Feedback requested for IPA recipe

[Erik_Mog]

Thinking about an IPA for my next brew, this weekend if schedule allows, to redeem myself from my failed IPA. This is the recipe I am working on, and would love your feedback/suggestions.

Leia's Kiss-AG
American IPA
Type: All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.22 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My 10 gal Brew Pot w/Igloo Cooler
End of Boil Volume 5.72 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 73.0 %

Ingredients


11 lbs Pale Malt, Golden Promise (Thomas Fawcett) (2.7 SRM) 90.7 %
10.0 oz Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) 5.2 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) 4.1 %
1.00 oz Centennial [11.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 39.3 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min 11.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min 7.0 IBUs
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.40 %] - Boil 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Denny's Favorite (Wyeast Labs #1450) [124.21 ml] 1L Starter
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.40 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs
0.50 tsp Gelatin (Secondary 2.0 days)


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.060
Est Final Gravity: 1.011
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 %
Bitterness: 58.3 IBUs
Est Color: 7.7 SRM
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 2.0 oz
Sparge Water: 4.13 gal
Sparge Temperature: 180.0 F

Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 19.81 qt of water at 160.2 F 148.0 F 75 min


Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 4.13gal) of 180.0 F water

I am also thinking of this water profile (based very loosely on Bru'n Water's Pale Ale profile with a lot lower Sulfate):


Ca 95
Mg 4
Na 9
SO4 158
Cl 54

Mineral Additions (gm) Mash Sparge
Gypsum . 5.0 4.1
Calcium Chloride 1.5 1.2
Epsom Salt 0.5 0.4

Mash Acid Additions
Lactic 88.00 % 0.99 (ml)

Est. Mash pH: 5.32

Would love any suggestions/feedback, especially on the hoping.

 

[bigplunkett]

Looks good to me id throw a littke sugar at it to help dry it out but thats just me

 

[saltymirv]

Looks great overall, only thing I would change is up the dry hops to 4oz

 

[Erik_Mog]

Looks great overall, only thing I would change is up the dry hops to 4oz

Some one on another forum suggested doubling the 10 min, flame out and dry hops (I like a lot of aroma and flavor, but want to keep the bitterness under control), so i am looking at doing that and dropping the 60 min Centennial to .75oz, bringing the IBU's to 67.5 which is really close to one of the IPA's I drink.

 

[saltymirv]

Some one on another forum suggested doubling the 10 min, flame out and dry hops (I like a lot of aroma and flavor, but want to keep the bitterness under control), so i am looking at doing that and dropping the 60 min Centennial to .75oz, bringing the IBU's to 67.5 which is really close to one of the IPA's I drink.

You could up the late additions, but you already have 4oz between the 10 minute and flameout additions. IMO that's enough but it all depends on what flavor profile you're going for. I would double the dry hops no matter what you do with the boil though

 

[Erik_Mog]

After talking to some Brewers about what I like in an IPA, I have settled on this for my Hop schedule (keeping the grain bill the same). I am a big fan a citrusy, high aroma and high hop flavor IPA's so here is what we came up with for this:

1.5oz Simcoe (13%) @ 60min
4oz Amarillo (8.6%) 45min Hop stand @ 170F
4oz Cascade (5.4%) 45min Hop stand @ 170f
2oz Amarillo (8.6%) Dry Hop 7 days
2oz Cascade (5.4%) Dry Hop 7 days
5oz Simcoe (13%) Dry Hop 7 days
69.7 IBU

Pretty sure this may be a citrusy Hop Bomb

 

[grassfeeder]

After talking to some Brewers about what I like in an IPA, I have settled on this for my Hop schedule (keeping the grain bill the same). I am a big fan a citrusy, high aroma and high hop flavor IPA's so here is what we came up with for this:

1.5oz Simcoe (13%) @ 60min
4oz Amarillo (8.6%) 45min Hop stand @ 170F
4oz Cascade (5.4%) 45min Hop stand @ 170f
2oz Amarillo (8.6%) Dry Hop 7 days
2oz Cascade (5.4%) Dry Hop 7 days
5oz Simcoe (13%) Dry Hop 7 days
69.7 IBU

Pretty sure this may be a citrusy Hop Bomb

That's a lot of Simcoe at 60. I'd honestly keep it at 1oz and FWH it. I'd do no further additions till your hop stand at 170. 8 oz of those is perfect! Your dry hop, I'd switch and do 5oz of Amarillo and 2 of simcoe. The simcoe in my experience cuts through so using the more citrusy hop in Amarillo is beneficial. Honestly, depending on if you're crafting this per your schedule but I've never seen a difference in a 4 day to 7 day dry hop schedule. I've always got the same results.

Also, I'd only do .5# of carapils as well as add .5# of dextrose but that's me.

What yeast?

 

[Erik_Mog]

That's a lot of Simcoe at 60. I'd honestly keep it at 1oz and FWH it. I'd do no further additions till your hop stand at 170. 8 oz of those is perfect! Your dry hop, I'd switch and do 5oz of Amarillo and 2 of simcoe. The simcoe in my experience cuts through so using the more citrusy hop in Amarillo is beneficial. Honestly, depending on if you're crafting this per your schedule but I've never seen a difference in a 4 day to 7 day dry hop schedule. I've always got the same results.

Also, I'd only do .5# of carapils as well as add .5# of dextrose but that's me.

What yeast?

The 5oz of Simcoe was supposed to be .5oz, as it will be left over and I'd figured to just throw it in there. The 7 days for the dry hop is really based on my schedule. If I am able to brew it this weekend, the earliest I would be able to bottle would be the 23rd or 24th. I was thinking I would cold crash for about 3 days before bottling, so it would be dry hop and 4 days later crash it.

 

[grassfeeder]

that sounds great....try some White Labs 007 in that....I think it would play well.

 

[Erik_Mog]

that sounds great....try some White Labs 007 in that....I think it would play well.

I have a starter of WY1450 going. Stir plate for 48 hours and then crash until brew day.

 

[jjeffers09]

I wont say what you have doesn't sound good, but this is my first thought is to go either lemony or orangey

Bittering ~ 50IBU
Motueka, Centennial, Pilgrim, Columbus, Admiral

Late Addition ~10IBU
1oz 10min Centennial/Motueka or Amarillo ~7
1oz 5min Cascade/Motueka or Mandarina Bavaria ~3

WP Agreed with 45min @170Fish
2oz Motueka or Admiral
1.5oz Centennial or Amarillo

Dry Hop 5-7 days
2-4oz Centennial/Motueka or Amarillo
2-4oz Cascade or Mandarina Bavaria

 

[Redlantern]

I might be inclined to suggest pulling back a little on Carapils and crystal. Probably could go with 4-6 oz Carapils with the amount of crystal. Will not really change flavor. Personal preference though - I am trying to dial back on head retention on IPA's. Too much foam gets in the way. It looks pretty, but kind of a waste to have more than a 1/4".

 

[Joker_on_Jack]

I might be inclined to suggest pulling back a little on Carapils and crystal. Probably could go with 4-6 oz Carapils with the amount of crystal. Will not really change flavor. Personal preference though - I am trying to dial back on head retention on IPA's. Too much foam gets in the way. It looks pretty, but kind of a waste to have more than a 1/4".

Big second on this. I did a similar IPA a ways back and got way to much head that never went down. Ended up pouring 12 oz bottles into 1L jars to have enough space... less head retention.

 

[Erik_Mog]

Great brew day on this today. Hit my mash temp of 148F dead on and only lost 2 degrees over 75 min. I hit the predicted pre-boil gravity of 1.046 and hit 1.064 OG (predicted was 1.063). With the large amount of hops in this recipe, I decided to bag the pellets, and then pour into the fermenter through a paint strainer bag. I don't think I will ever brew without bagging the hops and using the strainer bag again. I got my target post boil volume og 5.5 gal into the fermenter.

I was only able to get the wort to 80F with my chiller, so I put it in the chest freezer to finish cooling, cut the grass, and pitched the yeast at 5:00PM.

I double crushed the grains for this batch as well. I had a stuck sparge on my first AG brew day, so I was a little nervous about it today. There was no stuck sparge this time though. My measured mash efficiency was 76%, and overall brewhouse efficiency was 77.6% (both a good improvement over my first AG). Now to wait and see if my starter was good and the yeast takes off. I do have a couple of packs of US-05 just in case.

I did decide to lower the Carapils a little, and also lowered the Caramel 60 (and changed to Caramel 40 as well), and added 6oz sugar at flame out to help dry it out a little more. I will post updates on the progress, and also tasting notes and a final recipe once I know how it turns out.

 

[Erik_Mog]

Opened a bottle tonight after two weeks in the bottle. It is very well carbed, clear and flavorful. It is pretty much every thing I was hoping this IPA would be. The bitterness is not over the top, and lingers in the finish, and is bitterness with flavor. Kind of like you get when eating grapefruit. Aroma is a blend of floral and citrus notes. There is definite up front grapefruit flavor from the Cascade, and background citrus from the Amarillo and Cascade. Even at 7% it goes down smooth. This is hands down the best beer I have brewed so far, and it will be my regular house IPA (I may brew this as a double at some point, and maybe do it with Mango and Habanero as well, but I will probably only brew this as my standard AIPA). Thanks again to everyone who helped me fine tune the recipe.