Yeast and hops questions for an IPA

[waynemr]

So, I brewed up one of the Falconer's Flight Extra IPA kits from Brewer's Best a few months ago and it was spectacular. Using that kit as a base, I wanted to alter it with some extra home-grown hops I just harvested and dried the past week. I would also like to maybe bump up the ABV from 7.0%-7.5% to the 8.0%-8.5% and I am unsure if a different yeast or a sugar addition would be best to achieve that.

Here are the recipe components

6.6 lb. Golden Light LME
3.3 lb. Amber LME
8 oz. Maltodextrin
6 oz. Caramel 30L
6 oz. Munich 10L
Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast packet

Hops available for use

1.75 oz Magnum pellets (10%-13% alpha)
2.6 oz dried, whole-hop, home-grown Santiam (guessing 5%-7% alpha)
6.6 oz dried, whole-hop, home-grown Perle (guessing 6%-10% alpha)
1.8 oz dried, whole-hop, home-grown Hallertau (guessing 3.5%-5.5% alpha)
7.0 oz dried, whole-hop, home-grown Centennial (guessing 9.5%-12% alpha)
4.0 oz Falconer's Flight pellets (11%-12% alpha)

I am thinking of a hop schedule like this

1 oz Magnum @ 60 minutes
1 oz Falconer's Flight @ 45 minutes
1 oz Centennial @ 30 minutes
1 oz Perle @ 15 minutes
2.6 oz Santiam @ flameout
1.8 oz Hallertau @ flameout
3 oz Falconer's Flight dry-hop
6 oz Centennial dry-hop

Given the lower alpha of the Perle, Santiam, and Hallertau - is it even worth it to mix with Magnum, Centennial, and Falconer's Flight, or should I maybe dry-hop the lower alpha hops and add the Centennial every 10 minutes to the boil?

Ultimately, I want something in the 80 IBU range + or - 5, but at the same time I want a powerful flowery, fruity hop aroma - think a more bitter Ale Asylum's Hopalicious.

As for the ABV question, if I want to crank it up a tad, would adding more Maltodextrin do the trick? How about some cane sugar? I figure I need to get the OG around 1.078+ and FG around 1.016. So, if I get the OG higher, by adding sugar, will Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast be able to reach a 1.016 FG, or should I look to swap it out with something else?

Thank you for any comments, discussions, and advice!

 

[m00ps]

I would just add sugar. Amber LME has a decent amount of crystal malts in it, plus youve already got some added. IMO, this will be too sweet for an IPA unless you dry it out a bit more.

Ive found that 30 and 45min additions are a waste of hops. You be better off bumping up your 60min a bit to get the desired bitterness then saving the rest of those hops for a flameout hopstand. I'd also move some fo the massive dry hop to the hopstand too. IME, this is the best method to get a pungent hop character close to a commercial IPA. My IPAs would always come out bitter, but muddled, until I started focusing on hopstands.

Id save the perle and hallertau for a more suitable style like a brown ale or hefe or something. You dont be able to detect them with all the assertive IPA hops in the mix. Dont waste them especially if you grew them yourself

Maltodextrin wont add abv. Its like 50% unfermentable. Its used to add body to a beer. I would definitely take it out and use just regular cane sugar. This will accomplish 2 things. Dry it out (good for an IPA) and increase the abv.

 

[waynemr]

Thanks m00ps! Sounds like some solid info from someone with experience, so this n00b appreciates it! Will adding extra hops at 60min help with the reduction of volume from dry-hopping - or do you boil more to compensate for volume loss from dry-hopping? Unfortunately, I am just starting and I do not have a large boil pot, so I can't do a 6.5 gal boil and get 5 gal into the primary, after filtering the hops out. Realistically, I can do a 5 gal boil and end up with 4 - 4.5 gal in my primary. Then, I make up the difference to get 5 gal with distilled water and sugar adjustments to get the OG I want. So, if IBUs are a byproduct of hop oils and such in suspension, if I am losing 15% - 20% of my total wort volume at the end of the boil and dry-hops... I should then theoretically add 15% - 20% more hops at boil start to compensate. The caveat being if the recipe itself does or does not compensate for volume reduction.

I guess this means I'll need to brew twice, with one batch having more hops at boil start and see which one tastes better.

 

[m00ps]

Hops utilization does partially depend on water volume, but you only really need to worry about ti going from like homebrew to commercial scale. Youll be good just using numbers for a 5gal post-boil batch for the hops

I usually just deal with having 1/2gal or so less in my finished IPAs from all the hops I add. You could add some more at the beginning of the boil or in the top off water to try to compensate but I wouldnt worry yourself with it. Adding extra water will mess with your OG calc anyway