What monstrosity is this?

[Normanras]

Just kidding. The taste is okay. I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe you guys can help. This is my 6th or 7th brew. It was whatever ingredients I had left over from my IPA, so I may have created nothing but a strange tasting brew.

Let's see if I type this out correctly.

Partial Mash
Infusion at 165-170 for 60min
3 Gallons

3.3lbs LME Light
2lbs Caramel Crystal 20L

.5oz Nugget @ 60 min
.5oz Nugget @ 30 min
.5oz Nugget @ 15 min
.5oz Nugget @ 5 min

Note: These were "left over" hops from a local hop farmer. Smelled great and looked great, but were in my freezer for about 3 months before using them. Whole leaf.

Froze one night (long story), and then pitched the next day. Beer was on the colder side. Fermented 3 weeks at 68 degrees. Bottled half. The other half is in secondary now.

Yeast was Safale-05.

So now I've under-carbed. The upfront nose isn't very distinct. Maybe a bit malty. The finish is distinctly bitter and hoppy. SRM around 23. IBU according to Brewer's friend is 98. What else did I leave out. Any other details?

Was shooting for an IPA. Don't think I hit it. IBU is too high for an ESB, but maybe?

Would love to your comments or just a straight up roast of this recipe.

 

[EsoChingado]

why such a high temp for mash? what happened to 153°F?
what are your gravity readings?

 

[chickypad]

Well you asked for a roast of the recipe so okay, it's a disaster.
The worst I'd say is the 30% crystal malt which is about 3 times too much for the average beer but crazy for an IPA. You're probably a little low on gravity (1.053 or so?) then way over bittered, which I would expect from that hop schedule. Next time I'd go with about 1/6 the amount of crystal, bump up the gravity with more extract, use a 60 min addtion to get your IBU's more in target range, then put everything else in 5-10 min or less, including a big hopstand addition. You can still add some dry hop to this one. I've never used Nugget for late additions so can't help there.

Also just a terminology thing, that's not a partial mash it's extract with steeping grains so temp doesn't matter. Maybe that's just a typo.