What have I made?

[zmanzorro]

My first attempt in creating my own recipe turned out a bit different than what I was expecting.

I was attempting a Belgian-American IPA, but since I don't have much temperature control during the fermentation, it turned out more Belgian than IPA. It was probably in the mid-70s when it was fermenting in my closet.

Here is my recipe:

8 lbs. Pilsen Light LME
1 lb. Crystal Malt 40L
1 oz. Centennial (9.7% AA); 60 min
2 oz. Saaz (4.9% AA); 30 min
1 oz. Liberty (3.9% AA); 30 min

Grapefruit peel added in the last 5 minutes of boil. (Was hoping to play off of the citrusy hops)

Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale Yeast

0.5 oz. Chinook (11.1% AA); Dry Hop in Secondary
0.5 oz. Ahtanum (5.1% AA); Dry Hop in Secondary

I forgot to take an OG reading, but from my estimations, it is about 1.048 and my FG reading before bottling was 1.016. This puts it at 4.2% ABV. IBUs are around 80.

Tasting it before bottling revealed that the fruitiness of the Belgian yeast definitely came through more than I was hoping, and there is still a strong hop presence, but not too overpowering (less than what I thought for 80 IBUs).

I'm trying to figure out what to classify it as. It isn't strong enough to touch any of the Belgian Strong Ales, but too hoppy for a Belgian Pale Ale. My only guess would be Belgian Specialty Ale since it doesn't really match anything else.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[res291que]

Why classify it at all, unless you are putting it in a competition.

 

[zmanzorro]

As I'm just getting started in making my own recipes, I'm curious to see what I have here. I'd also like to give it a proper name.

 

[jcam91]

Whether or not it's truly "hoppy", doesn't 80 ibu's place you in pale ale territory?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I know, I know! You made "beer"! pronounced; BE-ER. It's pretty good stuff.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Whether or not it's truly "hoppy", doesn't 80 ibu's place you in pale ale territory?

And no, 80 IBU places you nowhere close to "pale ale territory". Try again.

 

[jcam91]

And no, 80 IBU places you nowhere close to "pale ale territory". Try again.

Your right I looked at the bjcp chart and it shows 80 ibus hit imperial ipa, imperial stout, and American barley wine.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/01/24/beer-styles-ibu-chart-graph-bitterness-range/

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Your right I looked at the bjcp chart and it shows 80 ibus hit imperial ipa, imperial stout, and American barley wine.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/01/24/beer-styles-ibu-chart-graph-bitterness-range/

And the OP's recipe puts him right into the category of Belgian IPA. Not yet a BJCP style, but a commonly brewed beer.

To be real here, unless the OP is entering this in comp., it really doesn't matter what he calls it. He could name it Fred and it'd still be a high IBU pale ale fermented with Belgian yeast. If he were to enter this in comp., the choices would be: IPA, but he'd take a hit for the low OG and funky Belgian character. Belgian Pale ale, but he'd take a hit for the high IBU. In all honesty, he could in reality enter it as an Imperial Stout, although it'd take a huge hit for being not to style. The best choice for a beer like this, one w/o a real category to fit in, is category 23, Specialty Beer.

But since it doesn't look like competition is the final outcome for this one, my vote is for Fred. The OP should call this beer "Fred".

 

[jcam91]

Drink Fred till you have to go to bed.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I prefer Tramp Stamp when it comes to Belgian IPA, thank you very much. And bedtime is for pu$$ies, there'll be plenty of time to sleep once I've died.

 

[billl]

IBU's are not a measure of how "hoppy" a beer tastes or smells. It is just a measure of bitterness. If you are going for a hop forward IPA, you'll want to add hops late in the boil to bring out their flavor and aroma.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I think he already brewed, and bottled this beer. He's more looking for what style to classify is as, and not recipe advice.

 

[zmanzorro]

I think he already brewed, and bottled this beer. He's more looking for what style to classify is as, and not recipe advice.

Yep, already brewed and bottled. Already named it too. Called it Wildcard after the Rangers' wonderful performance on the night I bottled it. Fred isn't a bad name either.

 

[larrybrewer]

You can enter the recipe into Brewer's Friend and it will tell you what styles match the recipe based on its stats! Click the More... button after entering the recipe. The matching styles read out is at the bottom of the expanding panel.

Pretty much everything matches #23 Specialty Beer, but sometimes I'm surprised by what comes up.

 

[lumpher]

But since it doesn't look like competition is the final outcome for this one, my vote is for Fred. The OP should call this beer "Fred".

yep, i'm going for this 1. he made "Fred"

 

[schittbreff]

Just out of curiosty, 2 questions, is it good? and, what size batch did you make?

 

[zmanzorro]

I ended up with a medicinal taste in it. I think it's because I didn't dilute my Iodaphor solution enough when sanitizing my equipment. I think it was mostly because of the hose from transferring to my secondary.

It was a five gallon batch. I think it would have been decent if out wasn't for the medicinal taste. From what I could tell, I would up the dry hops and ferment at a lower temperature to not get as many Belgian yeast esters. (It sat in my closet that was somewhere in the low to mid 70s). The mouthfeel was off too, so I'd also add some maltodextrin and maybe some irish moss for clarity.

 

[tennesseean_87]

Yeah, if this was a 5 gallon batch, you'd be at 1.073 OG and 55 IBU, so it sounds like a Belgian IPA. I think your estimations must be off.

 

[schittbreff]

Yeah, if this was a 5 gallon batch, you'd be at 1.073 OG and 55 IBU, so it sounds like a Belgian IPA. I think your estimations must be off.

This was kind of what I was getting at, just because not many people make 7-8 gallon batches, and 8lbs of extract seemed like a lot for 1.048. Hydrometer, yo!

 

[zmanzorro]

Yeah, I forgot to take an OG reading after I brewed and must have used the wrong equation to estimate it.

 

[pollykraker]

Drink Fred till you have to go to bed.

Hahahahaha