making my first IPA

[wolfshado]

since i'm still new to the brewing game and this is only my 4th brew i did an extract.... heres how it went-

4 gallons water
5 lb extra light extract
2 lb pale malt extract
1 lb corn sugar
hops schedule
90 min boil
1 oz centennial hops (pellets)
60 min boil
1/2 oz zythos hops (pellets)
30 min boil
1/2 oz cascade hops (pellet)
15 min boil
1 tsp Irish moss
Ice bath- temp to 79 f
Top off with 1 ½ gallons of water 1 ¾ cup cane sugar to reach OG of 1.07 at 75 f
1 package of Safale US05 yeast rehydrated in ½ 90 f water
Strained 2 times to remove most of the hops and moss

its in the primary and already starting a good bubble. Any hints or advice? I plan to dry hop in secondary with either cascade or fuggle hops. Which do yall recommend? Is this already hoppy enough without the dry? I have fallen in love with super hoppy beers and i fear i am quickly becoming a hophead thanks to my son and his friends turning me on to IPA
will take pics and give results in about 3 weeks... should be ready just in time to ring in the new year i hope


By the way i am calling it.... Kal-ale after my hero Superman.... i hope is as strong...

 

[bwar31]

I am relatively a new brewer as well (currently on 10th batch), however, like you I am a huge fan of IPAs, first beer made was an extract IPA, used two different hops at different boil times and didn't dry hop. Yet, I just brewed a 90min IPA last week and will be dry hopping in my secondary, this mostly should add a greater aroma and very little flavor to the beer.

The preference here has been explained to me simply as: The earlier you add hops to your beer aka the start of the boil, you add bitterness, and as you gradually add later into the boil / you flavor from your hops, and in at the end of the boil into dry hop you get more of your aroma from the hops.

As for hop types I've used both cascade and fuggle, and think they are both great, depending on the amount of equipment you got maybe try dry hopping in one bucket half with cascade and another half with the fuggle. might not be much difference in the end but you never know.

 

[Captain Damage]

You can dry hop it in the primary. There is no need to transfer it to secondary which will risk oxidation and/or infection. Wait two to three weeks, drop 2 ounces of hops in and bottle after one week. The flavor/aroma of dry hopping is distinctly different from late hopping. It is a signature flavor of IPAs. I love Cascade for dry hopping. It's a bright, fresh citrus/grapefruit flavor. I haven't DH'd with Fuggle, though I have DH'd with Willamette, which is the closest American hop to Fuggle (it's a Fuggle descendant, actually). It's a less bright flavor, a little more earthy and woody.

In the future, cool your wort to the mid-low 60Fs, and pitch your yeast at that temperature.

Straining your wort isn't really necessary, though it doesn't hurt. Your double straining added plenty of oxygen, which is a good thing (oxygen before fermentation = good, oxygen during and after fermentation = bad). Personally, I dump the entire contents of the kettle into the fermenter, but other do like to strain or otherwise separate out their trub.

 

[Stix]

Drop the rehydrating IMO. More chance to kill them off trying to rehydrate than just sprinkling it in. If concerned just buy 2 packs.

 

[Erich8]

I just recently bottled my first IPA.. Dry hopped for about 5 days with Cascade and have to say the smell/taste was wonderful. Can't wait for this one to get carbbed, I have a feeling its going to be delicious.

 

[Captain Damage]

Drop the rehydrating IMO. More chance to kill them off trying to rehydrate than just sprinkling it in. If concerned just buy 2 packs.

Rehydrating dry yeast reduces the osmotic stress that occurs when pitching directly into sugary wort.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. They def get going sooner when rehydrated as well. Only one ounce total of flavor hops isn't much for an IPA. & the 30 minute addition will be about half bittering. I used 4.5 ounces in my 1st IPA,the remaing .5oz of each as a 1 week dry hop. That turned out more like commercial ones.

 

[chickypad]

Only one ounce total of flavor hops isn't much for an IPA. & the 30 minute addition will be about half bittering. I used 4.5 ounces in my 1st IPA,the remaing .5oz of each as a 1 week dry hop. That turned out more like commercial ones.

This^
If you want to replicate some of the commercial American style IPA's with lots of hop character you're going to need to really up your late additions. For example per 5 gallon I typically go 1 ounce each at 15, 10, 5, flameout and then dry hop with a couple ounces.

I'm sure it will still be good, just maybe not what you were expecting. Definitely dry hop, I'd go with cascade for that recipe.

 

[unionrdr]

Just as a point of interest,I used 1.5oz each of columbus,nugget,& cascade starting @ 25mins. Every 8 minutes & 30 seconds,in went the next addition. Then 1 week dry hop with the remaing 1.5oz from the boil hops.

 

[FATC1TY]

Doesn't sound bad, but the beer won't be that hoppy.. just bitter.

I'd suggest that if you do the 90 min and want it really bitter, then do so, but skip out the 60 and the 30. Those didn't any anything but bitterness to the beer and wouldn't leave a ton of flavor and aroma.

For an IPA, you want to hit it with a high AA bittering addition, at 90 or 60, or whatnot.. Then make most of your additions 20min and down.. Like 15, 10, 7, 5, and flame out.

Also- in the future, if you needed to bump the OG, you should use some extract, versus the sugar. In this case, it didn't hurt since the extract beers will tend to finish too sweet, and you want an IPA to generally be drier. But boil the sugar.. You chilled and added sugar, and could have introduced some bugs that will contaminate the beer.

However, what is done is done, so I'd suggest dry hopping it with a fair bit to get some aroma in there, which will translate to feeling like it has more flavor.

 

[chickypad]

Wow, I misread that. I thought those were 60, 30, and 15 min additions initially.

Looks like folks have you covered for suggestions on the next batch. At least you'll have a good comparison on the difference the flavor/late additions make.

 

[Stix]

Rehydrating dry yeast reduces the osmotic stress that occurs when pitching directly into sugary wort.

And what happens when improperly rehydrated? Hmmm.... Better odds with pitching than rehydrating. Stressed yeast recover in rich wort. To easy to let it go to long, forget when it was put in, wrong temp, thermometer off.... yada yada.

 

[wolfshado]

ok well its been almost 3 weeks so i popped one open to see how the carb up is doing, and i THINK someone must have shaken my 3 test bottles cause it foamed over like crazy while the first one i opened 4 days before was just barely carbed up. However, the hop nose and tastes are REALLY coming through strong. I have One more test bottle as well as one NON dry hopped bottle to compare which each other. I can tell you this, Kal-Ale is living up to its name and pretty strong.

 

[unionrdr]

And what happens when improperly rehydrated? Hmmm.... Better odds with pitching than rehydrating. Stressed yeast recover in rich wort. To easy to let it go to long, forget when it was put in, wrong temp, thermometer off.... yada yada.

I've been having a minor problem in this regard. I've been rehydrating at 90F,the low end of the 90-105F range most often recommended by manufacturers. But take off has been soso. Then I read that thread about rehydrating yeast kills?. I then found out that yes,those rehydrate temps are good. But you have to get it's temp down to within 10 degrees of the current wort temp or the yeast can shock. Gunna test that one next batch.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Give this post a read...really good info on IPAs.. http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/08/how-to-brew-better-ipas.html

 

[gcdowd]

Give this post a read...really good info on IPAs.. http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/08/how-to-brew-better-ipas.html

Great read. I've been toying with my IPAs for a while and just recently started really getting a grasp on them. This article helped shed some more light on the matter.

I'm going to try bittering with Summit, then adding all my other additions at 5min and flameout. Then dry hop with 4-5 oz.

I've been wanting more hop flavor and aroma and I think this will help get me there. I'm thinking something like this:

10 lbs 2 Row
0.5 lbs crystal 40
0.25 lbs cara-pils

1-2 oz. Summit @ 60 min (17%AA)
1 oz. Cascade @ 5 min
1 oz. Columbus @ 5 min
1 oz. Simcoe @ 5 min
1 oz. Cascade @ 0 min
1 oz. Columbus @ 0 min
1 oz. Simcoe @ 0 min

2 oz. Simcoe dry-hop
2 oz. Cascade dry-hop
1 oz. Columbus dry-hop

Ferment with US-05 or Wyeast 1056.

Too much hops?

 

[unionrdr]

At 5 minutes & 0,they're all aroma hops. Move the 5 minute ones to 15-20 minutes,& the 0 ones to 2-5 minutes. That'll give you what you want.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Too much hops?

never

I agree that you may want to push the 5 min additions to at least 10. If you are worried about to much bitterness just decrease the 60 min addition. Also, let those 0 min hops to a hotstand for about 10 minutes before chilling. I have gotten a lot more hop character out of beers this way

 

[brettwasbtd]

At 5 minutes & 0,they're all aroma hops. Move the 5 minute ones to 15-20 minutes,& the 0 ones to 2-5 minutes. That'll give you what you want.

I disagree that 5 minutes gives you "no flavor" - any hop oils going into the beer is going to provide a sort of "flavor." Smell has a large impact on our perceptions of how something tastes.

 

[unionrdr]

I've found that 2-5 minute additions in my pm pales gives a nice little aroma. But they also stay in for ashort steep with thelate extract additions. Other than that,they just lean more to the aroma side. It's our sense of small that helps the aroma seemingly add to the flavor.

 

[gcdowd]

I disagree that 5 minutes gives you "no flavor" - any hop oils going into the beer is going to provide a sort of "flavor." Smell has a large impact on our perceptions of how something tastes.

I always wondered about that. I thought the 15-20 min additions gave lots of flavor but then I talked with a few people who did all their additions in 5 min or less. I go tto thinking how much of the "flavor" is just really a perception based on the aroma. That is why I decided to go all 5 min or less. I could probably move an addition or two to 10 min but I was of the mind that aroma is the key to getting that hop flavor. Am I wrong?

 

[brettwasbtd]

I always wondered about that. I thought the 15-20 min additions gave lots of flavor but then I talked with a few people who did all their additions in 5 min or less. I go tto thinking how much of the "flavor" is just really a perception based on the aroma. That is why I decided to go all 5 min or less. I could probably move an addition or two to 10 min but I was of the mind that aroma is the key to getting that hop flavor. Am I wrong?

No I don't think you're wrong. The best thing to do is make the beer twice and just change the 5 mins (adjusted for ibus) to 15 or 20 and see if you notice a big difference! I guess my rationale was that the 5 minute range might not give much difference in the amount of flavor/aroma you are getting compared to the 0 minute. But that just a guess. You could probably make a deliciously hoppy beer with using a bittering addition and 0 minute additions and then dryhopping.

So much room for a experimenting!

 

[gcdowd]

No I don't think you're wrong. The best thing to do is make the beer twice and just change the 5 mins (adjusted for ibus) to 15 or 20 and see if you notice a big difference! I guess my rationale was that the 5 minute range might not give much difference in the amount of flavor/aroma you are getting compared to the 0 minute. But that just a guess. You could probably make a deliciously hoppy beer with using a bittering addition and 0 minute additions and then dryhopping.

So much room for a experimenting!

For sure. I'm gonna try that hop schedule on my next IPA anyway and see how it goes. Btw, love your avatar (I'm a Giants fan)

 

[unionrdr]

The thing is giving the boil enough time to pull the oils out of the hops for flavor,but not enough for bittering towards the end of the boil.

 

[gcdowd]

The thing is giving the boil enough time to pull the oils out of the hops for flavor,but not enough for bittering towards the end of the boil.

Yeah I get that. I'm gonna add a 10 min addition maybe

 

[FATC1TY]

Great read. I've been toying with my IPAs for a while and just recently started really getting a grasp on them. This article helped shed some more light on the matter.

I'm going to try bittering with Summit, then adding all my other additions at 5min and flameout. Then dry hop with 4-5 oz.

I've been wanting more hop flavor and aroma and I think this will help get me there. I'm thinking something like this:

10 lbs 2 Row
0.5 lbs crystal 40
0.25 lbs cara-pils

1-2 oz. Summit @ 60 min (17%AA)
1 oz. Cascade @ 5 min
1 oz. Columbus @ 5 min
1 oz. Simcoe @ 5 min
1 oz. Cascade @ 0 min
1 oz. Columbus @ 0 min
1 oz. Simcoe @ 0 min

2 oz. Simcoe dry-hop
2 oz. Cascade dry-hop
1 oz. Columbus dry-hop

Ferment with US-05 or Wyeast 1056.

Too much hops?

You should split what you have there and move it up to the 15-7 minute range. That is where the flavor is at. I like to do a 7 min addition. Gives me bright flavor, and still get some aroma from it.

Try also, doing this. Toss in half of what you want at 0 minutes. Turn the chiller on, chill it to 170-160, and stop chilling. Make the rest of your additions for the 0 min. Stir it with your spoon/paddle that you've left in the boiling wort before you start to chill. Stir it up in the circle for a while and let it sit 10 minutes while you clean up. Turn the chiller on and let it rip to pitching temp. You will be loving the aroma and in turn, some flavor that you get from steeping the late addition hops in not boiling wort.

 

[gcdowd]

You should split what you have there and move it up to the 15-7 minute range. That is where the flavor is at. I like to do a 7 min addition. Gives me bright flavor, and still get some aroma from it.

Try also, doing this. Toss in half of what you want at 0 minutes. Turn the chiller on, chill it to 170-160, and stop chilling. Make the rest of your additions for the 0 min. Stir it with your spoon/paddle that you've left in the boiling wort before you start to chill. Stir it up in the circle for a while and let it sit 10 minutes while you clean up. Turn the chiller on and let it rip to pitching temp. You will be loving the aroma and in turn, some flavor that you get from steeping the late addition hops in not boiling wort.

Great ideas. I've read about aroma steeping at around 170. I think I'll try it. Maybe move half of my 5 minute additions to 10 mins, then do the same with flameout and aroma steep

 

[FATC1TY]

Great ideas. I've read about aroma steeping at around 170. I think I'll try it. Maybe move half of my 5 minute additions to 10 mins, then do the same with flameout and aroma steep

Sounds like a plan. Only thing I can offer here, is to don't forget the bittering. I know people have different levels of what they like and want, and I've found myself that once I get the flavor and aroma, it almost makes it sweeter, and I find that the beer needs some balance back the other way. Once I started doing tons of late additions I upped the bittering slightly, and found that in a normal IPA, 60 IBU's is a good place to shoot for. 40-45 for pales.

 

[gcdowd]

Sounds like a plan. Only thing I can offer here, is to don't forget the bittering. I know people have different levels of what they like and want, and I've found myself that once I get the flavor and aroma, it almost makes it sweeter, and I find that the beer needs some balance back the other way. Once I started doing tons of late additions I upped the bittering slightly, and found that in a normal IPA, 60 IBU's is a good place to shoot for. 40-45 for pales.

Absolutely, I was thinking 75ish IBU. Last real good IPA I made was 87 IBU, but it was also 8%. Anyway, I think I'll need the bitterness in the 70's.

 

[wolfshado]

Ok fellow brewers, i had my son take a 12 pack over to a house of hop heads and IPA snobs... and the result was GREAT. I thought it was just me that liked it because it was "my first baby" but the response from a blind taste test was that it was a hit. I am happy