DME advice

Different calculators use different assumptions, if this is your first IPA, average them and then use the one that most closely matches your intentions. My assumption is that bitterness is the main variable you are worried about...OG should be very similar with all calculators if using extract. Good luck...I also assume you are dryhopping this good-looking recipe

 

I don't know what calculators you're using, but some of the differences could be due to what you're telling the calculators or what they think you mean. For instance, you can't make a 5 gallon batch (into the fermenter) by boiling 3 gallons and then adding 2 gallons. You have to account for boil off and for hop absorption. Different calculators may handle these differently (if they handle them at all), e.g. they may have different default boil off rates or different default absorption rates. Or batch size might mean something different for each one...is it gallons into the fermenter? Post-boil gallons including the trub? Gallons of finished (packaged) beer? You have to pick a good calculator, read the fine print, and use the calculator accordingly.

I'll recommend the BrewCipher spreadsheet, but I'm biased. It does have a User Guide (and Mouse-Over Help comments in the spreadsheet itself), so you know what it's doing with your input. And it's free.

 

A simple free calculator I use for extract beers is at tastybrew.com and I usually hit my OG exact. You can also adjust the attenuation % to calculate the final gravity. Using 7 lbs of DME for 5 gallons will get you an OG of 1.063. Haven't used that yeast before, but assuming an attenuation of 82% would get your FG to 1.011, giving you 6.7% ABV.

 

The online Brewers Friend calculator is easy to use. I can’t vouch for its accuracy.

Cheers!

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

 

Using a total of seven lbs. of DME for a 5 gallon batch will indeed get you into the 'IPA range'.

Do you intend to dry hop this beer as well?

Cheers!

 

Instead of a comment on your ingredients, I'll make a couple of comments about your procedures in case you haven't thought of doing them. Since you are boiling only 3 gallons, I'd add only about 25% of the DME at the start so that the early part of your wort will be thinner and give your liquid an extra opportunity to utilize the hop oils into the beer. All of the sugar into the 3-gallons of wort will be thick and likely will inhibit the hop flavor. Add the other 75% of the DME about 10 minutes from the end of the boil. This should also give your beer a lighter color.

Also, you'll probably be needing to add more than 2 gallons of top-off water at the end because you have to account for boil-off and some absorption of the liquid by the hops. Good luck on your brew.

 

The precise amount isn't real important, so use whatever pours out of the bag that is in that range.

I have no experience with Golden Light, but I'd use whichever of the two malts has the expected darker SRM so that you save your lighter color for the late addition, thus less darkening of it during the long boil (if a lighter color is important to you).

 

Good advice so far. I'll add that I wouldn't do a 60 minute boil, but rather a 30 minute boil. Add the 1 oz Warrior at 30 minutes, the difference in IBU's is minimal since you have all the other hop additions. I'd move that 30 minutes to do a hop steep with the flameout hops. So basically just add your flameout hops, cover and stir every few minutes for 30 minutes, then cool down to pitching temperatures.

 

When I was an extract brewer I put all the DME in at the beginning so I did not have to deal with a second hot break. If you are using 1 oz of warrior at 60 min you will not have to worry about bitterness. Have fun!