First all grain IPA recipe

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by AlexFields, Apr 19, 2013.

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  1. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Brewing my first all grain IPA tomorrow. Not my first all grain brew, just first IPA. I plan to modify and rebrew this plenty of times until I get it nust right, but figure i may as well get the recipe as close to what i want as possible the first time. Here's the recipe as I have so far:

    6 gal batch
    mash temp 149-150

    13 lbs pale 2-row
    1 lb sugar
    0.5 lbs caramel 40l
    0.5 lbs carapils

    Online calculator is giving me around 1.072 OG

    0.5 oz Citra 60 min
    0.5 oz Nelson Sauvin 60 min
    0.5 oz each of Citra, Nelson, Summer in 20 mins/fwh
    0.5 oz each of Citra and Nelson, 1 oz summer at 10 min (or 5?)
    0.5 oz each of Citra, Nelson, Summer at flameout
    1 oz each of those three for dry hopping

    Calculators giving me ~100 IBUs for this

    Any feedback is welcome but a few specific questions:

    1. Does this grain bill seem reasonable? I want it to be dry, with very low malt character, but also not super watery, hence the sugar for dryness and carapils for a little body, but I don't know if it's silly to have both.

    2. What should I expect for a final gravity with this recipe? I'd like to get it down in the 1.010-1.012 range but I don't know how to calculate it closely, the online calculators don't take account of mash temp and don't seem to know the difference between sugar and pure grains, etc.

    3. Does the timing of the hop additions make sense? I thought about either moving 0.5 oz of the 10 min Summer addition to 60 min so that all three hops would be evenly distributed. Also thought about just doing 1 oz of Nelson at 60 min then 1 oz of Citra and 1 oz of Summer at 10 mins. Not sure how much of a difference any of that will make or which idea to go with.

    Thanks!
     
  2. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    I would drop the sugar completely. You can dry out a beer just fine depending on yeast choice (I am assuming 001/1056/S-05?)

    I would also change your 60 minute additions to something less aromatic, as the hops you chose are generally seen as best used later in the boil/DH.

    I am not familiar with Summer hops but other than that, the rest looks good to me.
     
  3. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Forgot to say--I'm using US-05 yeast, dry.

    What would you expect FG to be with 14 lbs pale and no sugar? Online calculators don't seem accurate enough to be useful.

    I can see your point about different 60 min hops but a) I'm not sure if I have any other hops right now so it might be a moot point and b) I've had plenty of single hop Citra and Nelson IPAs that have been among my favorites so I wanted to try a beer with Only my favorite hops. If it doesn't come out quite right I'll change the 60 min to something different next time.

    Summer hops are kindof similar to Galaxy, but much lower alpha acid (5.8) and they have this wild honeydew melon character that I've never found in any other hop. Peach character too. I've never used them or had anything with them before, but they smell ridiculously good and I'm really excited to try em.
     
  4. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    It all depends on your efficiency. 1.072 OG is the higher end for an IPA and lower end for a DIPA, if you get it into the 1.012 range you are probably looking at ~8% abv. You can definitely get there as those are similar numbers for Pliny the Elder. Just make sure to pitch the right amount of healthy yeast.

    Gotta work with the hops you have no hand, no disagreement there.

    Summer sounds very itneresting, I will get some of those if my LHBS gets them.
     
  5. Gotti311

    Gotti311 Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2009 Wisconsin
    Trader

    I think you are going to end up pretty malty, which I personally think is a good thing, but it sounded like you werent that excited about.

    If your IBU's are calculating out that high, I would save some of your hops. You hear different arguments about the maximum IBU that is achievable and it is probably less than 100. You could probably decrease your 60min a bit. And I tend to agree with OddNotion about using different bittering hops, but again that is just me.
     
  6. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Doesn't Pliny use sugar to get there though?

    Also another question: if I go without the sugar and then my FG is higher than I want, is it okay to just add sugar to the fermenting bucket and restart the fermentation to dry it out some? Is there any disadvantage to doing that as opposed to addin sugar at the end of the boil?
     
  7. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Nope, no sugar in the recipe's that Vinnie has given out over the years. Actually its incredibly similar to your grain bill, minus the sugar of course.

    Adding sugar will not lower your FG any, it will just ferment out itself and raise the abv. Sugar only "dries out" a beer when it completely replaces base malt, in which case it is drier compared to the same beer with the same OG but only using the malt.
     
  8. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Do you have a link to the recipe? All the ones I've found by google searching, including one that claims to be Vinnie's recipe, have dextrose.
     
  9. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Cant find the one I had before but you are correct it does look like this one has corn sugar added... my bad.
     
  10. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    What would you do to end up less malty? Cut out the crystal malt?
     
  11. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    I've added sugar after high krausen a couple of times, with good results. This forces your yeast to initially consume the complex sugars, then they get desert. You can adjust the quantity of sugar to meet your ABV target. As as others mentioned, your OG will be modified up, but the FG will be the same. Simple sugars add little color or taste, so in the boil or in the bucket produces about the same results. The downside is you have to pop the lid (twice) and stir to do all of this. (The sanitation police have issued citations for less than this)
     
  12. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    a word of caution with that Nelson mixed with other varities. the one time i used Nelson it blew my mind, but if you like it that is what matters.
    i don't think it can be matched with much of anything.
     
  13. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    So it turns out I do have 1 oz of Columbus hops that I forgot I had bought. Would that work significantly better for a 60 min hop than Nelson/Citra?
     
  14. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Yes, I like Columbus as a bittering hop. Dual purpose really but I think it has good bittering properties.
     
  15. AlexFields

    AlexFields Pooh-Bah (1,912) Dec 13, 2009 Tennessee
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I might try that, or I might just try the recipe as I have it and see if I think it works.

    Is there a reason other than their cost that Citra or Nelson wouldn't be good bittering hops? Both are pretty high alpha acid, and single hop beers using them seem to be pretty successful.
     
  16. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    I tend to stick to using the harder to come by hops that have great IPA flavor for later additions. I have not experiemted with their bittering qualities too much but I think CTZ (and Chinook too for that matter) gives a nice bitter punch that gets rounded out by the flavor of the later additions.
     
  17. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    hops are more than anything else personal preference. if you like the hop, go ahead and use it. i am a fan of noble varieties myself, so alot of my bigger brews tend to have a ton of low AA noble hops to get the bittering i want.

    keep in mind that while the percentage of AA present in an ounce of hops is important, not all hops are the same when it comes to bittering. or aroma and flavor for that matter. some varieties of high AA can impart a harsh bittering (cluster and chinook come to mind) while others are described as refined or clean (German magnum). though i think the Europeans are the ones that came up with the descriptions...

    anyway, use what you think you might like. then mix it up and see what else there is.
    Cheers.
     
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