Galaxy IPA - Thoughts?

[Jondack]

I'm fairly new to brewing, and up to now have been getting used to the BIAB process and my equipment, by brewing popular clones. I've had great success, and wanted to get some opinions on a Galaxy IPA I'm thinking of brewing. This is my own recipe, so some thoughts would be appreciated:

Mash
9 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row
5 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L
1 lbs Barley, Flaked
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 40L

Boil
0.50 oz Galaxy Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Galaxy Boil 40.0 min
0.50 oz Galaxy Boil 20.0 min
0.25 tsp Irish Moss Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Galaxy Boil 5.0 min
2.00 oz Galaxy - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

Thanks in advance for your comments

Jon

 

[Schemy]

WAY too much caramel malt

 

[Yooper]

There is an issue with the grainbill.

For caramel/crystal malt, that is a specialty malt that provides color and flavor. There is no diastatic power in it, that is, no enzyme activity. So it needs to be 15% at most (preferably much less) of a grainbill. In an IPA, no more than about 5% is typically used and some people use 0% crystal/caramel malt in an IPA.

Flaked barley provides a rocky head and full body, but it's out of place in an IPA or other light beer because it contributes to a very strong haze as well as providing a ton of body. It's not a good ingredient for this beer.

There aren't enough hops listed there for a 5 gallon batch. Generally, you'd use the hops schedule for an IPA of something like this:

1 ounce 60 minutes
1 ounce 15 minutes
1 ounce 5 minutes
1 ounce (or more) dryhop

 

[JosephN]

Oh yeah, way too much caramel Malts. Personally I like about .5lb to add color and a little flavor, oh and sweetness. Also if you want to add a good mouthful and head retention I've found that Carafoam helps a lot. Personally I would up my base malts and cut back on the caramel to no more than 1lb total, no matter the combination used. Flacked barley, I'd dump it and go with the Carafoam. Hops, well it depends on what IBU level you're going for, but it does seem a bit short. You could just drop the 40 and 20 min addition, up the 60 min to give you more bitterness and add more between 15-0 (flame out) for better flavor and aroma. How long do you plan on dry hopping?

 

[Schemy]

WAY too much caramel malt

Sorry I didn't expand, got sidetracked with work.

Your current grist will leave an overly malty/sweet beer.

I limit my crystral/caramel to 5% of my grist, and even lower in some APA/IPA recipes.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jondack]

thanks for the advice. I dropped the 40L altogether and brought the 20L down to 3lb. I'm using beersmith, so I'm trying to keep my SRM range where I want it, but not too high in alcohol. I also up'd my hops by 1oz, however I'm now on the max range of bitterness.

12 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row
3 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L
1 lbs Barley, Flaked
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Irish Moss Boil 10.0 mins
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 5.0 min
2.00 oz Galaxy Dry Hop 7.0 Days

 

[Jondack]

I was planning on 2oz dry hop for 7 days

 

[Yooper]

thanks for the advice. I dropped the 40L altogether and brought the 20L down to 3lb. I'm using beersmith, so I'm trying to keep my SRM range where I want it, but not too high in alcohol. I also up'd my hops by 1oz, however I'm now on the max range of bitterness.

12 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row
3 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L
1 lbs Barley, Flaked
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Irish Moss Boil 10.0 mins
1.00 oz Galaxy Boil 5.0 min
2.00 oz Galaxy Dry Hop 7.0 Days

No, 3 pounds of caramel malt is still way too much. You have 16 pounds of grain, so that's about 18% caramel malt. It needs to be dropped to .75 pound at a max, and the base malt increased. I'd also remove the flaked barley, and consider using a pound of wheat malt which will help with head retention (if that is why you have the flaked barley in there). Wheat malt will leave a bit of a haze also, but not too much.

The hops are much better!

 

[slym2none]

May I add in my voice to the "too much caramalts" chorus?

As Yooper said, 3/4 of a pound is really about as much of that as you will want. 3 pounds is better than 5, but still far, far too much.

If you really are concerned about colour, I'd look into subbing a couple pounds of 2-row for something like Vienna, or possibly Munich.

 

[Jondack]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's all making a lot of sense:

14 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L

1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Irish Moss - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 5.0 min

2.00 oz Galaxy - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop

I have a ton of 2-row, so I'm just going to increase it.

I've heard some mixed reviews about using Galaxy for bittering, as it can leave off flavors. Anyone experienced that? It's supposed to be a dual hop.

 

[m00ps]

I would save it for a flameoult addition. Even if it has bittering potential, its a crying shame to waste a hop like that at 60min. Use literally anything else you have and you can adjust the amount for the IBUs you want

 

[Jondack]

Yeah, I was originally thinking Simcoe or Centennial, but wanted to try a single hop recipe.

 

[m00ps]

it can still be a "single hop recipe" at heart. To me its like using a hop shot extract for your bittering but anything you can taste is all from one hop

 

[Yooper]

I would either use something very neutral for bittering- magnum, for example- or just use the galaxy.

Centennial and simcoe are great hops, but I'd not use them for bittering in this recipe.

 

[bhchrist]

Yup, Magnum or Warrior are good choices for bittering. Go ahead though an try the Galaxy if that is what you have. It is a great way to find out first hand whether or not you get any off-putting characteristics. I pretty much agree with Yooper, on the grain bill, especially for a newer brewer getting your process down (here comes the however!).

I will say I have had excellent results using 10% or less of flaked oats/barley/rye in my IPAs lately in place of carapils. I have had no haze issues, but also have a much better handle and feel for my process, kettle to keg, than I did when I was starting out.

 

[Jondack]

I'll give the full galaxy a try. Thanks for the help

 

[Schemy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's all making a lot of sense:

14 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L

1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Irish Moss - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy - Boil 5.0 min

2.00 oz Galaxy - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop

I have a ton of 2-row, so I'm just going to increase it.

I've heard some mixed reviews about using Galaxy for bittering, as it can leave off flavors. Anyone experienced that? It's supposed to be a dual hop.

There you go, now that looks like a recipe you'll be happy with.

 

[JosephN]

As a pretty new brewer myself I know when I started I wanted to put in 10 different types of grain and 6 types of hops, but sometimes its better to keep things simple. If you look at a lot of the IPA recipes out there, while some have several types of grain most are just straight forward with maybe 3-4. Personally I crew up more when I try to make things so complex when it just turns into a big cluster of favors that dont really mesh well. I'm sure you'll be happy with what you have set up now. I also agree that if you want to add color that there are malts out there that you can literally add 3oz and get as much color as you need in an IPA. I can't remember right now which one I added, but I think it was some kind of Roasted Barley at something like 300-500 Lovibond. That much in a 16# gain bill didn't add any flavor at all, just color.

 

[Jondack]

I've decided to do this as a 1Gal small batch. The weather in New England is getting colder, so I need to move my brewing inside for the winter.

Will probably brew it next Friday

 

[JosephN]

I've decided to do this as a 1Gal small batch. The weather in New England is getting colder, so I need to move my brewing inside for the winter.

Will probably brew it next Friday

That has to be tough. Do you have a big enough space inside to brew more if needed? This kind of thing has me looking for a house with an unfinished basement that I can install an good vent to suck out gas fumes, and a patio that I can brew on in the better times of year if I choose.

 

[Jondack]

I might end up moving to electric brewing at some point, but for now I'm all gas, and boiling 5gal on my stove in a 10gal pot would be laughable.

Anyway, I'm actually fine with 1gal batches. It allows me to experiment