Honey Imperial IPA- Thoughts?

This was the first recipe I made myself and then brewed. I used some hops from NZ my girlfriend had brought back from a vacation. It turned out good enough but could have a had a clearer honey note. Just curious on what other brewers had to say about the recipe or process.

8.5 lbs Pale LME

8oz Dex/Cara Pils
8oz Honey Malt
5oz Caramel 60L

1 oz Pacific Gem Hops- 60 min
1/2 oz Cascade (leaf)- 15 min
1/2 Green Bullet- 15 min
1/2 oz Cascade (leaf) -5 min
1/2 oz Green Bullet- 5 min
1 oz Pacific Gem- 5 min
2 oz Amarillo Leaf- 7 day dry hop

1/2 oz Orange Zest- 10 min

Safe Ale American Yeast

I added 2 lbs of Honey, dissolved into water at 85 f, then poured into the primary fermenter. Racked to secondary with dry hop.

I would have nixed the carapils since it is already in extract and removed the crystal 60. Try a more simple 60/30/0/DH schedule and don't use orange zest. The 0 min addition should be a 30-60 minute long aroma steep below 170 F. Citra & Amarillo in the dryhop would work well together for this beer if you want fruity, or Simcoe & Amarillo for something more citrusy. I prefer pellet hops for the dryhop because I think they are more potent. And add some more honey to the secondary too... maybe even prime with honey as well. Northern brewer has a priming calculator that factors priming with a honey water solution.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try brewing this again in the next week or so and use the Simcoe and Amarillo, plus the honey for priming, I hadn't thought about that. One question I had was why do a hop addition at thirty? I'm relatively new to the brewing process and have not seen that used in articles or recipes, what is the benefit compared to the later additions?

nilesdelson said:

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try brewing this again in the next week or so and use the Simcoe and Amarillo, plus the honey for priming, I hadn't thought about that. One question I had was why do a hop addition at thirty? I'm relatively new to the brewing process and have not seen that used in articles or recipes, what is the benefit compared to the later additions?

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How did your recipe turnout? Looking for a good iipa with a taste of honey.

I actually just bottled this a few days ago using the honey for priming sugar. I tried a little and the honey and citrus are definitely stronger than my first batch. which is a major plus. I also let it ferment longer in the secondary. I got a little lazy with it and left it a bit longer then I was planning on. In 2-3 weeks I'll know for sure.

I brewed a similar recipe but used citra and armarillo as a dry hop one ounce each for 4 days (not sure of the alpha levels). I also added 2 lbs of honey in the secondary. I skipped the Orange zest as the citra and Amarillo hops should add plenty of citrus finish I bottled using .45 cups of honey as priming sugar. I'll let you know how it carbs but the initial taste indicates its going to be a good one.

mitchmen said:

I brewed a similar recipe but used citra and armarillo as a dry hop one ounce each for 4 days (not sure of the alpha levels). I also added 2 lbs of honey in the secondary. I skipped the Orange zest as the citra and Amarillo hops should add plenty of citrus finish I bottled using .45 cups of honey as priming sugar. I'll let you know how it carbs but the initial taste indicates its going to be a good one.

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It turned out good a grwat summer IPA that the mrs. loves but I am going to add 3lbs of honey next go around and a bit more honey malt. Your results??

Mine turned out pretty good however I need to combine my first and second recipe methods I used. Good hop flavor, but like you, I still feel like it needed a larger honey flavor. When I had brewed my second one, I had just read an article on late addition of the malt to the boil, so I added 4.25 lbs at first and the other half at 15 min. It let the hops come through but had a huge drop off (tasted light and empty) in the second half of tasting as the flavor developed. The next time I do this I'll add it all at the beginning and use more honey. What hops did you use during the boil?