IPA, IIPA or Barleywine??

[nkd29]

Thought I'd share a tweak I made on a great IPA recipe courtesy of Bob's Homebrew in Seattle. Looking for feedback on if I went overboard/what kind of beer this seems to be, etc.

Recipe:
6.6lbs Briess Golden Light Liq. extract
2lbs Briess pilsen light dry extract

8 oz 40L Crystal malt (steeping grains)

2 oz Magnum - boil 60 min
1oz Amarillo - last 20 min of boil
1oz Amarillo - end of boil

1xtsp Irish Moss

1056 American Ale Yeast

MY TWEAKS:

-Used 1 oz Citra for last 20 min of boil instead of Amarillo
-Added an extra 19 oz of Mr Beer HME Cowboy Lager
-Used 7lb Breiss Golden Light instead of 6.6 lb

My OG was waay high like close to 1.12, and my Grav right now (2days fermenting) is ~1.04, but airlock still bubbling.

Is the High OG maybe from a sample from bucket spigot not representative of whole batch (possible poor mixing)?
Cant think of anything else I deviated from, but did I over do it? Do i not have enough hops to balance this, thus creating more of a barleywine? Should I dry hop this once i xfer to the secondary? Is dilution to lower the ABV the stupidest question on earth and should i just let the beer gods do their magic and create a nectar so great that mere mortals heads would explode with flavor once said nectar hits thine tongues??

Thoughts??!!

Gracias,

-Nikhil

 

[TzeentchPlayer]

You're definitely out of the range for IPA and at this point you could call it either a Barleywine or an IIPA, but based off of your OG I'd say barleywine. OR if your beer finishes anything higher than 1.020 call it a barleywine, and anything lower an IIPA (or a Double IIPA since your OG is pretty high for an IIPA). I hope this helps!

 

[dcp27]

barleywine, way too short on late hops for IPA/IIPA

 

[nkd29]

thanks guys! to be exact i probably had the 1 oz amarillo pellets in for ~3 minutes before flameout. And the Mr. Beer leftover extract was Hopped already.

Would dry hopping bring it back to IIPA territory? I'm not too concerned since samples are tasting great so far, but I am concerned about the bottling phase.

Will i need to cut down on the corn sugar the original recipe calls out to avoid over carbing/explosion after bottling?? I'm afraid (depending on FG) that leftover sugars + bottling sugar may over carb and possibly cause bottle bursting

 

[eric19312]

I think you are having issues with gravity measurement.


You didn't specify batch size so I assumed you did a 5 gal batch with a 3 gal boi and added topping water

Your OG should have been 1.080
FG will likely be 1.020
Assuming extracts were in pot for full boil, and hops were typical aa by variety, and hops were pellets, your hop additions alone would be 68 IBU, plus something for the HME...maybe 7-10 more since those cans are for 2 gal recipe. Total IBU 75-78.

That is a solid match for the IIPA style. Maybe lower IBU than others use in IIPA but well within published guidelines. Give 2 oz or more dry hops when fermentation is done and you will be good to go. Would expect to finish at about 1.020. Should be a tasty brew.


As for the hydrometer, try pre calculating expected gravity, then comparing reading to expected. If your reading s way off expected, retest...maybe give it a stir to make sure the topping water is well combined. You really can't end up very far off expected with extract batches..at least on the original gravity unless you forget to add some of your sugar or somebody dumps more in without telling you...

 

[nkd29]

Here are the steps from what i remember

1. Poured [2 quarts] steeped grains through sieve to 2.5 gal of water in brew kettle
2. Poured an additional 2 quarts through sieve to extract all flavor from steeping grains
3. Added all extracts and 2oz magnum hops at initial boil (60 min)
4. Added 1 oz Citra with 20 min remaining
5. Added 1 oz Amarillo with 3 min remaining.
6. Cooled wort and dumped through sieve to primary fermenting bucket and topped off to ~5.5 gal. (forgot to measure wort before topping)
7. Shook bucket vigorously, pitched the yeast and took a reading from the spigot at about 1.12 (apparently not vigorously enough, water may not have mixed as well at the bottom)
8. My last reading 4/10/13 was at about 1.03 an was still bubbling


Regardless i think it will be tasty, but my thinking is that i am going to dry hop with 1 oz Citra when i rack to secondary, but i'm definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks for all the help guys!