English IPA recipe check

[jfr1111]

I have finally pinpointed what special brew I want to do for Christmas: an English IPA. It's not Christmas-y per se, but it's big(ger) than what I usually brew and it'll still be a treat to brew and to drink. I have never brewed such a style though. In fact, I've never brewed an IPA at all !

5.5 Gal USA

English IPA
SG: 1.054
FG: 1.011
IBU: 44
Color: 10 SRM
90 min. boil time

Bairds MO 90%
Bairds Crystal (80L) 2.5%
Special Roast 2.5%
Torrefied Wheat 2.5%
Invert No.1 (25L) 3.5%

39 grams Challenger 90 min 36
28 grams Goldings 15 min 8
28 grams Goldings 0 min --

Mash @ 150F for 60 minutes
Ferment @ 68 F with S-04

Notes: I want this beer to be fairly dry and well attenuated, which explains the addition of invert, the mashing schedule, the restraint in using crystal and the yeast choice. My reading on the style and commercial examples reflect that the dry character should be prevalent. The special roast is there to accentuate the breadyness of MO and bring a little something to the party. The Torrefied Wheat is simply for head retention.

 

[bierhaus15]

Recipe looks good, though I might up the invert to 8-10% if you want it to contribute to the flavor of the beer. At those levels you'll get a light caramel complexity without much sweetness. Other than that, only thing I might suggest would to up the IBU a tad. In my experience, if you don't get that sharp, clean bitterness indicative of IPA, you'll end up with something more along the lines of an ESB. Water is going to play a big role here too.

Glad to see someone else using Invert Syrup!

 

[jfr1111]

Speaking of Invert Syrup, did you use this method ? I was thinking of ramping up the bitterness a smidge, but I'm worried it might throw the beer off balance due to the tart and dry nature of S-04 and the low SG/FG. IBU/SG is low though, I might shoot for .9.

I probably won't screw around with water unless I decide to submit the beer to competition and then I'll rebrew a small batch with tweaks.

Thanks !

 

[bierhaus15]

Speaking of Invert Syrup, did you use this method ?

Yep. Though I do not use the dilution method as it tastes totally different than the regular way - it leaves too much backstrap flavor in the syrup.

 

[jfr1111]

How's this for a new formulation ?

Est Original Gravity: 1,054 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5,61 %
Bitterness: 53,3 IBU
Est Color: 10,4 SRM

Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3,0 SRM) 87,5 %
Bairds Crystal (80,0 SRM) 3 %
Special Roast (50,0 SRM) 2,5 %
Invert Sugar #1 (25,0 SRM) 7 %

45,00 gm Challenger [7,50 %] (90 min) Hops 48,0 IBU
28,00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5,00 %] (15 min) Hops 5,3 IBU
28,00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5,00 %] (0 min) Hops -

I took away the torrified wheat for simplicity's sake. I don't like too many ingredients in my beer, especially on a first brew, and I don't think that head retention will be an issue with the SG and late hopping. I lowered the IBUs of the goldings I have on hand because of age.

I'm making my invert today. My mom is staying at my place (newly retired!) and will watch like an hawk over my every move so I don't carelessly burn/scorch the invert or generally mess up. The blog says to put in a sanitized mason jar, but I figure that since it'll be going in the fridge and in the boil when I'll be making beer with it, there's no reason to break out the bleach. I have never seen caramel or honey get moldy, so why would this go bad ?

 

[jfr1111]

Remember boys and girls, calibrate all your equipment before using it. My beautiful invert scorched in a matter of seconds because the thermometer read 20 degrees too low...

I figured that out AFTER the whole mess, when boiling it in plain water. An hour and a half wasted.

 

[bierhaus15]

Damn man, sorry to hear that. Hope you'll take another stab at it...

Recipe looks good.

 

[jfr1111]

Damn man, sorry to hear that. Hope you'll take another stab at it...

Recipe looks good.

I'll take another shot at it for sure, but probably with white table sugar just to get the hang of it and not waste the 1$ a pound stuff. I'll graduate to cane sugar once I have the process down.

I'm taking back the 4$ thermometer to the store this morning.

Yeah, I want that 4$ back.

That's 2kg of bairds crystal !

 

[jfr1111]

I made two batches of Invert today. One with table sugar which yellowed just a little bit (straw yellow in a standard mason jar). No discernable aroma, tastes of vanilla and honey. Not much going on. Will not use in a brew.

The other batch used pure cane sugar. I boiled it for 90 minutes and it didn't darken much... It looks like your typical bitter in a mason jar, so maybe I hit the numbers for invert #1, maybe not. I'll keep it as is and give it a ride in the saucepan come brew day to darken it further. The instructions on the unholymess site are good, but holy sheet, making number 3 must take a whole day at this rate ! Maybe my thermo read a little low and I never got to the fast caramelization phase. Taste is good: a little caramel, honey, some pear, no toasty notes. I want something darker and more complex.