First IPA

[superlarry]

Just brewed my first IPA. Let's call it Larry's IPA. Its a 30 minute extract beer.

Got my 2.5 gallons to rolling boil.
.5 oz Amarillo at 30 minute
.5 oz Citra at 24 minute
3 LBS Light DME at 19 minute
.5 oz Williamette at 19 minute
3 LBS Amber DME at 14 minute
.5 oz Citra at 14 minute
1 TSP Irish Moss at 14 minute
.5 oz Williamette at 10 minute

Got her in the primary with 2.5 more gallons of water. Tried to pitch the yeast around 75, not sure how close it was but definitely within 10 degrees. Safale us 05 dry ale yeast. Hydrometer said 1.06 OG.

What do you guys think? 12 hours later its bubbling 1 a minute in primary bucket.

Im hoping to dry hop my other .5 of Amarillo at some point...

 

[TheMan]

Sounds good to me. I'd dry hop with a bit more than .5 ounces though.

Also, Stop counting bubbles. Bubble quantity means nothing.

 

[unionrdr]

Why did you start your hop additions before adding any DME? 2.5oz of hops sounds a little light. And Irish moss before the last hop addition? This recipe seams a little out of phase to me.
I used 4.5 ounces of hops in the boil,& 1.5oz of 3 different hops in the dry hop.

 

[superlarry]

I was just indicating that it was fermenting along nicely with my "bubble count".

I really was just trying to get it all in the pot in about 30 minutes. Didn't want it too bitter and wanted it to be on the dry side of things. So I tried to get all the DME in with at least 10 minutes to boil but it takes a while to get it all in so I started about 20 minutes left. I wanted to get the Moss in with 15 minutes for it to do it's thing. You think any of these items "out of phase" are going to matter much?

Thinking I could buy another ounce of hops for dry hopping. Any suggestions?
I sure like the smell of the Amarillo. Should i just do 1.5 of Amarillo?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Amarillo is great for dry hopping, IMO. With that beer, I'd say yeah, go for it, an oz and a half should give you some nice citrus aroma.

 

[superlarry]

Seems like most people dry hop in secondary but I was reading some people do it in latter stage of primary. Any specifics on when and for how long?

 

[Hovercar]

You can dry hop in the primary, just wait until it's done fermenting. Generally a 1 week dry hop is standard. So let it ferment, after 2 weeks dry hop, and at the end of your third week bottle. And I agree with the others saying use more than .5oz for dry hop. I recently dry hopped an IPA with 2oz and holy crap did it smell and taste delicious going into the bottle.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I dry hop in secondary. But you can dry hop in primary once FG is reached. The general rule is not to dry hopfor more than two weeks. I've found that ten or more days and you start to get a grassy, vegetive flavor/aroma, so I try to keep it under ten days. My last two dry hopped brews, both IPA's, I dry hopped for 7 days.... Lotsa hop aroma and no fresh cut grass. So, try maybe 5-7 days, see how ya like the beer and base your dry hop times on that. Definitely, keep the dry hop under ten days unless you're going for the grassy aromas (which can be nice in an apa/IPA IMHO).

 

[superlarry]

Cool. Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. So what gravity would I want to start hoppin at? Started at 1.06

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Dry hop after FG is reached. You would do a seven day dry hop for the last seven days before bottling/kegging. 5 days, for the last 5 days and so on... You can either do it in primary and skip secondary altogether, or after FG is reached in primary, rack to secondary and dry hop for X amount of days, then bottle/keg.

 

[unionrdr]

I always wait to dry hop after I get a stable FG. Then dry hop one week. I usually add 1.5lbs of plain DME to the boil for hop additions,one after the other. Of course,I use cooper's Original Series cans,since they have a little bittering hops only. Pride of Ringwood to be exact. Clean & a bit fruity. So I add 3lbs total of plain DME & hops for whatever style I'm turning it into.
And letting it sit in primary till after FG to clear to a slight haze before priming & bottling. It gives me a clear ale that doesn't need adjuncts to make it clear with a high flocculation,high attenuation yeast.

 

[superlarry]

Im going to go with 1.5 oz of Amarillo for dry hopping. 5-7 days. Love the smell of the Amarillo. Smells like Stone IPA to me.

So Im fermentin away in a bottling bucket. I like the idea of bottling from the primary - which seems to be gaining in popularity? But that would have worked better had I started in a carboy right? Is it possible to dry hop in my primary bottling bucket and then just bottle from there? Or should I move to carboy for secondary and dry hopping and then back into bottling bucket to bottle?

I don't really have a destination FG? Maybe I should be trying to calculate this?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

When I come up with a recipe, I use software so I have an idea of what to shoot for. That way I'm confident of when to rack to secondary, dry hop, bottle/keg, etc. You can also predict your target FG if you know your yeast strains expected % of attenuation. It's generally in the 65-75% range depending on the strain. Take your OG, figure out what percent the strain is expected to eat and that's your target FG.
As for dry hopping in a bottling bucket, which I assume's your primary, I ferment in glass carboys only, so I'm not sure. I also very cleanly and carefully rack to secondary for any dry hopping, so if you're comfortable using a secondary, I'd say do that. You get a cleaner dry hop, IMO. (I'm sure you're aware of the 'secondary or no secondary debate)

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

BTW, Amarillo are one of my favorites for dry hopping. Amazing aroma for pale ales!

 

[SarahMatt]

BTW, Amarillo are one of my favorites for dry hopping. Amazing aroma for pale ales!

Mine too!!! My LHBS did an all Amarillo pale ale, delicious!!! And on my list!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Mine too!!! My LHBS did an all Amarillo pale ale, delicious!!! And on my list!

Yeah, I did midwest's Amarillo pale ale kit and dry hopped it with an oz of Amarillo. Great beer!!!

 

[superlarry]

oy. so worried about what im going to do in a week. i wasn't paying attention. seems the room i have it fermentin in is hotter then i realized. its noon right now and its 85. i don't really have a better option. probably screwed already from it sittin in here all day yesterday? as i understand it the fermentation is making it hotter inside there then it is in the room. probably up to 90. no bueno.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

High temps can be a problem. Phenols and fusels can be produced. How was the temp for the first three or four days of very active fermentation? That's the time you need to be most concerned about temp. But temperatures should always be in the desired range for the yeast strain used.

 

[superlarry]

In the first 24 hours it probably got up to 85. I just found a little bit cooler spot. Tried to move it delicately. Im on hour 36 of fermentation. I found a spot thats 80 ambient temperature. Gotta get out my damn window a/c but not sure if Ill get that done today.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Try cooling it off more. If it's only that far in, you can cool it off into a more appropriate range and be fine. Do you have a cooler or a bucket that you can place the fermentor inside of with a cool water bath?

 

[superlarry]

I setup the window A/C. should be able to keep it in low 70s. so first 36 hours might have been a bit rough. prob got up to 90 in the fermenter, and then down to 75 overnight and then back up to 90. now it should be in a good range here on out. we'll see how it goes.

 

[superlarry]

of course the a/c doesn't work. damn i didn't realize how hot it is in my frickin house. never got under 76 last night. i've got a wet towel around my plastic bucket with the ceiling fan on. somehow i don't think it's doing the job. im wishin i had it in my carboy so i could see the temperature.

i think the fusel alcohols are already giving me a headache. im thinking of dumpin this batch.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Don't do that man. Let it finish, see what ya get. Hot alcohol can be subdued with dry hops and a lil extra time in bottles. Think of a double IPA, you can taste higher alcohol in many examples of IIPA.

Keep it as cool as you can. And for your next batch, use some type of fermentation chamber. I use an 18 gal rope tote from home cheapo filled with cool water and frozen water bottles if need be. Keep it in a cool spot with a fan on it and a towel over the carboy soaking in the water. It's a ghetto swamp cooler and it works great.