Trying to come up with a good ipa recipe and looking for a few pointers. I know that this should stay pretty simple so what I am thinking is 9lbs of pale extract , 1 lb of 10-12 L crystal, and a half pound of Vienna dextrin or Munich ,,, what would you guys do here? Also, I prefer drier ipas,, any grain that would help achieve dryness? Thanks, sorry for ignorance haha
Extract / grain bill for ipa ? Tips
- Thread starter Beardown
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
chickypad
lupulin shift victim
Vienna and munich should really be mashed, but it would be easy to do a small partial mash if you want to. With extract you can't manipulate your mash schedule to get a more fermentable/drier finish so the best way to dry it out is exchange some of your extract for sugar. You'll probably want to also cut down on the crystal or eliminate it, steeping crystal will contribute nonfermentable sugars and add sweetness.
+1 ^
Do a mini mash using 2 pounds of Vienna or 1 pound of Munich (10-15°L). If you like it dry, omit the crystal entirely, the malt extract has plenty of body and sweetness.
Use Extra Light or Pilsner dry malt extract (NO LME).
Only boil with half your DME and add the rest after flameout to prevent excessive caramelization and loss of hop utilization due to higher gravity.
Do a 30' or 60' boil with a good bittering hop to get half to most of your IBUs, e.g., Warrior, Magnum, or Galena, whatever, even Nugget if you like it (I do).
Look up how to do hop stands and whirlpool hops. The key is there are no 30' 15' 10' 5' 0' hops, all hops are added after flameout when the wort has cooled to 190°F and less (!) and recirculated or intermittently stirred for 30-60'. That gives you the tons of hop flavor you get in modern IPAs.
After fermentation has completed, about 7-10 days in, add your dry hops, 2-4 oz per 5 gallons. Do not do a secondary and prevent oxidation (air infiltration) at all steps and throughout the process.
Read current IPA recipes to get the hang of it.
Do a mini mash using 2 pounds of Vienna or 1 pound of Munich (10-15°L). If you like it dry, omit the crystal entirely, the malt extract has plenty of body and sweetness.
Use Extra Light or Pilsner dry malt extract (NO LME).
Only boil with half your DME and add the rest after flameout to prevent excessive caramelization and loss of hop utilization due to higher gravity.
Do a 30' or 60' boil with a good bittering hop to get half to most of your IBUs, e.g., Warrior, Magnum, or Galena, whatever, even Nugget if you like it (I do).
Look up how to do hop stands and whirlpool hops. The key is there are no 30' 15' 10' 5' 0' hops, all hops are added after flameout when the wort has cooled to 190°F and less (!) and recirculated or intermittently stirred for 30-60'. That gives you the tons of hop flavor you get in modern IPAs.
After fermentation has completed, about 7-10 days in, add your dry hops, 2-4 oz per 5 gallons. Do not do a secondary and prevent oxidation (air infiltration) at all steps and throughout the process.
Read current IPA recipes to get the hang of it.
Sure, you can use more, especially if you get a lighter variety Munich (~7°L). Mash low, 148-150F for an hour. Reduce your DME accordingly to get to your target OG.
chickypad
lupulin shift victim
Is this LME or DME? Especially if you're using DME I would replace some of that with sugar. 9 lb of DME alone is going to give you 1.081 in 5 gals and you said you want it on the dry side.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
you probably wont get anything dry with extract, its not designed that way but it can be good
I would put it into Beersmith and select the Style to see where you will be. I'm not sure how to use BS for extracts, but for an all grain it shows the attached (IPA) which is low on alcohol and color. If I use a 75 % conversion factor, which I read in a post, then it would be the second attachment (IPA2) 12 # of Pale which looks good on alcohol but still light on color.
Why not LME? Well, that's the big debate. Many believe LME doesn't ferment out (attenuate) as well as the Extra Light or Pilsner DME does. Regardless, using either LME or DME, extract brews tend to finish higher than AG. So there will be some more residual sweetness left. That's the main reason to omit all the Crystal Malt and as @chickypad said, even replacing some DME with plain sugar (a pound will do) will help to make it drier (lower FG). Add the sugar after the hopstand or, as I prefer, in a sanitary way after fermentation has slowed down (after 4-6 days).
As @king5899 pointed out, put your recipe into BeerSmith or some other recipe formulator (e.g., Brewer's Friend) and see what it gives you. You'll be performing a partial (mini) mash with the Vienna or Munich. I wouldn't go above 1.072. 1.066 is a decent IPA gravity target.
If you want a little more color, you can add a very small amount of roasted malt, such as Carafa Special III, Blackprinz, or Midnight Wheat. Even a 1/4 ounce is plenty. If you add too much your beer will taste roasty.
Similar threads
American Pale Ale
Sub 4% ABV Competition Entry - West Coast "Micro IPA"
