Help with IPA recipe

[Moe]

Hi,

I have an IPA recipe ready to brew. I would appreciate some feedback on this please as it is the first recipe I have adapted myself. I have previously ordered my grain, hops and yeast as recipe packs.

I have been playing around with the hop additions and can't really make up my mind. The additions below are what are recommended in the recipe. I am not too sure how this will come out, I was thinking something along the lines of Camden, Jaipur etc. I also like the fruity 'hop bomb' beers, but not massively confident brewing these due to risk of oxidation. Either way I'll be happy. I

Recipe is below. I have planned in some rudimentary water adjustment using gypsum, CRS and my local water report.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. I can play around with the hops, and have another 100g of CItra I can add if needed, but the grain is pre-crushed in a bag ready to go.

Thanks



Original Gravity:
1.059
Final Gravity:
1.013
ABV (standard):
6.06%
IBU (tinseth):
45.62
SRM (morey):
11.53

Mash pH
5.36
Cost
n/a


Fermentables

5.6 kg	Total
Amount	Fermentable	PPG	°L	Bill %
5 kg	United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale	38	3.75	89.3%
0.40 kg	American - Caramel / Crystal 75L	33	75	7.1%
0.20 kg	Weyermann - Carapils	37	1.8	3.6%

Hops

Amount	Variety	Type	AA	Use	Time	IBU	Bill %
15 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Boil	60 min	23.26	12.5%
15 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Boil	15 min	11.54	12.5%
15 g	Cascade	Pellet	7.2	Boil	15 min	6.49	12.5%
15 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Whirlpool at 80 °C	10 min	2.77	12.5%
15 g	Cascade	Pellet	7.2	Whirlpool at 80 °C	10 min	1.56	12.5%
15 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Dry Hop	3 days		12.5%
30 g	Cascade	Pellet	7.2	Dry Hop	3 days		25%

Mash Guidelines

Amount	Description	Type	Temp	Time
27 L		Infusion	--	60 min

Other Ingredients

Amount	Name	Type	Use	Time
1 each	Whirlfloc	Fining	Boil	15 min.
25 ml	CRS/AMS (6.3% HCl, 8.6% H2SO4)	Water Agt	Mash	1 hr.
4 g	Gypsum	Water Agt	Mash	1 hr.

Yeast

Mangrove Jack - US West Coast Yeast M44
Amount: 1 Each Attenuation (avg): 78% Flocculation: High Optimum Temp: 15 - 23 °C Starter: No Fermentation Temp: 19 °C Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / ° P) 106 B cells required

Priming

Method: sucrose Amount: 115.5 g CO2 Level: 2.25 Volumes

Target Water Profile
Light colored and hoppy

Ca+2	Mg+2	Na+	Cl-	SO4-2	HCO3-
75	5	10	50	150	0

70.7

22.0

15.0

79.9

159.9

29.262

(Bottom row is predicted water report)

 

[Banbeer]

looks good apart from your bittering, I would use a cheaper hop like willamette or similar (citra don't grow on trees) and maybe increase it to 25 -30g but I like the bitter first taste followed by the hoppy second.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

looks good apart from your bittering, I would use a cheaper hop like willamette or similar (citra don't grow on trees) and maybe increase it to 25 -30g but I like the bitter first taste followed by the hoppy second.

I agree, Citra is fantastic when used as a dry hop. So much flavour and aroma. I would probably make the Citra the main focus of your dry hop and scrap the cascade. Change the boiling hop to something else. When building a recipe I find it best to start simple. with the idea in mind that you might want to build upon the Original recipe. Adding other hops etc. If you start out with a mix of ingredients you might find that the outcome is unbalanced and it will be harder to unscramble the blend of flavours to decide what you want to dial back or remove.

 

[Moe]

looks good apart from your bittering, I would use a cheaper hop like willamette or similar (citra don't grow on trees) and maybe increase it to 25 -30g but I like the bitter first taste followed by the hoppy second.

Thanks. I've only got Citra & Cascade.

Is it worth chucking a bit more of one of those in at the start would you say?

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Thanks. I've only got Citra & Cascade.

Is it worth chucking a bit more of one of those in at the start would you say?

In that case.
Cascade in the boil and Citra in the whirlpool and dry hop. Citra is a bold aroma hop with a juicy flavour profile. Definitely the more interesting of the two hops and the one I would want to showcase In the final beer.

 

[samale]

Thanks. I've only got Citra & Cascade.

Is it worth chucking a bit more of one of those in at the start would you say?

Personally I would bitter with cascade then add citra cascade @10 mins dry hop with the rest of the citra

 

[Moe]

That's great, thanks gents! I'll go with early cascade and late citra.

Cheers

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

That's great, thanks gents! I'll go with early cascade and late citra.

Cheers

You won’t be disappointed. Citra is a lovely hop.

 

[samale]

You won’t be disappointed. Citra is a lovely hop.

I have a citra Vic secret IPA fermenting at the min

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

I have a citra Vic secret IPA fermenting at the min

Sounds good. I brewed an IPA recently using Kent goldings as my dry hop addition. I wish I had used Citra

 

[Moe]

Amount	Variety	Type	AA	Use	Time	IBU	Bill %
35 g	cascade	Pellet	7.2	Boil	60 min	30.64	24.1%
30 g	Cascade	Pellet	7.2	Boil	15 min	13.03	20.7%
30 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Whirlpool at 80 °C	10 min	5.54	20.7%
50 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Dry Hop	3 days		34.5%

Does that look better? I've upped the IBU and moved the citra to the whirlpool and dry hop.

I can add up to another 70g of Citra, but don't want to overdo it and increasing the risk of oxidation.

Thanks

 

[samale]

Sounds good. I brewed an IPA recently using Kent goldings as my dry hop addition. I wish I had used Citra

I made a lovely English IPA with fuggles and EKG. Greet beer sometime different to the big new world hops

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

I made a lovely English IPA with fuggles and EKG. Greet beer sometime different to the big new world hops

Yes, you are right. They do make lovely IPAs. I think I have just become accustomed to that big juicy burst of flavour from the new world hops.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Amount	Variety	Type	AA	Use	Time	IBU	Bill %
35 g	cascade	Pellet	7.2	Boil	60 min	30.64	24.1%
30 g	Cascade	Pellet	7.2	Boil	15 min	13.03	20.7%
30 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Whirlpool at 80 °C	10 min	5.54	20.7%
50 g	Citra	Pellet	12.8	Dry Hop	3 days		34.5%

Does that look better? I've upped the IBU and moved the citra to the whirlpool and dry hop.

I can add up to another 70g of Citra, but don't want to overdo it and increasing the risk of oxidation.

Thanks

Looking good I wouldn’t worry too much about Oxidation. If you look at the American IPA scene. They seem to hop without a care in the world and by all accounts produce some blastingly good beers. I think those guys would chew hops like chewing tobacco if they could. I would recommend going in cautious to begin with and then up the amount if you feel the need in the next batch you brew. Top recipe though. Let us know how it turns out. Maybe experiment with some interesting Malts too. I love weyerman Cara Red malt. Goes very well with a Citra dry hop.

 

[Green Tiger]

Hey Moe, I always find that around 4g per litre in the whirlpool and at least 3g per litre of dry hops works beautifully. You get fantastic flavour and aroma layers that's hard to achieve with traditional hopping schedules IMHO.
Oxidation shouldn't be a problem but be mindful of it. I wouldn't be tipping the hops in from any great height!

 

[matt76]

A few comments from me...

As the original recipe stands I think you'll make a nice beer, but I would definitely make a few tweaks...

Firstly, lose the crystal malt! I've made this mistake a few times recently, trust me it will suppress the hoppiness you're after. If you really want to include some crystal then halve this addition. Ideally replace it with some base malt, or maybe a bit of Munich or Vienna malt. Otherwise reduce the water a bit to keep the same OG.

Carapils I can't comment on yet but I'd be happy enough with this.

Based on your original hopping schedule:
- Personally at that starting gravity I'd look for another 10-15 IBUs, but it depends a bit how bitter you like your IPA.

- I would look to double the weight of hops in the whirlpool to about 60g, and again in the dry hop to about 120g if you can (similar to @Green Tiger 's suggestions)

- Contrary to what others have suggested, I would be inclined to mix your hops more between hot side and cold side. My thinking is to add more complexity and avoid it being a bit one note our one dimensional.

I've used M44 a couple of times, a good yeast for this style IMO. Others have found it a slow starter although mine has always taken off like a rocket and tried to climb out through the airlock!!!

Good luck and report back

 

[Braufather]

I think with the crystal in there you may want to stick with Citra and use the Exta 100 you have and maybe save the cascade. A recipe I have done a few times called undead ale has various crystal in it but just uses Citra hops.

 

[Green Tiger]

Lot's of good suggestions here for you Moe.
We all have our own preferences, techniques, likes, dislikes etc. I'd say go with the ingredients that you have, go hard on the whirlpool and dry hopping if you love hoppy beers and then tweak the recipe from there. It's so hard to tell what something is going to taste like just on paper.
All that being said, just one suggestion! To counter the crystal malt - which will contribute greater unfermentables to the wort - consider mashing on the lower side. My go to is 65oC for almost all pale ales and IPA these days.

 

[Moe]

Loads of great advice, cheers.

I’ll get it brewed and post updates on how it goes

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Loads of great advice, cheers.

I’ll get it brewed and post updates on how it goes

As with everything with brewing there are plenty of fantastic ways to achieve a great brew. Lots of great ideas from the group.