Friendly suggestions on hopping schedule for IPA

It sounds and looks like a very tasty, hoppy IPA to me. I had a couple thoughts, based solely on personal preference...

I might combine your 15 with your 10 or your 5 min and flameout additions just to simplify it a bit (e.g. 60 min, 10 min, FO or 60 min, 15 min, FO).

I tend to detect a lot of unpleasant spice from cascade when I use it as dry hop, but when I use it late in the boil I get a nice grapefruit flavor, with minimal spice. Depending on what you want from Cascade, you could move it around and replace with Columbus or Nugget.

I like the idea of using WLP007 since it keeps the beer a bit on the dry side, and drops clear very quickly, with minimal esters to get in the way of your hops and malt bill.

 

I only make unfriendly suggestions......

But seriously, the hop schedule looks fine, confusing (coming from a guy who just made a single hop IPA), but fine. If you are fermenting in 2 different 5 gallon fermenters, I would recommend dry hopping with different amounts and/or kinds of hops so you can really evaluate the effectiveness and aroma of your choices and maybe find something that works better than something else. But that's just me.

 

I would like to ‘second’ that this recipe “sounds and looks like a very tasty, hoppy IPA to me.”

I don’t have any personal experience with using Columbus or Nugget hops so I really can’t provide good comments relative to the hopping schedule.

I would strongly suggest that you use WLP007 vs. WLP005. I have never homebrewed using the Ringwood yeast (WLP005) but I have never enjoyed the commercial beers that have been brewed with this yeast. Too much diacetyl is produced by this yeast strain for my taste. Although I suppose you could conduct a diacetyl rest? Nah, just use WLP007.

Good luck with your tasty IPA!

Cheers!

 

“I've never had diacetyl with WLP005 but maybe I was lucky.”

It is also possible that you don’t personally perceive diacetyl at a given level. I personally am ‘cursed’ that I can taste diacetyl at very low thresholds. If you aren’t sensitive to diacetyl then maybe WLP005 would be OK for you.

From http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue5.6/bickham.html

“A sizable percentage of the population cannot detect compounds such as diacetyl and methyl mercaptan in any concentration.”

Another interesting (to me) quote from the BT article is:

“Furthermore, the perception skills of females are generally regarded to be superior to those of males.”

By wife rubs this in my face all the time!

Cheers!

 

Everyone has different thresholds for flavor and aroma compounds. Some are blind to certain compounds. When a brewery has a tasting panel they have several people evaluating the beer. When homebrew is evaluated in a competition there will be more than one judge (2 is usual due to the number of available judges).

 

I agree with these statements most so far. This is what I came here to say.


Other than that, I would make a friendly suggestion to add more dryhops... about 2 to 3 oz. more should do it. ...maybe try adding some more Columbus and Willamette, especially since you have a pound of each on hand.

... Am I being jovial and agreeable enough?...Oh, life is so grand.

PS: Is this a 12 gallon boil? Can you describe what you get from the GP, Munich, Carapils combo? Sounds interesting, I might try it.

Sincerely yours,
Mr. Nice Guy

 

I actually agree about using British malt in general ...and having been doing such for most of my IPAs. Homebrew42 can affirm.

Well, technically good sir, an IPA is supposed to be hop dominant. A pale ale however should have more of that hop/malt balance. Nevertheless, I usually pack quite a decent amount of malt flavor into my IPAs, but they are dry, tasty, and aromatic without being overly bitter and off-putting. I "personally" think that too much sweetness and caramel flavors in an IPA can be just as off-putting as using a boatload of hops incorrectly. I feel that it detracts from the hop focus in a hop-focused style of beer. But that's just me, hehehehe.

Cheers, God Bless, Toodles
Mr. Nice Guy

 

Semantics question.... I was under the impression Golden Promise is Scottish, and is the Scottish equivalent/version of Marris Otter, however it looks like its made by Simpson's which is English... so is the malt technically Scottish or English?

I'm a big fan of Surly beers, and they use Golden Promise in Abrasive and Furious, which is now making me want to try your grain bill out!

 

Simpsons is just south of the England Scotland border. About as far north as you can get in England, so the barley does not go far to be malted.