Tweaking Prospective IPA Recipe (Extract)

[SwAMi75]

OK folks, here's what I've come up with. I'm aiming for a fairly stong, hoppy IPA with that nice floral character. Kinda of a Sierra Nevada pale on steriods:

Steeping grains:
1 lb Medium crystal malt (50-60L)
1/2-1lb Marris otter malt (3L)

Malt Extract:

6lbs amber DME
2lbs extra-light DME

1oz Columbus hops (bittering)
2 oz cascade (flavoring)
1oz Cascade (aroma)
1oz Cascade (dry hopped in secondary)

Wyeast British Ale liquid yeast

I'll probably just prime with corn sugar unless anyone can give me a compelling reason to use something different.

I plan to do a 3.5-4 gal boil, if I can swing it in my 5.5gal pot. I'll carefully strain the wort after it's cooled <80F. Time in the secondary will be limited because I'm going to be out of town for a month and a half starting in early April, but that'll give it a fair amount of time in the bottle.

I haven't done the math, but I think my choice of grains and malt will yeild a decent color. I'm aiming for a SG of 60-65.

So hopheads, what say you?

Sam

 

[rightwingnut]

I've read that Centennial hops are known as "super-Cascade". Perhaps you'll want to consider them. Maybe someone can offer experience using them.

 

[SwAMi75]

Yeah, looks like it's slightly more bitter than Cascade. The hops I listed are ones Jinx recommended, and he seems to be into IPA's. You'll notice he recommended Columbus hops for bittering- those appear to be about the most bitter available. I think after those, I should stay on the mild side, at least through the flavoring stage.

That's my thinking, anyway, but I'm learning as I go!

 

[Janx]

That should be good and hoppy. Looks a lot like the way we hop our pales. Don't be afraid to go nuts on the finishing hops, either. You could go even more if you want a whole lot of floral quality and hop flavor. Depending on the alpha of your Columbus you could go a hair more of that maybe, if you want it really bitter. It'll be great with 1 oz, though. Finish hops you can go nuts with. Dry hops, too, if you really want a lot of aroma.

That British Ale yeast is a rager. We're fermenting a fourth batch on it right now and I'm tempted to go for another. It's super-yeast, and it has a great yeast character. Your beer won't be as clean as Sierra Nevada. It'll have a more British yeasty flavor. It should be great

Looks pretty dark. Might have a bit of malty sweetness when it's all said and done, but it will be nice to balance out those hops.

Centennial is a great hop. I really like it for bittering and aroma. We keep that one on hand now.

Amarillo is another one that's like "Cascade on steroids" apparently. I haven't used it yet, but I have some and am gonna try it soon. If you see that one you might try it out. Cheers!

 

[SwAMi75]

Yeah, I just got to messing around with the "Recipator" and realized it's a little on the dark side, so I've tweaked it to look like this:

Steeping grains:
1 lb American crystal (10L)
1lb Marris otter malt (3L)

Malt Extract:
4lbs amber DME
4lbs extra-light DME

This puts me at about 15 SRM which is a little dark, but I think it'll be OK. I can make adjustments on the fly if I get worried about it.

It's showing a SG of 78, but that sounds a bit high to me. IBU is at 49, which is in there for the style. I'll pick up a couple extra ounces in case I decide to go nuts.

Thanks for your help....I hope to brew it this weekend. I'll report back!

Sam

 

[SwAMi75]

Well, we brewed the stuff and it sat in the secondary for about 2 months while I was away. We bottled it last week. Just tried one last night......holy mama!

Carbonation is still a little low, but man is this stuff mean. The hops just barely offset the alcohol bite of this stuff. I think it will wellow over the next couple weeks. This is definitely a recipe I plan to hold onto, and tweak over time. Hopefully I'll be able to do an AG version before long.

If I could do one thing different with this batch, I'd probably use a "California" type yeast.

Sam

 

[Rhoobarb]

Thanks for sharing! I'm on an IPA kick myself right now. Must have something to do with the summer months; I tend to drink a lot of IPA during the summer.

I honestly think I'm going to give this recipe of yours a try, if you don't mind. Except I'm going to be substituting White Labs WLP001 because I plan to do some other brews with the yeast cake and I've never used WLP001.

You mentioned the alcohol. Do you have the OG, FG and/or ABV?

Thanks.

 

[Dude]

Thanks for sharing! I'm on an IPA kick myself right now. Must have something to do with the summer months; I tend to drink a lot of IPA during the summer.

I honestly think I'm going to give this recipe of yours a try, if you don't mind. Except I'm going to be substituting White Labs WLP001 because I plan to do some other brews with the yeast cake and I've never used WLP001.

You mentioned the alcohol. Do you have the OG, FG and/or ABV?

Thanks.

I love that WLP001.
LOL....wait til you see his OG and FG.....

 

[SwAMi75]

Thanks for sharing! I'm on an IPA kick myself right now. Must have something to do with the summer months; I tend to drink a lot of IPA during the summer.

I honestly think I'm going to give this recipe of yours a try, if you don't mind. Except I'm going to be substituting White Labs WLP001 because I plan to do some other brews with the yeast cake and I've never used WLP001.

You mentioned the alcohol. Do you have the OG, FG and/or ABV?

Thanks.

Man, I suck at keeping records. I was aiming for an OG of about 70, and if memory serves, I got about 64 or 67. FG was 10. I'm glad I didn't get a higher OG, though....this stuff has plenty of kick as it is.

Best of luck with it! I think with some minor tweaking, this would be an awesome AG brew. I think I might toy with the hop bill next time, but I don't forsee making any sweeping changes. Maybe substitute Centennial for flavoring, or something like that. If you do it, post the recipe and let us know how it turns out!

Sam

 

[Dude]

Man, I suck at keeping records. I was aiming for an OG of about 70, and if memory serves, I got about 64 or 67. FG was 10. I'm glad I didn't get a higher OG, though....this stuff has plenty of kick as it is.

Best of luck with it! I think with some minor tweaking, this would be an awesome AG brew. I think I might toy with the hop bill next time, but I don't forsee making any sweeping changes. Maybe substitute Centennial for flavoring, or something like that. If you do it, post the recipe and let us know how it turns out!

Sam

Sam...I'm all FUBAR on this recipe.....HELP!

I ran those exact ingredients through Promash and got 81 IBUs.....WTF? Do you think that when you did this it was that high? Recipator gave you 49 IBUs?

 

[SwAMi75]

Hmm....I might have had to do a sub for the Columbus in Recipator. It's been ages now, so I don't remember. But, the hop bill above is what I used. You liked it then, it'll still be good now!

If you're worried about it being overly bitter, split up the Columbus addition to 60/50 or 60/45. Something like that.

 

[Dude]

Hmm....I might have had to do a sub for the Columbus in Recipator. It's been ages now, so I don't remember. But, the hop bill above is what I used. You liked it then, it'll still be good now!

If you're worried about it being overly bitter, split up the Columbus addition to 60/50 or 60/45. Something like that.

I massaged it down to 67, and I think that will go in line with the alc %, don't you?
I can't wait to brew this sucker!

 

[SwAMi75]

Why are you worried about IBU's now? You liked it before, and you said you want a big nasty mofo.

Looking at the recipe again, I think I'd spread that 2oz addition over the last 20 min of the boil. I'm kinda assuming that's what you've done to bring the IBU's down.