IPA recipe advice

Link wont work for me.

 

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As a general comment, if you experimented and it came out drinkable, even if not spectacular, that is a success, not a failure. You can't be afraid to experiment, nor can you be afraid to just make a recipe and brew it, advice be damned. I've done a fair number of these "just go for it" or spur-of-the-moment brews, some were better than others, obviously, but all were drinkable. Some of the best, and the best one of these experimental brews were ones that I did not expect to come out that great. The best was an IPA where I just chunked in the remains of three bags of hops (with a bittering charge already in there at 60). All I did was note the weights, then dumped it all in at something like 3 minutes left in the boil. Total late hops was about five or so ounces, mostly cascade and willamette. Came out FANTASTIC. And that was back when I was more inclined to seek perfection on my recipes before brewing, asked more advice, searched more recipes etc.

After this particular success, I started getting a little braver. I still try to keep things reasonable, but if I'm going to make a pale ale, I don't need a special thread, with lots of long and well thought-out replies, to hash out the pros and cons of adding crystal malt. I'll just add whatever I feel like, and go for it. It will come out fine. Or at least drinkable.

Now for something more complicated, or something I've never brewed before, I will probably seek out advice or at least compare a few recipes before making any final decisions. The threads I've started over various styles have always been super helpful.

I like to make smash beers, and I would guess I've got about a 50/50 great/drinkable ratio. To me, great means "I will brew this again without changing the recipe." Drinkable means a good beer but nothing outstanding enough to want to brew it again without modifying the recipe. Bravo/Munich smash, great. Maris otter/willamette, drinkable. 2-row/fuggles was drinkable. but truthfully it came out more like a blonde ale than any kind of specific pale ale, so it was kinda weird. Every time I use fuggles hops, I wind up thinking I should have used more of them. That beer had over 5 oz of hops, most of it under ten minutes! Quite drinkable, not real exciting tho. Maris otter/simcoe smash was pretty darn good, the piney-ness of the hops went well with the grain. We shall see in a couple weeks how Vienna/cascade smash comes out.

Anyway, I'm probably rambling just to hear myself talk. Go for it on your recipes. It's only a failure if it's a total drainpour.

 

I like the hops schedule. I've never seen any beer with quite that schedule of hops, so I'd say go for it. What motivated you to choose those hops in those amounts? I think it will make for a tasty and interesting exbeeriment*.

I wonder about the pound of crystal-80. Seems like a somewhat darker and heavier crystal malt than is typical for the style. Do you have a specific reason for choosing that particular malt?

The amount of crystal you chose will likely be debatable, but I don't mind crystal malt in IPAs, so it won't be from me. I don't think every IPA needs to be super dry by adding sugar either. I enjoy both the dry, lighter body IPAs and the thicker, more crystal-laden ones.

Remember, each new sensation in beer wasn't developed because someone followed someone else's recipe. I bet every new sensation has about 20 non-sensations behind it (all of it got drank tho).

*word probably does not exist in the real world

 

If I wanted to troll the forums, I'd make a thread about the pros and cons of adding crystal malt to an IPA, and then criticize anyone who said they didn't want a lot of crystal malt in their IPAs.

 

Just brew it then.

 

I don't see anything wrong with this recipe. The late hop mix is maybe a little unconventional for an American IPA, but what the hell, there's no law against using Hallertau and EKG. You might consider experimenting with the grain bill to add sugar, or wheat, or munich, or vienna, depending on whether you like a lighter body, or a little breadiness, etc, and mess around with various late hop combinations to get the aroma you want.

 

The only thing I like to do is split my crystals. So instead of using 1lb of 80, I would use .5lb of a lower lovibond crystal like a 20 or 40, and use another .5lb of a higher lovibond crystal, like 80 or 120 just to add some dimension to the base. But if youre hopping the hell out of it you may not want such nuances in your beer.

 

Oh, and I *highly* recommend heavily using cascade in a future recipe, either singly or in combo with whatever you think sounds good. They're still my favorite hop*.

*which is great, because they're cheep

 

I used anywhere from 1 lb of caramel to none. The Ipas with 1lb tasted good the first few weeks when the hop aroma was at it's best. But as the hop aroma fades the caramel starts to take over. Using no steeping grains also tasted good but lacked some mouth feel and malt backbone. My best results used a 1/2 pound mix. I like to keep the color lighter so Iv'e been using a mix of 20L and 40L.

 

I'm not a huge fan of lots of different kinds of hop in one batch, but that is most certainly a personal preference!

It looks like a decent run. I'd say go for it!

 

2-row 75%
Vienna (or Munich if you want more malty) 10%
Wheat or oats 10%
Carapils 5%
(no crystal, dude)
OG > 1.060

BU:GU ratio 1:1 with hops at FWH & 5 mins with a looooooooong hop stand. (+/- dry hops)

US-05 or similar fermented cool.

Water sulfate rich.

Keg ASAP and drink quickly.