Brewing an extract IPA tomorrow

0.7 is actually leading to the hoppy end of things. 'Over 0.8' is certainly not a balanced IPA. I guess it depends on your idea of balance.

 

Is everyone talking about the same type of ratio? 43 IBUs in a 1.061 beer would be 0.7 BU:OG. I wouldn't call that anywhere near the 'hoppy end of things' for an IPA. 49 IBUs would be 0.8. Still pretty low and not bitter for an IPA of that gravity.

 

More like 2%. Your ABV will most likely end up in the vicinity of 70% of what you were expecting.

 

I should have elaborated like you did. That was my point.. I drink alot of hoppy and bitter beers, so I don't pick up on bitterness as easy as some.

Some people think over 50 IBU's is bitter as an ex-wife. I have a huge RIS stout that is around 100 IBU's and I think it's got a slightly bitter twinge to it on the finish. BS says it's only a .785, with a 1.120 OG beer.

Like wise, I have a 1.060 Black IPA that is 1.280.

 

With that OG, I wouldn't guess with extract, that you'll break 1.010 on the FG. Will be a good session beer, and with your hop schedule, I think would be good!

Don't know what you expected FG was or is now, but 1.046 to say.. a lucky 1.010, would be 4.7% at best.

 

Well... 100 true IBUs would be very hard to achieve. As one data point (if I recall the numbers correctly offhand), Deschutes made a '243 IBU' (theoretical) beer that measured 87 IBUs in the lab. This is why I included a modified Tinseth calculation in my spreadsheet.

 

I was talking about bitterness. Not sure that BU:SG will really relate to being hoppy.. I can toss alot in late, and have a really low bitterness with a ton of hop flavor.

But your right- some people have different ideas of where they want their beers. IPA's IMO, aren't a style to go after if you want to have it really balanced. There's a fine balance in not over doing one or the other so far that it doesn't taste good, but IPA's are about hops and bitterness. If you want balanced, make an amber or a brown.

 

Agreed. Without some lab work, we all assume theoretically calculated IBU's.

 

The way I look at it, every style has its own balanced 'zone.' i.e. balance in an IPA means something totally different than in a hefeweizen.

 

Bitterness and hop character both have a lot to do with the perception of balance as I'm sure you know. If you have the preconception that IPAs by nature are not balanced, then you shouldn't use words like "balance" to describe where you're going with them.
I also think it's worth reiterating that there are other species of IPA than cloying citra-and-amarillo American tongue-strippers.

 

Start a new thread, I can see you want to argue somewhat, and it's not worth shitting all over this guys thread.

 

More hops, added later. Not trying to be snarky, that's really what I see when I look at this recipe. With 9 pounds of extract, I'd want more hops.

 

Well, maybe yes, but maybe no. I didn't mean to create the impression that the APA IPA is the gold standard for hop amounts. It's one beer, hopped to meet a certain goal for that particular brew. Your beer has its own goals, its own properties, and should be hopped accordingly. My maris otter/simcoe smash was quite hoppy and only had 4 oz of hops total. In fact, it was borderline IPA hoppy.

That being said, you're using 9 lbs of extract plus a pound of grains, so you could certainly add more than four ounces and still be in good shape. However, if you don't add more hops, you will still make tasty beer! So my bad for not clarifying that the APA IPA was "one example" of an IPA that you might consider when formulating your own recipe.

I'd rate cascade hops as medium strength, willamette as pretty low strength, and centennial is usually pretty strong. These are gross generalizations based on both the amount of flavor that each hops gives off, and the typical AA% of those hops. When I first started brewing, I tended to fear the hops, thinking that I'd make some sort of super-bitter, undrinkable beer. As a result, I made some under-hopped beers. Now I'm a bit more generous with the hops, and a bit less cautious, especially if using lower strength / weaker hops. You'll have to find your own balance.

 

This. Balance is relative to the style you're making, and your preferences. Thus, it's possible to make a weak IPA, a balanced IPA, or an over-hopped abomination of an IPA*. But my definition and yours might not be quite the same.

*this is how some Europeans refer to our beer. They haven't graduated past milds, bitters, and ESBs yet, still stuck in a rut at their local pub I suppose. But those across the pond are slowly but surely realizing the inevitability of it all, slowly realizing that craft beer is in (and budweiser is out, despite the sales figures), slowly accepting the fact that they will be assimilated. And they will. Be assimilated, that is. You will all be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Pretty soon the Brits will be drinking IPAs for breakfast and making ESBs from the second runnings from their IIPAs.

 

You did right hoss. You can only discuss and haggle so much over a beer recipe, then you just have to make a decision and go for it. In the end, you will have made beer, which is always a good thing. Sometimes you'll make stellar beer, sometimes you'll make average or even "not especially exciting" beer, but they're both still beer. Experimentation is a foundation principle of homebrewing. My theory is that you'll never make the next new sensation of the beer world by following someone else's recipe.

 

Definitely try something like this. You'll not regret it, and you'll learn something along the way.

One nice thing about the way my equipment has evolved is that when my ten gallon system is up and running, I'll still have to split ten gallons into two fermenters (for every other batch, that is). This is because one of my freezer/controller setups holds two 6.5 / 8 gallon fermenters, and the other holds one ten gallon fermenter, and they're not very interchangeable. But this will be nice, because I can split lots of batches and use different yeasts, different dry hops, different secondary ingredients etc etc, allowing for lots of experimenting.