IPA Recipe Wanted

[UncleJoshua]

Hey Guys, please forgive me if this is in the wrong section/not the done thing.

I'm after a recipe for an IPA using citra, cascade and centennial hops. I want it to be around the 3.6-4% mark, I'd like a nice hop taste but not something crazy. I'd also like to use carafa special 3 to make it black.

I'm a member of the UK's biggest brewing forum and they claim you can't brew a black IPA without it having hundreds of grams of hops but that can't be right, I mean, surly there is some there is an IPA I can use with those three hops?

Ingredients I have..

Citra 100G
Cascade 100G
Centennial 87G

Pale malt 4KG
Amber malt 500g
Caramalt 150G
Crystal malt 275G
Torrified wheat 500G.
carafa special 3 500G (cold steep maybe)

23l Brew.

Hope someone can help.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

That's well over half pound of hops for a 6 gallon batch. That's PLENTY of hops and all excellent aroma varieties. You might want to acquire some more base malt though. I'd start with a least 5 kg of base, maybe a 400g of Munich, then a bit of crystal, special carafa and whatever else. I'd do something around 1.065 and 80 IBU. Good luck.

 

[JordanThomas]

The BJCP style guidelines would classify what you're looking for as a "Pale Ale" instead of an IPA. Not that that changes much. It would be a black pale ale (oxymoron much?). More base malt will definitely help you get to that IPA level, gravity and ABV-wise.

I think this is all correct =D

 

[bobbrews]

For a beer like this, do not use any traditional bittering hops, all late hops 15-10-5-0-DH.

A full wort boil is necessary. Do not top off with extra plain water.

I would stick with a base of Pale malt, less than 8% wheat, and less than 5% caramalt, with just a touch of carafa. I would personally leave that last one out though.

 

[UncleJoshua]

How does this look...

I also aim to use 500g Carafa special 3 cold steeped.

 

[bobbrews]

500g of carafa is an insane amount for this beer...and most beers. 454g is a pound for god sakes.

I don't usually deal with grams, but the recipe seems good on the surface otherwise. You need a dryhop.

 

[duckmanco]

Ask and you shall receive... I've made this twice, both extract and AG. Love this beer.


http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2011/01/little-bear-session-cda/

You can do anything you want with the hops, but I kept the same format, and played with different hops.

 

[kingwood-kid]

500g Carafa is probably about 3x what you'd need, although I don't know how cold-steeping changes things. I recently brewed A 4% APA similar to this recipe, and it came out a little rough/bitter for my tastes. The fruitiness of the hops is there in the nose, but is hiding in the background in the taste. Based on that, I'd recommend dropping the IBUs to around 35, and/or bumping the caramel malt a touch.

 

[UncleJoshua]

Would this work better..

With 167g Carafa special 3 cold steeped.

 

[Yooper]

That's pretty low on grain for an IPA- generally you want an OG of 1.060 at least, at IBUs of a minimum of 40.

I'd increase the hopping slightly (the 15 minute hop is only .8 ounce, so that can easily go up to 1.5 ounces and the one citra addition should go to 1 ounce), and increase the malt bill so that you get an OG of 1.060. The basic grainbill looks good, just not enough of it.

Edit- I just saw that you're not making an IPA, and want a lower ABV. Sorry about that! The basic grainbill is good!

 

[UncleJoshua]

That's pretty low on grain for an IPA- generally you want an OG of 1.060 at least, at IBUs of a minimum of 40.

I'd increase the hopping slightly (the 15 minute hop is only .8 ounce, so that can easily go up to 1.5 ounces and the one citra addition should go to 1 ounce), and increase the malt bill so that you get an OG of 1.060. The basic grainbill looks good, just not enough of it.

I don't want it to be above 4% Someone below recomended lowering the EBU, that is why I lowered the hop levels.

 

[kingwood-kid]

I think if done right, you can still load it with hops without too many IBUs. Put a bunch in the dry-hop and you'll get a big hoppy nose. If you move a lot of your additions to flameout you can still get plenty of hop flavor without too much bitterness. I didn't see what yeast you were going to use, but I would go for something low-attenuating; you can leave more sugar/body in the beer at the same 4% ABV.

 

[bobbrews]

Take a look at Carton Boat out of NJ. It's a session IPA low in bitterness and high in IPA hop aroma.