Ferocious ipa from midwest

Anybody ever done this kit before? Any advice? I bought 2 ounces of extra cascade hops, any advice on what could make this beer breat would be appreciated. Been getting a lot of good feedback from this forum already, thanks everybody!

 

I just purchased this for my next batch. I've heard nothing but good things and am really looking forward to it. Most people just seem to follow the directions and it turns out great. The main adjustment I plan on making is late extract addition. Good luck!

 

What do you mean? What kind of flavor are you trying to impart on the beer?

 

I'm very new to this, so don't take what I say as gospel. I purchased the extract kit from Midwest and assumed you did as well. Adding the extract late (as opposed to adding all of it at the beginning of the boil, as the instructions state) will help prevent over-caramelization of the extract and the off-flavors that can come with that. I plan on adding all of mine with 10 or 15 minutes left in the boil. Some on here don't add any until flame-out.

 

Ok, i understand now, i might have to try this as well. Its only my 3rd boil.

 

This was the third or fourth extract beer I made. As far as I remember I followed directions and made beer I really enjoyed.

 

Just follow the directions. Adding the extract late won't make anything better. If it did, it would be in the instructions. We all boil our wort for an hour or more.

 

Hello, you really only want to add 1/2 of your malt extract toward the end of your boil, the malt extract helps with hop utilization so I wouldn't omit all of it from the beginning of the boil if it were me.

Also f you add 1/2 late it will help with keeping your brew lighter color.

Cheers

 

Im going to be doing the half now, half later method.

 

i've done that kit 4 times, the first was extract which was good, the next 3 were all grain. the all grain batches were much better. its a fun receipe because of the hop additions(dividing the blend into cups, etc). all those late hop additions really make that beer sing. plus its nice to do a local breweries beer clone. midwest used to be on my street 6blks away. now they're 2 miles away, the horror.

 

Midwest's kits are fantastic. The one thing I found, too, was doing a full boil if you have a big enough kettle. On recipes like this Surly clone it'll really help add that hoppy kick you're looking for.

 

I am a hop head! I bought 2 extra ounces of cascade hops for this brew, but im not quiet sure when to use them. Should i distribute the 1 ounce for the boil and use the other for a dry hop? Or all in the boil? Or all in the dry hop? What happens is a mystery to me so far.

 

I looked at their recipe and saw that they have you divide the hops up into 5 equal parts for the last 20 minutes.

I'd take 1 oz. of the centennial & add it to that hop mix and add it in segments for the last 20 mins of the boil & throw the other oz. in with the dry hop mix.

I late lots of late addition hops in my beers - tends to give you a great big hop flavor without the harsh bitterness. With the centennials it'll hopefully give you some grapefruity goodness.

 

I received this kit for xmas, it just carbed up a week ago or so. Really good, prob best extract ipa I have brewed, everyone seems to enjoy it a lot. Also first batch i cold crashed, turned out crystal clear.

 

Now that i have the wort chiller all ready, i will be hoping to brew the ferocious tomorrow afternoon.

 

Hello, On hop additions it depends what you are looking for out of them, the longer hops are boiled the more oils=bitter you get out of them 60+ min to 30 min ish, less time is for flavor 25 min to 10 min, and hop aroma is even less time 10 min to flame out. I always count a boil down from start of boil to flame out.

I have not dry hopped yet so Im really not sure, but "best guess" is that longer time dry hopping will add more flavor and aroma and will not really add bitterness.

Cheers

 

I typically dry hop one week. You can smell it the second you pop the cap.

 

Most of the dry hopping benefits come within the first few days. If you dry hop for longer than 14 days or so the hops can impart a grassy vegetal flavor.

 

Im going to ise your advice, and use most of the hops for flavor, and try not to make it too bitter. I will be doing it tonight, as the oral surgeon said no go untill the 27th.

 

Thanks thood, thats good to know.

Cheers

 

Check out the sticky in the beginner forum that outlines making better extract beers. It is very good information and it touches on the idea behind late addition extract additions. I do both AG and extract, and the two things that really changed my extract beers for the better were, full boils and doing late additions of extract.

 

I currently have this in my primary. I didn't totally follow the instructions. I split up the LME and added half at boil, and the other half with 15 minutes to go. I also added a pound of honey at that 15-minute mark. I can't wait to try it!