Help me brew a great IPA?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by CaptainQuint, Apr 23, 2014.

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  1. CaptainQuint

    CaptainQuint Initiate (0) Apr 23, 2014 Massachusetts

    Hey everyone! I'm looking to craft my own great IPA recipe. Be gentle though, I've only been brewing for a few months and realize that crafting my own recipe is a bold move away from the kits I've been brewing (I've done five total). I seem to have developed a pretty solid brew process down as far as what needs to be done in terms of sanitizing, timing, cooling and proper temperature control during fermentation.

    My overall idea is to have a very high ABV IPA but extremely great drinkability. I enjoy very hoppy beers (i.e.- Dogfish 60 & 90, Heady Topper, Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye. Just to name few of what I've been drinking lately) and want to be able to enjoy a well balanced, drinkable IPA on a hot summer day without it being too overpowering. My aim is to have as high an ABV as possible with out getting that 'boozy' taste and bad after taste. I basically want to be punched in the face with hops.

    And before the ideas start coming, please understand that I only have the capability to do a 5 gallon batch. In my experiences so far I've done a 2.5 gal boil and added 2.5 post boil to equal 5 gal. I also do not keg (yet), I only bottle 12oz bottles.

    Thanks!
     
  2. fuzzbalz

    fuzzbalz Pundit (953) Apr 13, 2002 Georgia

    All grain, partial mash, all extract??
     
  3. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    Process is most important. We could give you ideas on a recipe, but the quality of your process will be the biggest determinate of the beer.

    If your all grain;

    80% Maris Otter
    10% Rye
    5% Honey or corn sugar
    5% Carapils

    5 ml Hopshot @ 60
    1 oz Columbus @30
    1 oz Amarillo @30
    1 oz Crystal at whirlpool
    1 oz Calypso at whirlpool
    1 oz Columbus at whirlpool
    1 oz Amarillo at whirlpool
    1 oz Crystal dry hop x 4 days
    1 oz Calypso dry hop x 4 days
    1 oz Columbus dry hop x 3 days
    1 oz Amarillo dry hop x 3 days

    Clean yeast, Wyeast 1056, make appropriate yeast starter. If your brewing a double ipa, you'll want at least 2 L starter, aerate well, ferment cooler around 68 F
     
  4. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I'll tell you right now, your best IPA will come by changing your boil half / top off half with water process to full boil. Split your full wort into 2 or even 3 pots, and boil them all, instead of using one pot and topping off. You need to split up the hops proportional to the amount of wort boiling in each pot. So if you use two pots, 3 gallons and 2 gallons, you'd need to use 60% by weight of your hops in the 3 gallon pot, 40% in the 2-gallon pot. It doesn't have to be EXACT but try to get the split and proportionality fairly close.

    Process is everything, the recipe is nearly incidental. Fermentation temperature control, pitching temperature, fast cooling of wort (do you have a wort chiller?), and sanitation can be added to "full boil" as far as your best IPA goes.

    Don't base your decision to use / not use crystal malt and/or sugar on hyperventilation, nor on panicked cries of woe from extreme west-coast-only IPA or it isn't even beer and the world's about to end type advocates. :rolling_eyes:

    But do have a reason for what you decide, even if that reason is "because I wanted to try it and see how it came out." If your process is good, the recipe will just be a minor detail.

    Do toss a metric butt-ton of hops in there tho. That's pretty much implied. :sunglasses:
     
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  5. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    mcc1654 likes this.
  6. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Gravitas:

    7.5# NW Pale Ale Malt
    2.5# Munich malt (9L)
    1# Wheat Malt
    1/2# Carastan 30
    1/2# sugar
    Bitter Chinook 48 IBUs
    Centennial, Mosaic, Simcoe late...DH similar
    Chico or English dry strain

    one of my favorites
     
  7. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I'd be doing a half batch of IIPA.
     
  8. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    Do you want lots of alcohol or lots of hops? You don't have to do both to get one.

    Totally agree with half batch full boil vs 5 gallon batch that you top off with water.
     
  9. JrGtr

    JrGtr Pooh-Bah (1,775) Apr 13, 2006 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    I used Maris Otter in my last batch of IPA, and to tell the truth, I think I'm going back to plain ol' 2-row next time. There are plenty of brews that MO in place of 2-row will give great results, but I think it almost muddled up the flavors.
    Next time, I'll go with something like:
    11.5lb 2 row,
    .5lb Crystal 40 (maybe 30, depending...)
    for my grist,
    and probably a similar hop blend:
    1.5oz homegrown Newport at 60
    .66oz each Mosaic, Falconers Flight and Citra at 10, 5 and flameout.
    dryhop with 2oz cascade.
     
  10. kscaldef

    kscaldef Initiate (0) Jun 11, 2010 Oregon

    My advice would be to refine this set of statements. I'm having a hard time understanding just what you want here. "Well-balanced" and "punched in the face" aren't phrases that seem to make sense together. Nor are "drinkable on a hot summer day" and "as high an ABV as possible".

    Personally, my house IPA aims to be full of hop flavor and aroma, without being overly bitter; and something I can drink a couple pints of without being hammered. As such, I target around 6% ABV, go heavy on the late and dry hops, and a modest amount of crystal malts to temper bitterness.
     
    JrGtr, premierpro and PortLargo like this.
  11. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Some of your criteria, as already mentioned, seem to be a bit incompatible. But you did list these four beers. Are you looking for a clone of one of them?
     
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