Mixing Hops

So how mixed up is my IPA going to be?
I cleaned out my supplies to make an IPA last night.

Hops:
2oz Centenial (60 and 10 min)
2oz EKG(20 and 5min)
2oz Fuggles (15 and 1min)
2oz Cascade for Dry Hopping

In addition the grain bill is:
5# 2-row
1# Amber
.5# Wheat
.5# Extra Special
.5# Caramunich
.125# Chocolate
2# Light DME

S-04 dry yeast

I ended up with a little over 5.5gal at OG 1.050.

Time for a new HBS order as the only thing I have left is a packet of US-05 and some coriander.

Craig

This is called a kitchen sink recipe.. all scraps, everything but the kitchen sink.

Is it still an IPA with .125# Chocolate?
and With US hops.

IPA is an old English recipe.
Not that it really matters.

Hope it turns out well

orfy said:

Is it still an IPA with .125# Chocolate?
and With US hops.

IPA is an old English recipe.
Not that it really matters.

Hope it turns out well

Click to expand...

IPA is an old English style but it has been heavily adopted by American Craft brewers who usually use American hops. Ofcourse the EKG and Fuggles are more English style so its kind of a mix.

The color is just a little over the dark side of IPA according to Beersmith, my first "IPA" was even darker and turned out great. Beersmith calls it 16 SRM. I have seen IPAs on this side of the pond that range from blond to brown with most being amber. Mine end up on the dark side of the brown spectrum.

I used an English yeast which I think is less common in American IPAs but my first one turned out so well with WLP002 I thought I would stick with that theme.

So my IPA is not really pale, not quite English but neither is it American. And I have 4 different hops, 2 common American hops and 2 more English style. In addition to the chocolate, the wheat, X-special and amber malts seem out of place. Maybe I should have labeled this a brown ale but with 8oz of hops I felt IPA was the best label.

The wort looks about the same as my Brown Hoppy Ale, is about the same gravity and IBUs and both use an English Ale yeast, but everything else is very different.

Craig

CBBaron said:

IPA is an old English style but it has been heavily adopted by American Craft brewers who usually use American hops.

Click to expand...

Yeah, BJCP actually differentiates the two. I can't think (off the top of my head) of a lot of US craftbrewers who make the more English style...most everything here is a citrus bomb. Brooklyn East India is one exception.

I'm not a fan of the american style ipa's. I find them way to citrisy. I like cascade aroma but find the flavor a bit harsh.

I prefer williamette and columbus. I use columbus for bittering and dry hopping. Willamette for 15min and the last 5 mins.

I sometimes use noble hops for IPA's.

I'm not sure you'd call that an IPA, but in the end it doesn't really matter. I'm curious whether the EKG and Fuggles end up playing well with the domestic hops, or if they end up conflicting and the hop profile ends up muddy. I've got a bunch of leftovers, too, I need to make an "Odds and Sods" batch.

I think with the amber and chocolate you may get a Red?

So it's a LCAINSPFA.

[Left Coast American-Indian Not So PaleFace Ale]

I'd try it without the dry hopping & do it an ounce at a time if needed, but one of my best summer ales was a clean-out the freezer ale with seven hops.

My lost recipe "solstice ale" was a hoppy amber. I like them more than IPA's.

A light amber color technically falls into the ipa catagory, but I think they need a new style for hoppy ambers.

When it comes down to it, does it matter?

You don't have to brew to style. It's good to brew to taste.

My best beer was a hoppy red ale, as well.

What are the other style guidlines, not the BJCP, who's the other organization that puiblishes guidelines? Whoever it is, I'm pretty sure they recognize "hoppy red" as a distinct style. I didn't enter Murder In The Red Barn in the nationals because, as per the BJCP, it's too dark for an IPA and too hoppy for an American Amber.

But it's damn tasty!

the_bird said:

My best beer was a hoppy red ale, as well.

What are the other style guidlines, not the BJCP, who's the other organization that puiblishes guidelines? Whoever it is, I'm pretty sure they recognize "hoppy red" as a distinct style. I didn't enter Murder In The Red Barn in the nationals because, as per the BJCP, it's too dark for an IPA and too hoppy for an American Amber.

But it's damn tasty!

Click to expand...

AHA/BA is prb what you are thinking of http://www.beertown.org/education/pdf/BA_Beer_Style_2007.pdf

My last IPA inspired brew was also intentionally brewed to a deep red color and rolls with a predominantly west coast IPA hop profile. It was just something I wanted and it's a killer brew.

Your previous point about the flavor/aroma additions was something that first struck me when I saw the recipe.

david_42 said:

So it's a LCAINSPFA.

[Left Coast American-Indian Not So PaleFace Ale]

I'd try it without the dry hopping & do it an ounce at a time if needed, but one of my best summer ales was a clean-out the freezer ale with seven hops.

Click to expand...

Now you have me thinking "Do I really want to dry hop this with Cascade?"

My late hop additions were 1oz Centennial and 4oz total of EKG and Fuggles. If I dry hop Cascade I think it will dominate the flavor profile. But if I leave it as is it might make for an interesting play between the English style hops and the citrusy Centennial.

Tough call. What is everyone elses opinion? Should I dry hop or not?

Craig

Transfered to the secondary last night. I was a little concerned about my mash temps causing a high FG, but no worries the sample read 1.012 and tasted great.
I was trying to decide on whether to dry hop with the Cascade I had or leave it alone. I decided to leave it up to the taste test. Well I felt the beer tasted great with a well balanced bitterness but the aroma and flavor of hops was subtle. Probably would have made a fine IPA but I really like a powerful hops smell. So I stuffed 2 oz of whole hops Cascade in the secondary then racked on top of it.
I had a little more wort than I planned at the boil so my 5gal secondary was filled up to the neck. Even with dry hop loses, it should make 50+ bottles. :rockin:

This is going to be a great summer IPA. I'm planning on taking a case or more down to the lake for vacation at the end of July.

Craig

Watch out for the bottle from the bottom of the bucket!!!
When I bottled my Leftover IPA (or whatever) it came out almost exactly even with the final bottle full. So I just capped that bottle and stored it with the rest. Ofcourse this beer was dry hopped with whole hops so some extra trub got into the bottling bucket and a little bit got into the last bottle. Well I went to try the first bottle from this batch a few days ago and though it was quite bad. It was grassy and lacked mouth feel and had hop leaves and sediment in that poured out. I thought I ruined it by dry hopping. However I had planned on taking about a case of this batch on vacation next week so I really wanted it to be ready to go. So I tried another one last night. This time the beer poured clear, had great aroma and tasted like an excellent IPA. Now I'm really stoked and I'm looking forward to sharing this beer with family on vacation.
So becareful about getting the last dregs of the bucket!

Craig