Session IPA Plan

[TheDPR]

Thoughts on the below recipe?

5.25gal
ABV: 4.5%
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.015
IBUs: 51.1
SRM: 4.6

8lb US 2-Row
1.5lb Flaked Wheat
.5lb Crystal 20

.5oz Centennial (60min)
2oz Cascade (10min)
2oz Citra (0min) (10min hopstand)

1oz Citra (Dry Hop, 5-7 days)
1oz Cascade (Dry Hop, 5-7 days)

Wlp051 California Ale V

I plan to mash high, around 156. That plus the wheat should leave some body intact. Trying to keep everything relatively simple as this will be my first IPA attempt so I'm trying to use the 80/15/5 rule as a guide.

 

[gometz]

With the wheat and the high mash temp, it might have too much body. But I like my beers pretty dry, so it might be my own personal bias.

 

[hanuswalrus]

I'm w/ gometz. I would never mash an IPA that high, but I prefer my IPAs quite dry. I stay down around 149-151 for mashing on an IPA.

I don't know how your water is down there in Alabama, or if you even care to mess with it, but for any brews I do that are supposed to turn out that light (around 5 SRM), I like to add a little acid malt (around 2% of the bill) to bring down the pH. It's been working well for me on my last 2 batches.

 

[TheDPR]

Normally I'd agree on the lower mash temp, but everything I've read on Session IPAs has suggested that mashing at a normal temp can lead to the beer drying out too much and ending up very thin, thus the higher mash temp.

Should I drop the wheat down to 1/2lb or so and keep the higher mash temp? Or, keep the wheat and drop the mash temp a bit?

On my water, I haven't gotten to fiddling (un-technical term alert) with that yet. Can you explain the theory behind why you use acid malt on lower SRM beers?

Thanks for the input!

 

[judsonp]

156 might be a little high, but I think you're on the right track. You really need body to support the hops in a session IPA, so you'll usually see quite a bit of crystal/wheat/etc. and also high mash temps compared to normal IPA.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Here's the link to a Brewing Water Chemistry Primer (thread on the forum). It contains fairly simple procedures for making adjustments to water that will help you achieve a good pH:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

I'm somewhat new to this water adjustment thing, but from what I've read, darker malts tend to lower the pH for you, while lighter malts do not. That is why you may need acid to lower the pH to the typically desired range of 5.2-5.4. I haven't learned much on the science behind this, but using the tips in this Primer has yielded me good results so far.

 

[TheDPR]

Here's the link to a Brewing Water Chemistry Primer (thread on the forum). It contains fairly simple procedures for making adjustments to water that will help you achieve a good pH:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

I'm somewhat new to this water adjustment thing, but from what I've read, darker malts tend to lower the pH for you, while lighter malts do not. That is why you may need acid to lower the pH to the typically desired range of 5.2-5.4. I haven't learned much on the science behind this, but using the tips in this Primer has yielded me good results so far.

Good stuff, I swear every time I feel I've learned something with this hobby I find another rabbit hole to go down!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

156 isn't too high. I'd probably go higher. I brew with 001 a lot which attenuates well. But even grain bills with 30%+ roasted and crystal malts will attenuate too much if you don't mash high enough. I'd start with 158 and move to 160 if you don't have enough body.

Brewing small beers with body isn't as easy as it sounds. For water I would stick with so4 around 120 in your packaged beer and cl around 40ish. If you have mash pH issues then add ALL of your salts to the mash to bring down the ph.