Critique my IPA extract recipe

[YeastInTheBucket]

Hi All,

First post, newbie brewer here. I've made a couple batches of home brew, and want to try experimenting with my own recipe. Could you guys weigh in on my extract recipe? Is there anything obviously wrong? What might you change?

Grains
1 lb Briess Caramel 40L

Malt extracts
6 lb Pilsner light LME
1 lb Golden Light DME

Sugar (added late in boil)
0.5 lb Dextrose

Hops
0.5oz Warrior - 60m
1oz Citra - 10m
1oz Mosaic - Flame out
1oz Citra - Flame out

2oz Citra - Dry hop
1oz Galaxy - Dry hop
1oz Mosaic - Dry hop

Yeast
Safale US-05

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Is it a 5 gal batch? Are you using recipe software to estimate things like OG/FG/IBUs ?

 

[YeastInTheBucket]

I was not, but now I am!

Here is what BrewersFriend estimates:
Starting OG: 1.058
Finish OG: 1.010
ABV: 6.22%
IBU: 37.69
SRM: 7.35

Now, the IBU seems very lop for an IPA. If I move the flame out hops to the last 10m of boil:
Hops
0.5oz Warrior - 60m
1oz Citra - 10m
1oz Mosaic - 10m
1oz Citra - 10m

I end up with this an IBU of 68.18, which seems more reasonable for an IPA. What do you think?

 

[RCope]

Instead of moving the flameout hops, how about doubling the Warrior? Save your banger hops for flavor/aroma...I think your recipe is very good, but you do need more IBU's than the first iteration.

 

[YeastInTheBucket]

Thanks for the input. So if I double the warrior hops to get the extra IBU, I end up with something that looks more like an IPA, and maybe even tastes good:

OG 1.058
FG 1.010
ABV 6.22%
IBU 62.84
SRM 7.35

Grains
1 lb Briess Caramel 40L

Malt extracts
6 lb Pilsner light LME
1 lb Golden Light DME

Sugar (added late in boil)
0.5 lb Dextrose

Hops
1oz Warrior - 60m
1oz Citra - 10m
1oz Mosaic - Flame out
1oz Citra - Flame out

2oz Citra - Dry hop
1oz Galaxy - Dry hop
1oz Mosaic - Dry hop

Yeast
Safale US-05

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Thanks for the input. So if I double the warrior hops to get the extra IBU, I end up with something that looks more like an IPA

With the late boil additions, the recipe is looking like a traditional/classic IPA (nothing wrong with that). There's a discussion around late boil vs flame-out vs "whirl pool" additions that may appear a little later in this topic.

Water: what is your water source? Are you doing a partial or full boil? Are you adding all the DME/LME at the start of the boil (or some at the start of the boil and some at 15 minutes before flame-out)?

 

[YeastInTheBucket]

I was planning on a partial boil, only because that's what I've done before, and what my kettle is sized for. Would you recommend one method over the other?

As for water, I have been using RO. I could take it a step further, I also have a de-ionization stage which makes it pretty close to just plain H20.

 

[Dgallo]

Seems a touch too much c40 for my preference but not necessarily wrong but you’ll def be a darker orange with a firm sweeter malt character. I’d probably cut it to .5 lbs.

You could rock the flame out if you’d like but I’d Whirlpool those hops 160 personally to get a little more from them

 

[rsquared]

Seems a touch too much c40 for my preference but not necessarily wrong but you’ll def be a darker orange with a firm sweeter malt character. I’d probably cut it to .5 lbs.

That was my thought too. That level of crystal looks more like an APA than an IPA to me.

 

[SanPancho]

citra and mosaic both have bound thiols that benefit form high temps. dont worry about throwing them in hot, just make sure you dont hang out there too long or you'll need to account for the extra bitterness. i'd say throw them in at flameout and then start chilling within 5 minutes or so. unless you have a monster chiller that should be plenty of time for them to develop flavor.

 

[YeastInTheBucket]

Thanks for the input guys. OK, so I cut back Caramel 40 to 0.5lb. I also forgot to add in the extra dose of Galaxy at flame out, which I had originally intended to include. Now I've just got to figure out if I'm going to do flame out or whirlpool.

OG 1.055
FG 1.010
ABV 5.97%
IBU 63.99
SRM 5.44

Grains
0.5 lb Briess Caramel 40L

Malt extracts
6 lb Pilsner light LME
1 lb Golden Light DME

Sugar (added 5m left in boil)
0.5 lb Dextrose

Hops
1oz Warrior - 60m
1oz Citra - 10m
1oz Mosaic - Flame out
1oz Galaxy - Flame out
1oz Citra - Flame out

2oz Citra - Dry hop
1oz Galaxy - Dry hop
1oz Mosaic - Dry hop

Yeast
Safale US-05

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I was planning on a partial boil [...]. As for water, I have been using RO.

Both are reasonable.

Be aware that with a partial boil, the "top off" water will dilute the IBUs in the wort and there is an upper limit to the number of IBUs one can get into a volume of wort. Recipe software should account for this - and you should be OK. But if you are not getting enough "bitterness", a full volume boil would be something to consider.

 

[Jag75]

I like doing a 60 min , 10 min then whirlpool.