IPA Recipe: Feedback welcome!

[Torrefaction]

Hello,
For my 3rd ever batch, I'm planning to try my own recipe (cliché rookie mistake, I know ) for a fall/winter IPA. I humbly ask, awesome howebrewers, for your thoughts: what kind of profile do you think I'll get with the grain/hop bills below? What might you tweak/chance/suggest?

As a reference: my first IPA (which I judged too early when it was still green)(stoopid noob) was a Stone IPA clone (https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3125-stone-ipa-clone) which started at 1062 and finished at 1010 with WLP 002 English Ale. I'm enjoying it much more as the flavours come together, but I'm definitely interested in a more aggressive hop character (face punch, cheek pucker) and a dryer beer. I prefer pine/earth/spice to tropical fruit bombs these days. I like em a bit chewy .

All-grain American IPA (untitled)

11.5 pounds superior pale ale (Canada Maltage) (compared by some to MO)
1 pound Munich
.5 pounds flaked barley
(13 pounds fermentables)

.5 warrior FWH (which means draining the first wort right onto hops, right?)
.5 warrior @ 60 min
.5 bravo @ 15 min
1 amarillo @ 10 min
.5 bravo, .5 chinook, 1 cascade @ 5 min
1 amarillo + 1 cascade + .5 chinook… @ 0 min (20 min soak + stir before chill)
1 ounce amarillo + 1 ounce bravo + 1 ounce chinook dry hop (5 days)

(10 OZ total incl. dry hop, all pellet hops)

WLP 001 American Ale Yeast

Beer tools says I'll get something like 1062 OG, 1013 FG for 6.4% ABV, along with about 100 IBU. SRM around 7. Planning a 60 min mash at 149 and a 60 min boil. 20 days, primary only, with dry hop during the final 5, then bottling.

I was originally planning a simcoe blend and ended up subbing bravo on my hop bill due to short supply up here in Montreal. Any peeps here who've used bravo for late additions/dry hop? (BTW, we're also out of centennial.)

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks! :rockin:

 

[Hammy71]

Do it. How else you gonna know?

 

[grimzella]

I just made an IPA with all Chinook hops.. 5.5 gallon batch. 1.75oz Chinook pellets (60 min) Then the flavor hops (Chinook whole hops fresh from the backyard) 15min left in the boil .50oz - 10min .50oz - 5min .50oz - flame out .50oz

Cant wait to try !!!!

 

[m00ps]

ive found FWH to not really make a difference vs a 60min addition but that doesnt mean you cant give it a shot yourself. Yes, you got the concept of it right BTW

I also like to emphasize flameout hopstand additions with my IPAs. Id even say you could increase the hopstand addition if you want something closer to the pungent hop character stone can get with their beers. I like using 10oz at the least in a long hopstand (usually 45-60min) to maximize hop character and so far none of my IPAs have been nearly as bitter as Stone's but they are noticeably hoppier

grian bill looks good. My only input would be to try some wheat in an IPA next time. I use 15-30% in mine and it reaklly brings out a juicy flavor from the hops

 

[aprichman]

I agree with m00ps - wheat is great in hop forward beers. In addition, I would recommend swapping a small amount of base malt for dextrose which is added late in the boil. Even substituting as little as 0.5 lbs will really help dry things out.

 

[Yooper]

I love flaked barley- in stouts. It makes the beer "thick" with a ton of body and a rocky head- totally what I don't want in an IPA. I'd ditch that for sure.

With the malt you have, this is going to have a super rich malt backbone. I'd consider that good, since you have a strong hop bill, but I much prefer a more "generic" malt profile with either basic Canadian or US two row, and a hint of Munich (like you have).

 

[Schecter]

To further on what previous posters have said about hopstands.

IIRC the oil myrcene is predominately the factor in aroma in terms of hops. With a boiling point of 166F you want to add your flameout hops after you chill down to around 160F which I believe to be the general accepted hopstand ritual. I have been doing hopstands this way for a long time and cannot compare to adding at flameout for temps around 212F, but I think you may want to give it a shot.

Cheers

 

[Torrefaction]

I agree with m00ps - wheat is great in hop forward beers. In addition, I would recommend swapping a small amount of base malt for dextrose which is added late in the boil. Even substituting as little as 0.5 lbs will really help dry things out.

Curious about this adding sugar business... I thought this was only done in giant IIPAs, etc...
So if I subtract .5 pounds of Pale Ale malt and add .5 pounds of dextrose, I'll end up with roughly the same ABV but perceptibly less sweetness in the finished product?

 

[Torrefaction]

I love flaked barley- in stouts. It makes the beer "thick" with a ton of body and a rocky head- totally what I don't want in an IPA. I'd ditch that for sure.

With the malt you have, this is going to have a super rich malt backbone. I'd consider that good, since you have a strong hop bill, but I much prefer a more "generic" malt profile with either basic Canadian or US two row, and a hint of Munich (like you have).

Thanks Yooper - that's exactly the kind of advice I need. I'll ditch the barley (heard it was good for head/body--I'll def. add some to my next stout!) and maybe go for a 50/50 mix of 2-row with superior pale ale, plus Munich.

 

[aprichman]

Curious about this adding sugar business... I thought this was only done in giant IIPAs, etc...
So if I subtract .5 pounds of Pale Ale malt and add .5 pounds of dextrose, I'll end up with roughly the same ABV but perceptibly less sweetness in the finished product?

Not only less sweetness but a drier finish (i.e less body). To give you an idea of the effects, my last IPA used 0.25 lbs dextrose with a 60 minute 149F mash and had an OG of 1.061 and a FG of 1.008. That's a really high attenuation even though I used WY 1272 which should attenuate to ~75%. The low mash temperature and dextrose addition allowed me to hit 86% attenuation.

 

[lumpher]

ive found FWH to not really make a difference vs a 60min addition but that doesnt mean you cant give it a shot yourself. Yes, you got the concept of it right BTW

I also like to emphasize flameout hopstand additions with my IPAs. Id even say you could increase the hopstand addition if you want something closer to the pungent hop character stone can get with their beers. I like using 10oz at the least in a long hopstand (usually 45-60min) to maximize hop character and so far none of my IPAs have been nearly as bitter as Stone's but they are noticeably hoppier

grian bill looks good. My only input would be to try some wheat in an IPA next time. I use 15-30% in mine and it reaklly brings out a juicy flavor from the hops

FWH adds a much mellower hop bite to the beer, so it does make a big difference. wheat in an ipa? no. it adds a bite that does not belong in an ipa

 

[Hammy71]

I agree with m00ps - wheat is great in hop forward beers. In addition, I would recommend swapping a small amount of base malt for dextrose which is added late in the boil. Even substituting as little as 0.5 lbs will really help dry things out.

Here's another age old discussion. I'm old school....If I'm making a Belgian or a IIPA, I'll add sugar. But I'm all grain for a reason. I mash low for longer and get the same results without the sugar in my IPAs. If one wants a dry IPA...then don't use things like Munich or Crystal. Just goes to show, there's more than one way to skin a cat. (Can I still use that phrase? So many of my parents sayings are offensive anymore....who knows....)

 

[Yooper]

Here's another age old discussion. I'm old school....If I'm making a Belgian or a IIPA, I'll add sugar. But I'm all grain for a reason. I mash low for longer and get the same results without the sugar in my IPAs. If one wants a dry IPA...then don't use things like Munich or Crystal. Just goes to show, there's more than one way to skin a cat. (Can I still use that phrase? So many of my parents sayings are offensive anymore....who knows....)

I don't use sugar very often either- maybe one or two IIPAs use some sugar, the rest is all malt.

A good friend on this forum, @AnOldUR , is the one that taught me that a pound of wheat malt in an IPA is a good thing. It gives nice head retention and some body, but without flavor or haze. I'd recommend that over flaked barley in an IPA.

 

[Torrefaction]

Thanks again!
So... wheat malt or flaked wheat for head retention/body with no flavour? I can't say I enjoy the intrusion of wheat flavours in my IPAs. Both of my current brews lose their heads too quickly for my liking; trying to correct this in my next batches.

 

[m00ps]

yeah, oats, rye, flaked rye, flaked barley, and carapils are commonly used for head retention as well