First American IPA recipe

[Blitzkrieg]

Well, after following a lot of recipes and making some seriously delicious beer I've decided that I'm most fond of the American IPA. I've got a 5 gallon batch of my own test recipe mashing right now and wanted some input from the pros.

11lbs of marris otter
1 lb of crystal 60
1/2 lb of melanoiden
3 oz of peated malt (I know not to style but I love scotch and have been dying to try this malt)

1oz warrior at 60
1oz cascade at 15
1oz fuggles at flame out

Mash at 154.4 for 60 mins then fly sparge till pre boil volume is reached...

Software says that everything fits and should give about 65-70 ibus and 6.5%

Any thoughts? I'm really not basing this off anything, just picked a few hops and grains and went for it.

 

[Flipadelphia]

The wonderful thing about homebrewing is that you can brew whatever you want and nobody can say a word about it, because it's yours.

However, if you're wanting to brew a true American IPA and that's what you're hoping it tastes like, I'd say you'll be a little disappointed with the way the recipe is constructed right now.

I'll go line by line of your recipe.

Maris Otter: American IPAs mainly use American 2 row. MO gives a bit more bready and malty flavor that you may not find suitable in a hoppy IPA.

Crystal malt: You have 7.8% of your grain bill as caramel malt. That may be a bit too cloying for your tastes, it just depends. Me? I like my American IPAs to finish nice and dry, and that much crystal I would not want in my IPA. Different strokes though.

Melanoiden malt: Generally used for decoction mashing (although Three Floyd's uses it in a few of their beers). I feel it is generally out of style for what you're trying to do. Perhaps throw in a pound of Munich or Vienna instead?

Peated malt: Well, all I can say is....it's your homebrew and you can do whatever you like

Your bittering addition is fine, but you're getting all your hop flavor and aroma from 15 mins and down, and there's not much going on here right now. Fuggles I would not use in an American IPA, as it doesn't have any citrusy or piney notes that AIPA's are known for. Fuggles are mainly for English beers...porters, stouts, etc.

I would do:

11 lbs American 2 row
1/2 lb Crystal 60 (if you must)
1lb Vienna

.75 oz warrior @ 60 (your original recipe uses up too much of your bittering at 60 mins)
1 oz cascade @ 15
1 oz simcoe/amarillo/citra/centennial/cascade @ 10 (pick one)
1.5 oz simcoe/amarillo/citra/centennial/cascade @ 5 (pick one)
1.5 oz simcoe/amarillo/citra/centennial/cascade @ flame out (pick one)

Then at least 2 ounces of a combo of those for dry hopping.

I'm not saying your recipe as is won't make a mildly hoppy beer, but it wouldn't be considered an American IPA by most people. Like I said, do what you want, but I think you'd really enjoy my suggestions if you're looking for a hoppy, flavorful IPA.

Cheers.

 

[Poobah58]

Save the peated malt for a Scotch Ale. Gotta think it will clash with the hops. Keep everything else the same and adjust next batch if needed. If you want the crystal, keep it. Maybe mash a little lower. That's the beauty of home brewing..

 

[tootal]

I use a lb. of 60L in my IPA but I'm making 10 gallons. So I too would back that down to a 1/2 lb.
Melanoidan is for making red beers or to recreate the mouthfeel and flavor of a decocted beer. It won't hurt anything, just not necessary.
Peat malt, might be interesting, might be strange. Your call. If you do by all means share the results!
Mash temp looks good to me but I like a little more mouth feel in my IPA's.
If I only had those hops to use then I would switch the Cascades with the Fuggles. Cascades are best as aroma hops among those three hops.
Let us know what you do and how it turns out!

The previous recommendations are only based on my opinion which is based on my experience.
Your experience may vary...

 

[Eucrid]

I'd drop the peated malt and use more late hops. Also I really like MO even for American styles but with the Fuggles as well as it this might end up more like an English IPA. Maybe switch the Fuggles for an American variety. Thats only if you care about brewing to style. Otherwise stick with the fuggles and just use more.

 

[Barley_Bob]

I use 2oz of Melandolin in my rye IPA. That's a small addition, but I think it's a nice touch. I would be nervous to use 8oz, but don't be too afraid to use it at all.

 

[divrguy]

++ great advice from everybody. If you want to make an American IPA I think you should save all of your ingredients except for the warrior and cascade and make a trip to your LHBS.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Thanks a lot guys, this is really helpful. I ended up brewing it the way I had described since I didn't have any feedback before I was done lol. I'll definitely make the adjustments for my next batch.

I actually don't have any 2-row left but I have a fresh sack of MO so that's why I went with that one. I have a good variety of hops in the freezer including; northern brewer, chinook, fuggles, warrior, simcoe, and maybe a few more.

I'll cut the crystal in half for next weekend and drop the peated malt. I will also adjust the hop schedule as recommended.

Once again thanks a lot everybody.