The How My Averagely Perfect NorthEast IPA Turned Out Thread

I was expecting this recipe to not have enough bitterness when I saw it, that is one thing I think really unbalances a lot of the "NE IPA's" personally... Too much sweetness/hops and not enough bitterness to balance it all out. I don't like to brew other people's recipes for one reason or another, but my own NE IPA I had brewed last week had a bittering charge of Columbus at 60min (2oz) for 75 IBU right up front. Then the next hop addition was at 10 and 5min, large whirlpool between 160-170F and a dry hop to follow.

As of my last taste right before the second dry hop, it's incredibly aromatic, hop flavor intense and perfectly balanced in terms of sweetness/bitterness. Columbus is such a smooth bittering hop that it just doesn't pop out at you even with the IBU's. My water profile also is very west coast to accent those hops. At this point, I would take mine over any TH or Trillium beer I have had to date (a few dozen). Kegging it up this Thursday and will know by the weekend how the end result is.

 

Mine is mid-way through the traditional dry hop stage at the moment and I haven't notice any vegetal flavors so far. But I agree about the lack of perceived bitterness. It tastes much lower than 63 IBUs to me. This is my first of this style without a 60 min addition, and I was expecting it to be less bitter, but not this much less. Still tastes fantastic though.

I think at some point I'll try this recipe again with a big 60 min addition, maybe 10ml of hopshot.

 

I haven't brewed this recipe yet, but my last two IPAs both involved copious amounts of citra (from different sources) and both batches had a strong onion-y flavor to them. It's possible that the fault lies with some old siphon tubing that I have since gotten rid of, but I'm not 100% convinced that it wasn't just the hops, since the off-flavor faded with time rather than increased.

 

Not entirely related, but I did the 2nd phase dry hop in the keg with 3 oz citra 1 oz galaxy. With the hops in the bag and dental floss, the beer smelled amazing from 10 feet away. I left them in for 5 days. It was fully carbed last night and I tried it.
It lost most of the aroma and is now pouring much more "clear". When I was trying the first few ounces before it was carbed it was great and very cloudy.
Did I lose it all by taking the hops out? I just didn't want to get the vegetal tones by keeping the hops in the keg too long.

 

Where you get this fermenter at?

 

Citra hops are high in a compound of 4-Mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one (4MMP). Some people report that this compound reminds them of cat pee. I am guessing that this compound may be providing an oniony flavor for you.

Cheers!

 

Sorry to hear about the initial impressions. But hopefully the additional carbonation will accentuate some of the bitterness and highlight the hops a bit more. And I bet a little cold conditioning in the keg will certainly help with the vegetal notes.

I finally got around to brewing this on Sunday and it's currently fermenting like a beast. So, just waiting for the first dry hop. Brewday was polarizing - certainly not without its hiccups. Hit all my numbers, but lost a good half gallon in the transfer to my fermenter. And I had to cut my immersion chilling off due to a torrential downpour that swept in just after I ended my 15 min. hop whirlpool. Scrambling inside, it turns out my new 30L Speidel fermenter doesn't fit in my 'fridge. So I essentially no-chilled from 140F and pitched the yeast 18 hours later at 67F. Who knows, maybe I get some more hop flavor (in addition to DMS and risk of infection)? I remain very optimisitic while still mourning the loss of that half gallon of wort.

I see that you dropped the initial dry hop on day 4. When did you drop in the traditional dry hop and how long did you wait until transferring to the keg? I'm just curious as to your total dry hop contact time.

Looking forward to seeing and posting pictures soon!

 

Mine is carbed up now but I've been tasting it along the way. I don't have any vegetal notes, though I have had them in other DH'ed beers I've brewed. That is one of the reasons I've backed off on DH'ing. I typically only do WP's and if I do DH it's during fermentation.

I was also in the camp of being afraid this recipe would not have enough bitterness, but it has plenty, I would even call it firm bitterness. But I did vary from the process a bit and allowed the 10 min hop addition to sit for about 60 min post flame out and prior to WP so I might have a few extra IBU's in there. I'm happy with the balance.

However it is fading fast. 5 day's ago I thought this beer was beautiful. I was in heaven, the aroma was intense and heady, the flavor was clear and full of citrus/tropical notes. But here I am almost one week in and it's fading already. I did not add the second DH addition though. I wanted to see how it went without it first. I'm going to let it sit for another week to see how it changes. And I may DH at that point, to see if it brightens it up. But from my experience, that will only buy me another week or two of fresh hop flavor/aroma and potentially add some vegetal notes.

 

It will be interesting to see how other BAs report on this topic.

Cheers!

 

I traded some welding for that one (that one is 8-10 years old and like new on the inside), but I purchased another one on eBay about 3 years years ago for $150ish.

 

I sampled today at 2days on CO2. It has big hop aroma and I get the mosaic supported by the other hops. I'm satisfied with it, although in mine there is a distinct pointed bitterness in the finish. I'll hold judgment until it is fully carbed.

 

I added the traditional dry hops around day 11-12 and kegged on day 16-17. The aroma has always smelled good, although it is beginning to fade, but the flavor is still a little off after being carbed and cold for nearly a week. I havent detected much decrease in the vegetal yet either.

 

Bottling day!



I try not to judge a beer on bottling day because that last bit left over from the bottom of the bucket frequently tastes like ass, but... wow, just wow. And the aroma from the fermentor, easily the best aroma from any batch to date. This is going to be a really good one.

Now excuse me while I sacrifice a virgin to the gods of oxidation so that they might be kind to my beer this time.

 

7 days on CO2
I get citrus hops then fruity hops then great yeast flavors, then a dryness (more of a sensation then actual dryness) that, to me is typical of the honey malt then malt then lastly I still get a pointed bitterness on the very back of my tongue. It still needs to warm a bit, but overall a very good beer. I got a chance to taste a NEIPA that was brewed by @mattviator using a very similar recipe. His is fantastic, rounder and smoother, but the aroma on this one is bigger, possibly bc mine is fresher. I'm looking forward to getting him a bottle of mine. His tasted like a commercial beer to me. Granted this one still needs a few more days to round out a little more.

 

i did a one gallon version. i couldnt find any galaxy hops so i subsituted with amarillo plus more citra, mosiac. the aromoa prior to bottling was peach and tropical fruit. im rather excited to open one up a week fom today

 

Wow! Really enjoying this! More feedback to come tomorrow and better lit pictures in natural light. But this is quite the recipe.

This was also my first time treating my mash and sparge water. So the apparent effects are just as exciting in consideration of my future brews.

A tip of the cap to all who had contributed, most notably @VikeMan.

Slàinte!

 

Here is one of mine - 2 Row, Flaked Wheat, White Wheat, Flaked Oats/El Dorado, Denali, Mosaic and Citra/London Ale iii. It was reasonably soft, but I am going to have to continue to work on the water profile that actually gets these to be "pillowy!"

What water profiles are the rest of you going with?

 

Do you guys think the lack of "perceived bitterness" is due to the super low Sulfate levels you picked? I brewed a Pale with final decided upon water profile here and then brewed the same exact recipe with sulfates much higher (kept the Chloride the same) and it's not done just yet but IMHO the mouthfeel and I overall flavor is better. The low sulfate/high chloride produced a really round flavor but almost no perceived bitterness and just a dull but smooth mouthfeel. Higher Sulfate level beer has a slightly sharper feel and provides the texture I love in hoppy beer but without tons of bitterness. Adds that little bit of tingling on the tongue... Maybe I'm crazy but that's just what it seems like to me. I think the higher chloride is critical but keeping the sulfates highish is also somewhat important.