavor. I like to do single hop IPAs to see how each one is on it's own first. But Mosaic comes through a lot anyway so I may not do it with this.

Sure, no problem. I have no recipe that is so top secret it can't be shared. everything I learned is from people here so like to give back I guess! I only brew IPA so have other recipes too if you are ever interested. Here you go, I do 6g batches.

Based on 73% efficiency in Beersmith

SRM-6.5
ABV - 6.6%
IBU - 58.1

13 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 91.2 %
12.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 5.3 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.8 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.8 %

0.60 oz Warrior [15.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 24.0 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 -
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 16.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 11.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 6.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.30 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.30 %] - Steep 30.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs @ 170

2.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [11.60 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
 
Okay just say what it is please. Maybe there's a learning opportunity, I still a newbie with lots to learn. Sorry for hijacking and thanks rhys333.
 
All the ingredients are numbered at the end.

13 lbs pale malt, Marris Otter, is the first, or #1, ingredient
12 oz Vienna is #2
4 oz Carapils is #3

...and so on. So, the first dry-hop addition is ingredient #13, and the last one is #14.

:)

It is kind of strange that they put the number at the end, and not even at the very end. Had they done something like this:

#1 - 13 lbs Marris Otter
#2 - 12 oz Vienna

then it would make more sense and not be confusing in any way.

*shrug*
 
If it's an IPA, use Citra!! definitely, you'll love it :)
Cascade also works but Citra is amazing imo..
 
scallopking said:
2.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [11.60 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
Click to expand...

Dry hopping DOES add bitterness, contrary to the general opinion that alfa acids need to be isomerised through boiling to provide the bitterness... My last IPA was not enough bitter after 1 week of fermentation [local shops storing stuff randomly, hence the results] but after dry hopping for the 2nd week with 30g/1oz of each Cascade and Citra it turned out perfect.

Then I ran a test by adding a few hop pellets into a small glass of water - after 1 week I filtered it and guess what? It was BITTER and not just a bit.. the hops were in plain water so nothing to balance them with, but still.. bitter enough.. perhaps like an Urquell.

So bear that in mind :mug:
 
I am interested to see if there is scientific basis for your claim. That flies in the face of accepted knowledge, but as a wise man once said, "new **** came up".

Is there any proof you have besides your anecdotal evidence?
 
Yes, it's called pragmatism and sometimes it overcomes scientifically proven facts, but hey, believe what you want... who am I to tell you otherwise? :) or just try it yourself and find the answer :)
 
I am not putting you down, man. Pardons if it came across like that. As science goes, new information can make preconceived notions outdated or outright false. I just need more than one person's experience to change my mind, that's all.

:)

As for try it myself - I have dry-hopped many beers, can't say they made it more bitter than what the recipe calls for, but I am not an IBU-calculating machine, so IDK if it actually added any bitterness or not.

;)
 
Just my own experience I notice more aroma on the dry hop, which fades over time...sadly. I have no expbeeriments to compare to but just my observation.
I've also come to appreciate adding hops at the end of the boil (hop stand) to get the hop flavor without the bitterness. Many ways to get to our end goal. :)
 
slym2none said:
All the ingredients are numbered at the end.

13 lbs pale malt, Marris Otter, is the first, or #1, ingredient
12 oz Vienna is #2
4 oz Carapils is #3

...and so on. So, the first dry-hop addition is ingredient #13, and the last one is #14.

:)

It is kind of strange that they put the number at the end, and not even at the very end. Had they done something like this:

#1 - 13 lbs Marris Otter
#2 - 12 oz Vienna

then it would make more sense and not be confusing in any way.

*shrug*
Click to expand...

Ohh okay. That's I think is from adding/removing ingredients in Beersmith. Didn't pay any attention to it before but now I will! Thanks for pointing it out.
 
Just bottled my IPA and the sample tasted fantastic. I ended up dry-hopping with 1oz each Chinook and Mosaic. It overshot my 1.014 estimated FG, going from 1.063-1.009 or 7.1% abv. I mashed at 148F and fermented with US05. It's clean and dry though not thin at all. Hop bittering is smooth but pronounced. I estimated around 70 IBU, but it seems higher. I did a 30 minute hop stand at just-off-boil temp, estimating 5% hop utilization on FO additions. 10% is probably closer. Hop aroma is insane. Looking forward to tasting this again after bottle conditioning.

AMERICAN IPA (7.1% abv, ~75ibu)
91% 2 Row
6% Munich 10 L
3% Carapils
Hops (scaled to 4 gal):
0.25oz Warrior @ 60
0.67oz Mosaic + 0.5oz Chinook @ 10
1oz Cascade + 0.5oz Mosaic & Chinook @ 0 (30 min hop stand)
1oz Chinook & Mosaic dry hop.
US-05
 
Here's a decent pic. Will update shorty. I am very happy with this IPA...

15MAR2015 EDIT:
I know its an odd thing to say for an IPA but the thing I like most about this beer is the grain bill. Just to quickly address the following poster's comments (yes this is a post-edit), I heard the same interview with Mitch Steele and took his comments into consideration when developing this recipe. I know he recommends 95% base malt, but wanted to create an IPA with a strong focus on hops and subtle malt character as well. I'm really happy with the decision to add 6% Munich and 3% Carapils. There's an slight graininess, but its very clean and dry. It pours with creamy white head that settles to a 1/4" cap (bottle conditioned to 2.4) and creates great lacing on the glass.

The hops ratios work well too. Excellent flavor and aroma, and I think the 30 minute hop stand (off-boil hot steep basically) played a big part in that. Even after a month of bottle conditioning it still retails a strong aroma. I can see a variety different hops working here with the 10 & 0 minute additions, increasing a bit as needed if using lower aa varieties. In this case the Mosaic comes through pretty strong, but it's balanced by the Cascade and Chinook. I built up my own mineral profile here too, starting with RO water and adding mostly gypsum with a small amount of calcium chloride. It seems to support the hops well.

I'll do this again soon with a heavier focus on Chinook hops, but keep the grain bill and water the same. So many commercial IPAs I try are cloyingly sweet or choke you out with hops and nothing else. What I get from this is an IPA with attitude, but balance as well. I think a lower ABV pale ale version could work well too, perhaps with 4-5% carapils and a higher 152-154F mash to retain body.

View attachment 1457999900774.jpg
 
rhys333 said:
I've been brewing for a few years but haven't done an IPA yet due to my preference for more sessionable pale ales. Well... that plus I'm a cheapskate with hops. I'd appreciate feedback on the recipe below, mainly the hop schedule as I'm not too familiar with heavy hopping. I'm thinking magnum [edit: I meant Warrior] for a 60 minute bittering charge, but I also have about 4oz Mosaic, 2oz Chinook, 1oz Cascade, and 1oz Mt. Hood on hand. I'm listing one option for hops below, but I'm totally open to creative suggestions! Also, it's a 4 gallon batch, so hop amounts are about 20% less. Thanks in advance.

AMERICAN IPA (6.5% abv, 60-70 ibu)
91% 2 Row
6% Munich 10 L
3% Carapils
Hops:
0.4oz Mosaic FWH
0.2oz Warrior @ 60
1oz Mosaic & 0.5oz Cascade @ 10
1oz Chinook & 0.5oz Cascade @ 0 (15 min post-boil hot steep)
1oz Chinook dry-hop 5 days
US-05
Click to expand...

I'm new to the forum and just saw this for the first time, so I'm way late to the party. I was just listening to a podcast today that had Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing Company talking about IPA recipes. He said that he NEVER dry hops with Chinook because he says it has a "dank" flavor. He also recommends 95% of the grain to be pale malt. He's not a fan of IPAs being malty and full bodied. He likes them dryer, which is my preference as well.
 

Similar threads

RyPA
Hopping a NEIPA with Citra/Mosaic/Nectaron
Replies
39
Views
4K
gaviga
G
theirondude
Adding Hops
Replies
3
Views
388
flipster
flipster
R
Motueka Single hop Pale Ale
Replies
1
Views
900
redrocker652002
R
nobadays
Cough Medicine Taste
Replies
3
Views
411
lumpher
lumpher
rodwha
Single Hop Pale Ales
Replies
11
Views
852
refect
refect
SSBrew 300

Latest posts

Back
Top