Yet Another NEIPA Recipe Critique

[ca_baracus]

I'm sure everyone is sick of these threads, but I just upgraded to being able to keg my homebrew, so I'm excited to give an NEIPA a shot. Any thoughts or suggestions would be awesome:

7 lbs 8.00 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row
2 lbs 10.00 oz Oats, Flaked
2 lbs 10.00 oz Carafoam

0.50 oz Columbus [14.0%] - Boil 60 min

3.00 oz Citra [12.0%] - Steep 30 min
2.00 oz El Dorado [15.0%] - Steep 30 min
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.0%] - Steep 30 min

3.00 oz Citra [12.0%] - Dry Hop 7 days H
2.00 oz El Dorado [15.0%] - Dry Hop 7 days
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.0%] - Dry Hop 7 days

1 pkgs London Ale III (Wyeast Labs #1318)

 

[ca_baracus]

Thinking of an subbing Azacca for El Dorado?

 

[Electrake]

why not ADD azacca?

 

[ca_baracus]

why not ADD azacca?

Ha, true! Although that would turn out to be a pricey hop bill.

 

[ca_baracus]

Would anyone suggest evening the hop ratios? Not sure if Citra would be too dominant.

 

[jdauria]

Looks good, only thing I would change is either eliminating the Columbus hops at 60 minute, or reducing to 0.25 ounces. For NEIPA you don't want much if any bitterness, you want all the late hop flavor and aroma. As for hop ratio, I think they look good. The El Dorado and Galaxy are both strong stone fruit/tropical and they should balance the citrus from Citra well. As for Dry Hops, I like to add some at high krausen to get "bio-transformation" of hop oils, and then add a second charge 4-5 days later for another 4-5 days. So you might want to split the dry hops that way, but that's your call. Are you adjusting water? To get that soft mouthfeel of a NEIPA, Calcium chloride of 150 ppm and Sulfates around 75 ppm is what I do.

 

[ca_baracus]

Looks good, only thing I would change is either eliminating the Columbus hops at 60 minute, or reducing to 0.25 ounces. For NEIPA you don't want much if any bitterness, you want all the late hop flavor and aroma. As for hop ratio, I think they look good. The El Dorado and Galaxy are both strong stone fruit/tropical and they should balance the citrus from Citra well. As for Dry Hops, I like to add some at high krausen to get "bio-transformation" of hop oils, and then add a second charge 4-5 days later for another 4-5 days. So you might want to split the dry hops that way, but that's your call. Are you adjusting water? To get that soft mouthfeel of a NEIPA, Calcium chloride of 150 ppm and Sulfates around 75 ppm is what I do.

Thanks, jdauria! I was basically going by Braufessor's updated post (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/page-146#post-8203827) for the hop bill and ratios. I was planning on my dry hop being during that 2-3 window during primary. In that post, he says that he switched to just one big dry hop addition. It just seemed easier given this being the first time attempting this style.

I'm totally overwhelmed by water profiles ha. I have been using my in-law's well water in the last two batches. I'm kind of operating under the assumption that if it tastes good, it's probably OK to brew with. I don't know if they have a water report handy. Maybe I should investigate that.

 

[ong]

Recipe looks good to me except for the enormous amount of carafoam. Personally I’d replace it altogether (with base malt), but no way in hell would I use multiple pounds of it. It’s basically just unkilned crystal.

I’d also plan on keg hopping with a couple oz (cryo hops are great for this).

 

[ProblemChild]

I personally have started using Red Wheat. It is fantastic in a NEIPA. Kill off 2lb of the carafoam and replace with that.

 

[ca_baracus]

Ok, cool. Looks like I’ll replace the carafoam for some kind of wheat.

 

[MrPowers]

I'd leave the hops as is.

But, I'd also vote to ditch the CaraFoam. Just replace it with your base malt.

 

[wepeeler]

Hops look good. I'd almost always tell people to go heavier on the citra vs other hops for this style. Skip the carafoam, like others above me have said. Add some wheat, flaked or white wheat malt work fine. I'd make it without the water additions first to see if you like it enough to brew it again. If you really like it, try a batch with all distilled water and build up a profile. Beersmith can help with that, as can this site: https://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/

The thing with sulfate chloride ratios is that everyone has their own opinion on what tastes best. I prefer 1:1 with about 120 ppm. Others prefer 2:1 sulfate to chloride. You'll never know unless you test it out for yourself. Good luck!