India Pale Ales

[kook]

I've been looking at the "Double" or "Imperial" IPAs that are available in the US. I'd like to try one of these but obviously cant obtain them at the moment. So, I figure I may as well try to brew my own

My real question is I guess, how many IBUs is too many?

At the moment I'm looking at brewing something 8.5%, 115 IBU.

20L volume, 5kg Light LME, 650g of specialty grains and 250g of light brown sugar to bring the ABV up a little and add a slightly different flavour.

For hops I was thinking Northern Brewer for bittering (100g), and cascade along with williamette for flavour and dry hopping.

Has anyone attempted a very high ABV and IBU IPA ? How were your results?

 

[big d]

jayse has done heaps of ipas with high ibus kook.i guess when he logs on he will be full of info on this style.its one of his favourite styles.
i will be going down this track when i get all my ag gear together so i will be having heaps of fun trialling different styles

 

[jayse]

yep my fave subject at the moment for sure.

those beers are really in a class of there own they don't fit the guidelines for i.p.a.

i haven't done one that big yet.still working my way up.
i'll post my notes/recipes here later.i need to go and down a few pints and have a nice toke first.

mine are around 1.065 and 65 ibu.with mostly american hops.
iam pretty much going for what i think sierra nevada celebration ale would be like.same reason i can't get the original so iam making my own original.

anyway i'll put up some info later.

 

[jayse]

kook
the gravity of that one with the 5 kg L.M.E etc would still be in the normal i.p.a guidelines at 1.070 with just the L.M.E.

to make the higher gravity ones and up in the 70-100ibu mark you wouldn't need to worry about using any adjuncts such as sugar. because unlike the original i.p.a.s' these ones can have a much higher finishing gravity.
the idea for low finishing gravity in the old days was the help keep the bugs out.
so ours can have a lot more crystal flavour and if mashing grains you can mash much higher to balance the extra bitterness your going to use.

mine recipes are not really very good ones to convert to all extract since it is these unreal malts that need mashing that make it.i don't doubt you could do it with l.m.e but the malted barley in the coopers can is not as good as the joe white traditional malt or imc munich malt.




jayse's october india pale ale. oct 9th
==================================
===================================

65% efficency 40 litres at o.g 1.065
ibu 60-65

11 kg pale ale malt
1 kg wheat malt
500 g cara munich.
1 kg munich
mash 68c


30 g northern brewer 9.8% 60 mins
32 g chinnook 60 mins 12.2%
33 g cascade 60 mins 5.7%


28 g cascade 15 mins
28 g cascade 10 mins

56 g cascade 5 mins
56 g cascade 1 min

nottingham ale yeast 50g.


=====================================
======================================





jayse's october 21 celebration pale ale 1.060 o.g at 45 litres
======================
=60 ibu
==========================
2500g munich malt
300g wheat malt would have been more but i run out
7000g joe white trad pale ale
2700g amc pale malt i only used this in it because i run out of joe white
300 g cara munich.
200 cararoma .


90g cenntenial 60 mins.

28 g cenntenial 15 mins 1 plugs

28 g cascade 10 mins 2 plugs

28 g cascade 5 mins 2 plugs
28 g ekg 5 mins 2 plugs

56 g cascade 1 min

notingham dry yeast 50 g.
o.g 1.062 45l

======================================
========================================




this ones my lastest lcpa cloney thing.
so not as full on as the ipas but it pretty much is exactly like them but more of a session brew.
=================================================
little critters holiday ale october 2 40L 1.054 45ibu
===========================================
=========================================
6800 g joe white TRAD malt
1500 g munich malt
1500 g wheat malt
600 g cara munich

60 g northern brewer 60 mins

30 g cascade 15 mins
30 g cascade 10 mins
60 g 5 mins
60 g 1 min

mashed at 69c
american II 1272
=============================================


these still aren't as full on as your after but thats the last few brews i have done.
iam drinking the little critters now it is unreal and unlike the last one i have two kegs of this one.

 

[Snow]

Jayse,

I tried the James Squire IPA for the first time last night. Man that is one nice brew! I love the sweet malt finish that is perfectly balanced by the hops. I was enjoying it so much, I couldn't focus on specific flavours, so "mmmm....malty...mmmm....hoppy.." is all I can remember. Do you think you'll have a crack at a clone recipe for that one?

Snow

 

[Batz]

Jayse,
Thanks for posting your recipes , now if I wont to brew 22Lt , can I just half the grain bill ?
Cheers Batz

 

[deebee]

I agree Snow. I don't think it's a "real" IPA whatever that means. But it is delicious stuff.

I'm crap at describing flavours but "mmm malty, mmmm hoppy" sound about right.

 

[Andrew Clark]

Here's a recipe I'm doing saturday, can't wait for this to be ready.
Regards
Andrew

India Pale Ale
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 1/11/2003
Style: India Pale Ale Brewer: Andrew Clark
Batch Size: 21.50 L Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 27.11 L Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Andrew's Mash Equipment Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pale Ale Malt (5 EBC) Grain 77.5 %
1.00 kg Munich Malt (14 EBC) Grain 15.5 %
0.45 kg Wheat Malt, Ger (4 EBC) Grain 7.0 %
30.00 gm Super Alpha [13.0%] (60 min) Hops 40.8 IBU
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [10.0%] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
25.00 gm Hallertauer [9.0%] (60 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 4.7 IBU
45.00 gm Fuggles [4.5%] (75 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 4.4 IBU
0.28 items Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG (1.050-1.075 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.016 SG (1.012-1.016 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 12 EBC (16-28 EBC) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 70.9 IBU (40.0-65.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 6.3 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.6 % (5.0-7.8 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.6 %
Actual Calories per 12 oz: 32 cal


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Mash Tun Weight: 3.50 kg
Mash Grain Weight: 6.45 kg Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 22.2 C Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C
Sparge Water: 17.75 L Adjust Temp for Equipment: No

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 16.82 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

 

[jayse]

batz
yep just half everything.

they are made using only 65% effiency because they fill my fifty litre tun to the very top and i get a lot more channelling of the sparge water resulting in less effiency.the kettle is full for these 45 litre batches also so i can't sparge all the way down to 1.010 because it won't fit.that leaves some of the extracted sugars still in the tun.leaving me with the 65% effiency.
have you measured your effiency batz?

if you make these you can use less hops on the end if you like but make sure you keep the 60 minute additions at least that amount or even more.


snow
i can't really remember much about it either.i'll have to get some more.
mine are hugely citricy/fruity.
the james squire would have lower f.g.
and more conservative hopping late with fuggles.
i will give it a go not for so much a clone but a i.p.a in the same fashion.
hows the lcpa tasting no probs from the racking tube and hop leave thing.
that last recipe above is my lastest lcpa much similar to the other one.

 

[Jazman]

js ipa is a nice brew but it could be more bitter but then maybe im turning into a hop head

 

[jayse]

still haven't worked out how many ibu is to much but for over 100 i think you would be going for more like a og 1.100 beer with a f.g of around 1.020 so its not really ipa.
i would stick with og 1.075 and 75 ibu to start .
anyway from some award winning recipes i have seen 100 ibu would not be too much for og 1.075 .
iam just working my way up there.so far they have been very well balanced and could easily use more bitterness.
a lot of the american ones seem to match the og with bitterness ie.1.070 70ibu.
so thats what i have been doing so far but they are so well balanced that you don't get that stick to your ribs bitterness.
the next one though will be the huge ipa.


anyway i don't think you could over do the 60 minute addition.
i know i haven't yet.

 

[Snow]

Jayse, I racked the LCPA last week, using a new scourer on the end of the racking cane. It worked great. The brew tasted bloody beautiful from the hydrometer tube. I'll be CCing for a week before bottling.

Snow.

 

[crackers]

hey guys
im thinking of doing a brew along the line of the james squire ipa
as follows for 23L batch

5kg - pale ale malt
1kg - munich malt

60min - northern brewer 30g
30min - fuggle 50g
5min - fuggle 30g
dry - fuggle 20g

approx calcs
sg 1.061 (@75% efficiency)
fg 1.015
ibu 55+ish ??
alc 6%abv

its going to be my first all grain brew, dont want it too hard
what yeast would be recommended for this brew
i have wyeast 1084 already, thought of giving it a go

how does all this sound
all comments (good or bad) welcome

cheers
crackers

 

[GMK]

Crackers

Your recipee looks good so far:
The 1084 - i think this is the Irish ALe yeast - if so good choice.
I think you also need some Xtal malt in there.
250 xtal
100 cara pils/light xtal

Optional:
150 gms of Dark Brown Sugar or
50 gms of belgian candi sugar.

Hops:
I hate fuggles - and usually use Nth Brewer and East Kent Goldings.

I would also add 10 - 15 gms of Chalk.

Hope this helps.

 

[crackers]

thanks GMK

yep the 1084 is the irish ale, quite pleased with the results im getting from it.

what is xtal malt??
i was trying to use the stuff my local hb shop sell

the reason behing useing fuggles was the hops they use in the js ipa

how do you mean you would add chalk??
not the blackboard stuff im assuming??

cheers & thanks for your help
crackers

 

[GMK]

Xtal stands for Crystal Malt - english is approx 150 - i think.
Light xtal is about 60 to 90 colour/roastiness i think.

Belgian Candi Sugar is the same as yellow rock sugar that you can buy from Asian grocery stores.

Chalk is calcium carbonate - most HBS stores sell it in 100gm powder form sachets.

 

[crackers]

ahh thanks GMK
makes sense now

what affect the calcium carbonate do to the brew,
i havent come across it before.

crackers

 

[GMK]

Crackers
IMHO
Chalk - calcium carbonate accentuates the hop flavour/bitterness - mellowing the malt flavour.
Gypsum - Calcium Sulphate mellows the hop bitterness accentuating the malt profile.

As an example -
Pilsner Urquel is one of the highest hopped beers IBU's - but due to the soft water and high gypsum content of their water - the beer does not taste that bitter/hoppy.

Traditionally,
Hard water is used for Ales, stouts etc.
Soft water is used for Lagers/pilsners.

Hope this helps

 

[crackers]

thanks again GMK

after a bit of searching i found your comments on another post
will look around for some. hopefully my local hbs has some.

cheers once again
crackers

 

[kook]

Well, I finally got around to brewing an american styled IPA today. I went more for a conventional american IPA rather than the really high alcohol variety. I've done a bit of research about it and this was my final recipe (based on ingredients I had).

Hop Hit IPA (23L)

3kg Light LME
0.5kg Light DME
1kg Wheat LME
0.25kg CaraPils
0.15kg Dark Crystal
0.25kg Melanoidin
0.25kg Light Munich
30g Chinook pellets (12.2%AA) @ 60
28g Cascade plugs (4.5% AA) @ 60
10g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 20
10g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 15
10g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 10
5g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 5
5g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 4
5g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 3
5g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 2
5g Cascade pellets (5.5% AA) @ 1
WY1056 Starter (1 litre)

OG was supposed to be 1.069. Missed it by 2 points though (1.067). Its sitting at 26 in the fridge at the moment slowly cooling down. It should be about 70 IBUs. I'll be dry hopping in secondary with 25g of Cascade too.

Should be an interesting beer, i'll give some feedback in about 3-4 weeks once its kegged If it turns out well I might step it up a notch and try something around 1085-1090 OG and 85-95 IBUs next time.