Second attempt at brewing from scratch

[SoulBrew]

So I want a really hoppy beer, with a hint of honey finish... here's what I'm thinking for this partial mash...

1# crystal 40
1# caramel malt
2# honey malt
40 min steep at 155*
3# amber malt extract
1# light malt extract
Haven't figured out my hops yet any thoughts? In my freezer I have 5 oz Zeus, cascade, magnum, crystal, and Golding all whole hops... any suggestions and very welcome to changes or additions needed to make this batch successful. My first batch from scratch taste like watered down rubbing alcohol due to my over use of honey lol...

 

[Kaz]

2 lbs of honey malt is a LOT of honey malt, that along with the crystals could give you a really sweet beer. Probably better off taking the honey malt down to .5 or .25 lbs.

 

[TopherM]

+1....I use honey malt alot, and about 0.5 lbs per 10 lbs of total grain bill (for AG) is a noticable amount of honey finish, with 0.25 lbs being subtle and 0.75-1.0 lbs being very pronounced. The 2.0 lbs in your recipe is going to be wayyy too sweet.

For hops, I'd suggest:

1.5 oz Magnum @ 60
1.5 oz Cascade @ 15
1.0 oz Goldings @ 5

That'll get your IBUs around 98. An average IPA is around 60 IBU, so the suggestions above will please a hop head!

 

[ghpeel]

Amber malt extract prob has a small amount of crystal already in it, so definitely drop some of that extra crystal. FYI, honey malt, caramel malt, and crystal 40 are ALL crystal malts. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. So 4lb of crystal will jack up your beer, as others have said. I'd use .5lb each of the C40 and Honey Malt.

I love EKG, but don't care for it in combination with American citrusy hops too much. I'd bitter with Magnum, then do cascade and Zeus flavor additions, plus at least .5 oz each as a dry hop.

 

[Yooper]

Two pounds of crystal malt, and 2 pounds of honey malt is already about four times the amount you need. That, combined with amber malt extract which has crystal in it already means a cloyingly sweet beer, with no malt flavor to speak of.

I'd totally revamp the grain bill, and then decide on the hops.

 

[bottlebomber]

Well it's not really a partial mash, since you aren't using any base malt so it looks like you'll only be steeping. Secondly, PLEASE listen to the advice of others, and go back to the drawing board with your grains. An extract IPA typically doesn't have any specialty grains, since it is very basic. Your amber DME is usually going to be 2 row malt, and C60, which is pretty close to what an IPA would use. If you feel the need to add grain to this, you might try mashing 3 lbs of 2 row malt, and 8 ounces of Carapils dextrine malt for mouthfeel and head retention. No crystal or honey. That would be an actual PM

 

[Calder]

Please take note of all the previous comments.

Additionally I don't think honey malt can be steeped, I think it needs to be mashed, so it will not do you much good.

 

[bottlebomber]

Please take note of all the previous comments.

Additionally I don't think honey malt can be steeped, I think it needs to be mashed, so it will not do you much good.

Actually honey malt aka brumalt has a diastic power of 50 and can thus convert itself, but nothing additionally. It is just damn sweet, even in small amounts. A pound would seem like your sucking on a honey comb, and 2 lbs is just hard to think about. I made a honey hefeweizen recently using just 6 ounces and it was quite noticable.

EDIT: wait... you did say it needed to be mashed, and now Im not sure. I am sure on the rest of it though.

 

[Calder]

Actually honey malt aka brumalt has a diastic power of 50 and can thus convert itself, but nothing additionally. It is just damn sweet, even in small amounts. A pound would seem like your sucking on a honey comb, and 2 lbs is just hard to think about. I made a honey hefeweizen recently using just 6 ounces and it was quite noticable.

EDIT: wait... you did say it needed to be mashed, and now Im not sure. I am sure on the rest of it though.

If you steep it (lots of water), the enzymes will be very spread out (diluted) and will not do a very good job of converting the sugars, so you may get a couple of points out of it. If you mash (a small controlled amount of water), the enzymes will be more concentrated and more easily convert the sugars, where you can get maybe 30 points out of it.