Help crafting an IPA

[Cryovenom]

I've been brewing (BIAB-style, all grain) for about a year now. Generally I've made Irish Reds, Belgian Wits, and the occasional seasonal like a Pumpkin Ale or a Cherry Chocolate Stout for Christmas.

Lately I really got into drinking IPAs once I realized that they don't have to be giant bitterness bombs but can actually have some pretty interesting and complex hop flavours and aromas. I've had some really tasty west-coast IPAs and DIPAs and want to try my hand at making one.

So here's what I'm looking to do: I want to make an something that's probably more in the DIPA range, say 6-7% abv, I don't want to push the bitterness to the extreme but I'd really like to have some fun with the flavour, aroma and dry hopping.

For base grain I've got a metric crapton of Two-Row and Maris Otter stashed in the brew closet.

For other grain I've got some Victory, Munich and Crystal 40 laying around, not sure if any of those are useful for this? I can pick up other specialty malts as needed but it would be nice if I didn't have to make a special grain order.

And for the all-important hops I've got a whole bunch of Citra, Willamette, Amarillo and Centennial at hand, with a bit of Cascade too.

I keep staring at these ingredient lists and it just isn't coming together. Can you guys lend a bit of a hand turning this mess of ingredients into something delicious?

 

[Redtab78]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=87310

 

[rhys333]

As far as IPA goes, simple grain bills are more often than not the best approach. Adding in too much specialty malt (especially crystal) can really muddle the flavors and take away from the hoppy flavors and aromas you want to showcase. Based on a relatively recent Beersmith interview with a head brewer (was it Stone?) I've been using +90% base malt with a touch of something else for character. Whats worked out really well for me is the following:

90% 2 Row
7% Munich
3% Carapils

It has a really clean but still characterful malt backbone and really good head retention/lacing.

 

[mredge73]

You have good ingredients in stock for an IPA.
Grain bill can be as simple as 80% 2-row and 20% Munich using what you have in stock.
West coast IPAs don't use crystal. Small amounts of crystal are used in East Coast IPAs (1/2 lb or less for 5 gallon).
Many people like to add a little carapils (dextrine) or wheat to improve the body some but this is not necessary.
Use Amarillo/Citra/Centennial as your bitter charge at whatever qty you want your IBU to be.
20-30 minute hop charges make IPAs taste funny to me so I just avoid these and make my next addition at flame out.
I would do 1-2 oz of centennial/amarillo at flame out and 4-6 oz of cascade/centennial for dry hop.

 

[Cryovenom]

Okay, how about this?
I'm doing 2.5gal (10L) Brew-in-a-bag. I used all my leftover Centennial and Chinook for bittering, then split my Amarillo, Citra and Willamette across 10min, 0min and Dry Hop.

I don't have any carapils around, and the recipe Redtab linked had some Crystal in it so I threw in 3% Crystal 40 for the heck of it.

Opinions?

IPA Experiment
American IPA

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.597
Total Hops (g): 148.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 5.7 (EBC): 11.2
Bitterness (IBU): 98.1 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
----------------
2.337 kg American - Pale 2-Row (89.99%)
0.182 kg United Kingdom - Munich (7.01%)
0.078 kg American - Caramel / Crystal 40L (3%)

Hop Bill
----------------
8.0 g Centennial Pellet (13.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
14.0 g Chinook Pellet (14.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Willamette Pellet (6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Willamette Pellet (6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Willamette Pellet (6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)

Single step Infusion at 65°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

 

[Cryovenom]

I hadn't seen mredge's post, so in light of that I made some changes. I don't have a huge amount of Centennial (I've got a small amount of 13.5% AA and some 10.1%AA) so I did what I could with it.

How's this?

IPA Experiment 2
American IPA

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.591
Total Hops (g): 104.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 4.9 (EBC): 9.7
Bitterness (IBU): 90.4 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
----------------
2.073 kg American - Pale 2-Row (80%)
0.518 kg United Kingdom - Munich (20%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
8.0 g Centennial Pellet (13.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Centennial Pellet (10.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

26.0 g Cascade Pellet (5.8% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (2.6 g/L)
14.0 g Centennial Pellet (10.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)

Single step Infusion at 65°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

 

[rhys333]

Looks solid. I'd keep an eye on your IBUs though and if they're higher than desired maybe reduce the bittering additions. For 1.060, 50-70 total IBUs should be plenty.

 

[Redtab78]

I don't think you will get very much from the Willamette, I would just drop that all together, maybe save it for a brown ale or something at a later date

 

[Redtab78]

I liked your original recipie (#1) malt bill and hop schedule, only without the Willamette, and take the centennial out of the bittering charge, just add it all in with your flame out

 

[Cryovenom]

Looks solid. I'd keep an eye on your IBUs though and if they're higher than desired maybe reduce the bittering additions. For 1.060, 50-70 total IBUs should be plenty.

Alright, I moved the Centennial 13.5% to Dry Hop instead of Bittering - that drops the IBU into the 60-70 range and brings it closer to the amount of dry hops that mredge was talking about

IPA Experiment 2
American IPA

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.591
Total Hops (g): 104.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 4.9 (EBC): 9.7
Bitterness (IBU): 66.6 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
----------------
2.073 kg American - Pale 2-Row (80%)
0.518 kg United Kingdom - Munich (20%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Centennial Pellet (10.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

26.0 g Cascade Pellet (5.8% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (2.6 g/L)
14.0 g Centennial Pellet (10.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)
8.0 g Centennial Pellet (13.5% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.8 g/L)

Single step Infusion at 65°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

 

[Cryovenom]

I liked your original recipie (#1) malt bill and hop schedule, only without the Willamette, and take the centennial out of the bittering charge, just add it all in with your flame out

Alright, here's experiment #1, no Willamette, moved Centennial to flame-out. That brings the IBUs down out of the stratosphere and evens things out.

IPA Experiment
American IPA

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.597
Total Hops (g): 106.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 5.7 (EBC): 11.2
Bitterness (IBU): 67.5 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
----------------
2.337 kg American - Pale 2-Row (90%)
0.182 kg United Kingdom - Munich (7%)
0.078 kg American - Caramel / Crystal 40L (3%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Chinook Pellet (14.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
8.0 g Centennial Pellet (13.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.8 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)


Single step Infusion at 65°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

 

[Redtab78]

I like it!

 

[rhys333]

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Chinook Pellet (14.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)
8.0 g Centennial Pellet (13.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.8 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

14.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.4% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Citra Pellet (13.2% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.4 g/L)

Looks good. You're getting a 50 IBU punch from that 14g chinook bittering though. I might cut it down to 7-10g, factoring in that you'll pull some bittering from those 0 min additions too above 80ish C

 

[Cryovenom]

I like it!

...

Looks good. You're getting a 50 IBU punch from that 14g chinook bittering though. I might cut it down to 7-10g, factoring in that you'll pull some bittering from those 0 min additions too above 80ish C

Great! Yeah, if I cut it down to 10g the official calc for bitterness drops to 55IBU but you're right that there will be *some* bitterness from the late additions.

Sounds like we've got a recipe! I'll be sure to let you guys know how it turns out. I'll prep and measure today, brew this weekend, and follow up later on when it's tasting time.

Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated!