First shot at recipe design Belgian IPA

[strangebrewer88]

I have done a lot of kits and Clones over the last year or so. I recently started changing some things up on some of the better ones to get them more to my taste. I think it's time to get a little creative and see if I can make something I love from scratch. I decided to do the Belgian IPA as I have had many I love and a few I can't stand. It should be a good challenge. I welcome any feedback!
Recipe:

Grain bill
10 lbs pale 2 row
1 lb Vienna malt
1 lb crystal 40
0.5 lb carapils

Hops
0.5 oz magnum 60 min
1 oz simcoe 10 min
1 oz centennial 10 min
2 oz simcoe flame out
2 oz Amarillo flame out
0.5 oz simcoe dry hop 7 days
0.5 oz Amarillo dry hop 7 days
0.5 oz centennial dry hop 7 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey

Adjunct
1 lb of soft Belgian candi sugar light

Mash 5.5 gal at 151 for 60 min
Batch sparge with 3.5 gal at 170
Initial volume of 7.2 gal final volume of 5.25 gal
O.G of 1.070

Just a first shot at it and as I said any feed back would be welcome.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Looks good. I prefer pilsner malt for my Belgian brews and a simple grain bill for my IPAs. Generally, I do base malt with a touch of crystal and some sugar to dry it out. So you're on the right track. I think it'll be a great beer.

 

[Jhu1321]

I'd back off on the crystal. Maybe even half it. Other than that looks great.

 

[wrongcrowdbrewing]

you dont have a single belgian hop in there, dont be afraid to venture out a little and do something besides "west coasting" every beer like the sheeple do. my best ipa to date was phoenix and ekg.

 

[m00ps]

Belgian hops do not make a belgian IPA. To my knowledge all Belgian-ish hops are basically noble and not suited for an IPA. Phoenix + EKG is not going to make a good IPA, even with staggering amounts.

Recipe looks fine, though I would second dropping or at least backing off on the crystal. And you could definitely double the dry hops or more

 

[grassfeeder]

I absolutely agree with doubling that dry-hop bill.

 

[wrongcrowdbrewing]

not every ipa needs to be loaded with citrus either. with american hops its not a "belgian ipa". its all symantics at that point though. to be honest, this sounds like a good beer, man. just dont be afraid to venture outside the hipster trends. ill send anyone a bottle of my phoenix ekg, and they can tell me then that its not a traditionally tasting ipa.

 

[strangebrewer88]

Thanks for all the feedback. I will dial back the crystal. I still want to use some to get a little color. My only concern with doubling up on the dry hops is over powering the yeast and not getting any spicy notes coming through. Any validity to this thought. As to using the noble hops it's just not what I am going for here. What you are describing sounds more like a hoped up tripel to me.

 

[MikeSkril]

My 2 cents:

- use Belgian Pilsner Malt instead of normal 2 row
- use less crystal
- mash lower @ 148

Best regards!