Thoughts on this receipe, high IBU IPA

Grains, malts, hops, yeast, water and other ingredients used to brew. Recipe reviews and suggestions.

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bwilliamson
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Thoughts on this receipe, high IBU IPA

Post by bwilliamson »

This is only my second batch so still working on the learning curve.
Was trying for a high IBU IPA style beer.

5 gallon batch
1 lb Briess 20L steeped at 168 deg. for 25 minutes.

Full 60 minute boil in 2.5 gallons of water:
6 lbs of Plain Extra Light DME - Mutons
1.5 cups corn sugar

Hop schedule (all pellet):
1 oz Cascade - 60 minute boil
1 oz Us goldings - 60 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial - 40 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial - 18 minute boil
1 oz Cascade added to primary (half of which stuck to the top of the carboy from the krausen)

Yeast used was Safale US-05 (pitched dry at 81 deg)

Racked it after 5 days and added 1/2 oz US Goldings into the secondary.

OG was 1.0643 - final was 1.0112 (both are factored to 60 deg.)
Calculators tell me the ABV should be just under 7%

I bottled it already and it was a little cloudy but I'm ok with that as long as it tastes good. I can work on clarity later.

Opinions, things I could/should change?

Thanks in advance!
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slothrob
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IPA

Post by slothrob »

A couple issues:
One is that, by doing a half-volume boil, you limit your potential IBUs by half. If your recipe was designed to hit 90 IBU, it will be closer 45 IBU after you dilute it.

You will get better flavor from your ale yeast by pitching it at 68°F or less, and keeping it there, as well as rehydrating it for such a high gravity beer.
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bwilliamson
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Post by bwilliamson »

Good info to know. As much as I have read about brewing I never came across the IBU drop due to diluting it. It does make sense though. I wasn't really following any recipe here, just experimenting with things.

I'm still not 100% sure on the yeast. It seems everyone does something different with it and for different reasons. I was under the impression that as long as you were below a temp that could kill the cells that you were ok. In some respect I guess it is ok, but you mention that it affects flavor.

Thanks for the info!
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Post by slothrob »

The effect of dilution on IBUs is a little complex, because you'll put more IBUs into the smaller volume with the same amount of hops, then dilute that. In this case, though, you are bumping up against the maximum amount of IBUs so it's simpler to figure and you'll simply be halving the concentration if you dilute 2.5 gallons to 5 gallons. It will probably be bitter enough, though.

Getting the yeast below the temperature that will kill it is a good first step. At high temperatures, though, the yeast will produce an excess amount of fermentation byproducts, like diacetyl, fusel alcohols, and esters, which may not get cleaned up during the normal fermentation. Also, starting warm, then cooling the fermentation down can cause some yeasts to stop fermenting and drop out. It's usually best to pitch the yeast into wort that is a little cooler than your desired fermentation temperature, let the temperature rise slightly, then perhaps raise the temperature slightly at the very end of fermentation.

In general, for ales, you're looking for fermentation temperatures in the mid-60's °F. US-05 will do well from 60-68°F. As it is a particularly clean yeast, it might still perform acceptably up to 70°F, or even a little over. Some Belgian yeasts are an exception and can perform well at higher temperatures, but in that case you are often looking for flavors that would be considered off-flavors in other beers.
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bwilliamson
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Post by bwilliamson »

What happened?

So it's been two weeks since I bottled so I decided to give this one a try. A few in the fridge. Next day they had a nice carbonation and lots of bitterness. It however lacks much aroma. It smells like beer and has some aroma but not much. Any idea where the aroma is or is it lacking because of my choice of hops?
I am working on another batch this week and plan to use some Citra as a recommendation from my local homebrew shop.

My hop schedule is below.

Hop schedule (all pellet):
1 oz Cascade - 60 minute boil
1 oz Us goldings - 60 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial - 40 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial - 18 minute boil
1 oz Cascade added to primary (half of which stuck to the top of the carboy from the krausen which I left there and just waited until it was time to rack)
1/2 oz US Goldings added to secondary
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Aroma

Post by slothrob »

This isn't my area of expertise, but I've had trouble with hop aroma in the past, too. My brewing buddy, however, makes a lot of IPAs and I have a good idea of what he would say...

Move as much of those hops as late as possible, like 5 minutes and less. Those Centennial are going to waste at 40 minutes, add an ounce or two very late, instead. As a general rule, for this kind of beer I add sequentially more hops with each subsequent hop addition. In other words, if I add 1 oz at 60', then I'll add 2 ounces for flavor and 3 ounces between flameout and dry hops. Those aren't specific numbers, but you probably get the idea.

Then, there are two approaches to getting a lot of hop character into the beer from the late hops: chill very quickly or allow the hops to sit hot for about 30 minutes after the boil. You'll need to see what works best for you.

Finally, dry hop. However, wait until the primary is nearly completely done before adding the hops. Adding the dry hops during the active fermentation can result in the aroma being blown off along with the CO2.

Dry hops are probably the most efficient way to get hop aroma into a beer.
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