IPA question:

[mtg4772]

Going to brew an IPA for the first time. I have 2 packs of Northern Brewer, 2 packs of Chinook and 1 pack of cascade hops.

What order do I brew them and at what times during the boil? For example, northern brewer at 30 minutes, chinook at 45 and cascade at the last 10?

The only recipe I have on hand doesn't list this combination of hops. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

[bacchusmj]

Im super new to this so take it for whats its worth, but the cascade is gonna be your aroma meaning its gonna hit your brew in the last minute or two. The northern brewer is a dual purpose so my guess would be around 45. The Chinook is your bittering, so early.

Dont follow that though, like I said, Im on brew #5

 

[BrewKnurd]

Ok, so to be clear, you have no recipe for these hops, but would like to use them for an IPA? English or American Style IPA?

As a rough shot:
1 oz Chinook at 60 min
0.5 oz Northern Brewer at 30 min
0.5 oz Northern Brewer at 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade at 10 min
0.5 oz Cascade at 1 min

This would put you at around 68 IBU, which would be on the high end for an american, and actually a bit too high for style guidelines on an english IPA.

You could dry hop with the extra ounce of northern brewer if you like lots of hoppy aroma.

If you want to use all your hops, just move some of them up to later in the boil. But if you throw the 2 oz of chinook in at 60, that's gonna way overboard for a standard IPA on IBUs.

 

[mtg4772]

Ok, so to be clear, you have no recipe for these hops, but would like to use them for an IPA? English or American Style IPA?

As a rough shot:
1 oz Chinook at 60 min
0.5 oz Northern Brewer at 30 min
0.5 oz Northern Brewer at 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade at 10 min
0.5 oz Cascade at 1 min

This would put you at around 68 IBU, which would be on the high end for an american, and actually a bit too high for style guidelines on an english IPA.

You could dry hop with the extra ounce of northern brewer if you like lots of hoppy aroma.

If you want to use all your hops, just move some of them up to later in the boil. But if you throw the 2 oz of chinook in at 60, that's gonna way overboard for a standard IPA on IBUs.

American sounds cool. Since I am in the US of A. For my clarification: You recommend chinook at 60min: do you mean to boil chinook for 60 minutes (the entire boil) or to boil for a few minutes at the end? Northern brewer at midpoint? other 1/2 ounce of northern brewer at last 15? Cascade for last 10 minutes? and 1 minute remaining for the last cascade? Thanks.

 

[BrewKnurd]

American sounds cool. Since I am in the US of A. For my clarification: You recommend chinook at 60min: do you mean to boil chinook for 60 minutes (the entire boil) or to boil for a few minutes at the end? Northern brewer at midpoint? other 1/2 ounce of northern brewer at last 15? Cascade for last 10 minutes? and 1 minute remaining for the last cascade? Thanks.

The times are for how long you boil them. So if you do a 60 minute boil, put the oz of chinook in right after you get up to a boil.

If you want american style, you could dry hop with the other oz of northern brewer. and i wish you had another oz of cascade to dry hop with that as well. but i like hops a lot.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

personally, i'd flip flop the NB and chinook. northern brewers wouldn't really be appropriate for flavor in and IPA, IMO. chinook on the other hand, yum. combine that with cascade later in the boil, yum yum.

 

[BrewKnurd]

personally, i'd flip flop the NB and chinook. northern brewers wouldn't really be appropriate for flavor in and IPA, IMO. chinook on the other hand, yum. combine that with cascade later in the boil, yum yum.

Eh, if you like. Chinook late in the boil only works for me if there's a really strong malt bill to support that. The flavors of chinook are a bit harsh in my opinion.

 

[mtg4772]

Hmm. I'm thinking I should research the characteristics of each hop and adjust according to my preference. U know of any website that lists different hops' characteristics?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Eh, if you like. Chinook late in the boil only works for me if there's a really strong malt bill to support that. The flavors of chinook are a bit harsh in my opinion.

i hear ya. everyone's tastes are different. i like chinook flavor and aroma, but i totally agree they need the malt backbone to stand up to them as they are a bit harsh.

Hmm. I'm thinking I should research the characteristics of each hop and adjust according to my preference. U know of any website that lists different hops' characteristics?

that's a good idea. here is a good start, but there's a lot of other info out there too.

 

[phuff7129]

A really great tool for designing beers is Beersmith. You can download a free trial at their website to see if you like it and then I think its like $25 bucks which in the brewing world is nothing. It has a complete list of hops and their characteristics and substitutions. It also does this for yeast and grain which is helpful. It has all of the BJCP styles so you can design your beer to a particular style. It will calculate OG's, FG's, IBU's, and ABV among other things. You can also google just about all of this information. I have also heard that some people really like Hopville which is free. Good luck!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

A really great tool for designing beers is Beersmith. You can download a free trial at their website to see if you like it and then I think its like $25 bucks which in the brewing world is nothing. It has a complete list of hops and their characteristics and substitutions. It also does this for yeast and grain which is helpful. It has all of the BJCP styles so you can design your beer to a particular style. It will calculate OG's, FG's, IBU's, and ABV among other things. You can also google just about all of this information. I have also heard that some people really like Hopville which is free. Good luck!

very true, phuff! software is very helpful when putting together a recipe. and BeerSmith is good software. :rockin:

 

[BrewKnurd]

very true, phuff! software is very helpful when putting together a recipe. and BeerSmith is good software. :rockin:

every time i'm working on a recipe, i am thankful for software.

That said, i encourage everyone to learn what your software is doing. in other words, the ideal situation, IMO, is to understand the calculations that underly what your software is doing. not saying you should memorize them exactly, but understand the concepts that go into the math that beermsith et. al. do for you.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

every time i'm working on a recipe, i am thankful for software.

That said, i encourage everyone to learn what your software is doing. in other words, the ideal situation, IMO, is to understand the calculations that underly what your software is doing. not saying you should memorize them exactly, but understand the concepts that go into the math that beermsith et. al. do for you.

oh for sure! recipe writing is tricky without some software. but it is important to know the math behind the software. when i started writing recipes, i didn't use any software and man, was it ever tedious. but it taught me some very important $h!t that is still very helpful, even when using software.

 

[vath]

shouldn't someone ask what size batch he/she is going for?

Are we assuming a 5 gallon batch?

 

[BrewKnurd]

shouldn't someone ask what size batch he/she is going for?

Are we assuming a 5 gallon batch?

can't speak for other "we"s but this we sure are. Boldly assumed that someone who was asking a question like this hadn't moved past 5 gallon batches.

 

[mtg4772]

can't speak for other "we"s but this we sure are. Boldly assumed that someone who was asking a question like this hadn't moved past 5 gallon batches.

Exactly! Haven't moved past a 5 gallon batch. Someday I may move up to a 10 gallon batch, but first I have to figure out what the heck I'm doing. At least get the basics down.

thanks for all the help.