American IPA Recipe advice

[Kb8607]

Hi everyone, Ive been lurking on the forum for about a year now and just switched over to all grain about 5 batches ago. Im working on making my first recipe from scratch and would love your opinions. Im going for a simple, inexpensive IPA that lets the hops shine through. Here is what I came up with:

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.012
IBU: 63.6
Color: 5.8

Grain

11lbs 2 row us/canadian
.5lb crystal 40

Hops

.5oz Simcoe 60 min
.5oz Simcoe 30 min
1.0oz Citra 15 min
1.0oz Citra 5 min
1.0oz Citra 0 min
1.0oz Citra dry hop???

US-05 yeast

Mash for an hour at 152

Thoughts?

 

[chickypad]

Looks pretty good to me. If you only have an ounce of simcoe you might consider bittering with some other hop and saving the simcoe for later additions. Or put it in the dry hop, simcoe plus citra makes a nice combo for that IMO. I usually mash my IPA's a little lower in order to get good attenuation but you may know better your system and what you're aiming for.

 

[CadillacAndy]

Looks pretty good to me. If you only have an ounce of simcoe you might consider bittering with some other hop and saving the simcoe for later additions. Or put it in the dry hop, simcoe plus citra makes a nice combo for that IMO. I usually mash my IPA's a little lower in order to get good attenuation but you may know better your system and what you're aiming for.

I'd agree with all of this. Bitter with something like Magnum if you have it. I'd probably mash a little lower too to let it dry out a little more. A FG of like 1.009 - 1.011 is what I shoot for.

 

[Kb8607]

I'd agree with all of this. Bitter with something like Magnum if you have it. I'd probably mash a little lower too to let it dry out a little more. A FG of like 1.009 - 1.011 is what I shoot for.

Thanks for the input! I actually have some magnum on hand. I definitely want to keep the simcoe in there, but the later addition/dry hop sounds good for that. As far as mash temp are you thinking 148-150ish? The few all grain batchs I have done so far were at 152 and have turned out great, but they were not IPAs.

 

[CadillacAndy]

Thanks for the input! I actually have some magnum on hand. I definitely want to keep the simcoe in there, but the later addition/dry hop sounds good for that. As far as mash temp are you thinking 148-150ish? The few all grain batchs I have done so far were at 152 and have turned out great, but they were not IPAs.

I'd probably go with 150F for an hour. Not sure of your system, but that would get me a FG around 1.011 or so. Sounds like a good recipe to me. Good luck with it!

 

[Jeremy_N]

Don't skimp on the dry hop. Shoot for 3 oz. 1 oz is not enough IMO. Not sure you need a 30 minute addition. Not much flavor, nearly no aroma. I don't usually have 30 in my IPAs. 60, 10, 5, 0 and DH. Also agree with using something like magnum (or warrior or nugget) as the bittering hop. I use a half pound of honey malt. I feel like it blends everything together nicely with the Citra. Those are just my preferences, but other opinions may vary. But you have put a nice recipe together. Good luck!

 

[Kb8607]

Thanks for the hop schedule suggestions. I did a little tweaking based on your suggestions, what I have on hand in these hop varieties right now, and my target ibu's. I have about an oz of magnum and 4 each of citra and simcoe.

Here is what I came up with:

0.5 oz Magnum 60min
0.5 oz Citra 15min
0.5 oz Simcoe 15min
1.0 oz Citra 5min
1.0 oz Simcoe 5min
1.0 oz Cirta Flameout
1.0 oz Simcoe Flameout

1.5 oz Citra Dry hop (7 days-ish)
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hop (7 days-ish)

 

[Kb8607]

I made a couple more adjustments on this recipe and brewed it about a month ago. Just sampled the first one after 11 days on gas. It turned out great, especially for my first recipe from scratch! Here's what I brewed:

Biermann Brewhaus IPA

All Grain: 5 gal
OG: 1.060 (I hit 1.056)
FG: 1.012 (I came in at 1.008)
IBU: 63
Color: 5.8

Grain Bill

11 lbs 2 row (Canadian)
8 oz Crystal 40L

Hops / Boil Schedule
1.05 oz Cascade 60 min
0.57 oz Simcoe 15 min
0.57 oz Citra 15 min
1.00 oz Citra 5 min
1.00 oz Simcoe 5 min
1.00 oz Citra 0 min
1.00 oz Simcoe 0 min

Hops / Dry Hop Schedule

1.40 oz Citra Dry Hop 5 days
1.40 oz Cascade Dry Hop 5 days
1.40 ox Simcoe Dry Hop 5 days

Yeast

1 pkg US-05 (pitched directly into well aerated wort)

Pitched at 65 and left in primary for about 12 days. Dry hopped in primary for 5 days, and then cold crashed for a few days. Racked to keg and put it on the gas for 11 days at 12 psi. It has a great citrus aroma and overall is very smooth and quaffable. This one will be in my regular rotation. I will post it to the recipe database as well.

 

[CadillacAndy]

Double check the final gravity. There's really no way for it to have finished at 1.00. Maybe 1.010.

Also you probably under pitched a little bit, especially by not rehydrating the yeast. Anything over 1.040 or 1.045 I'd pitch 2 packets or at least rehydrate.

Glad it turned out well! Cheers!

 

[Demus]

You might get a little more hop flavor with :20 additions instead of :15. Also, "first wort" hopping during the run off adds flavor from your initial bittering charge. I don't 100% understand how, but somehow the warm steeping before the boil stabilizes the flavor oils so they don't boil off. I've done it a few times and it seems to work...

Glad it turned out well!!

 

[tinytowers]

As far as the grain bill goes, that's how the first 4-5 batches of IPA's I brewed looked. Lately I've been using less crystal and more vienna, munich and victory as well as a 50/50 split with 2-row and Great Westerns NW Pale malt which is very similar to MO. I also recommend including a "serving hop" addition (dry hopping in the keg) if you really want to skunk up your beer.

 

[Demus]

Never heard "skunk up" used in the context of something good! If I ever got skunky flavors from hops I'd consider it a serious problem....

 

[tinytowers]

Oh hops are definitely skunky as are their cousins, just not a "light made its way into my beer" skunky. I knew someone was going to comment on that term....ugh.

 

[Demus]

Oh hops are definitely skunky as are their cousins, just not a "light made its way into my beer" skunky. I knew someone was going to comment on that term....ugh.

I don't think you'll get many brewers to agree with you, but if it makes you happy...

 

[tinytowers]

Orlando.