session IPA recipe feedback

[dreaded_rust]

hey guys,
I'm new to brewing and would like a little feedback on a session IPA recipe I've put together.

let me know what you think:


jordans Session Ipa atempt 1

Recipe specifics:

Style: American IPA
Batch size: 5.2 gal
Boil volume: 4.0 gal
OG: 1.049
FG: 1.012
Bitterness (IBU): 65.1
Color (SRM): 6.2
ABV: 4.8%

Grain/Sugars:

6.00 lb Light LME, 80.0%
0.50 lb Wheat (US), 6.7%
0.50 lb Crystal 20L, 6.7%
0.50 lb Honey, 6.7%, boil for 15 min

Hops:

1.00 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 60 min, 41.9 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 15 min, 6.7 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 10 min, 4.9 IBU
0.50 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) 10 min, 6.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) 5 min, 2.0 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) 5 min, 3.6 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) dry hop
0.50 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) dry hop
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) dry hop

Yeast/Misc:

Ale yeast, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast us-05
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining , boil 10 min

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[agrazela]

My personal opinion is that's too much IBU for that gravity; maybe split out that Galaxy to 0.5oz at 60min and 0.5oz later (30 min, 20 min?), whatever will get you to more like 50 IBU.

I'd also double the dry hop amounts.

 

[WayFrae]

I don't know if wheat does much if you just steep it. I feel like it will cause starch haze but I am not sure. I would drop the wheat if I were you. I would also use either the honey malt or the caramel malt, not both, but I like a not so sweet IPA.

EDIT: I just realized you listed honey on the recipe and not honey malt, sorry about that.

As far as the hops schedule goes I think it looks pretty good. If I was brewing this I would split the Galaxy addition in half and add the second half at 20 min. I would also move the falconer's flight 10 min addition to flameout and double the dry hop amounts.

EDIT: It looks like @agrazela and I are on the same page! haha

 

[bobbrews]

Generic response that applies to most IPA critique threads:

"Less crystal, more hops."

More specifically for this recipe, 4-5% crystal and a hop schedule like this:

0.50 oz. Galaxy @ 60
1.25 oz. Falconers @ 10
1.25 oz. Centennial @ 10
2.25 oz. hops of your choice @ Flameout
3.25 oz. hops of your choice @ Dryhop



The honey won't have much character at 6.7%. It would be cheaper just to use sugar (or more base malt). And if you haven't bought it yet, swap the wheat for wheat extract.

 

[dreaded_rust]

ok, so dropped the wheat and honey (was gonna use becuase I have a ton of local honey) and moved around the hops a bit..

jordans Session Ipa atempt 1.2

Recipe specifics:

Style: American IPA
Batch size: 5.2 gal
Boil volume: 4.0 gal
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.012
Bitterness (IBU): 52.0
Color (SRM): 6.0
ABV: 4.8%

Grain/Sugars:

6.00 lb Light LME, 85.7%
0.50 lb Crystal 20L, 7.1%
0.50 lb Corn Sugar, 7.1%, boil for 15 min

Hops:

0.50 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 60 min, 21.4 IBU
0.50 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 20 min, 13.0 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 15 min, 6.9 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 10 min, 5.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) 5 min, 2.0 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) 5 min, 3.7 IBU
0.50 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) 0 min, 0.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) dry hop

Yeast/Misc:

Ale yeast, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast us-05
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining , boil 10 min

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[bobbrews]

The crystal malt is even higher this go-around (I would reduce it to 4-5%). The sugar can be added at flameout with no problem. Do you have access to DME instead of LME? I prefer it myself and there will less wort darkening. This beer will be closer to 7-8 SRM as is.

No need to go with such a complicated hop schedule. Make it easier for yourself; adding hops at 7 different points in the boil isn't going to make this a better beer. Focus more on the flameout additions as opposed to the 20/15/10/5 minute additions. You're still getting some isomerization there, and with far more aroma.

 

[WayFrae]

The crystal malt is even higher this go-around (I would reduce it to 4-5%). The sugar can be added at flameout with no problem. Do you have access to DME instead of LME? I prefer it myself and there will less wort darkening. This beer will be closer to 7-8 SRM as is.

No need to go with such a complicated hop schedule. Make it easier for yourself; adding hops at 7 different points in the boil isn't going to make this a better beer. Focus more on the flameout additions as opposed to the 20/15/10/5 minute additions. You're still getting some isomerization there, and with far more aroma.

I don't completely agree with you. I have experimented with this and find that I prefer a 60/20/15/10/5/0 schedule to a 60/10/5/0 schedule. I feel like you get more of a complete hop character with the 20 and 15 min additions.

 

[bobbrews]

I don't completely agree with you. I have experimented with this and find that I prefer a 60/20/15/10/5/0 schedule to a 60/10/5/0 schedule. I feel like you get more of a complete hop character with the 20 and 15 min additions.

Everyone does things differently.

*Dogfish Head adds a tiny amount of hops every minute for 90 Minute IPA followed by a moderate dryhop.

*Alchemist Brewing adds a ton of HopShot at boil start, nothing in between, and then a ton of hopstand hops and dryhops for Heady Topper.

*Stone Enjoy by IPA relies on mash hops as well as a HopShot bittering charge followed by 15 minute, Flameout/Whirlpool, and a huge dryhop.


For a session IPA, you're obviously not going to mimic the hop schedules for these IIPAs. But for a target of 50 IBUs, with about half coming from the bitterning charge and half coming at 10 minutes or less is a very reasonable schedule. There will be no benefit to hopping it every 5 minutes IMO. You're sacrificing hop aroma/flavor for extra bitterness by doing so.



My reasoning for a more simple hop schedule is not only to aid in ease of the brew day, but also because I have noticed that the large majority of hop flavor/aroma in a good IPA is coming from the dryhop and hopstand. Since much of the favorable hop compounds and delicate oils are boiled/driven off by high temperatures, I don't believe in sacrificing flavor/aroma for the added bitterness by wasting time on 30 to 5 minute additions. Therefore, I typically rely on bittering with HopShot (or a cheap high alpha pellet hop) at boil start, and saving all of those expensive, aromatic, flavorful, highly sought after pellet hops for the hopstand and dryhop. After brewing 163 IPAs or so, I've found that the sweet spot is relying on 40-50% total recipe hops by weight used for the dryhop and about 25-40% total recipe hops by weight used at the hopstand.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Why are you adding sugar? Thst works great to dry out bigger ipa but you are going to be struggling for body on a session beer.

You also might want to consider us-04 instead tk help retain some body. I think that % of light crystal is fine for a small beer.

 

[WayFrae]

After brewing 163 IPAs or so, I've found that the sweet spot is relying on 40-50% total recipe hops by weight used for the dryhop and about 25-40% total recipe hops by weight used at the hopstand.

I absolutely agree with you here. I also love a hop stand and usually use about that percentage of the total hops with great results. Also, I have found that I prefer at least 0.8oz of hops per gallon of beer for the dry hop on my hop-centric beers. I always see recipes for APA/IPA/IIPA with only 2 oz for the dry hop which isn't nearly enough for me.

 

[dreaded_rust]

ok gents,
thanks a ton for all the feedback.
so I've simplified things here a bit. took out the sugar and the centennial hops. let me know what you think.

jordans Session Ipa atempt 1.2

Recipe specifics:

Style: American IPA
Batch size: 5.2 gal
Boil volume: 4.0 gal
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.013
Bitterness (IBU): 50.7
Color (SRM): 6.4
ABV: 5.1%

Grain/Sugars:

6.00 lb Light LME, 81.8%
1.00 lb Light DME, 13.6%, boil for 20 min
0.33 lb Crystal 20L, 4.5%

Hops:

0.50 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 60 min, 21.4 IBU
0.50 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 30 min, 16.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) 5 min, 4.1 IBU
1.00 oz Galaxy (AA 14.0%, Pellet) 5 min, 8.6 IBU
0.50 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) 0 min, 0.0 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) 0 min, 0.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (AA 6.6%, Pellet) dry hop
2.00 oz Falconer's Flight (AA 11.0%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Simcoe (AA 12.0%, Pellet) dry hop

Yeast/Misc:

Ale yeast, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast us-04
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining , boil 10 min

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