New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[LJvermonster]

How important is bicarbonate to the brew? Using Bru'n water, in order to get to 5.4pH I need to add 1.5ml of Lactic Acid to the mash and the sparge. If I do this it says the bicarbonate level will be -25.7. Is that okay? Or should I just take the 5.6pH that is says I will have if I don't use Lactic Acid?

Also, side question, when exactly do you add the Lactic Acid for both mash and sparge?

Thanks!

 

[Braufessor]

How important is bicarbonate to the brew? Using Bru'n water, in order to get to 5.4pH I need to add 1.5ml of Lactic Acid to the mash and the sparge. If I do this it says the bicarbonate level will be -25.7. Is that okay? Or should I just take the 5.6pH that is says I will have if I don't use Lactic Acid?

Also, side question, when exactly do you add the Lactic Acid for both mash and sparge?

Thanks!

I can't say it "matters"....... I have done it, it works. I have also done some batches that were all RO... I would never add bicarbonate back to RO simply to get bicarbonate in the beer. It allows me to use a bit less RO water...... but whether or not it is critical - probably not.
I add the lactic acid (if I add it, in whatever amount) to the mash water and sparge water right off the bat - before I heat it.

 

[Braufessor]

I like your bar area. Are you using a keezer or a kegerator?

Two kegerators - one under each tap tower. Each holds 3 x 5 gallon kegs.

 

[Braufessor]

What's the recipe for the 1.065 version? Or did you just up everything proportionally?

Basically just add an extra pound or two of base malt and another 1/2 pound of flaked grains and maybe 2-4 ounces more of cara20 to bump up gravity. I bump up the bitter hop from .75 ounces to 1-1.25 ounces or so. Nothing super scientific - not scaling every grain addition precisely - just keeping it in the ball park of the basic recipe.

 

[Braufessor]

Have you ever tried Citra-Mosaic-Simcoe?
I just finished Citra-Amarillo-Centennial and it's almost tapped. It was CTZ to bitter (.75) Citra (5) Amarillo (4) Centennial (1) I loved it.

I don't think I have used that exact combo - but it sounds like it would be great to me.

 

[rappinduke]

Anybody ever used wyeast 1098 on this type of beer?

 

[hezagenius]

Hey @braufessor

What do you think the different grains are bringing to the beer? I've been toying with the idea of doing a 80/20 GP/flaked oats but I don't want to lose any of the haziness that could be coming from the wheat, flaked barley and honey malt. Do you think any of the haziness is from something in those grains or is it more from the yeast/hop/water?

 

[Braufessor]

Hey @braufessor

What do you think the different grains are bringing to the beer? I've been toying with the idea of doing a 80/20 GP/flaked oats but I don't want to lose any of the haziness that could be coming from the wheat, flaked barley and honey malt. Do you think any of the haziness is from something in those grains or is it more from the yeast/hop/water?

I think you would get something nice out of that 80/20 blend. I don't think you would lose haziness if you are using 20% flaked oats.

I do the blend of GP and Rahr because I want to balance having some depth of flavor in the base malt with the fact that GP is a fair amount more expensive than 2 row..... so that is why I use both. All GP base should be great.

I use the honey malt for some color (25 L) and the sweetness it brings.

I use wheat, flaked barley, flaked wheat..... for head retention. Flaked Oats can result in less head retention.... so, basically I am trying (hoping) to balance the flaked portion of the grain bill with maintaining body and head retention.

I would not hesitate to try the 80/20 blend though and see how you like it.

 

[arnobg]

Golden Promise would be fantastic. My current favorite easily accessible IPA is Founders Mosaic Promise. Super simple SMASH beer and delicious.

 

[hezagenius]

I know Surly Abrasive is a GP & oat beer but it doesn't have much haziness to it. I'm not sure on the ratio but I would expect it to be more than 80% GP. It does have a nice full mouthfeel, though, which I like. Most of Surly's beers do, and from my understanding, most Surly beers use GP as their base malt.

 

[mtnagel]

I know Surly Abrasive is a GP & oat beer but it doesn't have much haziness to it. I'm not sure on the ratio but I would expect it to be more than 80% GP. It does have a nice full mouthfeel, though, which I like. Most of Surly's beers do, and from my understanding, most Surly beers use GP as their base malt.

OT, but Abrasive has only 6% oats. I emailed them and he told me that. They do use golden naked oats and flaked oats, but he said it's a total of 6% combined.

 

[whovous]

How important is bicarbonate to the brew? Using Bru'n water, in order to get to 5.4pH I need to add 1.5ml of Lactic Acid to the mash and the sparge. If I do this it says the bicarbonate level will be -25.7. Is that okay? Or should I just take the 5.6pH that is says I will have if I don't use Lactic Acid?

Also, side question, when exactly do you add the Lactic Acid for both mash and sparge?

Thanks!

It is a bug/quirk in the program. Negative bicarbonate is not a thing.

 

[DaveDiedDancing]

I brewed this as posted except I scaled it up to 1.068 and added another whirlpool addition at 145 degrees. What a fantastic beer! I am brewing this again in a few weeks using all New Zealand hops and 100% Golden Promise. This may be the best IPA I have brewed to date. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463013149.612340.jpg

 

[LJvermonster]

It is a bug/quirk in the program. Negative bicarbonate is not a thing.

Fantastic! I ended up adding the lactic regardless (before I saw this). Fun fact, hadn't tried this before, but did a 45 min mash, 15 minute sparge, and 30 minute boil and hit my OG spot on! 1.060. We'll see how this tastes in 2 weeks!

 

[anteater8]

I brewed this as posted except I scaled it up to 1.068 and added another whirlpool addition at 145 degrees. What a fantastic beer! I am brewing this again in a few weeks using all New Zealand hops and 100% Golden Promise. This may be the best IPA I have brewed to date. View attachment 353976

Can you tell us more about the hops you used?

 

[Madmannvan]

First round of dry hops today. It's smelling a little bit like green apples. Is that normal for day 5. I thought i would be getting more peach than apple???

 

[hezagenius]

Racked to the serving keg today. Getting excited to try this. There was about 48oz of hop sludge at the bottom of the dry hop keg.

 

[MicroBrewMaster]

Quick question, for those using ro water, are u getting it from one those in home filter systems setups. I wanna try to see if that will make a difference using ro just didn't want to go out and buy a $200 system. Guess my question is any other day to get ro water? Or should u just go with distilled? Thanks

 

[jjw5015]

If you're near a Wal-Mart you can fill a 5 gal jug for .37/gal. Just ditched my filtered tap water after it ruined too many ipas

 

[MicroBrewMaster]

Awesome thanks

 

[Braufessor]

If you're near a Wal-Mart you can fill a 5 gal jug for .37/gal. Just ditched my filtered tap water after it ruined too many ipas

+1 - this is what I do. I have six 3 gallon jugs that I use for refilling.

 

[emr25]

Pulled another gravity sample today (Day 9). FG is 1.012 for an ABV of 5.6%.

Added sanitized foil and a rubber band and dropped the controller to 60*. Hoping to compact the trub some more before transferring, may drop to 50* tomorrow. Planning to transfer to dry hop keg on Day 11 or Day 12.

Tasting very good, slight bite that is probably from the yeast still in suspension as well as raw hop flavors.

Transferred into the dry hop keg on Wednesday (Day 11). Ended up with by far our best yield yet, we filled the dry hop keg to the top with 5 gallons of beer.

Jumped to the serving keg today (Day 13). Ended up with 4.7 gallons packaged beer (based on weight). The picture below is about half of what was left behind in the dry hop keg. When I opened the lid I was hit with the most amazing hop aroma I've ever smelled!

Currently carbing at 30 psi, will drop to serving pressure after 24 hours and pull the first glass around Day 16 (Monday).

 

[Braufessor]

Really, really happy with my latest. 1 oz. each of centennial, Amarillo, simcoe in two kettle additions. Left centennial out of dry hop, and went 1.5 ounces each of simcoe/Amarillo in the two dry hops.
Otherwise, pretty much the original recipe. Super smooth. I found the same recipe with centennial in dry hop to be rather dry and a bit harsh.

 

[stickyfinger]

Really, really happy with my latest. 1 oz. each of centennial, Amarillo, simcoe in two kettle additions. Left centennial out of dry hop, and went 1.5 ounces each of simcoe/Amarillo in the two dry hops.
Otherwise, pretty much the original recipe. Super smooth. I found the same recipe with centennial in dry hop to be rather dry and a bit harsh.

What about the Eureka! version?

 

[Braufessor]

What about the Eureka! version?

Serving keg is full of star san right now. Transfer from dry hop keg in T minus 10...9...8....7........

 

[Braufessor]

Fresh from the dry hop keg........Holy dank tropicalness. Citra, eureka, Columbus..... I think this will be a winner.

 

[stickyfinger]

Fresh from the dry hop keg........Holy dank tropicalness. Citra, eureka, Columbus..... I think this will be a winner.

sounds about right...dank tropical

 

[303Dan]

Really, really happy with my latest. 1 oz. each of centennial, Amarillo, simcoe in two kettle additions. Left centennial out of dry hop, and went 1.5 ounces each of simcoe/Amarillo in the two dry hops.
Otherwise, pretty much the original recipe. Super smooth. I found the same recipe with centennial in dry hop to be rather dry and a bit harsh.

Sorry if you've answered this before, but how are you lighting those pictures?

 

[arnobg]

I'm curious myself to see the beer in a couple different light settings compared before I choose which route to go brewing this as far as SRM.

Has anyone tried a Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe combination yet? Sorry if I have missed this already, I am considering using this hop schedule on a red rye IPA with massive flameout hops like this.

 

[Braufessor]

Sorry if you've answered this before, but how are you lighting those pictures?

That one..... Just holding it up in our basement..... Basic flourescent ceiling lights. Exact same glass of beer (as post 713) sitting in window in basement..... Slightly different light can really make same beer look different. This is a 4-5 SRM beer.