American IPA West Coast-ish IPA/Pale ale

[wepeeler]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

US-05

Yeast Starter

No

Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter

No

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.054

Final Gravity

1.009

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

58

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

14 days @68

Tasting Notes

Good balance between malt and hops, but needs more malt backbone and IBU for style.

Looking for some insight on a WC IPA recipe. I REALLY like it, but it's a bit light on malt and bitterness, for the style.

10# 2 Row
1# Vienna
1# Crystal 20L
US-05
0.5oz Magnum @60
0.5 oz Citra @20
0.25 oz Mosaic @20
0.5 oz Citra @10
0.25 oz Mosaic @10
0.5 oz Citra @5
0.5 oz Mosaic @5

Mashed 150F for 60 min
No flameout/whirlpool hops, no dry hops
Fermented @68F for 14 days, kegged, force carbed.

Incredibly clean. I'm really digging the flavor and would highly recommend this recipe for a session style WC IPA (5.8%). Looking for more of a malt backbone and more IBUs. Def needs more bitterness.

Questions would be:
1 Do I add more base malts, more Crystal 20L or higher Crystal (maybe 40L) for more of that classic WC IPA backbone?
2 To increase IBU, should I add more at 60, or more later in the boil for added flavor? Or both?

 

[Kickass]

For malt I’d swap the Vienna for Munich or simply add Munich to the existing grain bill. If you like the OG, subtract the pale 2 row to maintain your OG. I’d avoid adding more C20.

For bitterness, I’d add flameout or whirlpool hops. This will gently increase bitterness while increasing hop flavor and aroma.

 

[redrocker652002]

That looks good. I might give it a try. Did it compare to anything commercially that you know of? Just so I can get an idea of the taste. I used Citra for the first time last brew and I gotta say, I really liked it. Gave it a nice flavor that my others without did not have.

Anyway, thanks for posting. Looks like it could be a nice beer to give a try.

RR

 

[wepeeler]

That looks good. I might give it a try. Did it compare to anything commercially that you know of? Just so I can get an idea of the taste. I used Citra for the first time last brew and I gotta say, I really liked it. Gave it a nice flavor that my others without did not have.

Anyway, thanks for posting. Looks like it could be a nice beer to give a try.

RR

It's actually getting better in the keg! Clean as a whistle and nice citrus and berry aroma and flavor from the Citra/Mosaic combo. More berries on the nose, more citrus flavor. Not sure if you've ever had Sea Hag from New England Brewing Company (not sure how far the distribute), but it tastes like a session version of that. Less malt, less bitter. Very drinkable. Just checked that link and they claim Pilsner, Munich and Crystal malts!

Brewing another version of this today with Crystal 40 instead of Crystal 20 and an extra pound of 2 Row. Shooting for OG 1.058. Been told a few times (here and my brew club) to swap out the Vienna for Munich, which I will definitely do next.

 

[Dgallo]

If you really want some strong malt character go remove the crystal and Vienna and go

- 0.75 - 1 lb biscuit
- 0.5-.75 lb of Caramunich 1

This should give it a firm malt backbone. Just know it will most likely bring it to a burnt orange color

For bittering, I would say make sure you’re in the 1.0 -1.25 rage for your BU/GU ratio. And I would up the additions as equally as possible across your 60 & 20 mins additions to get deeper character

Additionally, do a 3:1 so4 to Cl profile.

I’m actually planning around brew something fun, brewing a WCIPA & NEIPA using the same hops. Should be fun

 

[wepeeler]

If you really want some strong malt character go remove the crystal and Vienna and go

- 0.75 - 1 lb biscuit
- 0.5-.75 lb of Caramunich 1

This should give it a firm malt backbone. Just know it will most likely bring it to a burnt orange color

For bittering, I would say make sure you’re in the 1.0 -1.25 rage for your BU/GU ratio. And I would up the additions as equally as possible across your 60 & 20 mins additions to get deeper character

Additionally, do a 3:1 so4 to Cl profile.

I’m actually planning around brew something fun, brewing a WCIPA & NEIPA using the same hops. Should be fun

Something to think about! I've used Caramunich in a Festbier, and I think Alt too. Not looking to go much darker in color though.

Bitterness ratio is 1.14
So4 155 ppm
CL 60 ppm

Seems like the malt is tasting better as it conditions. Definitely needs more bittering, so I amped up to 68 IBU and tossed in a bit more at 5 min left.

 

[Dgallo]

Something to think about! I've used Caramunich in a Festbier, and I think Alt too. Not looking to go much darker in color though.

Bitterness ratio is 1.14
So4 155 ppm
CL 60 ppm

Seems like the malt is tasting better as it conditions. Definitely needs more bittering, so I amped up to 68 IBU and tossed in a bit more at 5 min left.

All looks good man!

In my recipe coming up Im going upto almost 300 so4. I’ve seen some sources showing some brewers get close to 500 but Not comfortable going there yet.

I’d if you’ve ever used biscuit but it is truly one of the most “malty” grains I’ve ever tried. Comes across that way without the sweetness that crystals give

 

[wepeeler]

All looks good man!

In my recipe coming up Im going upto almost 300 so4. I’ve seen some sources showing some brewers get close to 500 but Not comfortable going there yet.

I’d if you’ve ever used biscuit but it is truly one of the most “malty” grains I’ve ever tried. Comes across that way without the sweetness that crystals give

I was afraid to go too high with SO4, but I may need to play around with that too.

Never used biscuit, but I'll kind a way to incorporate some in a future grist! Sounds good.

 

[ihavenonickname]

Looks like a good recipe! I really like the 5.6-6.2% ABV space, great beer! If I were making another version of this….
I like my WCIPA to be pale, bright snappy so I’d loose the crystal completey and use just a small amount of Munich OR even smaller amount of biscuit. Both delicious but not too much!
Definately up the bitterness, i want it firm. Not sure what you’re calculating but probably double the bittering so you get 30 IBU in the early addition and another 30 from the late. (Edit: I see you are at 58, it still seems like you need to double everything, 3oz total -> 6-8 oz total) I’d definately up the so4 to 250 or so.
Seems like you are avoiding dry hops in a style that almost always have it, not that you can’t make a great beer without DH but even a few oz of dry hops in a hoppy beer does a lot to the hop presence and flavor that I wouldn’t skip!
Bam bam bam! TLDR more hop everything!

 

[wepeeler]

Looks like a good recipe! I really like the 5.6-6.2% ABV space, great beer! If I were making another version of this….
I like my WCIPA to be pale, bright snappy so I’d loose the crystal completey and use just a small amount of Munich OR even smaller amount of biscuit. Both delicious but not too much!
Definately up the bitterness, i want it firm. Not sure what you’re calculating but probably double the bittering so you get 30 IBU in the early addition and another 30 from the late. (Edit: I see you are at 58, it still seems like you need to double everything, 3oz total -> 6-8 oz total) I’d definately up the so4 to 250 or so.
Seems like you are avoiding dry hops in a style that almost always have it, not that you can’t make a great beer without DH but even a few oz of dry hops in a hoppy beer does a lot to the hop presence and flavor that I wouldn’t skip!
Bam bam bam! TLDR more hop everything!

SOOO, I already brewed round 2 of this last Thurs. I got impatient and brewed it with Crystal 40 and upped the IBU to 68. I'll be doing this beer again asap with Munich instead of Crystal. Also going to see if upping the IBU helps at all. Thanks for the tips!

 

[wepeeler]

FYI, this original recipe is fantastic. Super clean. Brilliantly clear. Crusher.

 

[redrocker652002]

So, what was your final recipe? Did you add more hops in the boil to up the IBU? In looking at your original recipe, I wonder if going up to even ounces of the hops would be ok? Since I have to buy them in even ounce amounts, I am wondering if it is too much to just round up, so to speak and add the remainder as a dry hop addition? I am going to try this one maybe next week, depending on work. I have Bry97 yeast, I wonder if that would be ok?

Thanks for the info.

 

[wepeeler]

Original recipe is definitely a very easy drinking crusher. Personally, I like the malt and hop balance, but I can definitely see why most people who have tried it want more bitterness. But, it's 100% a recipe that I will archive and brew again.

I have another version of this fermenting right now. Crystal 40 instead of Crystal 20, and I upped the IBU by 10. Next time I'm going to try Munich.

I do think that if you just up the IBU in the OG recipe, you'd be very happy with the results.

Not sure about Br97 yeast, but it looks like it would work just fine for this beer.

 

[redrocker652002]

Original recipe is definitely a very easy drinking crusher. Personally, I like the malt and hop balance, but I can definitely see why most people who have tried it want more bitterness. But, it's 100% a recipe that I will archive and brew again.

I have another version of this fermenting right now. Crystal 40 instead of Crystal 20, and I upped the IBU by 10. Next time I'm going to try Munich.

I do think that if you just up the IBU in the OG recipe, you'd be very happy with the results.

Not sure about Br97 yeast, but it looks like it would work just fine for this beer.

Please excuse my ignorance or lack of knowledge, but when you say up the IBU, do you mean add more hops in the boil? I put the recipe in Brewfather and upped the Magnum to .75 ounce and it changed the IBU by 10. I like IPA'a similar to Racer 5, Russian Rivers Blind Pig, so my thought would be to maybe up the Citra and Mosaic parts instead. Any thoughts on that? Other than that, I was going to use the original recipe as you wrote it to see what it come out to. Maybe change the 20 to 40 as you did. I am still trying to figure out my efficiency, so I am not sure about the grain amounts yet either. Thanks for the info and being patient, I am still learning how this all goes RR

 

[wepeeler]

Please excuse my ignorance or lack of knowledge, but when you say up the IBU, do you mean add more hops in the boil? I put the recipe in Brewfather and upped the Magnum to .75 ounce and it changed the IBU by 10. I like IPA'a similar to Racer 5, Russian Rivers Blind Pig, so my thought would be to maybe up the Citra and Mosaic parts instead. Any thoughts on that? Other than that, I was going to use the original recipe as you wrote it to see what it come out to. Maybe change the 20 to 40 as you did. I am still trying to figure out my efficiency, so I am not sure about the grain amounts yet either. Thanks for the info and being patient, I am still learning how this all goes RR

So yeah, you can up the IBU by either adding more bittering hops at 60 or more flavor/aroma hops later in the boil. I actually increased the IBU by adding more Citra/Mosaic both at 20 min and flameout.

Since I don't have feedback on the C40 yet, I would highly suggest brewing the OG recipe as is, then adjusting according to your taste. I'm very proud of it the way it is, but I'm just forever tweaking lol.

 

[redrocker652002]

So yeah, you can up the IBU by either adding more bittering hops at 60 or more flavor/aroma hops later in the boil. I actually increased the IBU by adding more Citra/Mosaic both at 20 min and flameout.

Since I don't have feedback on the C40 yet, I would highly suggest brewing the OG recipe as is, then adjusting according to your taste. I'm very proud of it the way it is, but I'm just forever tweaking lol.

I was thinking the same thing about the citra and mosaic. Might try that instead. I have used the Citra a few times, and I really like what that brings to the beer. We will see. Depends on how many I have while I am doing brew day. LOL.

Thank you for sharing, I am looking forward to giving this a try.

 

[norrismj]

Very similar to a pale ale I brew on a regular basis. Only difference is I use Munich at 10% and Pale Ale at 10%. I also limit any Crystal to less than 3%. My IBU's are around 58. Good balance and flavor. Next time I will up Munich to 15%. ABV stays in the 5.5 range. I also hop with Simco, Cascade, Centennial and Citra. I'll try some Mosaic next time.

 

[wepeeler]

Very similar to a pale ale I brew on a regular basis. Only difference is I use Munich at 10% and Pale Ale at 10%. I also limit any Crystal to less than 3%. My IBU's are around 58. Good balance and flavor. Next time I will up Munich to 15%. ABV stays in the 5.5 range. I also hop with Simco, Cascade, Centennial and Citra. I'll try some Mosaic next time.

Good to know! Once I nail the grist, I'll start messing around with hops. Very solid start though. I definitely need to add some Munich into my recipe. Thanks!!

 

[wepeeler]

Update:

V2 of this bad boy was one of my favorite home brews to date. I kegged last Tues, and it's kicked. Granted I shared a lot on the 4th of July, but it poured it's last pint last night. RIP.

US-05
Mashed 150F
Fermented 68F
Kegged day 13 - Kicked day 23

 

[redrocker652002]

Update:

V2 of this bad boy was one of my favorite home brews to date. I kegged last Tues, and it's kicked. Granted I shared a lot on the 4th of July, but it poured it's last pint last night. RIP.

US-05
Mashed 150F
Fermented 68F
Kegged day 13 - Kicked day 23

View attachment 774328

That looks pretty good. Might have to give it a try.

 

[WesBrew]

You can make ipa anyway you like it so many ways and it’s fun to experiment. For me I want to finish higher at .012-.013 at about 6%. As for crystal I use 60 or 80 or a blend with 120 to get some flavor coming through but only 8-10oz in 5G batch. For a kind of session ipa I think the ibu is good . Higher might have bitterness out of balance with malt flavor, but if that’s what you like….

 

[wepeeler]

You can make ipa anyway you like it so many ways and it’s fun to experiment. For me I want to finish higher at .012-.013 at about 6%. As for crystal I use 60 or 80 or a blend with 120 to get some flavor coming through but only 8-10oz in 5G batch. For a kind of session ipa I think the ibu is good . Higher might have bitterness out of balance with malt flavor, but if that’s what you like….

Update:

V2 of this bad boy was one of my favorite home brews to date. I kegged last Tues, and it's kicked. Granted I shared a lot on the 4th of July, but it poured it's last pint last night. RIP.

US-05
Mashed 150F
Fermented 68F
Kegged day 13 - Kicked day 23

View attachment 774328

Not sure if you saw V2 of the recipe, but this one kicks butt. Very proud of it. Kicked the keg in a week

 

[WesBrew]

Ok now that’s closer . If it’s good it’s good; Damn the numbers !

 

[Kickass]

@wepeeler did you dry hop it?

 

[wepeeler]

@wepeeler did you dry hop it?

I did not. That's something I will play around with later. I love this recipe, because it's only 4.5oz of hops!

 

[Kickass]

Awesome, thank you.

 

[wepeeler]

Just got this split batch into fermentors. Switched in Munich for the Vienna. Kept the Crystal 40L. Will tweak after tasting. Can't wait!

6 gallons into each fermentor
US-05
S04
Mashed 150F
Ferment 68F

 

[Dgallo]

I just brewed one myself last weekend. Hazier than expected so I hit it with finings, but it came out great.

Grain
90% 2row
6% Carafoam
4% Crystal 40

Mashed 150*
Og - 1.074
Fg - 1.010
Abv: 8.4%
IBU: 82 (ESTIMATED)

Yeast:
Omega - Starparty (Thiolized Chico)

Boil:
1 oz - Columbus @60

.5 oz - Columbus @20
.5 oz - Simcoe @20

.5 oz - Strata @ 5
.5 oz - Simcoe @ 5

Whirlpool @ 160*
2:1:1 strata cryo , Simcoe cryo, Citra LUPOMAX

Dryhop
2:1:1 Citra LUPOMAX, Strata t90, Simcoe t90

 

[wepeeler]

Brighter color than I expected, but very nice! High OG! How you like Starparty? I've looked into it. TBH, I never used US-05 until 2 batches ago. I've been brewing for 5+ years and never used US-05. It's fantastic. Plus no starters. Been reading on here that people have good luck with S04. I've only used that in an Imp Stout like 3 years ago. Be nice to taste this beer side by side. Haven't moved onto whirlpooling or dry hopping this beer yet. It's so good, and I can use way less hops than most of my other IPAs.

 

[Turricaine]

That's interesting that it needs more bitterness because your claim you had an IBU=58.

Some of the users are claiming they brew batches with only IBU = 20, which is obviously too little.

I noticed that the hops you are using are all higher AA strains.

I tend to buy a lower AA such as Goldings, Fuggles, or Cascade.

I would recommend to the recipe that you add 4oz of ca. 6% AA hops @ 60 min and not maybe not even bother with the addition of aroma hops. This may be paranoia about not understanding the theory of the brewing process, but I had thought to myself that if I add hops at 10 min, I might not get the full extraction of the oils from the hops and would be throwing away unspent usable material at the end of the boil.

My grain schedule will be similar to yours, i'll be using 6kg pale and 250g crystal.

The thing is I have only done a single brew so far, my Doppel-Brau is scheduled to run exactly the same except I am doubling all the ingredients bar the water.

I just didn't want to add too many ingredients to begin with since I had a problem with my old kettle would sometimes cut out and I was worried about losing ingredients in case of a failed batch.

Definately to a beginner, I would not recommend using much more than 3kg to every 5 gallons batch because this gives you the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

 

[hipHOPapotamus]

I brewed a slight variation on the OP recipe this past weekend. Only change is doubling the late addition of Citra/Mosaic to suit my palate. I will also be dry hopping with 2oz each after day 5.

OG was 1.060 so should be in my ideal Pale to IPA ABV territory. Will post back in 3 weeks with photo and tasting

 

[wepeeler]

Latest rendition. US05 (pictured) is way cleaner. SO4 keg is about kicked. Very proud of this beer. Kegged 7/27/22. US05 about to kick too

 

[redrocker652002]

Latest rendition. US05 (pictured) is way cleaner. SO4 keg is about kicked. Very proud of this beer. Kegged 7/27/22. US05 about to kick too View attachment 777753

Can you please post the recipe you used. Thank you

 

[wepeeler]

Can you please post the recipe you used. Thank you

 

[redrocker652002]

Awesome thank you

 

[wepeeler]

I brewed a slight variation on the OP recipe this past weekend. Only change is doubling the late addition of Citra/Mosaic to suit my palate. I will also be dry hopping with 2oz each after day 5.

OG was 1.060 so should be in my ideal Pale to IPA ABV territory. Will post back in 3 weeks with photo and tasting

How'd it turn out? I dropped all Crystal malts from the recipe, and I'm liking the results.

Current recipe is 2 Row, Munich and carafoam. Fantastic beer, but it needs more color, IMO. Clean as a whistle though!

 

[norrismj]

I just bought some Gambrinus Honey Malt to use in place of the Munich/Vienna. Will add it at the 12% of grist. All the rest the same except for hops where I use Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade, Citra, Mosaic mix. Any one try this Honey malt this way?

 

[wepeeler]

I just bought some Gambrinus Honey Malt to use in place of the Munich/Vienna. Will add it at the 12% of grist. All the rest the same except for hops where I use Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade, Citra, Mosaic mix. Any one try this Honey malt this way?

Personally, I would not add that much honey malt in any recipe, let alone a Pale Ale, but go for it! Never know unless you try it! The Munich in place of the Crystal is delightful.

 

[Dgallo]

I just bought some Gambrinus Honey Malt to use in place of the Munich/Vienna. Will add it at the 12% of grist. All the rest the same except for hops where I use Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade, Citra, Mosaic mix. Any one try this Honey malt this way?

Waaaaaaaay to much honey. Don’t exceed 5%

 

[WesBrew]

How'd it turn out? I dropped all Crystal malts from the recipe, and I'm liking the results.

Current recipe is 2 Row, Munich and carafoam. Fantastic beer, but it needs more color, IMO. Clean as a whistle though!

You liked the Munich better than Vienna? Did it stand out more with no crystal