# Bling India Pale Recipe



## piraterum (26/3/12)

Tried a stubbie of Bridge Road's Bling IPA and loved the flavour :icon_drool2: 

http://www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/beer-b...-india-pale.php

Anyone have any recipe suggestions for a similar style brew? 

I'm not even sure what the hop schedule would be... cascade, amarillo, centennial? <_<


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## bullsneck (26/3/12)

The brewer, Ben Kraus, is a pretty good fella. You might have some luck shooting him an email. Who knows, he may tell all! Let us know how you go if you decide to go down that path.


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## chunckious (27/3/12)

That sure is a great beer there Pirate. Personally would love to be able to brew something similar to style.
I'm guessing to get that big caramel/copper backbone that there is a whack of crystal malts. But knowing **** all about putting together a recipe maybe someone can chime in with experience?


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## piraterum (27/3/12)

bullsneck said:


> The brewer, Ben Kraus, is a pretty good fella. You might have some luck shooting him an email. Who knows, he may tell all! Let us know how you go if you decide to go down that path.




Haha I'm not sure i'd like to put him in that situation  

I'm sure he'd be more than happy to provide some insight but Bridge Road probably wouldn't like him spilling the beans. 

Having said that I was surprised how much info came out about Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the head brewer.


Like Chunkious I know f**k all about devising a recipe from scratch :lol: I hoping someone with some experience brewing similar IPA's might chime in...


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## TheWiggman (24/6/15)

Re-invigorating this one.

Oddly I don't like their pale ale, but enjoy the Bling IPA. Does anyone know which hops go into it? It has a pleasant, almost sulphatey 'crispness' to it. Deep colour no doubt to a fair whack of crystal and maybe a dark Munich or biscuit. Guessing there might be some wheat or carapils in there because the head on it is as thick and fluffy as any beer I've ever had.

I haven't done an IPA yet but I'd like to use this as a baseline if I can get some accurate advice.


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## Dan Pratt (24/6/15)

Hi wiggman, if you haven't done an IPA yet, for some advice.... I wouldn't start with this clone. 

Check out the electric brewery ipa called electric IPa, its very simple and you can get a better base model to work from. 

It uses 95% base malt and 5% crystal 40, 1 hop bittering charge to 37ibu and the rest is from a top combo at 5mins.

If you mash it right with the correct ppm for water, get a nice clean ferment with the right amount of viable yeast cells and dry hop with the hops suggested you will turn out a cracking first IPA. 

Dan


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## TheWiggman (24/6/15)

Any reason why not this one? Have done many brews before and some big beers amongst them. Generally speaking I'm not an IPA fan (hence why I haven't brewed one) but like this beer. So I'm not hoping to make an IPA, I'm hoping to make this beer. I believe it's the hop combo in this beer that I'm a fan of.


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## kaiserben (24/6/15)

I can only guess it's because this is IPA has more of a malt backbone than most IPAs. (and making a mostly dry, plain old 2-row IPA will make it easier to show off the hops). 

IMO it's a little extra kick of munich or crystal malt that is the signature of the Bling IPA. Perhaps it's also mashed a bit higher to keep more unfermentables/malty-sweetness. 

Anyway, I'm hoping someone shows us a decent clone recipe for it!


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## Dan Pratt (24/6/15)

TheWiggman said:


> Any reason why not this one? Have done many brews before and some big beers amongst them. Generally speaking I'm not an IPA fan (hence why I haven't brewed one) but like this beer. So I'm not hoping to make an IPA, I'm hoping to make this beer. I believe it's the hop combo in this beer that I'm a fan of.


Feel free to try and clone it, its a great IPA no doubt, actually you will like this link attached.....

https://vimeo.com/127811079

If you email the brewery they will likely tell you the hops and the malts, maybe even the %'s of malts they use. What you wont know is the water profile, mash temps, yeast or the fermentation schedule which from what I have learned will lead to dissapointment. You will make good beer but it wont be the bling, that is the reason I advise to make something as suggested.

Ive tried to clone a bunch of IPA's and until I went with something simple 95/5 mashed at 64-65c, bittering to 35ibu, large late hop addition getting 22ibu from 5mins and a solid dry hop, then I realized so many things about making a hoppy IPA, that was my base and I built on that.


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## TheWiggman (24/6/15)

Thanks Pratty, taken on board. I have enough ingredients and other brews lined up to put this aside for now (and 3 full kegs - gasp). I might try the brewery and see what they have to say, at worst it would be "sorry bro". Interestingly they use 2 vessels at their brewery (no HLT) and state they use predominantly single infusions for their beers. 
Shit I laughed in that ad when he was sniffing the beer in the chalice. Their 'shit craft beers fans say' is amusing too which features the same bloke.


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## mosto (9/7/15)

This thread inspired to contact them, couldn't hurt. Anyway, here's what Ben Kraus responded with:

We use Maris Otter as a base malt and then a combination of Melanoidin, Carared, pale crystal malts.
Hop wise we have change it a multitude of times, we always include east kent goldings for earthy character and a combo of US and Aus hops as the main contributor. We are always moving towards less kettle additions. So try moving to 80percent of your hops after flame out. Perhaps 30% whirlpool and 50% dry hop.
Cheers
ben


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## kaiserben (9/7/15)

Great. Thanks for that. 

How do people reckon they get it so chewy?


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## lukiferj (9/7/15)

FYI I sent them an email a few years ago regarding Bling Bling which is their double IPA. This is the reply I got regarding the hops.

[SIZE=11pt]Glad to hear you liked the Bling Bling. It was a special release made some months ago and we have run out of the bottled stock.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Bling Bling was our Bling[/SIZE] IPA with double the ingredients. The hop combination is a complex mix of cluster and cascade.


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## TheWiggman (9/7/15)

Top stuff mosto and lukiferj. I might dick around with the malts and see if I can put together a good base to start with. Never used melanoidin or carared. 
Sipping on my SNPA clone I'm reminded of the distinct Cascade character. It's definitely still in there. But 50% of the hops dry hopped?! Cop that wallet. 
Picked up some new kegs so will have to line this up after my RIS, bright ale and dark lager. Will report back with a grain bill.


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## TheWiggman (11/8/15)

I had a glass of this over the weekend so am inspired to put together a recipe -







Known vitals - 
ABV: 5.8%. FG is under 1.020, the beer was fizzing too much to measure with a hydrometer and I wasn't going to wait until it was flat 
IBU: ? - estimating 50
EBC: ? - estimating 20
Malts: MO, melanoidin, carared, 'pale crystal' 
Yeast: Suspect Wyeast 1056 yeast (written next to the best before), so US-05 or WLP001 will do.
Hops: EKG, some US and Au hops - I'm thinking Cascade, Cluster and...? They're fans of Ella, Summer and Galaxy so take your pick. I'm thinking Ella.
Deep auburn colour which is slightly hazy.

Due to the crystals all being fairly light (40/40/150 EBC) I think there needs to be a fair bit of them in the bill. As in 15-20%.
I don't think the hop combo is as complicated as it seems. I'm thinking along the lines of -

MO 80%, carared 8%, melanioden 7%, light crystal 5%
EKG @ 60 mins
EKG and Cascade @ 0 mins
Cascade and Ella dry hopped (60:40)
OG 1.056, FG 1.012
Thoughts?


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## wambesi (12/8/15)

Should ask them in an email, worked for me and Moo Brews Pale Ale!


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## Paulbroad (12/8/15)

wambesi said:


> Should ask them in an email, worked for me and Moo Brews Pale Ale!


You've got a Moo Pale recipe? Did a tour there last year and loved it. Any chance of sharing the recipe?


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## husky (18/6/16)

Just wondering if anyone has emailed Ben @ Bridge Road with a proposed recipe for feedback? I love their bling bling so much I have joined their beer club so I get some sent every couple of months. If not, I will have a crack at putting something together and email them but would like to have an already iterated recipe to start with.

As a side note, fat man red suit big sack is their red IPA which on hand pump at the brewery is possibly the best IPA I've ever had, would love a clone of that one too one day.


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## indica86 (18/6/16)

Fat man red suit is a ******* cracker!
I emailed once about the India Saison and Ben let me know the yeast, I did not ask anything more though.
I recall someone from Coopers forum asking about the pale and he was not very enlightening... gave some good hints though


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## husky (10/9/16)

Well tonight I'm genuinely excited! First off, Bridge Road is my fav brewery and Ben there is a champ! I sent him my proposed recipe and exchanged a few return emails to nail it down a bit. First sample tonight side by side and apart from an ever so slight colour difference I can't pick them apart! I have done a bit of blind taste testing tonight and had to pour an extra glass of each after the blind testing to confirm which was which. Super excited as I love this beer!


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## DJ_L3ThAL (11/9/16)

husky care to share your bling bling recipe?


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## Jeansy (11/9/16)

What DJ said ☝


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## sp0rk (11/9/16)

Yes please to the recipe, I've been asked to do beers for my sister's wedding, and her fiancee loves bling bling


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## SBOB (11/9/16)

Jeansy said:


> What DJ said ☝


What Jeansy said


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## Exile (11/9/16)

yeah sharing is caring


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## husky (11/9/16)

Here's the one I made using my 1V full mash brewery. A few comments:

When I brew it again I will likely drop the pale malt(I had some to get rid of) and replace with MO and up either the crystal or melanoidin a bit to get the colour a fraction closer.
I suspect they vary the recipe a bit as it was suggested to add cirta, mosaic or Amarillo to my original proposed recipe. I tried mosaic because it's awesome however I can taste a bit of Amarillo in the real thing and citra was impossible to get hold of.
The whirlpool hop addition times and temps are critical in the real deal. They use next to no 60 min hops and put all in the whirlpool for 5 minutes before transferring out so it's a bit difficult to scale this to home brew size as its anyone's guess how long the WP hops are in contact with the hot wort since it depends on wort volume and brewery cooling rate. I have chosen 10 mins in beersmith to estimate the IBU's but think this is conservative. Its more than 60 IBU in the keg. This is how they get so much flavour in the beer. Every time I sent a proposed recipe the comment came back to reduce boil additions and instead add increased amounts to the WP to get the same IBU's. Next time I will reduce the 60 min magnum to 20 IBU and up the whirlpool hops a bit. I have translated all their comments into my whirlpool profile of 5 mins 100 degrees - 10 mins 80 degrees stand.
Not likely to work as a no chill since there is a shit load of hops in the whirlpool. Even an extra few minutes at elevated temps is likely to have a big impact on the IBU's extracted. On future brews I will be playing around with the whirlpool time/temperature profile a bit more but I was being steered away from high temps to reduce bitterness.
Might need keg hops as well. Aroma has faded quickly(4 weeks) but the malt has rounded out nicely.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Batch 31 - Bling Bling IIPA Clone
Brewer: Braden
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 32.08 l
Post Boil Volume: 27.92 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 l 
Bottling Volume: 22.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.076 SG
Estimated FG: 1.012
Estimated ABV: 8.5%
Estimated Color: 25.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 60.0 IBUs - Don't be fooled, the intense whirlpool hoping creates more than this.
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 77.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type %/IBU 
6.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60 mins)
4.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)

5.97 kg Maris Otter (Simpsons) (5.9 EBC) Grain 70.0 % 
1.19 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe W Grain 14.0 % 
0.85 kg Melanoidin (BestMälz) (70.0 EBC) Grain 10.0 % 
0.51 kg Crystal Light - 45L (Crisp) (88.7 Grain 6.0 % 

21.72 g Hallertau Magnum 2015 [13.80 %] @60 25.0 IBUs 

127.21 g Cascade 2015 [6.50 %] Steep/WP @0 10.0 IBUs 
89.88 g East Kent Goldings 2013 [4.6%] Steep/WP @0 5.0 IBUs 
71.28 g Mosaic 2015 [11.60 %] Steep/WP @0 10.0 IBUs 
62.64 g Simcoe 2015 [13.20 %] Steep/WP @0 10.0 IBUs 

Dry Hop 3 days 3g/L each of the following 
75.00 g Cascade 2015 [6.50 %] - Dry Hop 3 days 0.0 IBUs 
75.00 g Centennial 2015 [9.30 %] - Dry Hop 3 days 0.0 IBUs 
75.00 g Simcoe 2015 [13.20 %] - Dry Hop 3 days 0.0 IBUs 

2 packs US05 fermented @19 Degree

Mash Schedule: 64C for 90 minutes 78C mashout 10 minutes

Notes:
------
The original is 8.5% and FG 1.012 as measured using a hydro.
Whirlpool process is critical to this brew.
Immediately after flame out add the whirlpool hops and whirlpool for 5 minutes with no cooling on(temp drops to approx 96 degrees by the end of the 5 minutes).
After 5 minutes turn on cooling jacket and continue whirlpool. Cool to 80 degrees as fast as possible(2 minutes in this case) and hold there for 10 minutes for the whirlpool/hopstand.
After the 10 minute stand @ 80 degrees C turn cooling back on and cool to pitching temp. In this case it took 1 hr 10 mins to reach 19 degrees C still with all the hops in the kettle.
Aerate using pond pump for 15 minutes.
Transfer to fermenter and add 2 packs of US05
Fermented @19
Added dry hops after 7 days(FG reached) and leave for 3 days at 19 degrees
Drop temp to 10 degrees for 2 days and then into keg.
Used 10min steep in the IBU calculator to estimate the whirlpool IBU's. Actual IBU's are higher than predicted.
Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## mb-squared (11/9/16)

nice work husky; awesome example of how to use a forum.


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## DJ_L3ThAL (11/9/16)

Legend husky, legend.


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## TheWiggman (11/9/16)

Working backwards and noting the thread title, to make the Bling I'm guessing all ingredients are halved (taking into account efficiency differences with the lower OG)? I recall reading that Little Bling has half the ingredients of Bling and Bling Bling double.


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## husky (11/9/16)

TheWiggman said:


> Working backwards and noting the thread title, to make the Bling I'm guessing all ingredients are halved (taking into account efficiency differences with the lower OG)? I recall reading that Little Bling has half the ingredients of Bling and Bling Bling double.


I'm pretty sure ingredients are the same but the % varies.
Bling is 5.8% ABV so I would scale down accordingly


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## snails07 (20/7/18)

Has anybody given @husky's recipe a crack?

I'm looking at brewing a Bling (not Bling Bling) clone pretty soon and wondering if this recipe is close to the Bling Bling? There is no real mention if it is a good clone or not.
I've also been reading up on Melanoidin malt and everywhere seems to be saying that around 3-5% in a recipe is heaps.
But I'm guessing that the dark red color in the Bling's comes mainly from the Melanoidin?

Thoughts anyone....


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## husky (7/8/18)

Hey mate, I haven't brewed this for a while but when I did the colour was spot on but the hops needed a slight shift towards Aussie varieties to match the original. Recent samples of Bling I cant detect anything American. The process is the highlight for me, clean bittering hop and then plenty in the WP. On the malt side, the last feedback I had from Ben at Bridge Road was to sub 10% of the base malt for carared. I haven't tried this as yet but will be come summer time.


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