First Time Brewing Belgian IPA

Because I tend to never do things that make sense, and because I love competitions, I entered into a local brewery's homebrew competition, and the only style they want is a Belgian Pale Ale.

Now, I've never made a BPA, but I have made a few other Belgian styles and I figured I'd give it a go. My recipe is here
https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/ours-bar-beer

Please take a quick read and let me know if you have any constructive comments (saying it looks terrible isn't constructive).

Thanks in advance for all the help.

 

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone. I made some adjustments based on everyones thoughts and some correspondence I had with the Mad Fermentationist.

I removed the GNO to simplify, and switched out the Columbus with some Saaz in the whirpool. Seems like everyone was on the same page with removing the Columbus. I am thinking of switching the cascade with SG and making the whirpool all Saaz? Thoughts?

For yeast I plan on going with WLP550, again, based on opinions from some other folks I've asked.

I plan on brewing this weekend so I will have BARELY enough time to get it perfect. But the upshot is that the competition is judged by regular people, not BJCP judges. So that could help.

If anyone has any other thoughts, please let me know.

 

So, a couple of things.

Yes, VikeMan, I made the mistake of calling it a BIPA in the title of the post. I realized it later. However my recipe is for a BPA.

I made my original recipe using the list of ingredients from Ommegang, since it is one of the few I have actually had, and they list the malts/hops they use on their site. They list columbus as one of the hops.

When I emailed TMF for a quick opinion (which he was nice enough to give) he never mentioned hops but instead gave me some advice on the grain bill and yeast (which I took).

I know most people use Saaz for its Humulene (the oil that gives the spicy character) which has a high boiling point and is great for late/mid additions to the boil, but I was putting Saaz in the whirpool to take advantage of the Faresene content, which is relatively high in Saaz, has a much lower BP and adds a tremendous amount of aroma to your beer. Its probably the most underrated of the hop oils and is typically unlisted on packaging, but saaz has a lot. I recommend you look into it.

I removed the Columbus, not really wanting to but you are right BB, it seems to be popular opinion. And while Ommegang mentions using it, I'm not sure how they use it, or when. I'm assuming they would use it as a bittering hop, but that's all I have to go on. It's a case of professional brewers vs homebrewers.

As I type this though it got me thinking, and I might have a solution to my hop schedule.

1 oz cascade - 20 mins
1 oz saaz - 15 mins
1 oz SG - 5 mins
.25 oz CTZ - 0 mins

whirpool
1.5 oz SG
1 oz Saaz

I think throwing in just a bit of CTZ at flameout will do wonders. It is a super oily hop high in Myrcene. So a little should go a long way in the aroma Dept. Then switching the 15 min addition from SG to Saaz and upping the SG whirpool addition from 1oz to 1.5. None of these changes should significantly change the IBUs of the beer (want to keep it around 24) but should really effect the aroma.

Any thoughts? Do you think this could work? Or am I waaaaaaay off?

 

Not trying to duplicate anything, i actually am kind of against making clones or anything like that. Just using their list of ingredients as a basis for ideas, because as I said I haven't had many BPAs in my life.

I've enjoyed the ones I have had, and I would like to get more into brewing belgian styles, so I am excited about making this beer. Honestly, adherence to tradition isn't something i care a lot about.

I'm more curious as to whether brewers here on BA who have more experience with this style would think that my recipe would result in a tasty BPA. Or if there would be conflicting flavors/aromas. I think my grain bill looks good, and I am now confident in the yeast choice, but I am struggling slightly (slightly) with the hops. I know I want to use Styrian Goldings as my main flavor/aroma and I think Saaz compliments it. Not sure how/if CTZ adds to/overlaps/compliments/muddles the end result.

Like i said though, I'm open to suggestions.

 

Yeah. The more I thought about it the more it didn't feel right. I just modified the recipe to remove the cascade and the CTZ and I am now going straight SG with some Saaz in the whirpool.