English IPA

This will be my first non-SMaSH recipe of my own and I want to keep it fairly simple. Is there anything terribly wrong with this? Advice/thoughts?

12lbs Pale Ale Malt 2-Row
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L

3.00 oz U.S. Goldings [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 45.9 IBUs
2.00 oz U.S. Goldings [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min 8.2 IBUs
2.00 oz U.S. Goldings [4.50 %] - Boil 0 min

1.0 pkg London Ale III (Wyeast Labs #1318)

2.00 oz U.S. Goldings [4.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

OG 1.057
FG 1.014
5.7% ABV
54 IBU

 

Recipe looks good!

However, you may want to consider a different yeast if your expecting a really dry, crisp finish. I don't know how much you've used this strain - it is one of my favorites - but 1318 can finish a bit sweet and mute out some of the bitterness in highly hopped beers if you're not careful. Other than that, you might want to consider using a good UK base and crystal malt for more character.

 

If possible, use marris otter for your base, and carastan for your crystal.

As far as your yeast goes, you'll want a English strain that attenuated a bit more than normal. White labs London ale, or even Nottingham would be good choices.

 

I recently made a pale ale with London III, and it turned out great. It played nice with my hops, and my IBU's were only 40-45.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I thought about using Maris Otter, but I think I'm going to try it with the Pale Ale Malt this time.

bierhaus, this is my first time using this strain. I picked it out based on Wyeast's description of having a wonderful malt and hop profile, along with finishing slightly sweet. What temp would you recommend fermenting this at to minimize the sweetness and fruitiness?

 

I'd agree with the recommendation for Maris Otter and English Crystal.
Also, a little too much crystal for my taste (I would use 8 oz crystal 55), but that's just me. I don't recommend changing it just because I don't like more than 5% crystal.
It won't taste much like any commercial English IPA that I've ever had. It should be much better.
I have brewed several similar recipes, and have achieved much better results with good quality EKG hops rather than US Goldings. However, I haven't found any good quality EKG in bulk for the last couple of years, and I'd much rather use reasonable US Goldings than poor quality EKG.
I've never tried the 1318, but I have used the 1028 successfully. My favorite yeast for an EIPA is WLP023 (but watch out for blow offs).

If you need help drinking it, I'd be happy to volunteer my services.

-a.

 

Heh, My LHBS has never had any EKG, but when I was picking this order up he told me that he just got a bunch of it in. I thought about asking to swap it out, but I've been happy with the Yakima Goldings I've used in previous brews, although, I didn't use near as much in those. I will be grabbing a pound of EKGs from him sometime soon. And if you're ever in the KC area, you're more than welcome to help drink it up.

 

I ordered a bunch of EKG from rebel brewer recently for .99 per ounce. They don't have pounds, but wth 8 bucks for a half pound ain't bad. I used them a few weeks ago, and they're good. I was worried they were really old, and that's why they were cheap. But no, they're good.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately, I use whole hops, and they come out at $1.79 per ounce. I tried to order 32 oz to see what the cost would be including shipping, but they said they didn't have that much in stock.

-a.

 

Ah, I didn't realize they charged differently for the whole hops. I picked up pellets to use as a mash hop, so I didn't even look at the whole.

 

In a way, I'm glad someone else has mentioned this. A couple of years ago I bought a pound of leaf EKG from HopsDirect and I either mishandled them or suffered through a bad lot. Took me awhile to figure what was wrong. That experience really has steered me away from getting hops in bulk, especially imported ones.

 

I've been using the organic (UK) EKG from hopsdirect for the past year and I have been really happy with them. I think I paid like $15/lb. I stopped using US goldings since their flavor was way too citrusy for the English styles. For a while there I swore they gave me centennial or something.

Also, I just got in a pound of leaf EKG and they smell and look great. Actually, all my imported 2011 crop hops have been (surprisingly) really nice.