My first custom recipe - need advice

[ebj5883]

**Edit: I neglected to mention that the place I purchased the ingredients from had run out of crystal and munich 20 malts, and had suggested that I use 10's instead. Just to clarify**

So, using BeerSmith, I finally made my own recipe for a DIPA, only for the final product to be rather alcohol-dominant, with one heck of an afterburn. I've spoken with a local brew shop, and they've made some suggestions as to what the error is, and I have to say that I agree with them for the most part. The guy has a bias for stouts though, and his advice was to create a standard IPA instead of a DIPA, as that requires less attention to create a good final product. Long story short, now that I have a good idea of what went wrong, I can use his advice to correct my DIPA recipe, instead of making a standard IPA, and would like to field suggestions from here as well. Below is his advice to me, as well as a picture of the recipe itself, attached to the post:


His advice:

- Needs a more complex malt bill. I'm assuming he means darker malts, that would help add to the bitterness. This is perhaps obvious, and a simple oversight on my behalf.

- Needs more flavor hops. I thought that I added enough, but clearly I didn't. My lingering suspicion is that the alcohol dominance is overriding the hop flavor, in turn causing it to seem lacking in the flavor department. I'm no expert though, so he is most likely correct here.


Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[m00ps]

IME, IPA malt bills should not be too complex. I like a bit of wheat and some cane sugar. Rest is base malt. Concentrate on the hopping schedule

going on that note, I might shift your additions mroe towards flameout and do a hopstand to get the most out of your hops. That, or just increase the flameout additions if you have access to more hops

 

[ebj5883]

IME, IPA malt bills should not be too complex. I like a bit of wheat and some cane sugar. Rest is base malt. Concentrate on the hopping schedule

going on that note, I might shift your additions mroe towards flameout and do a hopstand to get the most out of your hops. That, or just increase the flameout additions if you have access to more hops

Interesting. You would switch all flavor additions to flameout instead of even a few minutes prior, and just allow them to leach for some period of time? I could try that. I was always skeptical about the reliability of that process. Could you perhaps elaborate on the hopstanding process you use?

 

[m00ps]

It would be my pleasure:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=456593
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=545021


and here's an article Im waiting to be approved for being published for HBT on IPAs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DHdW-a1DLgmWFfnlkHQ0esCF5e6Hkx0RyBHzsb9mCVU/edit?usp=sharing

 

[ebj5883]

It would be my pleasure:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=456593
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=545021


and here's an article Im waiting to be approved for being published for HBT on IPAs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DHdW-a1DLgmWFfnlkHQ0esCF5e6Hkx0RyBHzsb9mCVU/edit?usp=sharing

Just curious, but how does the hopstand process affect the protein break? I've been told in the past that to chill the wort ASAP is generally the best way to get a good protein break, yet a hopstand would delay this by 15 or even more minutes. I'm assuming you'll tell me that the difference is negligible, but nonetheless, I'd like to ask!

 

[m00ps]

Ive never had an issue with protein break in my IPAs which I hopstand for an hour or so. I just dump all the trub and hop material into the fermentor and let the yeats sort it out.

Of course, my IPAs are never terribly clear, but I dont really care anyway. That seems to be the new trend that the style is taking. Youc ould probably use some gelatin to help if you are concerned about getting all suspended stuff to settle

 

[ebj5883]

Ive never had an issue with protein break in my IPAs which I hopstand for an hour or so. I just dump all the trub and hop material into the fermentor and let the yeats sort it out.

Of course, my IPAs are never terribly clear, but I dont really care anyway. That seems to be the new trend that the style is taking. Youc ould probably use some gelatin to help if you are concerned about getting all suspended stuff to settle

I use Irish moss right now, for dropping suspended particulates out of solution. I was just worried that a bad protein break would render some bad stuff to become unable to settle out. I'm also working on a filtration setup, although it's not anywhere near completion yet.

At any rate, thanks for the input. I'll give hopstanding a shot this coming weekend.

 

[jasonfitzg]

I'd cut back on some of the adjunct malts and supplement with Dex/other sugar to keep alcohol high and avoid extra sweetness. You're in westfield? Go the Treehouse route, skip the whirfloc, the cloudier beer will help to create the placebo effect of more body, and if you really want the thick fruity, style, use a 1318 style yeast, which result in something like the photo attached...

 

[ebj5883]

I'd cut back on some of the adjunct malts and supplement with Dex/other sugar to keep alcohol high and avoid extra sweetness. You're in westfield? Go the Treehouse route, skip the whirfloc, the cloudier beer will help to create the placebo effect of more body, and if you really want the thick fruity, style, use a 1318 style yeast, which result in something like the photo attached...

I've usually gone with 05 or 04 yeasts, 05 for this recipe, but thanks for the suggestion. I'm modifying this recipe for a better body while maintaining the same flavor profile, as well as making a variation for a truly citrusy, juicy DIPA, or even a standard IPA. Sounds like 1318 would be perfect for such a style.