IPA Hop Schedule Question...

[CTownBrewer]

I'm brewing an IPA this Saturday & I have a few goals with it...

1) I'm aiming for something in between an American IPA & Imperial IPA...7.5% ABV & 85 IBUs
2) For the flavor profile, I'm looking for a slightly bitter bite at the beginning of the taste, followed by some citrus but mostly piney flavor & aroma towards the middle & end of the taste.

Here's my hop schedule as it stands now (Total of 86 IBU)...
- .5 oz Simcoe 60 minutes
- 1 oz Centennial 45 minutes
- .5 oz Amarillo 30 minutes
- .5 oz Amarillo & 1 oz Chinook 15 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook & .5 oz Simcoe 5 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook at flameout

- 2 oz Simcoe & 2 oz Chinook dry hop 7 days

Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[elkdog]

Are those pellet hops or whole hops? If they're whole hops, you'll have a hard time fitting them in the fermenter with the beer, much less getting them wet. Regardless, probably more than you need to get the job done with dryhopping.

I'm personally not big on 45 minute additions, as I don't think they do much for the beer, other than offer an inefficient way to get some bitterness. Your Centennial won't come through if that's where you use it, so maybe slide some of your simcoe from dryhop to 60 min to get the bitterness, and save the centennial for a later brew- Siimcoe is potent as a dry hop anyway...delicious, but it really kicks in the aroma when you dryhop with it. That's my subjective not-very-important-opinion. Otherwise, it looks like it'll be slam full of hop flavor, which is what you're looking for, I believe. I love all of the hops you're using, especially Simcoe and Amarillo (which are magic together- check out the Dude's Lake Walk Pale Ale for a great beer with Simcoe-Amarillo together).

 

[Yooper]

I agree with the timing of the hops, and I rarely use hops between 60 and 20 minutes. But otherwise, I love the chinook/amarillo/simcoe combo.

Right, I'm drinking an IPA that was dryhopped with simcoe, cascade, and chinook, with cascade for flavor additions. It's terrific- I think centennial would be great.

 

[CTownBrewer]

I'm using pellet hops for this one.

I think I'll rework the schedule adding the Centennial elsewhere. I was nervous about using too much Simcoe for bittering as well. I made an Imperial IPA for my first brew back in June & it came out way to bitter...tasted like an even more agressively hopped Arrogant Bastard. None of the malty flavor came thru at all (I suspect I may have under-pitched my yeast though). Some people couldn't drink it, but I don't have any issue with an overly bitter beer. I'd like this one to come out a little more drinkable though.

Thanks for the help!

 

[CTownBrewer]

How does this look...

- 1 oz Simcoe 60 minutes
- 1 oz Centennial 20 minutes
- 1 oz Amarillo 15 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook 10 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook 5 minutes
- 1 oz Simcoe & 1 oz Chinook at flameout

- 1 oz Simcoe & 2 oz Chinook dry hop 7 days

I'd like to use the Centennial since I'm not using that hop in any other brews I have planned for the year. Also, will the 1 oz Simcoe addition at 60 minutes get me the solid bitterness I'm looking for or do you think I need more than 1 oz?

 

[elkdog]

How does this look...

- 1 oz Simcoe 60 minutes
- 1 oz Centennial 20 minutes
- 1 oz Amarillo 15 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook 10 minutes
- 1 oz Chinook 5 minutes
- 1 oz Simcoe & 1 oz Chinook at flameout

- 1 oz Simcoe & 2 oz Chinook dry hop 7 days

I'd like to use the Centennial since I'm not using that hop in any other brews I have planned for the year. Also, will the 1 oz Simcoe addition at 60 minutes get me the solid bitterness I'm looking for or do you think I need more than 1 oz?

The 60 min Simcoe should get the job done, especially since you'll get a bit of bitterness from the later additions. This looks pretty tasty to me. I like the citrusy flavor additions with more "piney" aroma additions- should be a nice complexity.

 

[CTownBrewer]

I brewed this up on Saturday & everything went well/smelled amazing. I was shooting for 1.077 OG & it came in close at 1.070.

The only thing that has me worried is that this is the first time I used a starter & rigged up a blowoff tube, so I'm paranoid I did something wrong. It's been sitting at a constant 63-65 F for about 36 hours, but still no bubbling coming out of the jug I have the blowoff tube running into. Usually when I don't use a starter & just pitch the liquid yeast pack, I get bubbling out of the airlock within 24 hours.

I filled a 5 gallon jug halfway with sanitizing solution & placed the end of the blowoff tubing into it. Is it possible the CO2 being produced is having a hard time building up enough pressure to bubble out of the 3 foot tube & that much water? I checked the lid/hose & everything appears to be sealed airtight. I was thinking of dumping some water & relocating the end of the hose to a clear glass growler so I could see better, but when I moved the tubing, some bubbles came out. It also looks like there's some foam forming on top of the beer (without actually taking the lid off & checking), so it appears fermentation has started...just no bubbling action. If after 72 hours I still have minimal visual evidence of fermentation, I'll take a gravity reading.

Have you ever had anything like this happen? Could the slow start be due to the lower end of the fermentation temperature range for the yeast (pack said 60-72 F)? Or maybe everything is fine, just taking longer to get the bubbling activity because of the length of hose/amount of water in the jug?

 

[elkdog]

Have you ever had anything like this happen? Could the slow start be due to the lower end of the fermentation temperature range for the yeast (pack said 60-72 F)? Or maybe everything is fine, just taking longer to get the bubbling activity because of the length of hose/amount of water in the jug?

If there was foam on the beer, and some bubbles came out of the tube when you moved it, you probably have an imperfect seal somewhere (it's hard sometimes to get it airtight). The positive pressure from the fermentation will keep anything from getting in, though. I bet you're fine.

 

[CTownBrewer]

Just a quick update...

The amount of foam has doubled in the past day. I've probably got 1 1/2 to 2 inches worth right now. I also emptied about 2/3 of the water out of the jug I have the blowoff tube terminating into. Immediately after replacing the hose in the remaining 1/3, it started bubbling about once every 5 seconds. I guess I used too much water when setting up the blowoff tube...live & learn.

 

[elkdog]

Just a quick update...

The amount of foam has doubled in the past day. I've probably got 1 1/2 to 2 inches worth right now. I also emptied about 2/3 of the water out of the jug I have the blowoff tube terminating into. Immediately after replacing the hose in the remaining 1/3, it started bubbling about once every 5 seconds. I guess I used too much water when setting up the blowoff tube...live & learn.

Nice.

 

[CTownBrewer]

One more quick question...

I was at a brew fest in Columbus overnight Saturday. When I got home Sunday afternoon, the thermostat in my house read 48 F. My furnace decided to die the one night I wasn't there. Immediately, I checked the temp in the basement where the IPA is sitting & it was at 58 F...luckily it's well insulated down there. The basement is warmed up to a constant 65 F now.

I was originally going to transfer the IPA to my secondary this coming weekend so I can brew my barleywine (which I was planning on pitching on the leftover yeast cake). Should I move back my schedule for a week or do you think I'm OK to continue as planned this weekend? The vigorous fermentation stage is over. I was just going to let it sit another week based on the suggestions by others on these forums.

I'm thinking now that the room is warmed back up, the 12-18 hours the IPA was sitting at 58 F shouldn't have caused any negative issues with the yeast.

 

[ctoungette]

I would let it warm up even more if you can to make sure that it finished out. Nothing wrong with leaving it on the yeast cake a few more days.

 

[CTownBrewer]

I took a gravity reading yesterday & it was at 1.015, so I'm not too worried about it. It started at 1.070. That puts me at about 7.3% ABV...target was 7.5%.

It already smelled & tasted great! The 1 oz Simcoe at 60 minutes really gave it some nice bitterness. I'm hoping it will fade slightly as it sits longer because I wanted the Centennial & Amarillo flavors to come thru a little more. It has a nice piney aroma from the late Chinook additions. I let my flameout hops sit in the kettle for about a half hour. I think I'll use this method for IPAs in the future. I can only imaging how great the aroma will be after dry-hopping it on 1 oz Simcoe & 2 oz Chinook for 7 days.

I think I'll stick to the plan & rack to my secondary on Saturday once the Barleywine is cooling in the ice bath.