Any recommended recipes for a Belgian IPA? I am looking for ideas on what type of grain bill to utilize. I know some people choose to do just an American IPA grain bill using Belgian yeast. I'm thinking of using some crystal malt and maybe some candied sugar. I'm open to anything. I plan on using Amarillo hops for bittering and Citra for dry hopping.
Recommendations for a Belgian IPA
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Steve271828
Active Member
I'm currently in the process of making a clone of Stone's Cali-Belgique IPA, one of my favorite beers. I searched for clone recipes and found a lot of people saying that it's the Stone IPA with a Belgian yeast (Wyeast 1388 was named) and Chinook late additions instead of Centennial. I followed this recipe http://www.stonebrew.com/news/081201/ in general, except I skipped the Crystal malt and used 1 oz Warrior for bittering, 1 oz Chinook @ 15, 1 oz Chinook @ 5, 1 oz Chinook dry hop. Unfortunately I can't give you any tasting notes but it smelled delicious when I threw in the dry hops yesterday.
I also tried a White IPA in May. Unfortunately it turned out to be more of an imperial witbier, but I think if you up the hops you'll probably get more IPA character out of it. I do really like the character of the yeast that I used, though. It gives a nice pear aroma. The recipe was:
2.5 gallon recipe
2 lbs US Pale malt, 2 lbs US Pilsner, 1.5 lbs White wheat, 1.5 lbs Torrified Wheat
0.65 oz Centennial @ 90
0.10 oz Citra @ 90
0.20 oz Centennial @ 5
0.20 oz Citra @ 5
0.15 oz Centennial @ 0
0.20 oz Citra @ 0
0.25 oz Citra dry hop
Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit.
I also tried a White IPA in May. Unfortunately it turned out to be more of an imperial witbier, but I think if you up the hops you'll probably get more IPA character out of it. I do really like the character of the yeast that I used, though. It gives a nice pear aroma. The recipe was:
2.5 gallon recipe
2 lbs US Pale malt, 2 lbs US Pilsner, 1.5 lbs White wheat, 1.5 lbs Torrified Wheat
0.65 oz Centennial @ 90
0.10 oz Citra @ 90
0.20 oz Centennial @ 5
0.20 oz Citra @ 5
0.15 oz Centennial @ 0
0.20 oz Citra @ 0
0.25 oz Citra dry hop
Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit.
SamBrewer
Well-Known Member
I'm actually brewing a belgian IPA since 4 years now, and I've tried many things so here some suggestions:
HOPS: I prefer to use saaz and styrian golding for this kind of recipe because american hops tend to reduce the characteristic flavor coming from belgian yeast. Stay low with IBU's of the beer, lot of bitternes (over 60 IBUs) can ruin the delicate flavor of the yeast, stay on the aroma side (I dry hop with saaz)
GRAIN: I only use belgian pale and candi sugar... trust me, to make a good belgian ale you don't have to use crystal.
SPICES: I use coriander and orange peel... but be carefull with both of them. a couple of teaspoon at the end of the boil of coriander is just fine.
YEAST: you can try different kind of yeast, I prefer Wyeast belgian ardennes for this kind of belgian ale. I also ferment at very high temeprature.
HOPS: I prefer to use saaz and styrian golding for this kind of recipe because american hops tend to reduce the characteristic flavor coming from belgian yeast. Stay low with IBU's of the beer, lot of bitternes (over 60 IBUs) can ruin the delicate flavor of the yeast, stay on the aroma side (I dry hop with saaz)
GRAIN: I only use belgian pale and candi sugar... trust me, to make a good belgian ale you don't have to use crystal.
SPICES: I use coriander and orange peel... but be carefull with both of them. a couple of teaspoon at the end of the boil of coriander is just fine.
YEAST: you can try different kind of yeast, I prefer Wyeast belgian ardennes for this kind of belgian ale. I also ferment at very high temeprature.
Thanks for the feedback and various ideas. I will definetely take it all into account. I guess I think the fruity esters is the whole benefit of doing a Belgian IPA. Otherwise you would just be brewing a regular American IPA. From a hops standpoint I would think a fruity hop might go better with a Belgian yeast.
rideincircles
Well-Known Member
I plan on brewing the Stone Vertical Epic 2008 Belgian IPA recipe soon, haven't gotten around to it yet though. That was easily my favorite of the vertical epic series and was still hoppy at 4 years old. That and mephistopheles aged a year were my favorite beers I had last year. It does use Amarillo and Simcoe for the hops.
http://www.stonebrewing.com/epic/Wca256c660276b.htm
http://www.stonebrewing.com/epic/Wca256c660276b.htm
Steve271828
Active Member
Wow, that recipe looks awesome. Wish I had some Amarillo hops..
Steve271828
Active Member
I just got my scoresheet back for this beer. One judge concluded, "Good use of hops... but the Belgian yeast character is a little subdued, particularly in the aroma." Another judge wrote, "lower bittering hop additions and increase flavor + aroma... could increase fermentation temperature a little to better bring out esters and phenols." This basically mirrors what SamBrewer wrote: use relatively low IBUs and ferment at a high temperature for increased Belgian character.
motorneuron
Well-Known Member
FWIW, I just made a Belgian IPA with 10 oz of hops, and I would agree with above--go a bit lower on the hops and ramp up temperature if you want Belgian character to shine through. It's a good beer, but it's hard to detect the Belgian yeast.
Just FYI, Cali-Belgique is the same yeast as VE 08.08.08, WLP570, and you're right about the late chinook hops. Grist is the same as Stone IPA.
Sources- straight from the horse's mouth:
http://blog.stonebrew.com/index.php/cali-belgique-the-untold-story/
http://www.stonebrew.com/epic/Wca256c660276b.htm
Anyway, OP, I love Cali-Belgique so that could give you a place to start, but I really also love an IPA fermented with Saison yeast. Super delicious, dry and tart, with plenty of fruit!
Sir-Hops-A-Lot
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Austin Homebrew has some Belgian IPA kits. They also have free delivery. Try brewing a kit and then improvise from there.
I haven't used torrified wheat before. What characteristics does it add to the beer?
Sir-Hops-A-Lot
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I think that using wheat in your Belgian/American IPA is a great idea.
Adding wheat seems to be a nice way to lighten the body of a beer. My LBS sells an American IPA that uses 1/4 wheat. I tried brewing the recipe without the wheat addition and found that body of the beer to be too heavy and sweet.
What type of Belgian yeast do you plan on using?
Adding wheat seems to be a nice way to lighten the body of a beer. My LBS sells an American IPA that uses 1/4 wheat. I tried brewing the recipe without the wheat addition and found that body of the beer to be too heavy and sweet.
What type of Belgian yeast do you plan on using?
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