Need help using up a bunch of IPA hops

[cm02WS6]

Planning a 10 gallon batch of IPA and I'd like some feedback nailing down the recipe because I'm still relatively new at formulating recipes. Basically I don't have much to go on right now other than that fact that I like crisp, clean, hoppy IPA's and have a bunch of whole leaf hops to choose from. My hop inventory is listed below. The wort will be a single big boil and will use all Golden DME for the fermentables, on top of some undetermined specialty grains that I also need some help choosing. I like it light and not too malty of flavor so I figure I'd use some Crystal 20, but not sure what else. After the boil I will split the wort into two fermenters using two yeasts, then can possibly do different dry hops to compliment the different yeast characteristics.

For the yeasts, I've used 1056 a lot so I'd like to use something different. I've arrived at Wyeast 1272 and White Labs 007 as my yeast choices.

For the hops, I'd like to feature the Simcoe hops and have been researching some recipes that use them. I see a lot of popular recipes using Warrior and Amarillo, which I'm not opposed to buying, but wanted stick with what I already have unless there was a big "gap" to fill. I've done a fair amount of research in the recipe database but still have a lot more questions than answers. I've got quite a few good hops to use and not sure about how they will pair with each other, or if certain flavors will conflict more than others. Here's my inventory (don't need to use them all)

6.0 oz Simcoe
3.7 oz Cascade
3.6 oz Centennial
2.2 oz Chinook
1.6 oz Zues
2.0 oz Citra

 

[Skyforger]

Hm. As always with recipe formulation, this is more art than science, but here's some thoughts.

-Simcoe and Centennial both add a resinous/pine character when used in early/mid boil that compliments later additions of more citrusy hops well. That's why Centennial and Cascades are frequently used together in that way.
-Zeus adds a nice pungency when used as a bittering hop, and is quite clean. I recommend using that for bittering, at least partially.
-Citra and Cascade should, in my opinion, be used only for aroma and dry hopping.
-I haven't used Chinook, so I can't comment.

Since you want to showcase the Simcoe, maybe something like this would work:
Bittering: Zeus/Simcoe
Flavor: Simcoe, maybe Centennial
Aroma: Cascades
Dry Hop: Simcoe and Cascades in one, Simcoe and Citra in the other. Maybe WLP007 and 1272, respectively.

Or, you know. Try something else.

Specialty grains: crystal malts add more of a caramel flavor to the beer, not so much a maltiness. And Crystal 20 will mostly add head and body. I'd add some 40L on top of that, at least. A good American IPA often has a fair amount of crystal - you need something to hold the backdrop for all those hops.

 

[JonM]

My 2 cents, I'd spend a couple months doing 2.5 gallon batches Of different combos and then, once I've found the right mix, do the ten gallon batch of the winner.

 

[dmckean44]

If you like clean, crisp, hoppy IPAs then adding a fair amount of crystal is bad advice. I'd say no more than 2.5 lbs in a 10 gallon batch (not counting some carapils for body). Overall, your grain bill won't really matter a whole lot with this many hops unless you did something odd like add a pound of special B or something.

For hops maybe something like this?

mash hop with some of the citra
use some zues and chinook (or centennial) to bitter @ 60 min
use some chinook, simcoe and centennial @ 30
use some citra and cascade at flame out
and use some citra, cascade, simcoe and zues to dry hop for a week

If you really wanted to feature the simcoe I suppose you could bitter with them too but that's kind of a waste of simcoe and it's rare right now.

 

[cm02WS6]

Great feedback! What do you think of this:

1 lb Crystal 20, 1 lb Carapils specialty grains. 9 lbs Golden DME at boil, 7 lbs Golden DME late addition (1.069 OG). 11.5 gallon boil.

60min: 0.8oz Zues, 0.8oz Centennial
30min: 0.8oz Chinook
20min: 0.8oz Simcoe, 0.8oz Centennial
10min: 0.5oz Simcoe, 0.5oz Citra
5min: 0.5oz Simcoe, 0.5oz Citra, 0.5oz Cascade

WLP007 dry hop: 1.5oz Simcoe, 1.5oz Cascade
1272 dry hop: 1.5oz Simcoe, 1oz Citra

 

[Skyforger]

I think it looks good.

 

[alexdagrate]

Divvy all of your hops up into equal additions and dump them into the boil in equal intervals, saving at least 4 ounces for dry hopping.

Probably not the best advice in the world, but I sure as hell would be excited to drink the results!

 

[Northjerzyg]

If u want to feature the simcoe, don't od with the others. Get ur 60 min ibus howeve, then go for a big 20 min addition of simcoe, finish with a decent amount of cascade, then dryhop with an equal amount of both. That's what I would do.

 

[kpr121]

If you are hell bent on using all those hops, you can try hopbursting, basically only adding your hops at 20 minutes and less left in the boil. You will get intense hop flavor and aroma and still get the IBUs you need based on the increased quantities added.

Oh, and i second Cascade and Simcoe dry hops, whoever said that. I just did this with my last IPA and it was the best (and quickest to kick) IPA I've brewed.

 

[JonM]

That 30 minute addition won't do much and, if it were me, I'd use just Zeus at 60. It's a good bittering hop and the Centennial, which is a really good aroma hop, will get lost in the 60 minute addition.

And, FWIW, I have about 8 oz of Simcoe in my inventory too. I know they'll be very hard to come by for the next ten months or so, just like they were last year, so I'm spacing them out across many small batches. I sure as heck wouldn't use all of 'em up on one experimental huge batch.

 

[cm02WS6]

I really appreciate all the help! This has got more replies that I figured and I'm learning a lot. I was also questioning the single Chinook addition at 30 because it seemed kind of random, so taking it out will leave enough to use more of in another batch down the road. Also really like the suggestion to go with just Zues at 60, and that will use up all my Zues. So here's where I'm at on the hop schedule now. I added more Zues at 60, took out the Chinook at 30, and upped the 20 minute addition a little to get some IBU's back:

60min: 1.6oz Zues
20min: 1.0oz Simcoe, 1.0oz Centennial
10min: 0.5oz Simcoe, 0.5oz Citra, 0.5oz Cascade
5min: 0.5oz Simcoe, 0.5oz Citra, 0.5oz Cascade

I also changed the dry hops to be 1.5oz Simcoe, 1.0oz Cascade, and 0.5oz Citra in each. That will let me keep it constant and see the differences in yeast better.

Jon, good point about the Simcoe availability, but the real reason why I want to use up so much hops is because we've got a baby coming in February. I'll get this big batch bottled before that, then planning on not brewing much for a while. I figure use them while they are fresh, then try something else with other common hops.