advice for finishing off an IPA

[Oslobrew]

I’m a new brewer on my second batch and I would appreciate some advice on finishing off and IPA I have going. I like IPA’s and most of all Double IPA’s., so here’s the background on what’s going on.

What I did was add two cans of Coopers IPA extract to 20 liters of water which had an OG reading of 1.045. I pitched both packs of the unknown type of yeast that came with them at 20C. I fermented it for a week mostly at 19-20C except for a 12 hr period during very active fermentation where it got out of my control and got up to 22C before I cooled it off with some icepacks around the fermented. So after the week had gone by I decided to take a SG reading which came to 1.008 and try it out. I’m really happy with how it tasted and if it weren’t for an excessively bitter aftertaste I would be reasonably happy drinking it as it stands. So I got three things to accomplish in finishing it off. I would like to mellow out the aftertaste, bring SG reading down a bit more, and I have this ugly looking sludge floating on top that I don’t want to go in the bottles. The sludge looks like chocolate ice cream. During fermentation there was a mixture of chocolate ice cream looking dark foam and more appealing looking brown foam. The brown settled out but the dark has floated on top a bit more. I guess the sludge is just yeast still on top.

So I’m trying to decide if I should do one of the following things: 1) just leave it in the primary for 1-3 more weeks and bottle. I expect sludge will settle out and SG will drop but not sure if this approach helps the aftertaste. 2) rack to secondary (which I don’t have but can go buy). This I would allow me to lose the sludge. I heard it can get fermentation going again to ensure SG drops a bit more. Could help with aftertaste? Does racking really restart fermentation? Maybe the aftertaste is the result of adding two cans of extract which would be more bitterness than I probably wanted. Could I fix it by dry hoping in secondary? I think if I taste more hops at the beginning the bitterness on the aftertaste would be more agreeable.

Any other ideas would be great. I don’t know any home brewers so this forum is 95% of the info I get.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bmorebrew]

A couple of things:

First, congrats on the new hobby!

Second, with an OG of 1045, I'd say this is more in the range of a pale ale than an IPA - but not to worry, that's ok too, you can dry hop a pale ale.

Here is what I would do with the current brew. I would let it sit where it is for another two weeks to clear up. It sounds like fermentation got a little out of control, but not too bad. An extra couple of weeks might help mellow the flavor a bit.
Maybe about a week in, after it has cleared a bit, I would dry hop it with an ounce of hops, maybe cascade, centennial, amarillo, simcoe or citra and let it sit for another 5 to 7 days. Some people like shorter dry hop times, I find 5 to 7 days is fine. This schedule will get you to the two week mark.

And don't worry about the FG, using extract you'll have a hard time getting down past where you are now. 1008 is pretty good for a pale ale, less than that and you might be losing too much body.

The only suggestion for next time would be to get a high quality yeast and use that (preferably with a starter).

good luck!

 

[DPBISME]

I agree with BMoreBrew... let it sit before bottleing and kegging, the stuff on the top should sink to the bottom. AND your beer will mellow with age;;; I make a IPA with Warrior and Citra... It is too hoppy for me after two months but somewhere after that it mellows beautifully.... I make it and bottle it when all my Kegs are full and slowly drink the 4+ cases over the course of a year or so... The taste changes by month and I think that is sooooo coool... Also,,, unless the yeast was Danstar or Safel (dry yeast I trust) I would toss it in the boil to use as Yeast nutrent...

 

[billl]

For future reference, the coopers IPA cans are meant to have extra extract added to them. That brings up the OG to IPA range and provides some malt flavor to balance the bitterness.

What type of IPA are you going for? In Oslo and with that kit, I'd assume you are used to the british style IPA vs american style. If so, you could add some fuggles or golding as dry hops as it sits another week or so.

 

[Gazanderzon]

BMorebrew is spot on.

 

[Oslobrew]

Thanks for the replies.

billl.....I followed some advice from the LHBS and used 2 cans of IPA extract rather than 1 can and the malt. So yeah this is likely why I have the excessively high bitterness. It's not aweful just mellowing it out would be an improvement. I'm shooting for a american style IPA and what I have currently doesn't taste hoppy enough at the start. Maybe this will change with age as well. Any advice on how to get closer to an american style IPA using extract and dry hoping would be great. The kitchen in my apartment has a strange induction stove top that is really small and annoying so it will be hard to do anything that isn't extract for now. Once I get this one in bottles I'll probably start up something similar again. What is IPA OG range?

bmorebrew...thanks for the schedule . I just called the LHBS and they have what I need so I'll get ready to rack it and dry hop another week from now. This sounds like the best way to ensure it has enough hops.

 

[billl]

American IPA OG is 1.056-1.075.

Lots of late hop additions and dry hopping are key components of an american IPA recipe.

For an american IPA, a general extract recipe would be something like

8-9 lbs light extract (not pre-hopped)
0.5 lbs crystal malt (steep for 30 minutes in a bag before adding extract - like making grain tea)
1 oz of high AA hop at 60 minutes
2-4 oz of american hops added in the 15 to 0 minute range

Cool and top off with enough water to hit 19-20L
American Ale yeast
Let it ferment for 2 weeks or until the FG is stable.
3 oz american hops to dry hop for a week

 

[adamjackson]

Patience is key. Patience equals better beer in brewing, fermenting and bottling. Any time I think my beer is ready, I give it an extra 2 weeks. Time is your friend for better beer.

 

[Oslobrew]

Is there any reason you have to rack it secondary to dry hop. In things I've read I have never heard anyone saying they threw the hops i the primary. Just curious as to why this is.

 

[TyTanium]

You don't. Dry hopping in the primary is just fine.

 

[DPBISME]

Yep,,, In the Primary is fine... There used to be a lot of talk of dead yeast breaking down and causing off flavors but from what I understand this is really not an issue with most ales,,, for lagers maybe a different thing... I once was given a October Fest beer that had been in plastic for 6 months... I drove it home, let it sit for a day and then kegged it... we drank it... now if there was a BELL CURVE of the taste profile I would say YES it was on the down side of the curve but it was still drinkable and some people did not even notice even when told... There was also an IPA which there was nothing wrong with... no problems at all.... SO since then I really don't worry about moving to a Secondary...

 

[unionrdr]

Dang server screw ups...here we go again. It's the settling yeast that the hop oils cling to that looses hop flavor/aroma. That's why allowing it to settle out clear or slightly misty is preferred to get better hop utilization. 7 day dry hop works well for me.
You can look at me BuckIPA recipe in the recipe section for how I used a Cooper's can,DME,& hops to make mine for some ideas on how it's done.