IPA Question

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bds3

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I recently brewed a simcoe IPA. It's been in the bottle 6 weeks and is pretty good. It's got a good hop-malt balance and pretty much the level of bitterness that I desired, but really not a ton of hop flavor and very little aroma.

I didn't want anything crazy hoppy and just pieced together a simple recipe of my own from a number that I found online. I used 6.6 lb amber LME, 1 lb light DME, a number of steeping grains, and (the important part) 2oz hops 60 min, 1oz 30 mins, 1oz 15 mins, 1 oz 2 mins, and 1oz dry hopped. All were simcoe pellet hops.

Like I said, I just kinda made this recipe up (not that it's complex or anything), and to complete the learning process, I'm here for advice. What would you experts have done differently? When would you add more hops? 15 min? 2 min? Secondary? How much? I love simcoe hops and this beer is pretty good, I just think it could be better and all advice is appreciated as I'll probably brew it again some time.
 
Perhaps making half the LME light, and adding more hops at 2 min and at the dry hop

What yeast did you use?

Also curious as to the steeping grains
 
When I brew IPA's my hop schedual is usually pretty intense. 60 min 45 min 30 min 5 min and 2 min (usually 2oz here). Also dry hop about 2oz in my secondary two weeks before I plan to bottle.
 
I'd suggest that you move that 30 minute addition to 10 minutes, and at least double your dry hops. How long did you dry hop for? Personally I add an oz. of hops for my IPAs at 60, 20 or 15, 10, 5, then 2oz at flameout (steep 15 minutes), and dry hop with at least 2 oz. I'm doing 3 oz of dry hop in my next brew (2 oz Simcoe and 1 oz Cascade).
 
It's possible your hop flavor is getting masked by an overly complicated grain (fermentable) bill. That being said, you stated you used Amber LME, Light LME and a number of steeping grains. Typically when you're brewing an IPA the hops are what you're trying to showcase, and in your recipe, you wanted to showcase simcoe. My advise, and I'm no expert, is to simplify your malt bill a bit and the hops will come through better.

Also, as an FYI, typically when you buy "amber" or "dark" LME, you really want to take it easy with any steeping grains. Typically anything other than light LME will have crystal, munich, chocolate, carafa, black patent and the like already mashed by the maltster while making the LME. If you add something like crystal malt to a recipe that calls for amber LME, it's like putting well over a lb of crystal in your beer which can make it overly sweet.
 
Simple Extract IPA

Full volume, 60 minute boil (NO top off water)
6.30 gallon boil / 5.50 gallon batch / 5.00 gallon bottling volume
1.061 OG / 1.014 FG
Primary, 3 to 4 weeks held between 62-68 F
Secondary, optional
Cold Crash, not necessary (but avoid agitation)
Bottle Conditioning, 2-1/2 weeks in the low 70s

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8 lbs. Extra Light DME (3 lbs. added as a late addition)
1/2 lb. Light Crystal (crushed and steeped)
1/2 lb. Corn Sugar (late addition)
1 oz. your choice of American Pacific Northwest hops (60 min)
2 oz. your choice of American Pacific Northwest hops (10 min)
2 oz. your choice of American Pacific Northwest hops (0 min)
2 to 3 oz. your choice of American Pacific Northwest hops (7 to 10 day Dryhop)
Safale US-05, Wyeast 1056, or WLP001
----
----

Tips:

*Avoid using anything but extra light or light DME.
*Avoid using "a number of steeping grains" for an IPA.
*Use 4-7% total crystal, preferably under 40 L, or better yet 10-20 L.
*Simcoe pairs particularly well with Amarillo, Citra, and CTZ.
*Focus heavily on late additions (15-0); not early (90-60) or middle (45-25) additions.
*Use nylon paint strainer bags in the boil to secure your hops.
*A 25-35 min. (max 60 min.) total flameout period provides more hop character vs. a short, 10-15 min. flameout.
*Depending on whether Single or Imperial IPA, use anywhere from 0.50 to 1.00 oz. dryhops for every gallon of beer.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. I have to go look at my notes which I won't be around for a few days, but I think the grains were 0.5 lb carapils and 0.5 lb crystal 55. That's not a guarantee though.

I think next time I will change the LME to light from amber. I'll also do 2oz at 60, 1@15, 1@10, 1@5, and 2@ flameout, and 2 in secondary.

My desire was to make an IPA that still had a good maltiness to it, and it sounds like I overdid it with the malt and didn't backload the hops enough for more hop flavor and aroma. Like I said initially, it still has a good bitterness to it and will turn out to be a great beer (at least that's what I anticipate). Experimenting is all part of the fun I guess.
 
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