2012 BearPunch IPA

[MrPostman]

I just made a starter for my next brew on monday. This is my first totally original brew and I'm pretty excited. I have all the ingredients already, so I'm fairly limited, but if there's anything you think I should change I'd love to have some input. I'm obviously going for a very bitter that I feel will inevitably still be sweeter than I'd like depending on how my yeast feels. I want a bold, hoppy palate through and through, leaning towards citrus and floral in the aroma and a little rougher finishing out the drink.

Partial-mash
5 gallon batch
3.5 gal boil

1 lb Carapils
2 lb Victory
2 lb Caramel 60
9 lb light DME

2 oz Chinook 11.8 @ 80 min
1 oz Columbus 14.2 @45
.5 oz Centennial 11.4 @ 20
.5 oz Cascade 6.4 @ 10
.5 oz Centennial 11.4 dry hopped for 10 days
.5 oz Cascade 6.4 dry hopped for 10 days

Primary for about 10 days, secondary for another 10. Planning on fermenting it on the cooler side of things. Also considering doing some other spice in the dry hop but hadn't settled on anything yet.

 

[bobbrews]

I would ditch the carapils, cut the crystal by half, and compensate for these changes by adding more DME. Too much crystal (especially crystal 60 or higher) will make this almost a regular pale ale with an excess of dark caramel sweetness...especially if the IBUs are not on par after your top off dilution. Additionally, I would say that carapils is unneccessary for a partial mash beer. You'll have the body you're looking for with the other ingredients here, especially DME which usually contains a portion of carapils. It would be wise to add about 3 lbs. of the DME at the 15 minute mark, which will help lighten the overall color of the beer as well as accentuate more of the hop character.

I would definitely triple the 10 minute and dryhop additions. As is, your rates are quite weak for an IPA which will be diluted further with top off water. If you want this to be bold, you have to think bold. Lastly, I wouldn't muddle this up with adding spices to the dryhop. Spices are also better incorporated by adding within 5 minutes left in the boil.

Good luck.