Help with this IPA recipe

[robbo007]

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone could give me a few ideas to improve this IPA all- grain I'm doing. Works well but its missing something. Can't put my finder on it Maybe its too acidic? Not sure any help most appreciated.


23L Brew
4kg of Pale Ale malted barley
1kg Crystal malted barley
35g of Northern Brew hops
35g of Styrian Goldings hops
Teaspoon of Irish moss

I do a 60m mash with sparging and a 60m boil. I add Northern Brew hops at 60m then Styrian Goldings in the last 15mins.

Comes out at 4.7% alcohol.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[torstensson]

Personally I think it's too much Crystal, I usually never use more then 5-10% for an IPA. Lot's of Crystal and you will end up with a high FG and a sweet beer.
I would also consider adding the last hops later, maybe in the last 5 min, or keep it at 15 min and add another at 0-5 min. Adding hops later will give you more aromas from the hops.
You could also add some more grains to get the alcohol level a bit higher, normally an IPA would be somewhere between 5-8%.

Just my thoughts
Cheers

 

[robbo007]

ok great thanks for the advise. Do you think a cascade hop would work for the last 5mins? Also how much more Pale Ale grain should I add to get more alcohol?

 

[Gduck]

Cascade is a great hop to use late in your boil. Great citrus and pine characters from it.

4.5 to 5kg of pale malt is probably a good range for a moderately alcoholic IPA. Right around the middle of the range for the style. Definitely tone down the crytal malt. I don't like much sweetness in my IPA's, but that's a personal preference. Like the other poster said 5-10% is a good range depending what kind of malt flavor you're looking for in your beer.

 

[Gduck]

Whoops, converted my gallons to liters wrong. Pale malt I'd probably go 5 to 5.5kg. But that depends what level of alcohol you're looking for. And remember if you bump up alcohol you want to increase your hop additions to help get the balance you're looking for.

 

[robbo007]

niceone, thanks. I'll give it a try when I free a fermentation tank I keep running out of space hehe

 

[torstensson]

Cascade is a great addition to an IPA, one of my favourites. I know to problem with space, its a real PITA
If you want a real hoppy beer you could also do some dry hopping.