IPA/DIPA minus the bitter

Seems legit to me. This is the theory behind Drake's Aroma Coma and it sure turned out amazing.

 

Put all the hops in after the end of the boil. Steep or whirlpool for 30 min or more. You can put some in after flame out, then more at 180F. Dry hop for aroma.

 

^This.

Also, add US Pacific Northwest hops that you desire (I find that pellet form works best) at different levels below boiling (example: 180F @ 20 min, 140F @ 20 min, 100F @ 20 min). Try not to use a wort chiller that is too quick to cool the wort so that the steeping hops have enough time to actually "steep" at each level. An hour of steeping at various stages will lend plenty of layered aroma.

Focus on a massive dry hop as well... in more than one stage. Dryhop your first stage in the primary and then rack to secondary for stage two (and stage three, if doing).

 

This sounds like a recipe for infection to me. I heartily support the idea of 100% late hopping though. Drakes, Heretic, etc make some awesome late-addition only beers. Hit a target moderate IBU with your normal 60min bittering (45 IBU?) and then dump as much as you're willing to pay for in at 5min or less. A nice 8oz+ dry hop (even a single addition) won't hurt either.

 

I haven't used it for this purpose specifically (but i do use it for my recipes) but @VikeMan shared BrewCipher, a calculator that is supposed to be more accurate at predicting the IBUs that late hopping contributes. It may be good to get a prediction of what you will get and be able to play around weighting hops between aroma and bittering.

 

Well, you'd be wrong. Gradually and slowly cooling wort from a boil down to yeast pitching temps. in an hour, and adding 3 different whirlpool hop additions, will not cause infection. I've done it hundreds of times, sometimes during the course of 2 hours.

 

The longer sugar heavy wort is in that 80-180F range, the more likely you are to get a bacterial infection.

 

I am well aware of the time & temperature rules. I actually have a ServSafe designation http://www.servsafe.com/home

For an infection to develop, the wort would require a longer time frame in the danger zone, among other things. Regardless, 2 hours is about the limit I would go to hit 80F.

 

Tell that to the many homebrewers and pico/nano/micro breweries that do something just as similar.

Heady does a huge long, hot whirlpool. Stone does it..

 

He is correct in his general idea, but the fine tuning and different scenarios changes things...

 

Large commercial batches don't drop in temp too quickly due to a much lower surface to volume ratio.

 

its not like you're adding something that has antibacterial properties to the wort in copious amounts at that point, right?

 

Prepare to drink this beer quickly once it is to your liking because, according to most BAs, a beer of this species is well past its prime after about 2 weeks.

 

Tell her it's an acquired taste like black coffee, straight bourbon, or the taste of a cigar. I don't think anyone truly "loves" these flavors the first couple times they taste them... Especially, if they don't make a conscious effort to try different brands or learn more about it in general. You kind of have to "teach" your palate to enjoy them. Bitterness is also the most difficult flavor to fully appreciate when compared to sweet, salty, sour, etc.

Buy some brands in the store so she knows it's not just your homebrewed IPAs that taste this way. She might secretely think that you just brew awful bitter beer.

 

You need some bitterness up front to round out the flavor profile of a good hoppy pale ale, IMO. Tinker with a recipe, learn what will be added to your beer from hop additions at 60, 45, 30, 20, 15, 10, 5, 0, whirlpool, etc. If you prefer all late hop additions, then by all means, go with it, but I find that some bitterness is necessary to really get those hop flavors to pop. Getting hit all at once with a hop melange is boring and one-dimensional; bitterness is perceived differently and by different flavor receptors than some of the other hop flavors, which means adding some bittering hops for that up-front punch will more fully engage your palate.

 

Sounds like you should make her an APA instead.

 

This also depends on other factors, such as how sweet the beer is and if the malt profile is robust. And even if you veer away from targeting a defined style, like APA or AIPA, you can still brew something that people would collectively define as a "hop-forward" beer with something like 93% 2-row, 7% Corn Sugar, Cali ale yeast, and a ton of Pacific NW hops only used during flameout, whirlpool, and dryhop. Sure, it might be boring and one dimensional, but if it's already dry, easy drinking, and somewhat balanced, then you wouldn't need the added bitterness from an early kettle addition to round out the beer.