If you were going to brew an IPA what grains would you use and why?

[CTownBrewer]

That's just an opinion of a pro-brewer...Vinnie from Russian River. However, he knows his IPAs & brews a ton of phenomenal ones. But palettes vary from person to person.

Just because one brewer doesn't do it, doesn't mean it can't be done though. Make sure to limit your use because it's easy to put too much in & end up with an overly sweet/malty IPA.

Like I said earlier, keep it simple & mostly base malt...whether it be 2-row or Maris Otter.

 

[samc]

In the interest of buying American, I use GW Pale Ale Malt instead of Maris Otter. Since I don't like really light beers I find that I can use it for almost all my beers. The one time they were out of stock I bought a bag of regular GW 2 row and was not as happy with the final outcome.

However Variety is the spice of life! Don't get stuck using the same thing for all your brews. I like the changes by doing an American IPA with a Belgian yeast for example.

 

[shanecb]

50% pale 2-row (not explaining that one)

40% munich, because it lends a great malt character to the grist that most people use only crystal to obtain

10% crystal 60, for color adjustment as well as to raise the FG some. It's contributing flavor for sure, but I like to get most of it from the munich.

 

[mhenry41h]

Two very cool "grains" to use in an IPA are Golden Naked Oats and Special Roast if used with a light hand. GNO lends a cool mouthfeel as well as a nutty/berry-esque note while the SR lends a beautiful toasty character.

 

[pcollins]

Some body help me here, but i just seen posted , i dont rememeber where but somebody had stated not to use american crystal malts in an american ipa with american hops.Is this a recommendation? i have notice the beer i love like founders is brewed with belgian crystal malts with all american hops. This sucks cuz i buy only organic american crystal malts and have mostly american hops and planned on doing 2-3 ipa and a rye ipa. I guess anything could be preferrrence but is this a general consensis or something?

This is why you're a home brewer. I would not even call this a recommendation, this is more of a "this is how I do it" from whoever said those words.

You can do whatever the hell you want and you should do! In my earlier post I said that I brewed an IPA with half Munich and half Pilsner. I don't think you'll ever see an "official" recipe with those two malts combined but guess what? I ended up with an IPA. That one was also pitched on a used, un-washed yeast cake and I used only FWH and flameout. And I still ended up with an IPA. LOL