IPA recipe critique

[THEDIETZ]

Let me know what you think....brewing this on saturday...

21 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 85.7 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.0 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.2 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.1 %
1.00 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 27.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 55.0 min Hop 6 20.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 7 12.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 1.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 4.9 IBUs
2.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml]

 

[THEDIETZ]

10 gallon batch

 

[hamiltont]

I'm assuming you like your IPA's real sweet? Save the Amarillo for the last 15-20 minutes. At 45 min it's just a waste. Cheers, and Happy Brewing!!!

 

[Jwood]

in my opinion, too sweet for my tastes. have you made an IPA with that much crystal combined with honey malt before?

 

[Yooper]

Too sweet! The idea of over 12% crystal, and then honey malt besides makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it.

An IPA should be quaffable, without much residual sweetness. I wouldn't use both crystal malt and honey malt- and instead would choose some "malty" malts like Vienna or Munich and possibly even some dextrose to counteract some of the cloyingness of the honey malt.

As far as the hops, I'd leave only the nugget and 1/2 of the summit for bittering hops. I'd move the amarillo at 45 minutes (useless addition) to 15 minutes. I'd also add some hops at flame out, as an IPA is all about hops flavor and aroma and it requires late hops, like at 15, 10, 5, 0 minutes plus dryhopping.

 

[Piratwolf]

What Yooper said!!

And dry hop like a madman with more of that Amarillo goodness!

 

[THEDIETZ]

thanks for the advice

 

[Jwood]

i'd summit at 60, amarillo at 30, fairly large amarillo-cascade at flame out. Then dry hop your brains out with summit, amarillo, cascade. (a bit more amarillo and cascade than summit)

I left out the nugget to keep things simpler. Plus, Summit-Amarillo-Cascade sounds like a pretty good combo. For an IPA keep the malt bill simple, you really want your hops to shine through (again, this is my opinion based on my tastes)

 

[Piratwolf]

JWood--I've noticed a number of people advocate a 30-min hop addition, but I'm not sure what the point is. What's your theory on that?

 

[Jwood]

my theory is that it is still a good way to up the bitterness, maybe get a bit of flavor and not provide as harsh of a bitterness as a 60 min. addition (i could be off on this though, it is just kind of what i've always done). I add a sufficient amount of my hops later at the very end of the boil to get the most out of flavoring and aroma. Especially since the wort ends up staying warm for a while. Then i use a fair amount of dry hops, I really do think you get the most out of dry hopping, especially in higher amounts. I refuse to believe that dry hopping only adds to the perception of aroma.