Standard IPA Recipe Help

[CAlexander]

Hey guys,

Want to make a standard IPA, here's the recipe I've got:

6.6 pounds of LME
1 lb of 60L Crystal
8 oz Victory
2 oz Northern Brewer hops (Bittering)
1 oz Cascade Hops (Finishing)

Any comments/additions/subtractions any of you would make?

 

[FlyGuy]

I am not sure if this is going to be an English or American IPA, but either way, that is on the low side of SG. You might want to add some more malt extract to get it up a bit.

Is this going to be a partial mash, or did you intend to steep the grains? Victory really should be mashed. Fortunately, it will convert itself, so you shouldn't need a base malt addition (although that might work well in place of adding more malt extract as I suggested above).

A full pound of crystal is probably going to make this sweeter than you want. In an IPA you want the hop flavour and bitterness to be prominent. All that crystal is going to start masking it. I would cut it back to 1/2 lb.

Your hop additions balance nicely with the ME/grainbill, but if you increase your fermentables (see above), you will want to add more hops as well. I would recommend putting more of your hops in a flavour and aroma addition. This will require more hops, as well. NB and Cascade are good, generic choices.

That's my $.02. I am sure you will get other opinions, too!

 

[Drunkensatyr]

Yeah, I would add a flavoring hop at about 15 min, Cascade is my fav, but most American hops will work well with Cascade. Also agree about either bumping up the LME to about 8 lb OR use same amount of DME. The full pound of Crystal will leave a very malty sweet IPA after it ages, which is fine, but you will lose a lot of hop bite. Not a bad thing if that is what you were shooting for.

 

[CAlexander]

Great suggestions guys.

I'll definately cut down the Crystal, I'm not looking for something terribly sweet. I've got 2 cans of Light LME that I was going to use for this batch, but I've also got a 3 lb bag of DME that I can add, so I'll probably add about a pound and a half to up the SG.

As for the hops, how about this:

2 oz Northern Brewers at 60
1 oz Cascade at 15
1 oz Cascade at 5

Thoughts?

 

[FlyGuy]

Personally, I would add one more ounce of Cascade at 30 mins. I would also up the DME to at least two lbs.

Regardless, that recipe looks a lot more like an IPA now. The original recipe was more like an American Pale Ale.

 

[CAlexander]

Personally, I would add one more ounce of Cascade at 30 mins. I would also up the DME to at least two lbs.

Regardless, that recipe looks a lot more like an IPA now. The original recipe was more like an American Pale Ale.

I've only got 2 ounces of Cascade on hand, but I do have some extra Northern Brewers kicking around. Would adding another ounce of those at 30 have the similar effect?

 

[FlyGuy]

I've only got 2 ounces of Cascade on hand, but I do have some extra Northern Brewers kicking around. Would adding another ounce of those at 30 have the similar effect?

It won't have the same flavour, but they would do in a pinch. It just depends on how picky you are with your recipe.