Will you look over my IPA, please?

[Whippy]

I'm not much of an IPA guy, but I'm brewing one this weekend because it will make a nice change.

If you ARE an IPA brewer, would you please look over my recipe and make suggestions, especially on the hop schedule? I prefer hop flavor over bitterness personally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American IPA

For a 5 gal batch:
11# 2-row
8oz C-120
single infusion mash at 148F for 75 mins

2oz Cascade 6.3% for 60 mins
1oz Amarillo 8.7% for 15 mins
1oz Amarillo 8.7% for 5 mins
2oz Amarillo 8.7% for 1 min
2oz Cascade 6.3% for 4 days (dry hop)

US-05 yeast
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[AnOldUR]

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Looks like you did your homework. My advice. Brew it!

 

[kcmobrewer]

Looks pretty good. I brew a lot of IPAs and I would try this. That being said, I don't typically use C120 in my IPAs. I know it is used and I have had beers brewed with it, I just prefer something lighter like C20, C40, or C60 or a blend of them. I also dry hop for a week. 148F Might be a bit low on your mash temp also, unless you just want it really dry. For something this light I usually mash at like 152-154F.

Looks good though. Even if you decide to do it just like that it will make an IPA and it will be good I'm sure . Good luck, welcome to the wonderful world of IPAs

 

[Whippy]

Wow, that's encouraging...I'll go with it, then! I chose the mash temperature based on advice that Mitch Steele gave in an interview, so want to try that out this time although it goes against my standard brewing practices as well I have a decent amount of these hops, so will brew again and mash higher next time if I find this too thin bodied or dry tasting. When it comes time for tasting this beer, I'll consider what the 120 crystal does or does not do for the beer and perhaps change that around as well on the next run. I WILL adopt your practice, ksmobrewer, and give the dry hops a week to play in the beer...thanks for that tip.

...it will be on the fire tomorrow morning!

 

[AnOldUR]

All the recent things I've read say that you extract all the hop aroma in 4 days or less. As for the crystal malt, if it's mainly for a color adjustment that's about what would put me where I like my IPA's. (But I do prefer them on the darker side of the guidelines.) Personally, I use a couple ounces of Carafa Special and no other crystal malts. I''m on Mitch Steele's side here. I like my IPA's dry, so try to keep the unfermentable malts to a minimum and mash low.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Wow, that's encouraging...I'll go with it, then! I chose the mash temperature based on advice that Mitch Steele gave in an interview, so want to try that out this time although it goes against my standard brewing practices as well I have a decent amount of these hops, so will brew again and mash higher next time if I find this too thin bodied or dry tasting. When it comes time for tasting this beer, I'll consider what the 120 crystal does or does not do for the beer and perhaps change that around as well on the next run. I WILL adopt your practice, ksmobrewer, and give the dry hops a week to play in the beer...thanks for that tip.

...it will be on the fire tomorrow morning!

Question before you do brew this. You say you're not an IPA guy. What is it about IPA's you don't like? Most people I talk to say they're too bitter. When I tell them I have an Imperial IPA with a ton of hops they turn their noses up. Then they taste it, and say it's the only IPA they've had that they like (most, there are still some that just don't like hops at all).

The difference is that I use a low AA First Wort Hop, a 60 minute bittering charge for a IBU:SG ratio of <1:1, then all of my other hops go in with 20 minutes or less in the boil. It has a huge smack-you-in-the-face hop aroma, but it's not bitter, which I tend to prefer.

Just a thought. Right now yours is sitting at 1:1, which is balanced. I don't think this beer will be too bitter, but if it is the bitterness you don't prefer, try moving one of those ounces of cascade to 30 minutes.

 

[mrdauber64]

Looks like a good recipe! I've been playing with IPA's lately and I've had good results with using First Wort Hopping and staggered hop stands. The Hop stands that I use are one at 175 for 30 min(cool to 175, add hops and cover) and then one at 145 for 30 min. The hop aroma and bitterness has been so smooth since I starting using these processes. My typical hop schedule is: FWH, 15 min, 175 degree 30 min hop stand, 145 degree 30 min hop stand, and a 7 day dryhop.

Happy brewing!

 

[Whippy]

Question before you do brew this. You say you're not an IPA guy. What is it about IPA's you don't like?

Hey Z... mostly when I drink IPAs, they are good for the first pint, but then the flavors start to get muddled to me. :fro: They are complex beers but in a much different way than the other styles are, and it takes some getting used to. My neighbor and friend really likes IPAs and shares with me often, so I AM now starting to be able to pick out the subtle differences between the brands and the use of different hops. There are a lot of commercial IPAs out there that I just don't like, while others are really great! I feel that the quality difference in this style is more inconsistent than in any other style I've tried. I've never had a "bad" Dopplebock, for instance, but I have had some IPAs that just didn't work for me.

 

[grathan]

I don't know if it would makes much difference. But I would move 1oz from 60 minutes to 20 minutes.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Hey Z... mostly when I drink IPAs, they are good for the first pint, but then the flavors start to get muddled to me. :fro: They are complex beers but in a much different way than the other styles are, and it takes some getting used to. My neighbor and friend really likes IPAs and shares with me often, so I AM now starting to be able to pick out the subtle differences between the brands and the use of different hops. There are a lot of commercial IPAs out there that I just don't like, while others are really great! I feel that the quality difference in this style is more inconsistent than in any other style I've tried. I've never had a "bad" Dopplebock, for instance, but I have had some IPAs that just didn't work for me.

They definitely are palate-killers, so anything you taste after an IPA or two will seem muddled. But you're right about there being such a wide range of quality in the style. My guess is that since it's the most popular style right now, every brewery is trying to jump on the band wagon and put anything they can to market, whereas with other styles, I think they'll be more discerning, since there is less chance of success. Right now, if you sell an IPA, someone out there will buy it.

Do continue to try different ones, and make not of the qualities you do and don't like about them. Personally, I stay away from the overly bitter ones, and the ones that focus more piney/earthy/resiny hops (except for Wyerbacher's Double Simcoe, that's an awesome piney IPA). I love a good citrus bomb, as long as it doesn't taste like lemonade or orange juice.

 

[Whippy]

This IPA has turned out just how I wanted it! It has a fruity hop flavor, nice aroma, very balanced in regards to bitterness, and it packs a punch at 7.7%ABV...just over the style on the ABV, but that's fine by me. 1.069SG, 1.011FG I fermented it on the cooler side at 62F with no problems.

I'd say this is one of the top 3 beers I've ever brewed. It's going into rotation here at the Bohland Brauhaus.

I'd like to try this again sometime using a Belgian yeast and warmer fermentation.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Very nice! I think you'll have some fun with the Belgian yeast, too.