Noble 15 minute IPA

[mrphillips]

I got the idea from a comment on another thread I posted. I'm not a huge fan of IPA's, but I thought it might be a neat idea to make one without any early additions. If you've tried something like this before, let me know how it turned out! This is my idea...

MALT/GRAINS

6 lbs. extra light DME
.75 lbs. crystal 40
.5 lbs. Victory
.5 lbs. honey malt

HOPS

1 oz. saaz @ 15 min.
1 oz. splat @ 15 min.
1 oz. tettnanger @ 15 min.
1 oz. Hallertau @ 15 min.

1 oz. saaz @ 5 min.
1 oz. splat @ 5 min.
1 oz. tettnanger @ 5 min.
1 oz. Hallertau @ 5 min.

YEAST

S-05

 

[Kingbogart]

Not exactly the same, but I have done the Jamil's Evil Twin kit from NB. Similar to yours it has quite a bit of hop, but only .25 ounce at 60.

--.25-oz.-Columbus-(60-min)-
--.5-oz.-Columbus-(20-min)-
--.75-oz.-Cascade-(10-min)-
--.75-oz.-Centennial-(10-min)-
-- 1-oz.-Cascade-(0-min)-
-- 1-oz.-Centennial-(0-min)-

The flavor is still definitely an IPA, but leans a lot more toward the aroma and flavor area with a lot let harsh bitterness some IPA's tend to pack. Overall, I would say your hop schedule is a good experiment for someone who doesn't love traditional IPA's but is interested in doing something more hop forward.

 

[TastyAdventure]

I just got 6 oz of Spalt and 6 oz of Vangaurd and planed on doing something very similar. How many IBUs does yours come out to? I'll do a small early addition if I need to get to the right IBUs, but I'm hoping enough late hops will give enough balance

 

[motorneuron]

If you want to combine two "modern" techniques, you could also consider using first wort hops (which would be amusingly appropriate for Saaz anyway) alongside the "all late additions" style. Gordon Strong has an IPA recipe like that in his book.

 

[mrphillips]

My IBU's should come out between 39-44 (depending on how close I come to my predicted OG of 1.065), which is low by most/all IPA standards, but for my tastes I think It'll be just what I'm looking for.

I'll admit that I'm a little confused about what motorneuron said. Perhaps someone could clear it up?

 

[motorneuron]

Haha, sure, I myself can clarify. You know what first wort hopping is? It's adding hops to the wort as you draw it out of the mash. (Since you're using steeping, you can throw the hops into the steep water; just make sure they get into the brew kettle, too.) It creates a flavor impact and a smooth kind of bitterness, even though the hops are in the wort for a long time (the whole duration of the boil). Some software calculates it as a 20 minute addition, since it gives a lot of flavor, and the bitterness impact is different. It was originally a technique used by German brewers with noble hops; that's why I said it'd be appropriate.

And it's thematically similar to the idea of using all late hops. The idea is to scale up flavor/aroma and scale back bitterness, especially of the harsh kind. So you could combine both techniques in one beer.

40-45 IBU isn't unbitter. It's just not insane. Many pilsners are in about that range, and so are English bitters and APAs. Those are all distinctly hoppy beers, though of different types. I'm sure it'll work.

I would say that you might want to also scale back your honey malt and crystal. Personal preference of course, but you might find the balance too sweet against the lower IBUs and relatively high OG (which predicts a relatively higher FG, too, and therefore more final sweetness, esp. using extract).

(Also: it's "spalt" hops, though "splat" sounds like more fun!)