My Imperial IPA Recipe....Thoughts??

[GusWatab]

So I am making a Double IPA this weekend and thought I would bounce the recipe off of a couple HBT'ers.

1.5 lbs of Crystal/Caramel 10L Steeped for 30 min at 150
8 lbs of Pale LME
1.650 lbs of Wheat DME

Since I love the flavor/aroma of Amarillo and Cascade, my hops are as follows:
Cascades are homegrowns and Amarillos are from Freshops

2oz Amarillo Leaf 60 min
2oz Amarillo Leaf 45 min
1oz Cascade Leaf 30 min
.5oz Amarillo Leaf 20 min
.5oz Cascade Leaf 10 min
1oz Amarilo Leaf 5 min

1oz Crushed Juniper Berries 5 min

.5oz Amarillo leaf Flameout
2 oz Amarillo Leaf DRYHOP

WLP001 California Ale Yeast

My only concern is that maybe I should use a different hop for bittering but if this will work, GREAT! I punched it into brewtarget and would love to compare to see what Beersmith says.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Calichusetts]

Maybe columbus as a first addition for bittering...but I think the recipe looks fine

 

[pm5k00]

The 45 minute additions are a waste of hops, you won't get hardley any flavor from them and you get less bitterness than a 60 minute or FWH addition. Amarillo is fine for bittering but I would recommend warrior, nugget, or some other high AA hop since Amarillo is harder to come by. Also I like to do about 25% of the overall bitterness from FWH/60min, and hopburst the rest at 20 and below, for more hop flavor and aroma.

 

[HopLife]

these are the basic details I got when using beersmith using 60 minute boil and 72 percent efficiency on the partial mash:

OG 1.092
IBU 124.9
SRM 11.0
ABV 9.6%

Why Juniper berries? I have not seen that in an IPA.

Also, personally, I would prefer the 45 minute and 30 minute addition closer to the end of boil for more flavor. Either that or I would add more of the cascade at 10 minutes, maybe consider using some of the cascade as dry hop too.

 

[GusWatab]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I will go ahead and tweek my hop additions and maybe add a higher AA hop at 60 min. Maybe warrior or simcoe?? What would be a more complimentary bittering hop to dance with my cascades and amarillos later in the boil??

I was at a beer expo last weekend and tasted an IPA with juniper berries and it was quite tasty so I thought i'd give it a whirl!

 

[HopLife]

Maybe warrior or simcoe?? What would be a more complimentary bittering hop to dance with my cascades and amarillos later in the boil??

I was at a beer expo last weekend and tasted an IPA with juniper berries and it was quite tasty so I thought i'd give it a whirl!

Well if you can remember the name of the brew I would love to try it.

In terms of hops, I have used Magnum quite a bit with cascade and amarillo. Simcoe is probably my single favorite hop, but some will despise this flavor. I have also used Chinook with great success in combination with cascade, but never amarillo. It should work well. Those are all good hops. You could even stick with amarillo. Who cares if the AA is a little lower, your beer will have plenty of IBU since you have called for 2 oz at 60 minute. My opinion is that higher AA hops are mostly recommended for bittering because it reduces cost.

I would probably do the recipe without the berries one time, then add the berries. That way if there is something you want to tweak in the hops or grain it will be easier to detect. The next brew, or when you think the recipe is perfect, then I add extra stuff.

Hope I didn't write too much.

 

[BrewMU]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I will go ahead and tweek my hop additions and maybe add a higher AA hop at 60 min. Maybe warrior or simcoe?? What would be a more complimentary bittering hop to dance with my cascades and amarillos later in the boil??

I was at a beer expo last weekend and tasted an IPA with juniper berries and it was quite tasty so I thought i'd give it a whirl!

If that is Simcoe leaf, keep in mind there ain't anymore till next Fall.

 

[MaxSpang]

Throw in some corn sugar to dry it out.

And you should probably add a bunch more hops at flameout just for good measure.

 

[Poobah58]

I would lose the C-10. Is there a reason for it? Your extract is about 20% Cara-Pils to begin with. I could see adding a little darker Crystal for color but not C-10. Unless you like a higher FG beer. Consider adding a bit of sugar in its place to balance out the extract unfermentables...

 

[GusWatab]

They are simcoe pellets. Everything else is leaf.
I will see if I can find the name of that juniper berry beer.
The other thing I thought about was using some rye as I like that flavor too. So If I would omit the c-10 could I add rye? Or just add corn sugar to dry it out?

I really appreciate all the suggestions.

 

[GusWatab]

@hoplife...the beer I had at the craft brew expo was yellow snow/juniper pale ale from rogue brewing. Hope you try it. Good stuff

I believe the Yellow Snow/Juniper Pale Ale also calls for C-10 and that is kind of why I had that in there. I also had a Rye beer there by Sierra Nevada that smelled like weed and it was fantastic.

It's brew day and just making final adjustments to the recipe before I start boiling and need to commit. What to do what to do...

 

[HopLife]

Hope all goes well.

If you are not already commited this would be my personal final edit

1 # crystal 10
7.5# Dry LME
1.5# dry wheat extract
.5# Cane sugar

2 oz amarillo @ 60
1 oz amarillo @ 20
1 oz cascade @ 20
.5 oz cascade @ 10
1.5 oz amarillo @ 5
1 oz amarillo @ flameout
2 oz cascade Dry hop 10 days

Enjoy the Brew!

 

[GusWatab]

Thanks all