First AIPA recipe, any critiques?

[dackerm]

5 gallon batch sparge American IPA recipe

Grain bill

9 lbs pale ale malt

2 lbs acidulated malt

1 lbs Vienna malt

2 lbs honey

Hops:

45 min .5 oz citra

45 min .5 oz us cascade

30 min .5 oz centennial

15 min .5 oz centennial

10 min .5 oz centennial

10 min .5 oz citra

10 min .5 oz cascade

10 min 1 oz Amarillo

7 day dry hop 1 oz fuggle

 

[eluterio]

whats the AA on your hops and what does your IBU calculator tell you could have?

IMO, I would just use the first 3 hop additions, Citra .5, Cascade.5, and Centennial.5 at 30 mins. I would move the rest to 5 mins or flame out. I wouldnt dry hop with Fuggle I would dry hop with an american hop like cascade or centennial or even citra! I would put about 3-5 oz for dry hop about an ounce per gallon.

Hope this helps.

Oh btw what yeast will you be using?

 

[jCOSbrew]

Save the 1oz citra for flameout, use cascade or centenial for bittering additions.

My basic APA and IPA recipes use 2-row, carapils, and crystal malts.

There is an american grown version of fuggles but it is more typically used for English and German brews.

I like US-05 dry yeast (or the liquid Wyeast and WhiteLabs versions) for american ales.

 

[seckert]

I would personally back up the time and amount of your first addition to 1oz of each hop at 60 or FWH those additions.

I agree the fuggle dry hop would be weird for the style you are going for, however it is your beer so it depends on what you are wanting to achieve.

 

[peterj]

You definitely DO NOT want 2 lbs of acidulated malt or 2 lbs of honey malt! Acid malt should be used in small oz quantities to adjust the pH of your mash as calculated by a water chemistry calculator. And 2 lbs of honey malt would leave the beer WAY too sweet for an IPA. I would drop both of those completely and maybe add about 0.5 lb of a medium crystal malt.

For the hops, I wouldn't use Citra to bitter. I would bitter at 60 minutes with a clean, high alpha bittering hop. Then add your flavor and aroma additions in the last 15 minutes. And as the previous poster said, I wouldn't dry hop with fuggle. That's a typical English hop which would be out of place in an AIPA. I would do something like this:

60 min Magnum (or Centennial if that's what you have) to get the IBU you want
15 min 1 oz Cascade
10 min 1 oz Amarillo
5 min 1 oz Centennial
0 min 1 oz Citra
Dry hop 2-3 oz of a combo of any of the above late hops.

That was just kind of random placement, but the point is you want about 2-4 oz in the last 15 minutes and about 2-4 oz in the dry hop. All of them should be American hops with good aroma and flavor.


EDIT: I just saw that was just honey not honey malt. In this case I agree with Yooper's comment below, 2 lbs of honey is a bit much and will leave the beer too thin.

 

[Yooper]

I'm not a fan of honey in beer, but if you like it it's ok. I'd probably go with more like one pound, though. Too much will make a very thin and dry beer.

I think you made a typo with 2 pounds of acid malt- but if not, definitely take it out. It can be replace with US two-row, or you could increase the Vienna malt a little if you want it in for character. A little victory malt (say, .5 pound) is nice for a toasty flavor without sweetness.

The hopping isn't great. Add your bittering hops at 60 minutes, and then your late hops at 15/5/0, and skip the 45 and 30 minute additions.

Fuggles is an odd choice to dryhop with, since you have all those US c-hops, and won't notice much from it at all.

I'd go with:

Bittering hops 60 minutes (.75 oz or so)
1 oz hops 15 minutes
1 oz hops 5 minutes
1 oz hops flameout
dryhop with 2 oz hops.

 

[dackerm]

I'm using San Diego super

 

[dackerm]

The 2 lbs of acid was a typo I'm only going with half a pound. Going to cut the honey (not honey malt) to a lb. I want to stay with the us fuggels for the dry hop. I just like their aroma a lot. Then an oz of centennial at 60 and then oz of centennial citra and Amarillo at 15 10 and 0 respectively it comes at 49 ibus

 

[progmac]

make sure to taste something with fuggle before committing. it is a little....different

 

[dackerm]

Thanks for all of the suggestions by the way. Seems like I was way off on the hops. I was trying to increase the abv with the honey. I guess I didn't do enough research in that.

 

[dackerm]

I have that's why I chose them to dry hop with

 

[peterj]

The 2 lbs of acid was a typo I'm only going with half a pound. Going to cut the honey (not honey malt) to a lb. I want to stay with the us fuggels for the dry hop. I just like their aroma a lot. Then an oz of centennial at 60 and then oz of centennial citra and Amarillo at 15 10 and 0 respectively it comes at 49 ibus

I still think 0.5 lb of acid malt is too much and is going to shift your mash pH way too low. Did you calculate the predicted mash pH? Acid malt is not meant to be a flavoring malt, it's made for pH adjustments. And unless you need it to attain a certain mash pH, I wouldn't use that much of it.

 

[dackerm]

Oh okay that makes since. I just got a lb for free and figured I would throw them in my next brew. I've never really dealt with them.

 

[thisisbeer]

The 1lb of honey would be interesting. I wouldn't use the Citra at 45. Swap the 10 min .5 oz centennial with the 45 minute addition or move the addition time to change your IBUs. Citra is better later in the boil. You also may want to take whatever two of the 4 - 10 minute hop additions and add them at flame out. I am a big fan of adding 45-10 minute hop additions but I like the added aroma of flame out hops. Other than that give it a shot. Be careful about the acidulated malt. Even a half pound can throw your water profile off and make the hops harsher than you anticipated.

 

[Yooper]

Acid malt is great for lowering mash pH. You wouldn't need more than an ounce or two to drop your pH in most cases. I would not use more than an ounce or two without knowing your water profile and heck, even then would not use it in this case.

I always have acid malt on hand for pH adjustments in the mash. If you want to use it for flavoring perhaps a dry Stout might work for you or a Berliner Weiss.

 

[dackerm]

Yea I've been meaning to put together a Berliner as soon as I can.

 

[eluterio]

Thanks for all of the suggestions by the way. Seems like I was way off on the hops. I was trying to increase the abv with the honey. I guess I didn't do enough research in that.

If you want more alcohol just increase your base malt.

 

[eluterio]

Like some thoughts from everyone here if he is going to use Fuggle for aroma only would 1 ounce be enough? I figure with the american hop profile he is starting with and most of those citrus, lemon, grapefruit, piney could 1 ounce of fuggle be enough to show up? If you have your mind set on fuggle you might want to add 2 or more ounces, just my thoughts.