I'm overdue for an IPA.

The last IPA I brewed is getting on 2 years ago, so I figure I'm due for one.

I'm interested in doing something with the Sorachi Ace hop, so I thought I'd sub it for Cascade in an IPA recipe I had previously written. Brings my IBU up considerably, so I upped the base malt and called it an imperial. I'm mashing low to compensate for the rather dark choice of crystal malts, and I'm fermenting at 62 to minimize the fruity ale aromas.

After the dry hop, I plan on cold crashing at 34F for 7 days before transferring to keg.

Thoughts/suggestions?


Grain Bill:

12.5# Pale 2-row
8oz Crystal 120
8oz Special B

Mash:

Single infusion, 60 minutes, 148F
Decoction mashout, 167F

Boil:

60 Minutes

30: 1oz Chinook
25: 1oz Simcoe
15: 2oz Sorachi Ace
10: 1oz Simcoe
0: 1oz Sorachi Ace

Fermentation Schedule:

Safale US-05, 1 packet
14 days @62F
7 days secondary @62F
Dry Hop: 1oz Simcoe, 1oz Sorachi Ace

Predicted Numbers:

OG: 1.072
FG: 1.016
ABV: 7.5%
SRM: 15 ██████
IBU: 107.2
BU/GU: 1.48

Looks tasty. Any reason in particular you're doing a 30-minute boil? I'd typically do a 60 minute and move the Chinook to 45-60 or FWH, then push the first round of Simcoe to 5 or flameout and, if needed, adjust the 15-min addition to bring the IBUs to where I want them. Just curious .

looks like he's doing a 60 minute boil, but hop bursting.

smagee said:

Looks tasty. Any reason in particular you're doing a 30-minute boil? I'd typically do a 60 minute and move the Chinook to 45-60 or FWH, then push the first round of Simcoe to 5 or flameout and, if needed, adjust the 15-min addition to bring the IBUs to where I want them. Just curious .

Click to expand...

Bruin ale got it. I'm doing a 60 minute boil but all my hops are going in after the 30-minute mark. It supposedly improves the hop aroma/flavor and smooths out the bitterness. I've been doing it that way ever since I read this article: http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

I see. Has anyone compared that to the supposed smoother bitterness from a FWH? I've tried both individually, but never really thought to do a side-by-side.

I have done FWH a couple of times and liked the results, but it doesn't seem to get that "juiciness" that some IPAs (that I'm guessing is heavy on the late additions) have. Once I start brewing heavy again next month I might feel into doing a little research between the two.

Just transferred this to secondary after 2 weeks at 62F, filtering out trub and hops from primary with a fine mesh nylon filter. Enough left in my siphon line to take a gravity reading and taste a sample.

Immediate thoughts: brilliantly clear, complex hoppy/malty aroma, and very clean on the tongue, but a somewhat overly harsh hop bite, "grassy" hop flavor, and a slight cloying sweetness on the finish. I figure the seven day dry hop and a couple weeks conditioning while I work on emptying the stout keg should clean this beer up.

Now here's the only part that's confusing me. I took a gravity reading and it's at 1.023, which is really puzzling for a 148F mash and two packets of US-05, which I expected to really dry it out. I did take a post-boil gravity reading, but due to an excess of trub in the test jar, I could not get an accurate number. BMW's brew builder gives 1.080 for the OG, 1.020 for FG. 70% attenuation with US-05 would be 1.025, so I suppose I'm in range for a high(ish) gravity IPA.

I also may have caramelized some of the wort with my decoction mashout, and as some of you may recall, this is the beer that gave me uncontrollable boilovers as documented in this thread. So the additional concentration and caramelization of the wort from those issues may have contributed to the higher finishing gravity.

Or, it may simply not be finished fermenting yet. I'll go ahead and take another reading next Monday before racking off the hops and see if it drops any more.

I wound up with a full two quarts of yeast on the bottom of the bucket, and combined with the significant loss of wort during boil-over, I'd estimate there's just under 4 gallons of beer left. I feel like I probably should have cold crashed the beer to tighten up the yeast cake before transferring.

I will report back at kegging time, and again when the final product is available.

This is without a doubt the best IPA I have ever brewed by a mile. I see this quickly becoming a regular brew for me. The only thing I would change about it is drop the Special B by about 2 ounces, as it comes through a little thicker than I expected.

What is your water like? Did you do any salt additions? (Are you brewing with RO? Filtered tap?)

I'll have to check the additions but I used distilled water, and I added gypsum and calcium chloride to the mash. I believe it was 8 grams and 2 grams, respectively.