1st Imperial IPA Recipe, what do you think?

[plankbr]

Title: Imperial IPA (no better name yet)
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Imperial IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.069
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.088
Final Gravity: 1.022
ABV (standard): 8.7%
IBU (tinseth): 103.66
SRM (morey): 9.33

FERMENTABLES:
16.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (81.5%)
2.5 lb - German - Pilsner (12.3%)
0.75 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (3.7%)
0.5 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (2.5%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 29.02
1 oz - Galena, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 37.73
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 17.58
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 19.33
0.75 oz - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 0 min
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 0 min

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale 1056
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 75%
Flocculation: Med-Low
Optimum Temp: 60 - 72 F
Fermentation Temp: 68 F
Pitch Rate: 0.75 (M cells / ml / deg P)

NOTES:
Mash: 6.3 gallons @ 163* (1 hour)
Sparge: 5 gallons @ 170* (10 min)
Boil: 60 min.
7.5 oz. DME for 1/2 gallon yeast starter.
2 Smack Packs

 

[g-star]

Mash at 163F??? That is a recipe for disaster. I would not mash this beer any higher than 152F, 148-150F would be better. A finishing gravity of 1.022 is way too high for a DIPA, you want to get under 1.015 if possible, lower would be better. Dry beers allow for the hops to shine.

I would also drop the carapils and all 20min hop additions...move them to flameout/whirlpool for better preservation of aromatics. If you really want a hop-bomb, you need to up your late kettle additions and add at least 4oz of dry hops.

 

[plankbr]

I should have edited that, i will heat the water to 163, that way when I add the grains, it will settle at 150*.

 

[Bramstoker17]

Mash at 163F??? That is a recipe for disaster. I would not mash this beer any higher than 152F, 148-150F would be better. A finishing gravity of 1.022 is way too high for a DIPA, you want to get under 1.015 if possible, lower would be better. Dry beers allow for the hops to shine.

I would also drop the carapils and all 20min hop additions...move them to flameout/whirlpool for better preservation of aromatics. If you really want a hop-bomb, you need to up your late kettle additions and add at least 4oz of dry hops.

+ 1 to all of this. I found this page to be VERY useful when putting my IPA recipes together if you are going for a hoppy West Coast style.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/08/how-to-brew-better-ipas.html

 

[Schemy]

I should have edited that, i will heat the water to 163, that way when I add the grains, it will settle at 150*.

Now you're talking.

Looks like it could be tasty. Pitch big.

 

[motorneuron]

I personally would certainly add more aroma hops, whether in the last five minutes, knockout, whirlpool, or dry hop. I'm sure this will produce a good beer, but for me, Imperial/double IPAs are as much about the huge hop nose as they are about alcohol or bitterness. For a beer this big--with some crystal for residual sweetness, and an alcohol getting up near/past 9%--I'd suggest at least another 4 oz of aroma hops, and (if it were me) probably more like 6 or 8 additional ounces. As I said, I'm agnostic about when exactly you should add them, as long as it's late.

 

[boydster]

You will enjoy the extra hop nose that comes with a nice, big dry hop in a beer like this. Fermentation can drive off some of the aromatics from late kettle additions, so adding dry hops post-fermentation is a great way to add a little more punch to the nose. I'd do at least 5 ounces for a 5 gallon DIPA.

 

[peterj]

I agree with the above comments about adding more hops, both late kettle addition and dry hops. Also bittering with centennial seems like kind of a waste. I usually just do a clean high alpha hop to bitter in really hoppy beers like this. Galena is a good choice, maybe switch the centennial to Galena at 60 mins.

Another comment: in the Notes section it says 2 smack packs. But, if you're making a starter then there's no need to use 2 smack packs. Just use 1 pack and make the starter as big or small as you need. I usually use a yeast calculator like Mr. Malty or something.