Mosaic IPA recipe critique

[Enoch52]

Following an experiment to isolate IPA hop flavors in 1-gallon batches, I decided I really liked the bright, fruity flavors of Mosaic and want to brew an IPA featuring them. Here's the recipe as it currently stands:

1lb 20L Crystal (steeped)(body, color, head retention)
1lb Cara-Pils (steeped)(body, head)
1lb light dry extract (60 min)
6lbs light dry extract (15 min late addition)
.5oz US Magnum (60 min)
1oz Mosaic (15 min)
1oz Mosaic (10 min)
1oz Mosaic (5 min)
1oz Mosaic (flame-out)
1oz Mosaic (dry hop)
Yeast: either Wyeast 1056 or WLP001 (to accentuate the hops).

This is similar to the test batch I made, with the addition of the crystal and dry hops and with quantities adjusted for style (Beersmith puts it smack-dab in the middle of style guidelines).

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Looks pretty good. If you've got the crystal 20 in there, I don't think you need the carapils also. But I also don't think it will necessarily hurt anything.
If you want to isolate the Mosaic, why the Magnum for bittering? The Mosaic I got this year was pretty high alpha. You should be able to bitter with it easily and stick to just one hop.
I recently tapped a 6% pale ale that I made with all Mosaic and it turned out fantastic. I think you'll be pleased.

 

[bobbrews]

You're currently at 11% crystal and 11% carapils. Cut the crystal by half and nix the carapils completely... it is not needed since it is already included in the DME. IPA's shouldn't have 22% cara- malts, especially not extract IPAs.

Agreed on using Mosaic to bitter. Additionally, use more hops overall and gradually increase your hop additions later in the boil. More potency will be released and upheld with a heavier focus on the flameout/whirlpool and particularly the dryhop. E.g. 0.5 oz @ 60, 1.5 oz. @ 10, 2.5 oz. @ 0, 3.5 oz. @ dryhop = 8 oz total hops.

 

[Enoch52]

That's a good point; I hadn't considered bittering with Mosaic. When I was making my test batches I wanted a stable base I could use for all the beers, so I went with Magnum to minimize the flavor contributions of the bittering hop.

 

[NathPowe]

Another vote for cutting a lot of that crystal. I usually do 3-5% for an IPA, if any.

I just floated a keg of a Maris Otter/Mosaic SMaSH over the weekend and it was really, really delicious. I thought the Mosaic worked really well for bittering so you may want to give it a shot.

Have fun with the brew and enjoy.

 

[Enoch52]

Wow, I was way off with my Mosaic--I had been told they were 5%AA, but Northern Brewer lists them at 10%+ and USAHops has them at 11.5-13.5%AA. I eliminated the bittering hops altogether, and the following hop schedule left me at 52.6 IBU: 0.5oz @ 15, 1.5oz @ 10, 1oz @ 5, 2.5oz @ 0, 3.5 dry-hop (9oz total, and effectively hop-bursted).

Does that look reasonable? Would you suggest the 1056 or WLP001 for a fruity hoppy IPA?

 

[NathPowe]

That looks awesome - it's definitely going to be fruity with 3.5oz in the dry hop. I used US-05 and got great clean flavor, so 1056 would be good. I think either one would make a nice beer though. If it were me, I'd just pick which ever one I thought would floc/clear up better.

 

[bobbrews]

Depends on your OG/FG for the total oz. of hops. I wouldn't use 9 oz. hops for 1.053 OG but I would for 1.067 OG. It also depends on what you're seeking from the beer... hop juice with low bitterness or something with some bite and still awesome aroma. I'd also simplify the hop timing/amounts as much as I could instead of worrying about 6 or 7 different additions.

 

[Enoch52]

OK, I think I'm pretty dialed-in now...though I'm tempted to switch out the light DME for Maris Otter LME! It looks like Northern Brewer just came out with an LME called "Super Structure Malt Blend for IPA" too.

 

[bobbrews]

Don't switch out the light DME. I'd even go with extra light DME. Maris Otter will completely change it. It won't be bad, but it will be more to style with extra light DME and sugar.

Are you ditching the carapils and cutting down on the crystal? Extract beers never have issues with body or head retention. Carapils is included in the extract and 5% crystal 20 will take care of the rest.

I also just noticed this, but you're adding 6# of DME at 15 minutes and 1# at 60? I would do half and half.

 

[Enoch52]

Yes, I took everyone's suggestion and eliminated the cara-pils and switched the caramel to 1/2 lb of 30L crystal (I switched from 20L to 30L to keep the color contribution). Even so it's somewhat toward the lighter end (8.6 SRM according to Beersmith).

 

[bobbrews]

Well IPAs are generally light. They aren't brown or red. But using half of your extract at 60 and half at flameout will darken it a bit more than beersmith says. You want a decent OG at boil start before adding early hop additions. I wouldn't advise building an IPA with a preboil OG of 1.025.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Nothing wrong with keeping the Magnum in there to bitter if you're planning to do a series of these and want to keep it consistent. I called it a pseudo SMaSH when I used Cascade and Maris Otter because my Cascade was at 5% and I didn't want to use an assload of it to get the bittering. So i bittered with some Columbus. That said, when the hops are high enough alpha, I just use them straight through.
A lot of people would argue that 3.5 oz in the dry hop is just wasting hops. I've never gone more than 2 oz so I can't really say one way or the other. My Mosaic - Maris Otter I just did (with a pound of C60 so not a true Smash) had a 1 oz dry hop and it has nice aroma. With as hard as Mosaic can be to find, I don't think I taste or smell a reason to use more, but certainly nothing wrong with it if that's the way you want to go.

 

[Enoch52]

OK, I switched back to 20L caramel and went with 3lbs DME @ 60 and 4 lbs at 15. Now it looks like this:

8oz Crystal 20L (steep)
3lbs light DME @ 60
4lbs light DME @ 15
0.5oz Mosaic @ 15
1.5oz Mosaic @ 10
1.0oz Mosaic @ 5
2.5oz Mosaic @ 0
1.5-3.5oz Mosaic dry-hop
WLP001 California Ale Yeast w/ 800mL starter

 

[bobbrews]

Lol at the dryhop. In general for IPAs above 1.063 OG-ish, I use a bare minimum of 2 oz. at 0 for 5 gallon batches. The dryhop should be larger than, or very equal to, the flameout addition. Look at any great IPA/IIPA clone recipe and you will see an increased focus for the dryhops when compared to the rest of the additions. Heady Topper uses something equivalent to 6 oz. in the dryhop at just 1.070 OG-ish. Though they do stagger the dryhop into multiple additions for 3-4 days for each addition. It's all about how much contact you can get with the dryhops. Using 3.5 oz. is only a waste if 2.5 oz. of it is floating on the surface and not in contact with the beer.

 

[Enoch52]

Should I put them in a mesh bag with a sanitized marble and sink them? I've never dry-hopped before.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Should I put them in a mesh bag with a sanitized marble and sink them? I've never dry-hopped before.

I just drop em in. Sometimes I secondary and sometimes I just pop them in the primary. Depends on how lazy I'm being. If you get some floaters you can lightly swirl the fermenter to get them to drop. If your Mosaic is like mine though, they were smaller, harder pellets and they sank like a rock.

 

[mrgrimm101]

OK, I switched back to 20L caramel and went with 3lbs DME @ 60 and 4 lbs at 15. Now it looks like this:

8oz Crystal 20L (steep)
3lbs light DME @ 60
4lbs light DME @ 15
0.5oz Mosaic @ 15
1.5oz Mosaic @ 10
1.0oz Mosaic @ 5
2.5oz Mosaic @ 0
1.5-3.5oz Mosaic dry-hop
WLP001 California Ale Yeast w/ 800mL starter

I notice you removed the 60 min hop addition. Was this typed up incorrectly, or did you remove it?