Please Scrutinize/criticize My (i)ipa 'recipe' (semi-noob)

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evil_as_skeletor

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Hi there,

Could I please get some help and a bit of constructive criticism here, please.

I have four hops in the freezer, Magnum, Citra, Amarillo, and Galaxy.

I have around 250gm of Crystal Malt, around 500gm of Carared, 500gm of Carapils, and some Safale US05.

I have a kilo of LDME and a kilo of Dextrose.

I also have a Cooper's IPA Extract Kit.
___________________________________________________________________________

Right, so I did a bit of google-fu, and came up with this PARTIAL recipe to make 23L from a 5L BIAB and 'Hop soup'.

I am sure it's almost fool proof, aside from my hop additions.

I know where and when and for what outcome I want to include these selected hops, I am just unsure of time and quantity.
I don't want to stray too far from this recipe, but would like some advice on whether I have under/over-hopped.

Where I have "30-15" listed, I understand I am to leave the hops in for the entire duration of the boil, I just used the second figure to further prompt me to include the next hop addition.

I must mention that I am a hop junkie, and thoroughly enjoy a Sierra Nevada Torpedo (on which I have based my hop selection), as this is now my go-to beer at the end of the week and I really love passionfruit/citrus flavour and aroma - hence the Galaxy and Citra content and dry hopping.

Thank you, in advance,

ERIN
____________________________________________________________________________

So here goes:

5L (Boil Volume)
23L (Fermenter Volume)

70 min BOIL

approx 70 355mL Stubbies

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

START

Bring 5L to boil then down to 75 degrees C

Mash/Steep Grain at 75 - 66 degrees C for 30 min

CRYSTAL - 250GM -\
CARAPILS (FOAM) - 50GM - - Mash/Steep at 75oC for 30 min
CARARED (MALTY) - 50GM -/

Remove and Sparge with 1L 70C water

While cooling, clean grain bag for use in straining to fermenter

Add in 400GM of LDME to the wort and bring to the boil

MAGNUM - 60 min - 30 min (Bittering) 20g BOIL
GALAXY - 30 min - 20 min (Bittering/Aroma) 20g BOIL
AMARILLO - 20 min - 10 min (Aroma/Bittering) 20g BOIL
WHIRFLOC - 10 min - 1/2 TAB
CITRA - 10 min - 5 min (Aroma/Flavour) 20g BOIL
GALAXY - 5 min - 1 min (Flavour/Aroma) 20g BOIL
CITRA - 1 min - 0 min (Flavour/Dry Hop) 25g BOIL

GALAXY - 10g DRY [5 DAYS]
CITRA - 15g DRY [14 DAYS]

Dissolve the rest of the LDME and Dextrose and add and strain to the fermenter with the Coopers Goop

Top up to 23L

SAFALE US05 for 14 - 20 days at 18-20 degrees C

LIGHT DME - 1KG
DEXTROSE - 1KG
 
A few things you need to do before we can really help.

Have you put this recipe into something like the extract spreadsheet by ianH to get the gravity etc - Link -> http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=29655

Once you have done that it will give you an idea of where you are heading and you will need to know your AA% of your hops (on the packet). As a side note that much dextrose will ruin your beer. A little bit in a extract Imperial IPA will help with it attenuating enough but 1kg will be horrible. You may need to get more LDME for the volume you are proposing and your expected OG.

Post up the specifics such as gravity etc and I am sure more advise will flow.
 
Doesn't look like a partial to me but that's more of a semantic issue - not actually important.
Not sure that you're gonna get a lot for 50g each of carapils and carared.
Not sure the whirfloc is gonna be all that important for this brew.
The hop schedule looks tasty but you should run your numbers through the spreadsheet as mentioned above (or your preferred brewing software). Those quantities at those timings look like they could either be fairly spot on or a bit OTT (for your fermentables).
Why do your hop additions seem to have end times? Are you removing them?
 
running those ingredients through Ians spreadsheet gives an IBU of around 120.

You say your a hophead but Im not sure thats where you want to be going.

I would drop your 60 and 30 min additions and go with;
20 gm Amarillo 10min
20 gm Galaxy 5 min
20 gm Citra 1 min

and dry hop as you please.

Drop the dextrose as said not needed. Will leave you mid to high 5% alc in the bottle.

If you want some extra kick add in another 500gm of LDM....by these ingredients...6.3% alc in the bottle..56 IBU, probably around the territory your after.
 
OR....

replace the IPA can with a can of Liquid Amber Malt and run with your original hop schedule.
 
running those ingredients through Ians spreadsheet gives an IBU of around 120.
Hard to say without knowing the AA% of the hops. I had estimated the IBU a bit lower than that as I assumed that the IPA tin wasn't actually being used since I didn't notice it mentioned in the recipe section when I read it last night.

If he wants an IPA/IIPA then 5% isn't going to cut it and should probably leave the dex (or at least some of it) in.
 
Thanks for replying,

I will be using 400gm of DME for the boil, then adding the other 600gm to the fermenter (as a sort of K&K with the Coopers IPA). Are you suggesting I'll need an extra 500gm of DME in the fermenter at that point, and ditch half of the DEX?

KIEFER33, I will try that spreadsheet tonight and report back, thanks.

BUM, are you saying that I should remove the 'red and 'pils entirely, or add more for the desired effect? I want to ensure head retention and add a bit more body and colour than I would achieve with Crystal alone.

Also, BUM, my hop schedule had end times just to further prompt me to add the next addition (just so I don't screw up), I know not to remove, only if it is too bitter at that stage.

YUMBEER, I prefer the higher ABV% and Bitterness, but I think the 120IBU might just be a bit too much for my friends to handle. I would like the higher ABV%, say 6.2-6.5%, so will I only achieve this by adding the extra DME and losing a slight amount of DEX?

Could I still do a 30 min of MAGNUM for bitterness (I've read this compliments Citra, not sure how true or not that is), on a 60min boil, and the suggested 20g Amarillo @10, 20g Galaxy @5, and 20g Citra @1 (as well as Dry-Hopping)?

I won't be racking to 2ndary or Cold Crashing, so should I really not bother with the Whirfloc?

Thanks so much, again, for the quick replies.
 
Magnum is a magic bittering hop and it goes with pretty much anything in an A(I)PA style beer but since you've got the hopped goop I'd be inclined (as yum beer suggests) to add my remaining bitterness with late hops - it lets you pack in more hop flavour while still getting your desired bitterness. Go with your gut though - only you know what you want from the beer you're designing.

With the spec grains, I would still use the carapils/red as I like both grains (despite some people (whom I've always suspected of never using it) suggesting that the former doesn't really add anything to a beer) maybe up those amount2 to 100g (or a touch more) each and reduce your crystal amounts accordingly. That's just my preference though, your original grain bill will make beer so go with that if you trust the recipe.

I'm not really all over the science of how whirfloc works but I understand that it is isn't necessary for kit and bits brews. I can't see it hurting though so bung it in if you already have some.
 
I've sort of run the recipe through the spreadsheet.
It comes out as too LOW OG for IIPA.
Comes out as too HIGH IBU for American IPA........

HOW DO I ATTACH THE XLS?
 
the ipa tin will give you about 38IBU alone so I'd only want another 10IBUs or so. adding
8g each [24g] with ten min to go would be about right. I would only do a 15min boil and add with 10 to go then throw in another 20 of each at flame out. Don't bother with whirfloc, a spoon of yeast nutrient at 10min mark would be a good idea. replace half the dex with LDME an you get about 6%abv. Dry hopping at day 14 I don't know about, you should be bottling it by then.
it's good practice IMO to always have a BG of 1040 so with 300g of carafoam in a 5L boil add 350g DME to get 1040. hope that helps, cheers
 
Thanks very much, BUM, that answers just about everything!
I'll let you know how it goes.
So max, what, 400-450gms of Crystal/Spec grain in this 5L boil?

EDIT
thanks GLAAB, I'll have another read after work.
 
So max, what, 400-450gms of Crystal/Spec grain in this 5L boil?
It depends a lot on personal preference and what percentage of your fermentables are made up the dex. In any case 450gm of spec grains would probably be getting up at the top end for most people's single batches.

I'd be looking at somewhere between 300gm and 400gm for an AIPA but I seem to like mine a bit chewier than some. But based on your previous posts I'm assuming you've used crystal before so if you reckon 400-450gm is good for you then go for it.

glaab's advice above is fine but I think you can totally go harder than another 10IBU, especially if you're hoping for something IIPAish.

[EDIT: trying to make sense]
 
A good rule for IPAs is to match the last two numbers on the OG with the IBUs.

eg. 1.065 and 65 IBUs

This way your beer tends to be balanced. 1.075 and 50 IBUs is still an IPA, but it's a sweet, thick IPA. 1.060 and 90 IBUs is battery acid.
 
It depends a lot on personal preference and what percentage of your fermentables are made up the dex. In any case 450gm of spec grains would probably be getting up at the top end for most people's single batches.

I'd be looking at somewhere between 300gm and 400gm for an AIPA but I seem to like mine a bit chewier than some. But based on your previous posts I'm assuming you've used crystal before so if you reckon 400-450gm is good for you then go for it.

glaab's advice above is fine but I think you can totally go harder than another 10IBU, especially if you're hoping for something IIPAish.

[EDIT: trying to make sense]


That's awesome, all this is going to help A LOT!

Will doing a 30min boil as opposed to say a 15 or 60 min boil make a significant difference with sugars attained? Will I be doing myself a disservice if I cut the 60 mins in half?
 
I did a bit of shuffling and compromise and threw it in that spreadsheet.

After cutting the Dextrose in half and adding an extra 500gm of LDME and also reducing the initial hop addition and subsequent hop bill a bit - again, compromise.

It is more in the range of a little bit more hoppy American IPA style, which I am happy with.

I would like some critique at this point, if possible, so I can proceed without worry on the weekend.

Thanks again, guys for your awesome help.

!!!!ATTACHMENTS!!!! :)

American_IPA.jpg


View attachment Partial_American_IPA.xls
 
Your nickname is familiar... AusRotary? SA Rotors?
 
Your nickname is familiar... AusRotary? SA Rotors?

Ha, both, yeah.

I'm evil_as_skeletor on SAR, REW138 on Ausrotary, but I still use that nickname.

Fancy seeing you here!

EDIT: Just had a geez at your blog link in your sig, holy crap, you are very well set up for this!
I figured this would be less expensive than keeping an older rotor on the road, but I guess not!
 
Per Yum, bitterness will be through the roof. From those hops expect about 50% of bittering from the late hops ...
 
Per Yum, bitterness will be through the roof. From those hops expect about 50% of bittering from the late hops ...

Is that based on my piccy pic above?

I wasn't sure what influence the Dry Hops had on the final IBU figure, as it didn't change.

I cut it down a bit from where I first started, and it's still too much?

If I told you I was a massive fan of Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum, and I generally don't "session" beers, preferring to have one "decent" one at the end of the week, would that change your opinion of what I may experience from my revised hop bill? :rolleyes:
 
I've never used the spreadsheet and always find it a bit confusing when people post pics (although everyone who uses it loves it so I'm sure it makes more sense when you actually do it yourself) but it looks a bit better now to me.

Pretty sure that /// means the hops put in towards the end of the boil rather than the dry hops. If he gets back to you and indicates that he means the amended recipe then there is a pretty much endless list of reasons to listen to his advice instead of mine. I don't think it'll make a proper dud beer as is though.

Having said that, if you trust the spreadsheet's assessment you may want to dial the recipe back so that the red dot is in the blue box, maybe. Perhaps start with your early (bittering) additions. As I say, if you want a really bitter beer then it'll probably be fine as is.
 
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