In search of...West Coast IPA recipe

[hoffmeister]

Hey folks--with all the years of brewing I have under my belt, I've yet to really work out a good IPA recipe I'm happy with. I've played around with different hopping rates, dry hopping, first wort hopping, etc., but nothing really hits on what I'm looking for. I get great aroma and flavor, but I'm missing that good west-coast, dank, palette-ripping hoppyness that I'm looking for. Maybe I'm using the wrong hops, maybe I'm just not using enough, but I'd really like to work out a solid beer that meets what I'm looking for. I'm currently doing 2.5 gallon partial mash beers, and would be more than happy to provide recipes, but if anyone has any tips/suggestions I'd be very grateful.

 

[thehaze]

Can you provide us with the one recipe which was good, yet not what you are looking for?

I brewed some West Coast recipes back in 2017, which came out very good. One of these, I brewed a few times, using each time a different yeast, and although it was the same recipe, they had very minor differences in appearence, aroma and flavour - you could however tell it was the same base recipe.

It was something like:

93% Pale + 7% Biscuit + US-05/K-97/S-33 + a combo of Chinook, Simcoe, Amarillo and Mosaic. I used hops at 60, 20, 15, 10, 5 and whirlpool + a 5-7 oz addition of dry hops. The beer was all grapefruit juice, grapefruit rind/peel, tangerine, a bit of pine / spice / herbal. If you want a bit more dankness, switch Mosaic for Columbus. Sulfate heavy water, fermented cool-ish and packaged at 10-12 days from pitching yeast. Reduce O2 during all stages and you should be fine.

 

[skleice]

http://scottjanish.com/west-coast-ipa-recipe-2/

 

[Brooothru]

http://scottjanish.com/west-coast-ipa-recipe-2/

Did this same recipe about 6 months ago. VERY nice beer. The only mods were flaked oats for the flaked quinoa, Imperial "House" yeast for the WLP002, and a step-mash that had 62C/144F @ :35 mins for Beta and 72C/162F @ :25 mins for Alpha which replaced the single temperature 148F mash @ :60 mins. I also used Janisch's exact fermentation profile. I got higher efficiency and attenuation (1.061 OG/1.009 FG), maybe because of the yeast but probably because Beta amylase was maximized, but it also had good, solid mouthfeel (dry & crisp without feeling thin or watery). Final ABV was 6.9%. Hops were adjusted for AA% and age to roughly match the IBUs in the original recipe, and the brewing salts were adjusted to approximately match the brewing water in Janisch's recipe.

Overall, a great West Coast style IPA. Definitely one to put into the rotation.

 

[EthanH]

What do you all think of subbing torrified wheat (4oz or so) for the quinoa? I use that in a lot of my IPAs (for body/head retention) but never used quinoa.

 

[Brooothru]

What do you all think of subbing torrified wheat (4oz or so) for the quinoa? I use that in a lot of my IPAs (for body/head retention) but never used quinoa.

Yeah, it would work for improving head retention. I've only used it a couple of times and usually go with flaked grains however. I'm not sure that I've ever seen flaked quinoa on any brewing website and wasn't in the mood at the time to try to improvise, so I just went with the flaked oats. Flaked wheat would no doubt work as well, but I had the oats on hand.

 

[hoffmeister]

Sorry for the delay, and thank you for the suggestions! I don't know why I struggle with IPAs, and I appreciate the recommendations. TheHaze's recipe sounds really good, and I'm really intrigued by Skleice's recipe. Here is the recipe I used:

3.0 lbs Golden Light DME
2.0 lbs 2 Row
.25 lbs Crystal (10L)
.25 lbs Rye Malt
.125 Roasted Barley
Cascade, Warrior, Mosaic, Northern Brewer (see schedule below)
-.25 oz each Northern Brewer, Cascade, Mosaic (60 minutes)
-.25 oz Warrior (30 minutes)
-.25 oz each Cascade, Mosaic (10 minutes)
-.25 oz each Warrior, Cascade (2 minutes)
-.25 oz each Cascade, Warrior, Mosaic (dry hop, one week)
Omega OYL-004 West Coast/Chico yeast
OG: 1.065/FG: 1.012/IBU: 70.1/ABV: 7.24

This is for a 2.75 gallon boil, 3 gallon in the fermenter batch. It came out a bit darker than I expected, but that aside, I'm really happy with the flavor and aroma on the beer. Maybe a little sweeter/frutier than I was hoping, but I think it's a solid start. If I need to scrap the recipe that's fine, but I'd love to get some feedback on it. Thanks in advance!

 

[ATLBeer]

http://scottjanish.com/west-coast-ipa-recipe-2/

Who has made this, I have a question about the dry hopping schedule -

Dry Hopping:

First dose of 56 grams Simcoe and 28 grams Citra in bucket loose at 68F for 6 days then cold crashed to 33 F.

Kegged with 56g Simcoe and 15g Citra in weighted bag. Double flushed keg and bag of hops with C02 and left at room temperature for 2 days then into keezer.

What is the Double flushed keg? Is he referring to cleaning/purging the keg or something else?
Do you leave the hop bag in the keg for serving indefinitely?

His blog looks a little dated, so thought I'd ask here, TIA.

 

[NewJersey]

I have this fermenting right now and am super excited for how it will turn out. I think this amount of rye will be perfect in this west coast double IPA. 5.5 gallon batch btw.
Ugh, had to add one more screenshot cuz I suck at life

 

[anteater8]

Who has made this, I have a question about the dry hopping schedule -



What is the Double flushed keg? Is he referring to cleaning/purging the keg or something else?
Do you leave the hop bag in the keg for serving indefinitely?

His blog looks a little dated, so thought I'd ask here, TIA.

I've brewed this. I think he's just referring to a purging the keg with co2 before racking the beer into it. I did not do the keg hops when I made it, and added those hops to the normal dry hop instead. That's only because I never keg hop and didn't want to deviate from my normal process. The beer turned out awesome, its a great recipe.

 

[ATLBeer]

Thanks ANT. I'll probably just dry hop normally too.

I'm new to kegging and getting the kinks worked out. This will be my first pressure fill from a Fermzilla to reduce my O2, and that is enough new variables to deal with this round.

 

[dirty_martini]

Sorry for the delay, and thank you for the suggestions! I don't know why I struggle with IPAs, and I appreciate the recommendations. TheHaze's recipe sounds really good, and I'm really intrigued by Skleice's recipe. Here is the recipe I used:

3.0 lbs Golden Light DME
2.0 lbs 2 Row
.25 lbs Crystal (10L)
.25 lbs Rye Malt
.125 Roasted Barley
Cascade, Warrior, Mosaic, Northern Brewer (see schedule below)
-.25 oz each Northern Brewer, Cascade, Mosaic (60 minutes)
-.25 oz Warrior (30 minutes)
-.25 oz each Cascade, Mosaic (10 minutes)
-.25 oz each Warrior, Cascade (2 minutes)
-.25 oz each Cascade, Warrior, Mosaic (dry hop, one week)
Omega OYL-004 West Coast/Chico yeast
OG: 1.065/FG: 1.012/IBU: 70.1/ABV: 7.24

This is for a 2.75 gallon boil, 3 gallon in the fermenter batch. It came out a bit darker than I expected, but that aside, I'm really happy with the flavor and aroma on the beer. Maybe a little sweeter/frutier than I was hoping, but I think it's a solid start. If I need to scrap the recipe that's fine, but I'd love to get some feedback on it. Thanks in advance!

You didn’t dry hop with enough and warrior is a wasted dry hop. Excellent bittering hop, but very little aroma and flavor.

lose the roasted barley. Never needs to be in a west coast. Truth is, most west coast IPA makers are usually mostly base malt 95-100%. If they use 5% of anything else, it’s 2-3% light crystal like 20-40 or honey malt, and 2-3% carapils.

simplify your recipe. No need for so many additions of multiple hops. For a 5.5 gallon batch, I start with 3oz of whirlpool hops. Figure out the IBU addition and then add the necessary bittering hops to get me to the 65-70IBUs I want. If you want to add a late addition like a 5 or 10 minute, feel free. Just do one though.

if you want that dank punch of classic west coasts, think of using Columbus, chinook, or summit as a base hop in your dry hop then layer the flavor hops on top. I’ll give you an example of my most recent west coast as I brew them about every 3rd beer.

OG 1.063
FG 1.010
IBUs 60ish
70% Pearl malt
30% pilsner malt
.9oz summit 60min
3oz mosaic whirlpool 30 minutes
US-05/chico 64-65F
Post fermentation, lower temp to 55
Dry hop
4oz mosaic
2oz summit (sub Columbus or chinook)
2oz centennial
Crash to 35. Close transfer to keg to eliminate as much oxygen as possible. It will kill your aroma.

If you prefer a little more malt sweetness, here’s a good base
95% 2-row, pilsner, or lighter English malt (Pearl, golden promise, etc)
3% crystal 20
2% carapils

 

[Brooothru]

You didn’t dry hop with enough and warrior is a wasted dry hop. Excellent bittering hop, but very little aroma and flavor.

lose the roasted barley. Never needs to be in a west coast. Truth is, most west coast IPA makers are usually mostly base malt 95-100%. If they use 5% of anything else, it’s 2-3% light crystal like 20-40 or honey malt, and 2-3% carapils.

simplify your recipe. No need for so many additions of multiple hops. For a 5.5 gallon batch, I start with 3oz of whirlpool hops. Figure out the IBU addition and then add the necessary bittering hops to get me to the 65-70IBUs I want. If you want to add a late addition like a 5 or 10 minute, feel free. Just do one though.

if you want that dank punch of classic west coasts, think of using Columbus, chinook, or summit as a base hop in your dry hop then layer the flavor hops on top. I’ll give you an example of my most recent west coast as I brew them about every 3rd beer.

OG 1.063
FG 1.010
IBUs 60ish
70% Pearl malt
30% pilsner malt
.9oz summit 60min
3oz mosaic whirlpool 30 minutes
US-05/chico 64-65F
Post fermentation, lower temp to 55
Dry hop
4oz mosaic
2oz summit (sub Columbus or chinook)
2oz centennial
Crash to 35. Close transfer to keg to eliminate as much oxygen as possible. It will kill your aroma.

If you prefer a little more malt sweetness, here’s a good base
95% 2-row, pilsner, or lighter English malt (Pearl, golden promise, etc)
3% crystal 20
2% carapils

Nice take on a straightforward WC IPA. I'd also consider Simcoe as a possible sub for Columbus/Chinook/Summit if you want lots of dank. The other three are great hops. Summit brings the citrus, Chinook earth and pine, Columbus very clean bitterness. Simcoe brings all three, though not as 'clean' as CTZ, along with dank.

I've got all the ingredients you listed on hand except for the 4 oz of Mosaic dry hops (only got 3 oz for the whirlpool). I'm gonna' have to try this one as soon as I get a break in the weather and I can rustle up the extra Mosaic. Looks like a winner. Thanks for posting.

 

[dirty_martini]

Nice take on a straightforward WC IPA. I'd also consider Simcoe as a possible sub for Columbus/Chinook/Summit if you want lots of dank. The other three are great hops. Summit brings the citrus, Chinook earth and pine, Columbus very clean bitterness. Simcoe brings all three, though not as 'clean' as CTZ, along with dank.

I've got all the ingredients you listed on hand except for the 4 oz of Mosaic dry hops (only got 3 oz for the whirlpool). I'm gonna' have to try this one as soon as I get a break in the weather and I can rustle up the extra Mosaic. Looks like a winner. Thanks for posting.

the mosaic could be any big character hop you like. Citra, galaxy, nelson, strata, idaho7, etc. I generally follow a formula in 3 hop beers. 50% focus hop 25% pungent hop 25% support hop. Covers the bases. Big hop flavor from a showcase hop, a hop that provides a lift and potency, and then a hop that adds a background flavor for depth.

one thing I forgot to add. I get my sulfites up to around 200ppm through mostly gypsum and a touch of epsom salt

 

[Brooothru]

I like the way you design the hop schedule. I've always thought of it as bitter, flavor, aroma based on the composition of oils and character of the individual hop. Time in the boil when which hop went in when was dictated by what type of hop it was (bitter or aroma).

But if I rethink the design step as focus (showcase), pungent, support, then the timing of the addition for any individual hop (and its flavor, aroma and chatacter), becomes much more flexible. Looking at how professional brewers are scheduling their hops today, this methodology makes perfect sense.

Also limiting the number of different hops used in a brew makes sense, too. Four or fewer has been my feeling for a while, and looking at hopping as focus, pungent, support underscores this. Even through a lot of older recipes feature as many as 6 or even more hops, I think those opinions are on the decline. Too many competing hops muddles the beer IMHO.

Brooo Brother

 

[dirty_martini]

I like the way you design the hop schedule. I've always thought of it as bitter, flavor, aroma based on the composition of oils and character of the individual hop. Time in the boil when which hop went in when was dictated by what type of hop it was (bitter or aroma).

But if I rethink the design step as focus (showcase), pungent, support, then the timing of the addition for any individual hop (and its flavor, aroma and chatacter), becomes much more flexible. Looking at how professional brewers are scheduling their hops today, this methodology makes perfect sense.

Also limiting the number of different hops used in a brew makes sense, too. Four or fewer has been my feeling for a while, and looking at hopping as focus, pungent, support underscores this. Even through a lot of older recipes feature as many as 6 or even more hops, I think those opinions are on the decline. Too many competing hops muddles the beer IMHO.

Brooo Brother

Ive also always found that beers with lots of hop varieties end up tasting muddled. Generically hoppy, but without defining characteristics of any of the hops.

there’s nothing wrong with just using big feature hops. It’s going to be the most pungent and aromatic. Citra, mosaic, galaxy, nelson, simcoe, etc. All super potent on their own. My issue is I actually want to use most of these hops as little as possible, simply because I brew to make unique beers I can’t buy anywhere, and that’s what most commercial beers are made of. I also like using lesser known hops or “forgotten” hops. Ones that aren’t as in favor as they used to be. Or maybe ones I don’t love when used big, but appreciate for the depth they add (centennial is a perfect example. People love them but I think they taste soapy. But in the background, a little floral adds complexity without being soapy to me). It’s a nice way to modernize them, save a little money because they tend to be cheaper, and still get big results. I also get beers that taste uniquely mine. I generally stick with 2-3 hops at the most. I adjust the percentage based on what I want to showcase. If it’s two hops, I’m usually either 50/50, 60/40 if I want a little more of one to shine, or 80/20 if it’s one feature hop and one pungent. 3 hops are usually 50/25/25 as I spoke earlier. It’s what works for me.

I think this way with malts too. Other than stouts or other dark beers, rarely more than 2-3 malts. I tend to use mostly base malts (pils, pale malt...Pearl is my favorite, Vienna, light Munich) for my hoppy beers. I never use caramel malts. I think it makes citrusy hops taste like sweet tea and the beers taste oxidized faster. I never use carapils/Carafoam whatever. I have good head retention and body without it. If I want to add something, I’d rather add 3-5% wheat for denser head

 

[bwible]

For a 5.5 gallon batch, I start with 3oz of whirlpool hops.

This is where I have the question West Coast IPA vs NEIPA. Don’t these whirlpool hops cause haze and don’t NEIPA recipes call for whirlpool hops? This is a fairly new phenomenon that I don’t do or have experience with. I know they never used large amounts of “whirlpool hops” in West Coast IPA’s going back to the 80’s and 90’s etc. And we never heard words like “dank” or “juice” either. They did use a hop back but I don’t think that’s the same thing.

 

[dirty_martini]

This is where I have the question West Coast IPA vs NEIPA. Don’t these whirlpool hops cause haze and don’t NEIPA recipes call for whirlpool hops? This is a fairly new phenomenon that I don’t do or have experience with. I know they never used large amounts of “whirlpool hops” in West Coast IPA’s going back to the 80’s and 90’s etc. And we never heard words like “dank” or “juice” either. They did use a hop back but I don’t think that’s the same thing.

Whirlpool hops aren’t much different than what used to be called KO or knockoff hops. Hops that steeped after you turned off the boil.

whirlpool hops don’t cause haze. Generally stable haze is created by large amounts of high protein adjuncts like wheat or oats, fermentation dry hopping (the interaction of active yeast with hops), and the type of yeast.

what’s happened with west coasts now, if you were to look at what most brewers are doing, is adapting the hopping techniques from NEIPA which is big whirlpool and dry hop for aroma and flavor, while maintaining a bittering charge to get the crispness. With the lighter malt body and profile, the hops pop while not being sweet and juicy like NEIPAs because they don’t have the residual sugar and the yeasts are cleaner and less ester driven.

Just like west coast IPAs used to be heavy on caramel malt before vinnie from Russian River created the drier style of IPA, the hopping techniques have evolved with the times. There are still brewers that use mid-late addition hops like they used to. But you’re not seeing the multiple 20, 15, 10, 5, KO, hop back, etc additions.

also know that hops are kilned differently than in the past and the preservation of those oils are what brewers are striving for. I personally think boil hops are always necessary for saturation, but the big aromatics and flavor are from using the hops as late as possible to preserve as much of their character.

 

[Brooothru]

Excellent summary and insight.

 

[NewJersey]

Just leave out the oats & wheat and you'll be good