IPA screwup

[DrFuggles]

Hi all,

I'm new to the whole brewing thing and got a Brooklyn Brew Shop kit for xmas. I brewed that up and it tasted pretty good. I've tried to emulate the Everyday (US) IPA in a UK 1 gallon batch and it couldnt taste further from the BBS kit. I was bottling it last night and had a glassful - it tastes very very grainy/malty (like being slapped with a loaf of bread) and has no discernable aromatic hop taste. Bitterness is there nicely though.

I substituted a few bits due to availabliity of grains and think this is where I went wrong. Can anyone steer me as to how I tone down the grainy/malty next time and thereby get more aromatic hoppy? Recipe below - bear in mind moving from a US gallon to UK gallon so upscaled weights accordingly.

Recipe: 1.8 lbs US 2 Row
replaced by Maris Otter - 1kg

Recipe: 0.4lbs Caramel 20, 0.2lbs Victory
replaced by Amber Crisp - 235g

Recipe: 0.1lbs Munich
Used Munich - 165g

Mashed 60 minutes @ 148 degrees
Boiled 60 minutes - 3.5g columbus@ start of boil. 3.5g Cascade @ 15, 30, 45, 55 and 60 mins into the boil.

I pitched 5.5g (overpitched! - 3g next time!) of Safale S05 yeast. OG 1060 - FG 1012. Fermented at 18 degrees C for 2 weeks.

Apart from "well, you changed the whole grain profile and overpitched, moron" - is there any advice that can be given about toning down malty and getting that hop aroma to shine through?

 

[fartinmartin]

The smaller the brew the bigger the risks, every tolerance gets much tighter, perhaps cut back on the amber and replace the same with Maris otter, and dry hopping cures a multitude of sins, it's really magic , but in a bag particularly in small batch due to losses to trub.
Has your brew had a few weeks in the bottle? As it will change.
Good luck

 

[DrFuggles]

Thanks for the reply fartinmartin - I just bottled it last night so I will wait a few weeks for the final result. I'm just preparing some teas of all the different grains I used so i can taste them and try and understand the flavours of each grain and in turn work out which one might be the overpowering one.

I'll go a little easier on the Amber and try some dry hopping next time!

 

[fartinmartin]

I am very basic with my brews, I taste the grains, just the once, as it hurts the teeth. Fir me I found that most of the grains unless you go heavy on them the main thing they do is change the colour from very small additions.
SMASH brews are the way to go for real analysis tho, and great fun for small volumes (single malt, single hop).

 

[seanppp]

You say you over-pitched, but did you [properly] rehydrate the yeast? If you just sprinkled it in, then you pitched just about the right amount for that [inferior] method. Because if you just sprinkle it in, half of it will die.

 

[DrFuggles]

re the overpitching - no, I just threw it in there without rehydration. The issue is that I got the 11.5g sachets and brewed two 1 gallon batches in a weekend. I understand it doesn't keep well over a day or two so I just divided it by 2 and chucked it in.

Good to know that I need to be more careful in future with die-off though and you've saved me carefully measuring 3g, chucking half a pack out and not fermenting properly! Thanks!

Grain tea results:
1) Maris otter - good and light. Tastes like maltesers (makes sense).
2) Amber Crisp - This is definitely the one that has taken over my brew! Tastes like burnt bread/ryvitas/nuts.
3) Munich - Tastes similar to the maris otter but more intense.

Thanks fartinmartin - looks like you were on the money. I'm going to lose the amber crisp entirely - not sure I like the punch-in-the-face taste!

 

[fartinmartin]

I have many many times taken a sachet of Safale taken some out! then selotaped up the sachet, put in a plastic bag ,left for over a month, and it always performs fine on next use.

 

[Calder]

I assume the crisp is a type of caramel malt. 235 grams is more than a pound in a 1.2 gallon batch. I'd use less in a 7 US gallon IPA batch.

You have a total of 21 grams (0.75 ozs) of hops. For a US 5 gallon, that would be about 3 ozs, which is low.

It looks as though your hop times are from the start of the boil, with the 60 minute at flame out. This would mean only half your hops (equivalent to 1.5 ozs in 5 gals) were with 15 minutes left in the boil. Most people use time left in the boil for timing of additions, so a 15 minute addition is with 15 minutes left, and a zero minute is at flame out.

I am not surprised you had a lot of malt/grain flavor, with littl hop presence.

 

[chickypad]

Grain tea results:
1) Maris otter - good and light. Tastes like maltesers (makes sense).
2) Amber Crisp - This is definitely the one that has taken over my brew! Tastes like burnt bread/ryvitas/nuts.
3) Munich - Tastes similar to the maris otter but more intense.

Thanks fartinmartin - looks like you were on the money. I'm going to lose the amber crisp entirely - not sure I like the punch-in-the-face taste!

I think you nailed it here. Your 2 recipes with percentages:

2 row 72 %
c-40 16 %
Biscuit 8 %
Munich 4 %

MO 71 %
Amber 17%
Munich 12 %

I agree that amber malt is pretty potent biscuit and malt flavor, I've used it in the 3-4% range and it's noticeable so at 17% it must be pretty intense. Combine that with tripling your munich % and swapping US 2-row for MO and you're definitely in for a malty brew. Even the original recipe is more specialty malt than I would use in an IPA. Next time you may want to try just base malt and maybe 3-5% of one or two character malts and that's it.

 

[DrFuggles]

Ahh working out the percentages is a really good idea - I'll definitely do that next time!

"Intense" is a good description! haha It's drinkable - I forced a glass down yesterday before bottling and by the end of it tried to convince myself that it wasn't too bad (it kinda was - mmm uncarbonated burnt bread beer). I'm glad I've only got a couple of gallons of the stuff which I suppose is the upside of small batches when starting out. I cant imagine how some rookies manage to chew their way through 50 bottles of pondwater when it goes wrong!

I had another brew day today and swapped the 235g of Amber Crisp with pale ale malt and the wort tasted awesome before it went in the fermenter. I was a bit worried about colour before the boil as it seemed rather weak, but it's a nice golden colour now. It's much more in line with what I want from a beer and (for the moment) actually had a very good hop aroma. I might well try notching down the munich to 3-5% as well for the next one as chickypad said.

Thanks for all your input guys - really appreciate it and I raise my glass to you all.

 

[fartinmartin]

Have you got a dry hop plan ?

 

[DrFuggles]

Was thinking of dry hopping 7g of cascade after a week in the fermenter and leaving in the primary for a couple of weeks after. The only thing stopping me is whether i can get some marbles to keep the dry hop bag down. If I don't do it with this one, I'll certainly do the next!

 

[fartinmartin]

7g is ok if it's a 1gal batch, I sometimes nick a teaspoon to put in the bag, anything stainless steel will do.

 

[chickypad]

I had another brew day today and swapped the 235g of Amber Crisp with pale ale malt and the wort tasted awesome before it went in the fermenter. I was a bit worried about colour before the boil as it seemed rather weak, but it's a nice golden colour now. It's much more in line with what I want from a beer and (for the moment) actually had a very good hop aroma. I might well try notching down the munich to 3-5% as well for the next one as chickypad said..

That one should be nice. When I said 3-5% I was kind of thinking for crystal or biscuit/victory/amber but munich or vienna up to 15% I will do in an IPA.