Day-Off-Extra-Stuff Belgian IPA - To Dry Hop, or Not?

[CountryGravy]

I had some left-over grain sitting around that I wanted to use before it got stale, so I made a throw-together IPA yesterday on my day off.

I thought I would "play", go for a full-bodied mash with sucrose to lighten it up and boost abv to go along with a Belgian Strong Ale yeast. I've also never gone exclusively with late-additions, so what I played in that arena too.

I was thinking the citrus/fruitiness from the hops might play well with the flavors from the yeast, but I'm thinking I may have over done it. Should I maybe dry hop with something else, to get some other flavors in there?

Also, what are your thoughts on this? I'm new to brewing IPAs, and this was really for "fun" and will be consumed regardless. Too much of one type of flavor profile? I recently dry-hopped a mediocre pale-ale with .5 oz of Warrior and didn't expect so much citrus from it.


Batch size: 3.1 gal
Boil Volume: 3.9 gal
Mash with 3.2 gal for 60 min at 156F, then sparge until I hit pre-boil volume.
60 min boil
Measured OG- 1.062 (right around 60% - which I expected from this crush and provider)
IBUs- ~85


GRAIN BILL:
4lb Pale 2 Row
3lb Belgian Pils
.33lb Crystal 40L
1lb Sucrose

HOPS:
1oz Warrior @ 20 min
.5 oz Amarillo @ 10 min
.5 oz Citra @ 10 min
.5 oz Amarillo @ 5 min
.5 oz Citra @ 5 min

YEAST: 1 qt starter from Wyeast Strong Belgian Ale (1388)

I appreciate any thoughts!

 

[motorneuron]

In my experience, the aromatics of Belgian yeast can get overwhelmed by a lot of late hop presence. It's funny, because if you do it right, the combination of yeast flavors (esters, phenols) and the hop flavors can be amazing. But I think it's just hard to get the balance right. That may be partly because of how much we like to hop IPAs these days.

That said, I think you won't know whether you want to dry hop this thing until it's fermented for ten days and you can take a gravity sample. At that point, you can decide; there's no harm in letting it sit with dry hops for another few days before bottling/kegging. Don't worry about it until you can try it.

A small note on the hop schedule--when people go with all late hops, usually they don't use warrior (or other hops famous for bittering). Instead, they just use more of the high-AA aroma hops that are popular now--Amarillo, citra, simcoe, etc. Not that you're doing it wrong here, but those hops accomplish both bittering and flavor/aroma, which is the point of the all-late method.

 

[CountryGravy]

All of that makes sense!

I'll remember that with the Warrior - I had it on hand, and wondered whether I should use it since it is such a high acid bittering hop.

I'll also be interested to see if any of the yeast characteristics come through. I wish I was a bit more experienced at picking out individual flavors, though I'm getting there. I'm a Belgian fanatic, so if there is a hint of the right flavors I should be able to pick it out. We'll see!

Thanks so much for your response.

 

[CountryGravy]

I've been trying ure out when to bottle this.

I brewed this one week after a Tripel, using yeast frome the same starter. I plan on letting the Tripel sit on the cake for 4-6 weeks total, and then age it out for a month or so before trying.

What about for an IPA like this, using a Belgian yeast? I've been reading on here that aging IPA's simply reduces the flavor. Do you think 2 weeks in the primary and one in a bottle or keg will be too short?

 

[motorneuron]

For a 1.062 beer, it'll very likely be done after 2 weeks. What you've read is right: the sooner the better with IPAs. Just make sure the gravity is stable after 2 weeks.

 

[CountryGravy]

That's great - I'm glad it will be done sooner than I thought! Maybe in time for some March madness if I use my Tap A Draft and force carb.

I took reading today, just out of curiousity. I normally don't touch a beer for a minimum of 2 weeks when I assume it's done. I'm deathly afraid of infection, so I sanitize like a mad man... I hope my sanitation techniques are decent enough.

Anyway, it's down to 1.018 in 4 days - much faster than I anticipated. I tasted a small sample, and I think it's going to be decent.

I also took a reading on a 1.074 Tripel I made 13 days ago, and that is down to 1.009! Very prominent on the alcohol, but tastes like what I was going for - I'm incredibly excited about it!

Really liking this yeast.