Thoughts on this IPA

[RatDoc]

So a couple things, after doing a bit of research and much time in my LHBS fridge smelling hops..I came up with this recipe, but I recently acquired a 10 gal mash tun and have plenty of room for all grain, and was hoping to get some critique and insight on how to change this PM to AG. Ive got a 3 gallon PM about to bottle this weekend and so far so good but here was my recipe.

Est OG 1.060
IBU 70
ABV 5.9
SRM 12

5lb 2row
1lb 2oz carapils
1lb 9oz crystal 20
1lb 9oz crystal 40

3lb 4oz Light DME
1.1 oz simcoe (12.2%) 60 min
.75 oz cascade (6.9%) 30 min
.75 oz centennial (9.5%) 2 min

.75 oz simcoe (dry hop)
.55 oz cascade (dry hop)
.55 oz centennial (dry hop)

WL001 California Ale.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[LLBeanJ]

First off, that's way, way, way too much crystal malt. For a 5g batch, keep it about .75-1.0 lbs total. Also, cut back on the Carapils. If you're looking for a little body and foam, .5 lbs will do it. To make this an AG batch, just replace the DME with more 2-row. You might also want to throw in a .5-.75 LB of corn sugar to dry it out a little. Is this a 5g batch?

As far as the hops, I don't know that I'd bitter with Simcoe. Seems like a waste of a nice hop to me. I'd go with the Centennial @ 60min or FWH, drop the Cascade in at around 10 min, then finish with the Simcoe at flameout, and more of it, say 2 oz. The dry hop schedule looks okay as-is, but you'd be doing yourself a favor if you upped the DH to an oz each of the three varieties.

 

[RatDoc]

Yeah itll be a 5 gallon batch, how much 2 row should I sub the dme with do you think?

Keep the same amount of hops for the cascade and centennial or should I up those amounts?

Thanks for the insight!

 

[LLBeanJ]

I normally use BeerSmith for my recipes, but I'm not at home right now, so I threw this together using BrewersFriend. Here's what I came up with...

Est OG 1.060
IBU 73
ABV 6.96
SRM 6.2

9.0 lb 2-row
0.5 lb carapils (consider subbing 1 lb malted wheat and decreasing the 2-row by .5 lb)
0.375 lb crystal 20
0.375 lb crystal 60
.75 lb corn sugar (10 min)

1.5 oz Centennial (9.5%) 60 min
1.0 oz Cascade (6.9%) 10 min
2.0 oz Simcoe (12.2%) 0 min

1.0 oz Simcoe (dry hop)
1.0 oz Cascade (dry hop)
1.0 oz Centennial (dry hop)

Mash @ 151 for 60 min.
WL001 California Ale

Edit: I subbed out the C40 with C60 to give it a bit more color and complexity. Also, fixed a typo on the Carapils amount. If you like more caramel flavor in your IPAs, feel free to up the two crystal malts to .5 lb each.

 

[RatDoc]

Looks good! Thanks! Do you mean add the corn sugar with 10 minutes left in the boil?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Do you mean add the corn sugar with 10 minutes left in the boil?

Yes

Also, make sure to review my edits described at the bottom of my last post.

 

[RatDoc]

Im excited to give it a shot now, thanks for help!

 

[LLBeanJ]

Good luck with the brew.

 

[RatDoc]

hey LL one more question, I picked WL california ale because it's a kinda general "safe" yeast, what's another strain you think would compliment this brew?

 

[LLBeanJ]

I've used WLP001 many times and for quite a while it was my most often used strain. I recently decided to try to shake things up a bit and after a bit of research settled on WLP028 Scottish Ale and I have to say I've been blown away by this one. It is now my "go-to" neutral yeast and I don't see myself going back to the Chico strain anytime soon. 028 is just a great, all-around yeast, really accentuating malt, but without overshadowing the hops or throwing a bunch of esters like the English strains do. I've used it for an IPA, Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Porter, a Left Hand Milk Stout Clone, an Irish Red, and a Left Hand Old Chub clone and it has been fantastic. I don't think it's possible to say enough good things about this strain.

If you want some fruitiness, then give WY1272 American Ale II a try. It's awesome for a light wheat, pale ale, or IPA and gives some nice citrus notes (a la Bell's Oberon) when fermented at 72-74°.

Edit: Whoops! I meant Wyeast 1272, not 1278. Fixed.