Brewing IPA's!

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Hi all,

So with pretty fresh hops available, I would like to brew a DIPA sometime this month. Brewing a good one an be pretty challenging and technical I think. I'm looking for ideas on how to preserve the hops aroma after secondary fermentation is done. I know oxygen is a problem and I'm using a 6 gallon glass carboy. Been brewing for years, just never attempted a really good DIPA.

 

[atom]

drink it fresh.

kegging or bottling?

 

[Calichusetts]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/tips-infamous-super-hoppy-ipa-iipa-478357/

 

[cantrell00]

I would also suggest layering the dry hops @ different intervals. 1-3 oz for 7 days & the same amount an additional 7 days.

Hopping the keg for the duration that it is being served will be extremely beneficial also.

 

[bobbrews]

No need to rack to secondary just for dryhopping. Dryhop in the primary. There are no differences as long as 1) you're not playing kickball with your primary, and 2) you rack carefully. Multi-stage dryhopping can also boost aromatic potential.

 

[madscientist451]

Your water can make a huge difference in the perceived hop bitterness and hop flavor. So this may be a good time to get into water chemistry if you haven't already done that.

 

[DarthCitra]

Secondary isnt really needed TBH. Ferment your DIPA out in your primary, once fermentation is at the end throw your dry hops in (no more than 7 days) and then bottle. Crack a fresh one after 2-3weeks of conditioning. If you keg you can throw your hops into your keg as a second dry hop which youll get the best hop aroma. Ive heard that Ggypsum will improve your hop profiles much more as well.


as for the malt build its just as important than the hops you use. you need enough malt sweetness to balance the bitterness. Unless your like me and dont mind a hop bitterness punch. I leave the exact recipe to you.

for your hop schedule(just examples of hops since i have no idea what you have):
I like Warrior for bittering 1oz @ 60min
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz-10
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- 5
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- flameout
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- whirlpool/hopstand at 150-160 for, lets say, 15-20mins.
Dryhop: 1st day that fermentation has almost ended throw in 1.25 oz of amarillo, 2 days later throw 1.25oz of citra, 2 days later 2 oz of simcoe. Layering the dry hops builds a more complex aroma. Completely up to you, I get lazy and just throw it all in at once.

 

[jayway]

Water chemistry, big flameout additions (whirlpool/hopstand is a must), huge dry hop, and drink fresh.

 

[bobbrews]

I would recommend waiting 2.5 to 3 weeks before adding your dryhops. The yeast are still cleaning up off flavors, and there will be particulate matter still in suspension after fermentation completes in a week or less.

 

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Btw, I'll be bottling.

 

[Calichusetts]

I would recommend waiting 2.5 to 3 weeks before adding your dryhops. The yeast are still cleaning up off flavors, and there will be particulate matter still in suspension after fermentation completes in a week or less.

This goes against the idea of a very hoppy DIPA. You want to bottle this ASAP. For me personally, krausen is falling after day 3-4. Yeast does not need weeks to clean up off flavors and hopefully you don't have any to begin with. Some commercial breweries begin dry hopping as soon as krausen falls and during active fermentation. Granted, they have filtration devices that we do not. I usually throw out this question: Do you want clear beer or hoppy beer? Its not always one or the other but which is the priority in a DIPA? If clarity is an issue make sure you choose a yeast that is known to drop fast, such as Notty or wlp002. There are many to choose from and I am sure others will chime in with their suggestions

My common schedule is as follows:
Begin dry hopping 1 week after krausen falls.
Usually two dry-hop additions over the course of 5-7 days.
Bottle/Keg

I'll be kegging a hopped-up pale ale tomorrow. It will be 3 weeks from brewday. The sample on Monday showed no off flavors and decent clarity FWIW.

 

[cantrell00]

007 has worked well for me.

Ferment for a week. Dry hop for a week. 24 hour cold crash with gelatin. Bottle/keg.

 

[Jim311]

My last IPA had great bitterness and flavor but lacked aroma commercial IPAs have. I'm interested in some of the comments in here that are saying that dry hopping sooner in the fermentation and bottling faster is the general idea, so I'm going to have to try that. Mine spent 2 weeks in the fermenter before dry hopping a week. I didn't use a bag for the pellet hops and just let all that flavor and particulate stuff do it's thing.

 

[DarthCitra]

My last IPA had great bitterness and flavor but lacked aroma commercial IPAs have. I'm interested in some of the comments in here that are saying that dry hopping sooner in the fermentation and bottling faster is the general idea, so I'm going to have to try that. Mine spent 2 weeks in the fermenter before dry hopping a week. I didn't use a bag for the pellet hops and just let all that flavor and particulate stuff do it's thing.

2 weeks in fermenter and another for dry hopping isnt bad. What you need to focus on is the Hopstand/whirlpool right after you finish your boil cool the wort down to around 160F. Throw in 4oz of your hops and let that chill for 20mins. youll get both aroma and flavor from that. Since i have been doing hopstands it has improved my IPA's tenfold. Not to mention staggering your dry hopping schedule (look at my last post on here for that)

 

[cantrell00]

2 weeks in fermenter and another for dry hopping isnt bad. What you need to focus on is the Hopstand/whirlpool right after you finish your boil cool the wort down to around 160F. Throw in 4oz of your hops and let that chill for 20mins. youll get both aroma and flavor from that. Since i have been doing hopstands it has improved my IPA's tenfold. Not to mention staggering your dry hopping schedule (look at my last post on here for that)

My experience as well... The aroma combo of the whirlpool hopstand + dry hop is where it all comes together...

Centennial/Columbus hopstand, + Simcoe/Amarillo dry hop has worked extremely well for me..

 

[Jim311]

Sorry for being a noob (I'm totally a noob) but let me see if I understand what you guys are saying. After my boil, I can use my chiller which is already in the wort anyway, to bring it to 160. Then throw in my sack of nugs, and let that chill for 20 mins? What then? Remove it? Leave it? Then I proceed as usual with chilling the wort to pitchable temps and my normal schedule of fermenting/dry hopping? If so that sounds easy enough.

 

[DarthCitra]

Sorry for being a noob (I'm totally a noob) but let me see if I understand what you guys are saying. After my boil, I can use my chiller which is already in the wort anyway, to bring it to 160. Then throw in my sack of nugs, and let that chill for 20 mins? What then? Remove it? Leave it? Then I proceed as usual with chilling the wort to pitchable temps and my normal schedule of fermenting/dry hopping? If so that sounds easy enough.

Dont be sorry at all, Its a learning process and we all started where you're at! You dont have to remove the "nugs" at all, leave them in and after your 20 min hopstand cool as normal and continue.

 

[Jim311]

Fantastic. Thank you for the input, I'll use it on my next IPA. I've got a regular pale ale to be brewed tonight but I'm going to need another IPA after that!

 

[bobbrews]

Dup

 

[bobbrews]

This goes against the idea of a very hoppy DIPA. You want to bottle this ASAP. For me personally, krausen is falling after day 3-4. Yeast does not need weeks to clean up off flavors and hopefully you don't have any to begin with. Some commercial breweries begin dry hopping as soon as krausen falls and during active fermentation. Granted, they have filtration devices that we do not. I usually throw out this question: Do you want clear beer or hoppy beer? Its not always one or the other but which is the priority in a DIPA? If clarity is an issue make sure you choose a yeast that is known to drop fast, such as Notty or wlp002. There are many to choose from and I am sure others will chime in with their suggestions

My common schedule is as follows:
Begin dry hopping 1 week after krausen falls.
Usually two dry-hop additions over the course of 5-7 days.
Bottle/Keg

I'll be kegging a hopped-up pale ale tomorrow. It will be 3 weeks from brewday. The sample on Monday showed no off flavors and decent clarity FWIW.

Your concern, while understandable, is a common misconception. Many informed veteran brewers go by the 3-4 week rule before dryhopping. I myself have brewed well over 100 IPAs and DIPAs. Trust me, they benefit from some conditioning and cleanup and you can still smell the hops in the glass from 3 feet away. Nothing is faded. Even Heady Topper, the best DIPA in the world takes 28 days grain to glass with force carbing.

Secondly, you can have both a clear and hoppy beer. There is no choice of either/or if you know what you're doing. User scottland on this website has continually posted pictures of his crystal clear hoppy beers like his Pliny the Younger clone, which uses a ton of hops.

Third, you can still get very clear beers using wlp001 or wlp090. Nevertheless, your suggestion of English yeast for American DIPAs also goes against the idea of a very hoppy example, due the their tendency of accentuating the malt more than the hops, yet it can work very well. The point is, what your hear from top authorities on the subject is not always the best advice, or the most current advice. By all means, absorb as much as you can, but keep an open mind and learn not to dismiss an approach simply because it goes against normal collective thoughts.

Lastly, yeast processes are quite complicated and there are always off flavors in the beginning. Take at look at the Chris White & Jamil book and you'll realize how most ales, even IPAs, benefit from an additional 2-3 weeks or so clean up time after fermentation is complete. There is always a harsh 'green' taste whenever you rush it.

 

[Helloworld]

This article has some good tips:

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

 

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Secondary isnt really needed TBH. Ferment your DIPA out in your primary, once fermentation is at the end throw your dry hops in (no more than 7 days) and then bottle. Crack a fresh one after 2-3weeks of conditioning. If you keg you can throw your hops into your keg as a second dry hop which youll get the best hop aroma. Ive heard that Ggypsum will improve your hop profiles much more as well.


as for the malt build its just as important than the hops you use. you need enough malt sweetness to balance the bitterness. Unless your like me and dont mind a hop bitterness punch. I leave the exact recipe to you.

for your hop schedule(just examples of hops since i have no idea what you have):
I like Warrior for bittering 1oz @ 60min
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz-10
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- 5
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- flameout
combo of simcoe, citra & amarillo 1oz- whirlpool/hopstand at 150-160 for, lets say, 15-20mins.
Dryhop: 1st day that fermentation has almost ended throw in 1.25 oz of amarillo, 2 days later throw 1.25oz of citra, 2 days later 2 oz of simcoe. Layering the dry hops builds a more complex aroma. Completely up to you, I get lazy and just throw it all in at once.

Darthcitra,

I used this hop schedule almost exactly. I kept the grain bill simple with 2 row, crystal 20 & 40 & a little aromatic malt. All domestic grain for an OG of 1.090. FG came in about 1.015. The only thing I added was a hop tea at bottling with tangerine peel added to tea.

Nice big beer with big citrus on the nose and great hop flavor. I can't wait for this one to condition after a couple weeks.

Thanks all for the help!

 

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Brewing my dipa, drinking some home brew and a little hot scotchie.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429027764.472611.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429027782.888520.jpg

 

[gotbags-10]

I think the biggest improvement for me was also the FO and whirlpool hop additions. Latest batch used only 1 hop addition for bittering and then 4oz at FO. Let wort cool to 165 then added 4 more oz for another 30 min before chilling the rest of the way. Yeah it costs a little more and added another hour to my brewday but it was sooooo worth it!

 

[carvetop]

Your concern, while understandable, is a common misconception. Many informed veteran brewers go by the 3-4 week rule before dryhopping. I myself have brewed well over 100 IPAs and DIPAs. Trust me, they benefit from some conditioning and cleanup and you can still smell the hops in the glass from 3 feet away. Nothing is faded. Even Heady Topper, the best DIPA in the world takes 28 days grain to glass with force carbing.

Secondly, you can have both a clear and hoppy beer. There is no choice of either/or if you know what you're doing. User scottland on this website has continually posted pictures of his crystal clear hoppy beers like his Pliny the Younger clone, which uses a ton of hops.

Third, you can still get very clear beers using wlp001 or wlp090. Nevertheless, your suggestion of English yeast for American DIPAs also goes against the idea of a very hoppy example, due the their tendency of accentuating the malt more than the hops, yet it can work very well. The point is, what your hear from top authorities on the subject is not always the best advice, or the most current advice. By all means, absorb as much as you can, but keep an open mind and learn not to dismiss an approach simply because it goes against normal collective thoughts.

Lastly, yeast processes are quite complicated and there are always off flavors in the beginning. Take at look at the Chris White & Jamil book and you'll realize how most ales, even IPAs, benefit from an additional 2-3 weeks or so clean up time after fermentation is complete. There is always a harsh 'green' taste whenever you rush it.

I'll have to agree with bobbrews here. Having brewed mostly IPAs over the last year and a half, I have found that conditioning time is certainly beneficial. Six weeks seems to be a sweet spot for my set up. Speaking of Heady, there is a video out there where John Kimmich states that he believes Heady peaks at around 10 weeks or so.

 

[Zekk]

Not to hijack the thread but I have a quick question. I brewed an IPA two weeks ago, and when I transferred it to my bucket I left a lot of hop sludge and break and what not behind. I'm assuming it wont matter, but will it affect my hop flavors? I did a 2 oz whirlpool addition. Planning on another 2 oz for dry hop.

 

[Natdavis777]

What I have learned about DIPAs is this:

1) Keep the recipe simple: Alcohol can give perceived body. Dont overdue it with specialty malts. You want the hops to shine.

2) Get the beer dry: Mash low, and use some corn sugar at the end of the boil to help achieve a low FG. This also helps in a nice ABV

3)Water chemistry: Figure out an ideal water profile. I like to use 350ppm SO4 and 50ppm Chloride, using gypsum and CaCl only. This helps accentuate a dry finish letting the hops come through.

4) Whirlpool/Dryhop: Whirlpooling will help lend a great amount of hop flavor without much bitterness. Utilize this method. Dryhop in stages as well, but dont let the hops sit on the beer too long. 3-5 days per dryhop are sufficient. You can do your first addition in the primary, then rack to keg, and use bags for the additional dryhop additions.

I have refined my DIPA recipe to these standards and am content with the recent results. Next, I plan to change my bittering charge with hop extract, and the rest will come from flameout/whirlpool additions, similar to Heady.

 

[cantrell00]

I have refined my DIPA recipe to these standards and am content with the recent results. Next, I plan to change my bittering charge with hop extract, and the rest will come from flameout/whirlpool additions, similar to Heady.

I can't recommend this last point enough...

 

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Here's the (almost) finished product. In the bottle for one week so carbonation do and conditioning are not complete. Sediment is too loose at the bottom for my liking, hopefully it will correct itself and become a little more solid in a week or two. I should not have used the aromatic malt as it has left a sweet note that's not right for the style. That's what I get for using something just because it's laying around.

That said, there is a nice bitterness and citrus hit on the nose. I added a hop/tangerine tea at bottling which came through nicely so far. While not perfect, very drinkable and very well attenuated. Definitely will keep working on this one.

1.090 og to 1.014 fg. 10% abv on about 150 ibu's. Low cohumulone hops used so it doesn't punch you in the palate with bitter.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429643126.331689.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429643143.682885.jpg

 

[BreezyBrew]

Man. I love IPAs. Good info here. I will say that where you purchase your hops can make a huge difference. You want as fresh as you can find. Here's my latest batch.

View attachment 1429643502707.jpg