Another "please critique this recipe"- American IPA

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Southwood

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Hey all! I am trying to develop a "house" IPA. I have a bunch of Centennial & Amarillo hops. Bell's Two-hearted & Boulder's Mojo IPA are some of my fav's, so I was thinking of blending qualities of each. I would also like to enter this in a competition, so I'd like to keep things true to style.

While I realise that brewing a hop-heavy IPA is not exactly the most responsible thing to do right now, I've been itching to do one & currently have the resources to produce the following:

Boil Volume: 3.5 gal
Batch Volume: 5 gal

7 lbs Light DME

1/2 lb Crystal 20
1/2 lb Carapils
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat

1 oz Centennial (9.7%) @ 60 min
1 oz Amarillo (8.9%) @ 20 min
1 oz Centennial (9.7%) @ 20 min
1 oz Amarillo (8.9%) @ 7 min
1 oz Cascade (6.7%) @ 7 min
1 oz Amarillo - Dry Hop

I've also thought about adding some crystal 40 or munich for added complexity. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Cheers! :mug:
 
Looks good, but I would definitely add a little darker crystal (40 or 60) for some residual sweetness to balance out the hops some.
 
since im in chicago ive been denied two hearted for awhile, but the mojo definitely has a nice malty/sweet balance with the amarillo.
ive got a home brewed "tribute" to Mojo Risin' Imperial IPA in my primary right now.
 
That recipe looks like it'll make a very nice beer. I've got a batch of Bells Two Hearted in primary at the moment - the recipe I had used only Centennial hops, and included some Vienna as well. That's a little different to your recipe, but it's not a biggie. Cascade and Amarillo are a really nice pairing.
 
Yea, I was going to do a Two-Hearted clone, but then I thought "if centennial is good, then centennial + amarillo should be great!"

Also is Caravienne anything like the Vienna you suggest? I do want to give this some malt complexity behind those hops. Maybe something like:

1/2 lb Crystal 20
1/2 lb Crystal 40
1/2 lb Vienna
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat

Btw, I had my 1st Mojo Risin' last night, and... wow. :rockin:
 
Southwood said:
Also is Caravienne anything like the Vienna you suggest? I do want to give this some malt complexity behind those hops. Maybe something like:

1/2 lb Crystal 20
1/2 lb Crystal 40
1/2 lb Vienna
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat
Caravienne and Vienna are different (according to https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart ). I've never used Caravienne so I don't know how different it'd be, though from the chart on the Wiki it looks darker in colour than Vienna. I've also never used flaked wheat, but other folks on here have - hopefully they'll be along soon to give their opinions. I think it looks good. I'd bet money that that will be a good beer.
 
Personally, I don't think wheat belongs in an IPA recipe. If you put it in there for body, I'd rather use carapils (dextrin), or a little malto-dextrin. But to each his own.
 
shafferpilot said:
Personally, I don't think wheat belongs in an IPA recipe. If you put it in there for body, I'd rather use carapils (dextrin), or a little malto-dextrin. But to each his own.
I just had a look at "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels, and you're right that wheat in IPAs is pretty uncommon. It's used in less than 30% of the recipes RD looked at, and where it is used, it's in proportions of between 1 and 8% of the total grain bill (with an average of 4%). It's a little more common in English brews.
 
The Ibu's are about 20 ticks High for what your making, I would scratch the Wheat and up the DME plus add the C-40. On your other question..Vienna Malt has a SRM of about 4 I believe and CaraVienne has a SRM of about 23 So it will give you a quite darker beer.
 
Thanks for the great replies, everyone! :D

After reviewing the feedback I've modified my recipe. I've found that in the past C40 really darkens my brew, so I left that out. As far as IBU's, I was shooting for a 1:1 ratio with OG.

Type: Extract w/grain Size: 5.0 gallons
Color: 13 HCU (~9 SRM)
Bitterness: 65 IBU
OG: 1.069 FG: 1.018
Alcohol: 6.5% v/v (5.1% w/w)

Grain:
8 oz. American Vienna
8 oz. American crystal 10L
8 oz. American crystal 20L
8 oz. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
Steep grains in bag @ 155° - 160° for 1 hour

Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.098 3.5 gallons

7 lb. Light dry malt extract

Hops:
1.5 oz. Centennial (9.7% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Amarillo (8.9% AA, 20 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6.7% AA, 20 min.)
1 oz. Amarillo (8.9% AA, 7 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (9.7% AA, 7 min.)
.5 oz. Centennial (9.7% AA, 0 min.)
1 oz. Amarillo (Dry)
Add Whirfloc tab @ 20 min
Yeast: Wyeast American Ale II


What do you think? I'll be going to the LHBS this afternoon to get the yeast so I can get a Starter Going for brew day on Tues!

Cheers! :mug:
 
shafferpilot said:
Personally, I don't think wheat belongs in an IPA recipe. If you put it in there for body, I'd rather use carapils (dextrin), or a little malto-dextrin. But to each his own.

No biggie either way, but I'd personally go with wheat over carapils or maltodextrine. We're not worried about complying with the Reinheitsgebot, so wheat is fine. You'll never taste a half-pound of wheat in the recipe (especially a hoppy IPA). Most important, IMHO, is that the Carapils and.or malto will add body that I just do not believe is appropriate for an IPA. IPAs ought to be, IMHO, pretty dry, not necessarily full-bodied.

Remember, the historical idea behind an IPA (besides the hops) was that the beer should be very well-attenuated so that there would be fewer residual sugars, reducing the chance of spoilage.
 
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