Citra/Mosaic extract IPA

So I want to brew a nice fruity extract IPA with citra and mosaic hops, around 6-7% ABV, 70 IBU or so, and this is the recipe I've come up with, after a little tweaking (I'm pretty new to this):

(5 gallon batch)

Grains
6 lb Extra Light LME
3 lb Amber LME (late addition)
0.5 lb Caramel 60L (steeped 30 min @160)

Hops
0.3 oz Columbus @60min
0.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @20min
1.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @5min
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @flameout
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic dry-hopped 5 days

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale

With a full boil, Brewer's Friend gives me these numbers:

• OG: 1.067
• FG: 1.016
• ABV: 6.69%
• IBU: 73.73
• SRM: 9.56

Basically, I'm just looking for criticism--anything that won't work, something I forgot, something I should change. I'm planning on brewing this before the end of the week. Also, I know the amber LME might be a little unusual, I'm using it because I happen to have some on hand already. Hopefully that won't cause weird flavors.

Thanks!

 

I like to add some sugar to my IPAs to help dry them out. It helps the hops come through more, along with a bit of gypsum. I don't like to put any crystal in my IPAs since I feel like it clashes with the hop character I'm trying to get, but to each his own. I'd replace the crystal with something else to make ti interesting like aromatic or victory, or golden naked oats (my fav).

Be sure to do a hopstand at flameout. I've found this to be absolutely necessary to get a good hop punch.

 

if you must use the amber extract, take out the C-60. the amber most likely already has crystal in it. so adding in more will make your beer overly sweet for an IPA. also maybe take out a lb of extract and sub in a lb of cane sugar, it will help dry it out and get that FG closer to 1.010

hops combo is great. the only thing id change is up the 60 minute to .5-.75oz depending on aa%

 

Nice recipe!

I am doing something very similar this weekend:

6.6 lbs. extra light DME
12 oz. Crystal 10L
1 pound corn sugar (undecided still)

Hops
.5 oz. Fuggles 60 minutes (because I have extra laying around)
2 oz. Mosaic 1 minute
2 oz. Mosaic at 5 days

Yeast is safale 05 (I work almost exclusively with dry)

Good Luck!

 

Alright, removed the C60 and switched some of the amber for sugar. Plus I increased the columbus. Here's the updated recipe:

Grains
6 lb Extra Light LME
2 lb Amber LME (late addition)
1 lb cane sugar

Hops
0.5 oz Columbus @60min
0.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @20min
1.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @5min
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @flameout
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic dry-hopped 5 days

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale

Updated numbers:

• OG: 1.068
• FG: 1.016
• ABV: 6.79%
• IBU: 79.64
• SRM: 5.67

One question: Is it necessary to do the amber LME as a late addition? And should I do the sugar as a late addition too?

 

Will the hopstand change my IBUs? And how long am I supposed to do it?

 

A hopstand won't change your IBUs provided you do it below 180*F.

I've been doing hopstands lately with all of my pales/ipas and have been really happy.

Just start chilling, stop when you get to around 180F, then toss in your flameout hops. Let the wort sit for about 20 minutes, stirring with your chiller occasionally. Once the 20 minutes (or whatever time you like) is finished, proceed chilling as usual.

Alpha Acids Isomerize (turn into bitterness) above 180*F, so the closer you can get to 180 while staying below it will allow you to pull the oils out while not contributing to bitterness.

 

Alright, that's what I'll do. Also, removed a little more amber and switched out the extra light for some light. This dried it out some more and lowered the ABV a bit. New recipe:

Grains
6 lb Light LME
1.5 lb Amber LME (late addition)
1 lb cane sugar (late addition)

Hops
0.5 oz Columbus @60min
0.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @20min
1.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @5min
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @flameout
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic dry-hopped 5 days

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale

Updated numbers:

• OG: 1.062
• FG: 1.014
• ABV: 6.20%
• IBU: 88.40
• SRM: 6.11

Not sure if the IBU is too high now, and the color might be too light.

 

don't worry too much if the numbers specifically match the style specifications...especially the color. They're a good guideline to follow but aren't the gospel for making good beer.

It looks good to me. I typically shoot for lower IBUs on mine but it's just a personal preference. I did a citra/mosaic/equinox beer not long ago that turned out great. If you've ever had Great Lakes Chillwave...mine turned out very, very close to it. You should expect a nice tropical fruit character from this beer.

 

Okay, thanks for the tip. If I wanted to lower the IBU just a bit though (to 70 or so) how would you recommend altering the hop schedule?

 

Either just drop the amount of Columbus by a hair, or move it to later in the boil until your software calculates what you're looking for.

 

Great. Changed Columbus back to 0.3 oz, now at 76 IBU.

One last thing--I'm sort of using WLP001 as a default, but are there any yeasts (liquid or dry) that might work better for this kind of IPA? Or is that more a matter of personal preference?

 

Interesting. I actually just looked at what my LHBS has and doesn't have, and it looks like Pilsen DME is my best option. Does that work? Here's my revised (once again) recipe:

Grains
6.5 lb Pilsen DME
1 lb cane sugar (late addition)
0.5 lb C60 steeped 30min at 160F

Hops
0.5 oz Columbus @60min
0.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @20min
1.5 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @5min
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic @flameout
2.0 oz ea. Citra & Mosaic dry-hopped 5 days

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale

Updated numbers:

• OG: 1.065
• FG: 1.015
• ABV: 6.53%
• IBU: 78.09
• SRM: 6.53

I think this looks pretty good!