working on IPA recipe

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ryschwei88, May 17, 2012.

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  1. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    Hey guys, i have been trying to make my own recipe for today. Was wondering what you guys think, this is my first swing at making my own.

    I want to make a citrus-y IPA with raw honey at flameout.

    Was thinking maybe

    1oz Magnum for bittering
    3oz Citra spread out over boil

    3.3lbs Gold LME, or DME
    3.3lbs Gold LME, or DME (LHBS only sells in 3.3 increments)

    Specialty Grains: Undecided, i really don't know what to use.

    Stated above, based upon what i am trying to brew, am I close to my target? any ideas?
     
  2. cracker

    cracker Pundit (893) May 2, 2004 Pennsylvania

    While you can certainly make an IPA with citra, expect more tropical fruits (mango, peach flavors) rather than citrus fruits. Go for amarillo, centennial, cascade and columbus hops if you want citrus flavors/aroma.
     
  3. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    Yea, i'd actually like tropical just the same. I'm still reading what specialty grains i should use, and what extract, for they are the questionable ingredients in my recipe. Thanks for the reply!
     
  4. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    If you're going partial stove top boil it will not dry out as much as you want. You can do the late extract addition method and sub out 1lbs of LME/DME for dextrose to help dry it out. Honey would work, but since you're using extract I'd just go with sugar.

    Use your Citra hops (or whatever) in the last 15m and dry hop with a min of 3oz for 7 to 10days for aroma.
     
  5. cracker

    cracker Pundit (893) May 2, 2004 Pennsylvania

    Use the lightest colored extract you can buy (pilsner or extra light) and use DME not LME. DME is easier to handle and stores better over time (LME has a high likelihood of being old and stale). For an IPA you probably need 7-8 pounds DME to get in the proper gravity range for an IPA. Use an online calculator to help with this (I brew all grain now so I can't be certain on the amount DME needed without referencing a calculator).

    You can use a bit of crystal in your recipe if you want (personally I'd use no more than 8-10 oz in a 5 gallon batch). Also some people add cane sugar to up the alcohol content and dry out the beer but don't use too much (ie keep it under 10% of your total amount of fermentables). Good luck!
     
  6. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    thanks guys, i should say, I wanted to use my jar of raw honey primarily because I'm trying to save money. staying under 50$ is what i want. From what I have heard, honey can not only impart subtle sweetness, but also improve the ABV, which since DME and LME are what brings the cost up, I figured would help save some money. I'm not sure if my LHBS has crystal, but I will certainly find out and adjust accordingly.
     
  7. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,043) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Adding honey to your wort will certainly increase the ABV, but it will not impart any sweetness. The sugars in honey are 100% fermentable, so honey will not contribute residual sugar (sweetness) to the finished beer.
     
  8. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    okay. thanks guys :slight_smile:

    my recipe for tonight is finished. it is as follows.

    6# Gold LME

    1/2# Carapils
    1/2# Caramel 60

    2oz Chinook @ 45min
    1oz Citra @ 20min
    1/4oz Citra @ 15min
    1/4oz Citra @ 10min
    1/4oz Citra @ 5min
    1/4oz Ctra @ 0min

    8.5fl Raw Honey @ 10min

    is it okay to put the honey in at the same time as the hops @ 10min?
     
  9. cracker

    cracker Pundit (893) May 2, 2004 Pennsylvania

    From what I've been told, honey is best not to boil and to add at flame-out (that way some subtle honey flavors/aroma are retained). Also your hopping schedule while fine as is, in my opinion will not give you a ton of hop flavor or aroma. In my experience, one needs at least 2-3 oz added from the last 15 minutes of the boil to flame-out. Also, dry hopping would help too.
    If this is all the hops you have, I would do:
    1 oz citra at 15 min
    0.5 oz citra at 5 min
    0.5 oz citra at 0 min
     
  10. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,043) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    What's an 'fl'? Fluid ounce? If so, that's not going to add a lot of honey flavor/aroma. But if you want to maximize what there is, you can add either at flameout or to the fermenter when the yeast is at high krausen....

    Flameout - more flavor/aroma than boiling, but less than high krausen. Extremely sanitary.
    High Krausen - more flavor/aroma than flameout, but slightly less sanitary. Still a very low risk of infection though.
     
  11. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    haha, yea, i meant to say fluid ounces. So i will take the advice of you guys. Like they say, it's only good advice if you use it. thanks again, I will report how it turns out.
     
  12. jkanavel

    jkanavel Initiate (0) Aug 2, 2006 Texas

    I second the suggestion to use Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, Columbus...pretty much all the "C" hops. As for specialty grains, try a medium crystal. 1 lb for steeping ought to impart some good flavor and color. Shoot for like...crystal 40. Nothing too dark or it will go amber on you.

    Columbus or Chinook would be good for bittering, cascade or centennial for aroma, and those citras would be great for dry hopping.
     
  13. jeffjeff1

    jeffjeff1 Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 California

    I would probably add the honey a little bit later if you want more honey flavor in it. You can try it at 10 min. Experiment with it. I made a honey pale ale and could barely taste the honey. It was very light. Either more honey or add it later I think.
     
  14. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    Personally if I were using honey I would add it after high krausen as even a vigorous fermentation can scrub a lot of the honey flavours out of the beer.
     
  15. ryschwei88

    ryschwei88 Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012

    I added it at flameout. I guess only time will tell at this point.
     
  16. bpfishback

    bpfishback Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2010 Maryland

    Dry hop, please.
     
  17. parris

    parris Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2010 Massachusetts
    Trader

    >I'm trying to save money. staying under 50$ is what i want.

    Have you considered all grain brewing. For me it was only about 2 or 3 brew cycles before I stated saving money :slight_smile:
     
  18. briggssteel

    briggssteel Initiate (0) Apr 8, 2010 Ohio

    As someone mentioned above you'll definitely want it to dry out pretty well so replacing some extract with table sugar will help it dry out a lot. My first 2 IPA's I did had too much residual sugar and it just didn't go well with the hops. You'll want it to finish around 1.012 or lower. 1.014 would be acceptable I think but not much higher than that. So depending on your recipe I would suggest a half pound to a pound of sugar replacing whatever extract you're using. Keep in mind the higher your OG goest the harder it will be to hit the 1.012 mark. I need to mention that while using steeping grains for body is great for an IPA, using too much will work against you fermenting dry like you need because of the unfermentables. As jkanavel said, a pound of Crystal 40 or less, (I prefer my IPA's pretty light) will give you some nice body but shouldn't get in the way of drying it out.

    Also as someone stated above, adding hops at flameout and dry hopping are SUPER important for the type of "Citrusy" West Coast IPA you're wanting to make. Just doing an ounce or two for flameout and dry hopping will really help it out. The more the merrier I say. For dry hopping you can just dump them in or put them in sterilized hop bags with weights. Just dumping them in does a much better job but the trade off is the hop particles become a pain in the ass come bottling time.

    So making sure you use some kind of sugar to dry it out, adding hops at flameout and dry hopping along with other really important generic brewing aspects like using a using a well attenuating yeast (American ale yeast, hint, hint) Pitching enough yeast, aerating well, and keeping fermentation temperature constant are really going to get you want you want. Do those things and I'm positive you'll have a great IPA!
     
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