Is this IPA going to turn out disguntingly sweet?

[kef300]

My LHBS didn't have any Munich or Carapils, which are essential parts of an IPA recipe of mine that has worked quite well. For this attempt, I wanted to raise the body, head retention and mouthfeel a bit. Without Munich or Carapils, I had to improvise, and I think I went overboard with the caramel malts:

10lb Pale Malt
3.3 lb 10L
2.2 lb 30L
6 oz Maltodextrine (to try to get some mouthfeel/head retention)

0.5 oz Columbus 60 min
1 oz Chinook 30 min
1 oz Fuggle 15 min
1 oz Amarillo 5 min
0.5 oz Columbus 5 min

S-04.

I'm going to dry hop. Will probably use 1 oz Cascade, 1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Columbus (or Centennial).

I'm also worried about the grain ratio in my recipe. I rushed the whole formulation part and somehow didn't think about the diastatic power lost from replacing Munich to caramel malts. I'm hoping the hops can offset quite a bit of the sweetness, but I'm worried about ending with a sugary malt beverage.

Any tips?

 

[iijakii]

Way too much crystal for me.

 

[ol-hazza]

Yeh that is more crystal than i would use

I try to keep crystal malts to less than 10%, but the general rule of thumb seems to be up to 20%.

With your generous flavour and aroma additions i think this one will taste alright, you can also serve it ice cold and that will help supress the sweetness.

Mash temp will have played its part as well, as will the 04, as british pale ales do tend to be somewhat sweeter.

All in all its not a recipe im going to copy but would be more than willing to drink one.

Oh and as far as diastic power goes you should be fine i think.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I agree.....WAAAAAAYYYY too much crystal malt! drop them below 10%.
I don't use carapils and I get good foam. Here's a trick, try using a high protein grain like 1 lb. of rye instead of carapils. Also, bring up your mash temp to 153. The residual sugars and the rye make a FANTASTIC HEAD!

 

[LLBrewer]

Maybe add some table sugar to dry it out a bit?

 

[peterj]

Wow, that's an insane amount of crystal malt. I don't think there are enough hops in that recipe to offset the sweetness (and maybe not enough in the world ). If you've already brewed it then I would go ahead and finish it up and see how it turns out. It might be drinkable. Don't add the maltodextrin if you haven't already though.

If you haven't brewed it yet, then I would add at least twice as much pale malt to those grains, mix them up well, and brew 2 beers from them.

Good luck!

 

[kef300]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I had already brewed it when I started this thread. I'm crossing my fingers that the fact that they are "light" caramel hops might not make it AS sweet. I can't believe I made this mistake. I'm usually very careful with my grain bill ratios. We will see what happens..

 

[ol-hazza]

Just chalk it us as experience, its still going to make beer, and no beer is bad.

 

[joshesmusica]

you can still add sugar (as mentioned above) while fermentation has already started. it could help to dry it out.

 

[JKaranka]

Five pounds of sugar and turn it into a tripel

 

[bigdaddybrew]

See how it finishes. If it is too sweet which seems likely, I would brew a light dry beer with lots of hops and blend them together.

 

[kef300]

Well here's a question: it's been fermenting for a couple days. Could I add DME to the fermenter and make it an Imperial IPA?

 

[blackbeer]

holy friggen crystal batman. thats a lot. just chalk it up to experience and limit it to 10% or below next time. who knows, maybe you just discovered a new style and we'll all be adding 40% crystal to our IPA's next year.

 

[schematix]

Really curious how this turns out. Yikes that's a ton of crystal. I like the idea of blending it with a simple (100% base malt), yet very hoppy beer.