First IPA - Suggestions?

[ConorO]

Hello all,

I'm planning to start my next brew soon and am really wanting to do an IPA. I was inspired by Victory's "DirtWolf," but the availability of hops at my local store combined with my imagination has morphed this recipe into a different beast. Would you care to take a look at the grain bill and offer any insight as to hops? I'm looking for a "sweet" and "spicy" flavor profile and am not sure which hops to employ . . . I was thinking a blend of Simcoe, Chinook, Cascade, and potentially Citra. Or, instead of a blend of four, perhaps I could try a 1-to-2-hop beer such as various additions of Simcoe/Chinook or a Cascade/Chinook IPA. What sort of combinations , or single-hop brews, do you prefer? What about for a specific spicy flavor?

Prospective Grain Bill: - - - - - - - - - Amended*:
(5 Gal)

10 lbs Pale Ale Malt - - - - - - - - 12 lbs Pale Malt
3 lbs Crystal 20L - - - - - - - - - -.5 lbs Crystal 60
1 lbs Biscuit - - - - - - - - - - - .5-1 lbs Biscuit
4-8 oz Honey Malt - - - - - - - - 4 oz Honey Malt (or omitted)

Let me know what you think! I'd appreciate any advice as I am very new to the brewing scene . . . but I'm not afraid to experiment!

Hop Schedule:
Preferably minimal bittering hops (long boil) with a hop burst and dry hop. Looking for ~70 IBUs.

 

[Sailingeric]

4 oz of honey malt should be fine.. a little can go a long way. I did a pale ale right on the edge of being an IPA that I used 1 oz of Chinook for 60, 1 oz Chinook at 30 and 1 oz of Willamette at 15, all this was on 2.5 gallon boil for a 5 gallon extract batch. You can adjust accordingly

 

[h-bar]

For your grain bill, that is way too much crystal malt. No more than 5% of the malt should be crystal malt for an IPA. I would also use 0.25-0.5# biscuit, 1# might be overwhelming.

 

[antony]

Agree with h-bar entirely.

 

[ConorO]

4 oz of honey malt should be fine.. a little can go a long way. I did a pale ale right on the edge of being an IPA that I used 1 oz of Chinook for 60, 1 oz Chinook at 30 and 1 oz of Willamette at 15, all this was on 2.5 gallon boil for a 5 gallon extract batch. You can adjust accordingly

The Williamette and the Chinook went together nicely?

For your grain bill, that is way too much crystal malt. No more than 5% of the malt should be crystal malt for an IPA. I would also use 0.25-0.5# biscuit, 1# might be overwhelming.

You'd recommend cutting down the specialty grains? I've contemplated removing the Honey Malt altogether. Should I boost the Pale Ale malt to compensate?

I should also note that I do not need to be particularly style-specific. I don't mind having a darker "IPA." However, if you think that much crystal malt would be overpowering, I will take you at your word.

 

[ong]

Yes, either half a lb of crystal or half a lb of honey, I'd say. The crystal will be sickly sweet at 3 lbs -- not a matter of color. If you want a darker beer, you could use half a lb of 40 or 60 instead of the 20.

I don't think any of those hops are particularly spicy, but they'd make a nice IPA. If you're wanting to get an idea which hops taste like what, keep it to one or two. I'd bitter with a little Simcoe, or with a neutral hop, but that's just me. Great idea to do lots of late addition hops -- think about doing a substantial whirlpool addition, where you add hops after the wort has cooled to, say, 190, and then let them steep without further cooling for at least 30 mins.

 

[ConorO]

Yes, either half a lb of crystal or half a lb of honey, I'd say. The crystal will be sickly sweet at 3 lbs -- not a matter of color. If you want a darker beer, you could use half a lb of 40 or 60 instead of the 20.

I don't think any of those hops are particularly spicy, but they'd make a nice IPA. If you're wanting to get an idea which hops taste like what, keep it to one or two. I'd bitter with a little Simcoe, or with a neutral hop, but that's just me. Great idea to do lots of late addition hops -- think about doing a substantial whirlpool addition, where you add hops after the wort has cooled to, say, 190, and then let them steep without further cooling for at least 30 mins.

Perhaps I'll stick with a crystal 60 and some of the biscuit malt. As for the hop additions, would you still dry hop on top of that?

 

[MadHomebrewer]

Give this a read. I found it quite useful for designing an IPA recipe.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/08/how-to-brew-better-ipas.html

 

[ConorO]

The author of that article isn't much of a fan of the crystal either, eh? Thank you for sharing - the struggle for balance is key. I'll keep the specialty malts to a minimum. As for the hops, I'm still debating . . . What about Chinook/Williamette for the boil/whirlpool and a Citra and/or Cascade dry hop?

 

[paperairplane]

Amended grain looks good. Can't really go wrong with Simcoe / Cascade. Hammer the hops in and give it an ounce or two dry hop - I just throw hops in the primary after initial fermentation is over. Figure dry hop day 7 and let it go a week, if you bottle maybe wait until day 14 and dry hop to day 21. Then package as usual.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

If you want to use Chinook, i personally would use it as your bittering hop. Then make the rest of your additions after the 20 min mark. Something like Chinook at 60min, then your flavor hops at 15min and 5min, maybe even some at 10min. Your aroma hops add at 0min or flameout. Then do your dry hop.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

The author of that article isn't much of a fan of the crystal either, eh? Thank you for sharing - the struggle for balance is key. I'll keep the specialty malts to a minimum. As for the hops, I'm still debating . . . What about Chinook/Williamette for the boil/whirlpool and a Citra and/or Cascade dry hop?

Yes, keep your crystal malts at or below 5% of your gain bill.

 

[Sailingeric]

The Williamette and the Chinook went together nicely?


.

I like the flavor not so much spicy but a bit more piney.

 

[ConorO]

If you want to use Chinook, i personally would use it as your bittering hop. Then make the rest of your additions after the 20 min mark. Something like Chinook at 60min, then your flavor hops at 15min and 5min, maybe even some at 10min. Your aroma hops add at 0min or flameout. Then do your dry hop.

I know Victory uses Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic, and Citra for the DirtWolf . . . I don't have access to the Mosaic, so I was thinking of using the Williamette or Cascade. However, as this is my first IPA, I'm not sure of the best way to go about incorporating such a variety of hops . . . Would a SMaSH IPA or two-hearted IPA be a wiser place to start?

 

[Sailingeric]

I know Victory uses Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic, and Citra for the DirtWolf . . . I don't have access to the Mosaic, so I was thinking of using the Williamette or Cascade. However, as this is my first IPA, I'm not sure of the best way to go about incorporating such a variety of hops . . . Would a SMaSH IPA or two-hearted IPA be a wiser place to start?

Are you doing extract? I did a few very simple beers when I started and not only was easier to keep up with what was going in, they turned out tasty and it helped me get a feel for what each of the ingredients added to the beer. Even now when I brew I hardly ever go with more than 2 hops unless I have some left over from a prior brew and I feeling "what the hell."


, toss them and see what happens

 

[ConorO]

Are you doing extract? I did a few very simple beers when I started and not only was easier to keep up with what was going in, they turned out tasty and it helped me get a feel for what each of the ingredients added to the beer. Even now when I brew I hardly ever go with more than 2 hops unless I have some left over from a prior brew and I feeling "what the hell."
, toss them and see what happens

This will be an all-grain brew. I'll keep the grain bill simple with the small addition of the biscuit and crystal malt. I have an oatmeal stout going into bottles tomorrow and want to get this next batch rolling . . . I like the idea of keeping it simple with the one or two hop varieties. However, I don't want anything too fruity . . . maybe use either Simcoe, Citra, Chinook, Columbus, or Williamette? I would like some citrusy notes, but I'm also craving that pine . . . not fruit loops.

Also, can one dry hop with the two varieties he brewed with and get a pleasant effect? I'm not afraid of some bold hop flavor, but is that overkill?

 

[ong]

No, you pretty much always want to dry hop an IPA. I'd just use one of the two hops you're featuring.

Citra will be pure fruit. Simcoe or Chinook will be piney goodness.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

This will be an all-grain brew. I'll keep the grain bill simple with the small addition of the biscuit and crystal malt. I have an oatmeal stout going into bottles tomorrow and want to get this next batch rolling . . . I like the idea of keeping it simple with the one or two hop varieties. However, I don't want anything too fruity . . . maybe use either Simcoe, Citra, Chinook, Columbus, or Williamette? I would like some citrusy notes, but I'm also craving that pine . . . not fruit loops.

Also, can one dry hop with the two varieties he brewed with and get a pleasant effect? I'm not afraid of some bold hop flavor, but is that overkill?

Your amended grain bill looks good. Chinook, Simcoe and Citra sound like a solid hop choice. I would save the citra for hoping at flame out and dry hop with it as well.

When I started out i would do single hop IPAs. I did a Centennial, Chinook, Warrior and Citra. Centennial was my favorite, but i also like Bell's Two Hearted ale. Chinook is going to give you bitter, earthy, dank, musky and pine qualitys. Semcoe will be piney and citrusy. And citra of course citrus and very strong aromas of citrus.

 

[oljimmy]

Just a vote for keeping the grain bill simple... my IPAs have gotten better and better as I've started simplifying the bill (as per advice given by Yooper and others). Now I just toss 5-7% of munich in with the 2-row and it comes out super clean and crisp. Resist the temptation to throw stuff in because you've heard it tastes good in a beer; in a modern American IPA, the malt is mostly just there as a vehicle for the hop flavor/aroma. Not saying that this is a bad grain bill, but just my two cents.

 

[ConorO]

Thank you all for your input - I am learning a lot. There is a bunch of reading going on since I am a novice - I have yet to garner much experience. Therefore, much of my knowledge/plans/ambitions are theoretical. I appreciate the guidance. Below is an amended prospective grain bill and hop schedule:

13 # Pale Malt
.5 # Crystal 60
.5 # Biscuit Malt

Hops:

1 oz. Simcoe - 60 mins ~ 38.5 IBUs
.5 oz. Chinook - 15 mins ~ 9.5
.5 oz. Chinook - 10 mins ~ 7.0
.5 oz. Chinook - 5 mins ~ 3.8
.5 oz. Chinook - Whirlpool 30 mins ~ 7.4
1 oz. Citra - Whirlpool 30 mins ~ 13.6
1 oz. Chinook- Dry Hop 7 days ( or should Simcoe show up here, again? Should we just leave it to Citra?)
1 oz. Citra - Dry Hop 7 Days

This puts me at, roughly, a 7.2% with 80 IBU. I know both values are high for the average IPA and creep along the border between IPA and DIPA, but what do you guys think? Too much Chinook? Not enough of another? Please, "lend me your . . . " beer wisdom.

 

[oljimmy]

The only other thing I would mention is that there is a lot of info out there on whirlpooling temps... many of the oils that produce hop aroma volatilize and disappear above 190 F, and the most abundant one, Myrcene, boils off at 147F. Many will say (though I'm not sure of this, no expert here) that chilling your wort to below 180 and then starting the whirlpool/steep additions results in more oil extraction, since it gives the oils a chance to stick around. And it definitely reduces the IBU contribution of those late hops (i.e. the acids that result in bitterness) which is nice, since you can focus on getting those IBUs from the boil.

OH and keep your lid on during the whirlpool, this apparently can help to seal those oils in.

 

[ConorO]

The only other thing I would mention is that there is a lot of info out there on whirlpooling temps... many of the oils that produce hop aroma volatilize and disappear above 190 F, and the most abundant one, Myrcene, boils off at 147F. Many will say (though I'm not sure of this, no expert here) that chilling your wort to below 180 and then starting the whirlpool/steep additions results in more oil extraction, since it gives the oils a chance to stick around. And it definitely reduces the IBU contribution of those late hops (i.e. the acids that result in bitterness) which is nice, since you can focus on getting those IBUs from the boil.

OH and keep your lid on during the whirlpool, this apparently can help to seal those oils in.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll keep that in mind as I brew today.

 

[ong]

Dump in any extra you have at the whirlpool -- I like to do 3-4 oz at the whirlpool stage to really bomb it with flavor.

 

[ConorO]

I brewed yesterday, so I'll let you know how these tips fared. Thank you guys for all of the great advice!