Imperial IPA/TIPA/ higher abv IPA Recipes

[BottlesCansCraft]

Hi All,

It may split opinion, but I love strong beers, and with greater abv there seems to be stronger flavour and complexity. Some breweries such as Other Half and Wander Beyond, along with others, have pushed the modern style trends like milkshake IPAs and juicey NEIPAs into the 9-11% realms.

I appreicate it's down to taste, but I can't get enough of these and would love to brew some myself, has anyone has any clone style recipes?

I have no problem with AG BIAB IPAs and getting around 7% with great flavour, but not sure of how to get higher?

> Is it simply a case of increasing grain at the same ratios?
> Is a reiteration mash the way to go?
> is it purely down to the yeast? (I prefer working with dry for ease)
> I've heard oxygenation of the wort is how brewers get these higher limits, is it true? Ca it be done without this step?
> Do you have to consider other recipe aspects such as dry hop or additions as the gravity increases?

Any help, or knowledge from past experiences would be fantastic,

Cheers

 

[jceg316]

I've recently been into more sessionable beers but have brewed quite a few strong ones in my time. I've never really looked for clone recipes, but there are recipes out there for Belgian styles, like Westmalle, Rochefort, Duvell, etc. When I started brewing I was really into Brewdog Hardcore IPA which u found a clone of online, then a few years later they released all their recipes. Mikkeller has a recipe book too with some imperial styles in. If there's something specific you're after it might be worth searching Google to see what comes up.

If you wanna strengthen an existing recipe, it's not as simple as increasing all malts, unfortunately I can't go into a great deal of detail here not having done it myself too often, but hopefully someone else will chime in.

I've used dried yeast for imperial strength beers before. Depending on the style you may wanna pitch 2 packets and you'll definitely want to rehydrate. For IIPAs, pitch 2 rehydrated yeast packs, ferment low (at 18c) and after the first 4 days increase to 20c to keep clean yeast flavours. I'd highly recommend oxygenating the wort prior to pitching. On a homebrew level, this can be shaking the FV for a couple of minutes, doesn't need to be blasted with pure O2.

I find with IIPAs and barleywines, the more malt used the more bittering hops will be needed to balance it out. Whilst on paper the IBUs might be reaching really high levels, the perceived bitterness won't be that high. With Belgian styles it's common to increase strength with sugar which creates a drier beer, and the yeast has a lot of character which balances against the body of the beer. It's also common for adjuncts like coriander and orange peel in some styles which balance the beer.

 

[strange-steve]

I'm with you, I love a strong beer and an imperial IPA is a wonderful thing. Regarding your questions:

> Is it simply a case of increasing grain at the same ratios?
Normally it's just the base malt which is increased, keeping the speciality malts at the same amount. Often simple sugars (like table sugar) will be added, because this increases OG but allows a lower FG, but if you're wanting something more East Coast then maybe not.
> Is a reiteration mash the way to go?
Possibly, but not necessarily. I brew a lot of high gravity beers but I've only ever used a reiterated mash once, and that was because I couldn't fit all the grain in the Grainfather in one go. That being said it worked great and I got 75% brewhouse efficiency with an OG of 1.143.
> is it purely down to the yeast? (I prefer working with dry for ease)
No, but yeast selection is an important consideration. Don't pick anything too fussy, make sure the alcohol tolerance is high enough, and pitch a couple of packets. US-05 is great because it's reliable and should go up to 11% abv without much trouble. Again though, if you're looking for something more New Englandy then US-05 might not be right for you.
> I've heard oxygenation of the wort is how brewers get these higher limits, is it true? Ca it be done without this step?
Pure oxygen injection would be ideal but you absolutely don't need it, especially if using dry yeast.
> Do you have to consider other recipe aspects such as dry hop or additions as the gravity increases?
Alcohol is a flavour carrier, one of the reasons why high abv beers often are more flavourful, but it also enhances the perception of bitterness which you may want to keep in mind if going for a softer, fruitier beer rather than a traditional bitter IIPA.

As for recipes, if you want a traditional style IIPA then there are tried and tested Pliny clone recipes online (such as this one supplied by the head brewer himself). Otherwise, the recipe below was my attempt to brew a sort of imperial strength NEIPA which turned out great, it came first in one of the forum monthly competitions.

RIPa

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 18.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.085
Final Gravity (FG): 1.021
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 8.4 %
Colour (SRM): 8
Bitterness (IBU): 42

Grain Bill
----------------
5.800 kg Pale Malt (82%)
0.500 kg Flaked Oats (7%)
0.500 kg Wheat Malt (7%)
0.150 kg Carared (2%)
0.100 kg Caramunich III (2%)

Hop Bill
----------------
27.0 g Magnum First Wort

5 min additions:
10.0 g Amarillo
10.0 g Citra
10.0 g Galaxy
10.0 g Mosaic
10.0 g Simcoe

Aroma steep at 80°C for 30 mins:
15.0 g Amarillo
15.0 g Citra
15.0 g Galaxy
15.0 g Mosaic
15.0 g Simcoe

Dry hops (half on day 7 and half on day 11):
25.0 g Amarillo
25.0 g Citra
25.0 g Galaxy
25.0 g Mosaic
25.0 g Simcoe

Notes
----------------
Fermented at 18°C with Wyeast 1098 - British Ale
Add half of the dry hops after 7 days then the remaining dry hops 4 days later