# RecipeDB - Simon's IPA



## hazard (9/1/11)

Simon's IPA  Ale - India Pale Ale  All Grain                      Malt & Fermentables    % KG Fermentable      4 kg Bairds Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt    2.2 kg JWM Light Munich    0.75 kg TF Flaked Maize       Hops    Time Grams Variety Form AA      60 g Goldings, East Kent (Pellet, 5.0AA%, 60mins)    30 g Goldings, East Kent (Pellet, 5.0AA%, 10mins)    30 g Goldings, East Kent (Pellet, 5.0AA%, 0mins)       Yeast     125 ml Wyeast Labs 1028 - London Ale       Misc     2 tsp Gypsum         23L Batch Size    Brew Details   Original Gravity 1.072 (calc)   Final Gravity 1.018 (calc)   Bitterness 33.9 IBU   Efficiency 75%   Alcohol 7.04%   Colour 16 EBC   Batch Size 23L     Fermentation   Primary 7 days   Secondary 7 days   Conditioning 4 days


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## hazard (10/1/11)

RecipeDB said:


> This is the discussion topic for the recipe: Simon's IPA


Just a few notes on this recipe for anyone interested .... my pommy mate Simon turns 40 this year, and IPA is his favourite beer. So my plan is to brew a batch of IPA to help us celebrate the big day (21 July, so plenty of time for this to condition). 

I tend to drink stouts and brown ales mainly, didn't know much about IPA so I've done a bit of homework to come up with what i think is a reasonable interpretation of the style - but there are many different IPAs out there, so who knows what the "right" one actually is. But i do know that I want an English style. I tend to dislike American hops (too aggressive for my sensitive taste buds) but I do enjoy english hops. I found some info on the internet about IPA and the basis for the recipe is:

1. FG should be lower than normal, the idea is that there is less carbohydrates in the beer for any microbes to munch on during the long sea journey from England to India. This is acheived by lower OG, and use of adjuncts.
1a. Many people think that IPAs were brewed stronger, so alcohol could kill off any bugs. But back in late 18th Century, normal beer was around 8%, so an IPA at 7% was weaker than normal (this is what I've gleaned from the net, which of course could be all BS - anyone care to offer a different opinion?). of course, its strong compared to most contemporary beer. I've used corn as an adjunct, because its been drilled into all AG brewers that sugar is a no-no. but sugar should work. I've used corn for 10% of grist. I've seen clone recipes for Worthington White Shield which use 10% white sugar.

2. I have a hunch that malt wasn't as pale back in the old days, so I've used some munich to add a bit more colour. But this is pure conjecture, and there is no particular target I'm looking for. Some recipes I've seen use crystal malt, which would also add colour, but I don't think cyrstal malt existed back in the early days of IPA so I've not used any.

3. Bitterness should be between 40 to 60 IBU, and 1/3 of the hops added in last 10 minutes. Generous dry hopping is also recommended (where I've got a 0 min addition, this should be dry hops added to primary).

4. Melbourne water is soft, so I added gypsum in quantities as arecommended by Tony Wheeler in his brilliant article on brewing salts.

5. I used WY1028 as this is reported to be the yeast that Worthington uses in White Shield.

I added dry hops to the primary after 7 days, at that time FG measured 1012 so I reckon fermenatation was pretty much done (from an OG of 1070 this is 82% attenuation - pretty much expected with a big whack of adjunct). I left hops in there for 7 days, then racked to a secondary fermenter, and cold coditioned for a week. I bottled last week, so this should be nicely conditioned by July.

The aroma given by the dry hopping is brilliant!! A quick taste while bottling revealed plenty of hops flavour, not sharp like american hops but much more pleasant. I hope that this doesn't fade over time.

I've already promised Fents that i'll take a few bottles around to Dave's store when its ready - let's give it a few months in the bottle first, a bit of warm weather over Jan and Feb should hopefully replicate conditions crossing the equator and give an authentic taste to this brew.


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## MattC (11/1/11)

Sounds like you have done your research. Looks like it will be a tasty brew. Bitterness in the lower part of the accepted BJCP guidelines. As your alc % is around 7%, i think some additional bitterness would be favourable. 
Unfortunately the hop character in a beer tends to dissipate with time. I would sample a few in a month or two, then maybe one or two a week/fortnight and take notes on how the flavour profile changes. From there you will determine the optimal conditioning time.

Cheers, let us know how it turns out.


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## hazard (11/1/11)

MattC said:


> Bitterness in the lower part of the accepted BJCP guidelines. As your alc % is around 7%, i think some additional bitterness would be favourable.


Yeh, you're probably right - but remember, ABV is partly achieved by 10% corn addition so body will be lighter than an all-malt brew.

Other factor is preference. I don't like really bitter beer. I recently had a Greene King export IPA. This weighs in at 5% so a bit weak, but still better than their "standard" IPA which is a paltry 3.6% - an IPA in name only. Anyway the export IPA had a lovely hop flavour, no malt sweetness but no hop bitterness either. I'm guessing that bitterness is moderate, with lots of late hops for flavour - this is what I am aiming for.

By comparison, I had a "Hopinator" at the Holgate brewery a few months ago. I like many of their beers, but this one was not to my taste - the hops was just too much for me. So I'm a bit of a hops wimp. Which may make this a bit pointless, as I am trying to replicate an authentic IPA but then tailoring it to my taste. but then again, who amongst has actually drunk a true 18th C IPA and can tell me I'm wrong?


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## MattC (11/1/11)

Personal preference counts for a lot Hazard, so if bitterness is not something you are overly found of, then brew it how you are (however what does your pommy mate, Simon like???).

I am aware of the 10% of flaked maize, but without it you are still up around the 1.062 mark. My recommendation was based on what I would prefer in an English IPA given your grain bill. Either way mate, im sure it will be tasty.

As far as that 3.6% IPA its a bit of a joke really isnt it. I have never tried it, was there any resemblance at all to anything IPA-ish?

Cheers


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