Triple NE IPA (Ex Novo clone)

[pdxsteve]

Hey all, looking for some feedback on a recipe I'm putting together to clone a beer I had recently by Ex Novo, called BWA. This is a hazy New England style Triple IPA with "Simcoe, El Dorado, Mosaic, Mandarina Bavaria, and a insane amount of Citra, 7lb/bbl of hops, ABV 10.5%, IBU 100". Unique beer and really one of the best I've ever had. So I'm thinking of a recipe that merges the principles of a triple IPA and the style of a NE. Instead of Simcoe, I'm using Pacific Jade because I have some left over and I like spicy tropical citrus instead of the earthy pine in a NEIPA.

Boil Time: 90 min
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.100
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV (standard): 10.48%

15 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (74.3%)
1.5 lb - United Kingdom - Oat Malt (7.4%)
2.5 lb - Cane Sugar (12.4%)
6 oz - Canadian - Honey Malt (1.9%)
6 oz - Flaked Oats (1.9%)

1) Infusion, Temp: 145 F, Time: 60 min
2) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Time: 30 min
3) Sparge, Temp: 168 F, slow sparge out

I've read that these huge beers do better if you hold some of the sugar back for a day and feed it in with extra yeast, so I plan to make a little starter and put some of the cane sugar in with the extra starter at 24 hrs.

0.1 oz - Pacific Jade @ 60 min
1 oz - El Dorado, @ 15 min
2 oz - Citra, Whirlpool
2 oz - Mandarina Bavaria, Whirlpool
1 oz - Mosaic, Whirlpool
1 oz - Pacific Jade, Whirlpool
2 oz - Citra, Dry Hop @ day 2
1 oz - El Dorado, Dry Hop @ day 2
1 oz - Mosaic, Dry Hop @ day 2
4 oz - Citra, Dry Hop @ day 7

I'm sure there's some benefit to spreading out the DH additions but I had a bad experience with a contaminated batch once trying to divide into 4 dry hops, so now I prefer to limit the times I open the carboy.

YEAST:
Imperial Yeast - A38 Juice
Fermentation Temp: 60F for 1 day, then ramp up over 4 days to 68 F
Pitch Rate: 1.5 (M cells / ml / deg P)

Thanks for any advice you may have.

 

[pdxsteve]

Brewed last week, and mostly went well but ended up with an OG of 1.070, argh. This is a terrible brewhouse efficiency, much worse than my usual 75-80%, but the same thing happened the last time I tried a big high gravity IPA. I aimed to mash low at 145 for 60 min before ramping up to 154 for 30 min, but my converted igloo mash tun seems to have a hard time reaching the right temps using the usual calculations. Strike temp 161 only gave me a mash temp of 135, which slowed down the whole process while adding some boiling water. Same problem for the second mash temp. I'm thinking a single mash step might be more reliable. The other issue is that I sparged for a target 8.3 gal in the kettle, and ended up with close to 7 gal at end of boil, which was too much for the fermentor... wasted wort.

On another note, I heard back from the brewer at Ex Novo today, and my recipe was way off. They use 45% 2-row, 45% pilsner, and small quantities of Munich, flaked wheat, acidulated, and sugar. Hop schedule was about right.

The initial fermentation on this was a monster... huge blow off, probably lost half a gallon in overflow!

 

[enderBrewer]

So I have been looking into a NEIPA recipe that is in the 10% range and yours was one of the first I have seen. How did it go?

 

[pdxsteve]

So I have been looking into a NEIPA recipe that is in the 10% range and yours was one of the first I have seen. How did it go?

Yep, it was a tasty beer, though not exactly what I had intended. Hit 8.7% ABV instead of the 10.5% I was aiming for. I dried it out to FG 1.004 so it wasn't the attenuation, it was the terrible efficiency up front. I've run into this problem using the igloo mash tun a few times and am compensating with a lower estimated efficiency for recipe calculations, and a longer first mash step.

I would recommend going with the real brewer's recipe rather than mine, and boost it.

 

[brjetek]

Brewed last week, and mostly went well but ended up with an OG of 1.070, argh. This is a terrible brewhouse efficiency, much worse than my usual 75-80%, but the same thing happened the last time I tried a big high gravity IPA. I aimed to mash low at 145 for 60 min before ramping up to 154 for 30 min, but my converted igloo mash tun seems to have a hard time reaching the right temps using the usual calculations. Strike temp 161 only gave me a mash temp of 135, which slowed down the whole process while adding some boiling water. Same problem for the second mash temp. I'm thinking a single mash step might be more reliable. The other issue is that I sparged for a target 8.3 gal in the kettle, and ended up with close to 7 gal at end of boil, which was too much for the fermentor... wasted wort.

On another note, I heard back from the brewer at Ex Novo today, and my recipe was way off. They use 45% 2-row, 45% pilsner, and small quantities of Munich, flaked wheat, acidulated, and sugar. Hop schedule was about right.

The initial fermentation on this was a monster... huge blow off, probably lost half a gallon in overflow!

View attachment 546814

I would definitely get a bigger blow off container.

 

[doug293cz]

I would definitely get a bigger blow off container.

More fermenter headspace would result in less lost beer.

Brew on