First recipe feedback (IPA)

[cgeorg]

Hi,

My wife got me a homebrew kit for Christmas. It came with a partial mash kit (some specialty grains to steep), and I brewed it a friend's house. At the same time, he did an all grain recipe, and I think I will jump straight into that. I have seen a lot of nice recipes on here, and I almost started with the Pliny clone, but I figured I'd rather whip up a recipe myself, based on what I know I like in an IPA, to really get that sense of accomplishment (this is MY beer!).

So, that's the why. Now the what. I prefer IPAs to have just enough malt to provide a backbone for the hops to shine through. I like a bit of bitter up front, a ton of hop aroma, and a fairly neutral aftertaste. I don't want to get a drying effect from a beer - I want it to leave my mouth a little "wet". I also prefer citrus notes in my hops, especially grapefruit-y notes. My thoughts when structuring the recipe were to keep the mash temp lower to keep most of the sugars fermentable. I added just enough 20L to get the color near the American IPA scale, and then added 2 row until I hit what seemed like a good gravity/ABV combo. Hop varieties were chosen based on typical aroma characteristics.

Will this recipe work? More importantly, will it give me what I'm looking for, based on the above?


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 5.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 61.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 93.3 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.7 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 26.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4 26.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 5 2.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 6.7 IBUs
2.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 7 -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperatur Step Time
Mash In Add 20.00 qt of water at 164.7 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.57 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[LKABrewer]

Looks tasty to me.

 

[turkeyjerky214]

You might want a 15 or 10 minute hop addition. I personally like a more complex malt bill in my IPAs, but I know some people like it as simple as that. c20 is a bit light though. I would think about changing that to c40 or even c60. Of course, it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[dukes]

You might want a 15 or 10 minute hop addition.

Agreed. Maybe move the 30 minute Simcoe addition to 15 minutes.

 

[mewithstewpid]

looks great but i agree move the 30 min addition to 20min

 

[JakeFegely]

+1 to changing the 20L to 40L or 60L. The current SRM of 5.7 is pretty light - probably a yellowish IPA. Changing to 40 or 60 would increase the SRM and probably get the color moving towards a more typical orange. I think the flavor would balance well with the hops. However it's your beer and your taste. If you want the light body go for it! I'm sure it will be good.

 

[terrapinj]

i'd suggest either making a starter or getting a packet of US-05 (same strain) to save yourself some money instead of pitching 2 vials of wlp001

 

[cgeorg]

+1 to changing the 20L to 40L or 60L. The current SRM of 5.7 is pretty light - probably a yellowish IPA. Changing to 40 or 60 would increase the SRM and probably get the color moving towards a more typical orange. I think the flavor would balance well with the hops. However it's your beer and your taste. If you want the light body go for it! I'm sure it will be good.

I was actually shooting for more of a yellow color with this one. Think Racer 5, or perhaps Green Flash West Coast.

Will 5.7 be even lighter than these? I could switch to a 40L to give it a bit more color. I don't mind "body". However, there is a distinct aftertaste that I get in some IPAs, that I think comes from the malt, that I am distinctly trying to avoid. I don't know enough about brewing/ingredients to know what exactly creates that taste, or how to avoid it.

Would switching to 40L and dropping the mash temp down to 150 or 151 help, by extracting less unfermentables (and therefore flavor?) from the crystal malt? Would changing the mash time change this (adding the 40L 15 or 30 mins into the mash?)


Also, I've moved the 30 minute addition to 15 mins - I just saw a nice graphic on the forum with the "flavor hump" for hop additions - I didn't realize that was there!

 

[cgeorg]

Going to be brewing this at the same time as a centennial blonde, so I'm stealing the leftover specialties for mine. It upped the color a bit. I also doubled the 5 minute cascade. Planning to get ingredients tomorrow for a brew this weekend.

Aside: Is it possible to get the sexy-looking recipes that I see people posting from BeerSmith?

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 6.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 54.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
13 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 85.2 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.6 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.3 %
8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 4 3.3 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.6 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 25.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 16.6 IBUs
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 5.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 6.7 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 10 -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperatur Step Time
Mash In Add 20.33 qt of water at 164.7 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.52 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[bobbrews]

You could get Pliny the Elder by making a couple small changes to that recipe:

-Mash lower, like 149-151 F
-Think about a 90 minute boil
-Use 4-5% Crystal 45L instead of 20L
-Add 4-5% Carapils
-Substitute 4-5% 2-row with a late addition of Corn Sugar
-Use about 87% total 2-row
-Shoot for approx. 1.075-1.078 OG
-Substitute Amarillo for Cascade
-Add more hops in general, especialy late and dry hop
-Make a yeast starter

If you really want to do this, there's a clone recipe (PDF copy) floating around here somewhere.

 

[dcp27]

I liked the grist better before, you got too much crystal in there now. i'd ditch the C10 and carapils, the vienna is a nice addition tho

 

[cgeorg]

Well, I picked up all the ingredients. Since the Centennial Blonde requires 7lbs of 2row, I only have 13lbs left over for mine. The OG was creeping kind of low, so I'm going to keep the CaraPils/Dextrine. That should add some "body" without adding the sweeter notes of, say, a crystal, right? I'm still learning all about my malts.

Right now I'm sitting at a bitterness ratio of .750. How would this compare to something like a Stone IPA? I can get it up to .882 (56 IBU) if I use all the centennial I have.

The cascade and centennials are sealed pouches, but the amarillo were in a sort of ziplock. OMG do they smell good.

I plan to do a long primary (4 weeks?), so should I dry hop once active fermentation is complete, or hold off until week 2 or 3 to preserve the aromas ?

Brewing tomorrow.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 5.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
13 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 88.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.8 %
8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 3.4 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.7 %
1.00 oz Centennial [8.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 21.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 10.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 8.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 4.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.3 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 10 -
1.40 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Day Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
0.40 oz Centennial [8.10 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperatur Step Time
Mash In Add 19.66 qt of water at 162.4 F 150.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.62 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[bobbrews]

only 4 oz carapils will do nothing for a 6 gallon batch.

amp up on that vienna for more character

 

[cgeorg]

Unfortunately the only other grain I have around is .5lb of crystal 10. LHBS is closed tomorrow.

 

[dcp27]

4oz will have an effect, its constantly over-used. with another lb of crystal in there already, im not sure how much it'll add tho.

 

[cgeorg]

Mash Tun tipped while waiting for the mash water to heat, and I lost a bit of grain. I also forgot to wrap it in a blanket, so I seem to have lost a good bit of heat during the mash. I'm starting my boil now, and I'm sitting at 1.022 at 150 degrees, for an estimated 1.042 SG. I have .5 lbs of crystal 10L and corn sugar on hand - can I save this beer?

EDIT: Friend has Light DME - It looks like 2 lbs added when the boil starts would get me up to 1.060. Saved?

 

[turkeyjerky214]

What's your pre boil volume versus your post boil? Starting at 1.022, 1.042 seems like a bit of a stretch.

 

[cgeorg]

1.042 is the calibrated value for room temperature - the hydrometer read 1.022 at 150 degrees.

The wort hasn't reached a boil yet.

 

[Tropidolaemus]

Why use a clone recipe for Pliny when Vinnie has published a 5gal recipe in Zymurgy?

 

[cgeorg]

Ok, I added the 2.5lbs light DME a bit before the boil began, and 20 mins into the boil I'm at 1.055. Looks like I should turn out ok.

 

[Yooper]

1.042 is the calibrated value for room temperature - the hydrometer read 1.022 at 150 degrees.

The wort hasn't reached a boil yet.

Take another reading. Cool it down to under 90 degrees (in the freezer is fine, or a pitcher of ice water) and then take the reading. Any reading over 100 degrees is completely worthless even with correction tables.

After you cool it down to under 90 degrees, you can apply the correction table and see where you are.

 

[cgeorg]

The 1.055 reading was actually 1.050 at 95 degrees.

 

[cgeorg]

1.061 SG. It will be beer.

 

[cgeorg]

Well, judging by the airlock activity, the yeast certainly think it is a tasty brew!

 

[cgeorg]

Opened it up for a hydro sample, 1.009. Of course I had to see how the flavors were coming along, and I must say I think I backed into a pretty tasty brew here! Going to be a tough one to recreate though.

1) Fill mash tun, tip it, scrape up as much grain as you can.
2) Strike too hot, and then dump in 1/2 gallon of room temperature water so that the mash is too cold.
3) Toss whatever DME you have left into the boil.

...

A final question - I was planning on a 4 week primary, but I finally looked at the calendar and what would have been bottling weekend is booked solid for me. Will there be much difference if I bottle a few days/a week early (so a 3 or 3.5 week primary?). I'm also going to be dry hopping this - I was going to dry hop during the 3rd week. Will there be any adverse effects if I go straight from dry hopping into the bottle?

 

[Yooper]

Opened it up for a hydro sample, 1.009. Of course I had to see how the flavors were coming along, and I must say I think I backed into a pretty tasty brew here! Going to be a tough one to recreate though.

1) Fill mash tun, tip it, scrape up as much grain as you can.
2) Strike too hot, and then dump in 1/2 gallon of room temperature water so that the mash is too cold.
3) Toss whatever DME you have left into the boil.

...

A final question - I was planning on a 4 week primary, but I finally looked at the calendar and what would have been bottling weekend is booked solid for me. Will there be much difference if I bottle a few days/a week early (so a 3 or 3.5 week primary?). I'm also going to be dry hopping this - I was going to dry hop during the 3rd week. Will there be any adverse effects if I go straight from dry hopping into the bottle?

That's pretty much what I do. I leave the beer in the primary for about 2 weeks or so, then dryhop. After adding the dryhops, I leave it for about 5-7 days. That seems to give me the best hops aroma and flavor.