Need help on first brew - IPA

[esarkipato]

I've been brewing for a year or more with the help of a few partners (partial mash, hoping to do all grain someday) but this is my first batch on my own. I need expert opinions on a few matters. Recipe is a combination so no OG is given.

My grain bill is this:

Extract:
6# Munton & Fison (UK) Extra Light DME
2# Briess DME - Sparkling Amber

Steeping malts:
1# Carapils (dextrin malt) Briess Malting
1# Crystal Rye
8oz Victory 25-30L Briess Malting
8oz Honey Malt 20-25L 3 Gambrinus

(possibly use some simple sugars to dry it out a little?)

Yeast will be cultured from a Bell's Two Hearted bottle (already bubbling).

I'm using Centennial (love the aroma & flavor), but also have Golding, Fuggle, Willamette, and Argentine Cascade available.

I would like this to be a light/medium-body IPA with balance between bitter and sweet, with lots of aroma.

I would also like to save on hops and keeping a lighter color by doing a late addition of extract.

Last, the boil needs to be 2 gallons.

What's an appropriate hop schedule? I'm planning on dry hopping 1.5oz Centennial.
When and how much extract should I be adding later in the boil?
Can anyone with software calculate a target OG for me?
Any other comments are really appreciated. Thanks! :rockin:

 

[cuinrearview]

Here's a free recipe calculator: Beer Calculus . homebrew recipe calculator
Usually puts me in the ballpark. As for hop schedule, I like Two-Hearted as well and would use all Centennial, one oz. at 60, 15, and 0 minutes along with the dry hopping. With that yeast you should be very close to Two-Hearted. Not sure if that's what you're going for but should be a very very good IPA

BTW, I see you live close. You gonna wash that yeast when you're done? Wouldn't mind a jar of it when you're done if we could work something out.

 

[esarkipato]

Thanks for the link, here's a slightly modified recipe based on eschatz's favorite IPA (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/he...o-bells-two-hearted-recipes-86254/index2.html)

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable
35% 3 0 Light Dry Malt Extract
24% 2 0 Amber Dry Malt Extract
18% 1 8 Corn Sugar
6% 0 8 Dextrin (CaraPils) Malt
6% 0 8 Victory Malt
6% 0 8 Honey Malt 30
6% 0 8 Crystal Rye Malt

Batch size: 5.0 gallons cancel edit
Boil: 2.0 avg gallons for 60 minutes

Original Gravity 1.063 (1.056 to 1.066)
Final Gravity 1.016 (1.014 to 1.017)
Color 13° SRM(Copper to Red/Lt. Brown)
Mash Efficiency -- 50% (steeping, not mashing)

hops
time oz variety
60 2.0 Cascade plug 6.6
15 1.0 Centennial plug 10.5
0-5 1.0 Centennial plug 10.5
0-5 1.0 Centennial plug 10.5
Dry 1.0 Centennial leaf 10.5

Bitterness
13.2 HBU
39.3 IBU

I still have the following questions:
-How does the grain bill look?
-When should I add the sugar?
-How can I do a late addition of grain/extract? How much/when?
-How can I calculate the new IBU?

 

[HenryHill]

9.8 color, 61.9 IBU's
1.059 EOG, 1.014 EFG, 5.9% EABV

I'd toss in the sugar and late extract late, 5-10 mins or so, to avoid scorching and just get them to temp, and sterile, but I've never done extract, so it's just a guess, it's still early, and I'm sober.

I used 1056 as a baseline yeast.

Beersmith says:

2-Hearted Clone
Brew Type: Extract Date: 1/2/2009
Style: American IPA Brewer: esarkito
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 3.00 gal Boil Time: 60 min

Brewing Steps Check Time Step
1/2/2009 Clean and prepare equipment.
-- Measure ingredients, crush grains.
-- Prepare 3.00 gal water for brewing
-- Steep Specialty Grains
Amount Item Type
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain

-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 3.00 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.104 SG with all grains/extracts added
Boil for 60 min Boil Ingredients
Boil Amount Item Type
60 min 2.00 lb Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract
60 min 3.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract
60 min 1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops
60 min 2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops
60 min 1.50 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar
5 min 1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops

-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature
-- Add water (as needed) to achieve volume of 5.00 gal
-- Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.
-- Add Ingredients to Fermenter
Amount Item Type
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

1/2/2009 Measure Original Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.059 SG)
1/2/2009 Measure Batch Volume: ________ (Estimate: 5.00 gal)
4 days Ferment in primary for 4 days at 68.0 F
1/6/2009 Transfer to Secondary Fermenter
7 days Ferment in secondary for 7 days at 68.0 F
1/13/2009 Measure Final Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.014 SG)
-- Bottle beer at 60.0 F with 3.8 oz of corn sugar.
4.0 Weeks Age for 4.0 Weeks at 52.0 F
2/10/2009 Sample and enjoy!

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 0.0

 

[cuinrearview]

I was drinking some TH last night and had some thoughts on the grain bill if I try it again. First, it was golden in color, which tells me that you should use all light DME. I've seen the color vary a bit depending on bottle/draught but it tasted/looked good to me. I also noticed a biscuity flavor that I haven't before with little sweetness. The next time I try it, I'll use this recipe. It's not based on anything other than a hunch.

8 oz. Cara-pils
1 lb. Munich
8 oz. Biscuit
Steep/Mash these grains for 30 minutes at 150 degrees. Remove the grain and bring your brewpot to boil with as much water as your brewpot can handle. I do full boils in a 30qt. pot.
6 lbs. light DME
Add 2 lbs. at the beginning of the boil, and the remainder with 15 minutes to go. If you decide to use some corn sugar instead I'd add it with 15 to go.

Hops: Use all centennial if you have enough. One ounce at 60, 15, 5, and 0(flameout) should do it. Then another oz. for dry hopping.

I don't have experience with this yeast, few do outside of the brewery. I'd ferment somewhere around 64 degrees if you can. Hold the temp for at least the first two days of activity, and if it creeps up from there that would be fine.

As for your grain bill, it looks like there's a lot going on with the honey malt and rye. I'd start simple and go from there. Definately don't use amber DME. Who knows what they put in that mash? I'm still operating on the assumption that you want to try and nail Two-Hearted. If not then go with what you've got. I read a quote from Larry Bell in Zymurgy that the Centennial hops and their yeast strain are what makes this beer such a hit.

I see that Beercalculus is working again, so plug your recipe in there to calculate your IBUs when you decide on a recipe.

On a side note, I'm bringing the family up to GR for a little get-away tomorrow. I'll probably slide over to Siciliano's. How's their hop selection right now?

 

[esarkipato]

Thanks HH, I appreciate the legwork. I should really look into promash or beersmith. Although Beer Calculus is pretty nice, especially for free!

cuinrearview - you are right, the honey malt is not helping. I just happen to have some biscuit malt, so might opt for that. However, the crystal rye should impart a bready/biscuit flavor too. I'm shooting for two-heart/centennial clone, but like you said the yeast and the hops are the key items for me. I like the amber/rye combo, but I just might go all-out light/xtra light DME. I'm expecting that with the crystal rye, victory, and corn sugar addition, this should be a pretty light and dry IPA with intense hops.

Add 2 lbs. at the beginning of the boil, and the remainder with 15 minutes to go. If you decide to use some corn sugar instead I'd add it with 15 to go.

Just what I was looking for! I just measured, and I'm only comfortable with 2.5 gallons in my brewpot (not ideal, I know). That means I'm really gonna need to do the late addition.

As for siciliano's hops right now.....not sure! I've got a big order coming via mail, so haven't had to go check on the hops in-store.

 

[esarkipato]

8 oz. Cara-pils
1 lb. Munich
8 oz. Crystal Rye
Steep/Mash these grains for 30 minutes at 165 degrees. Added 0.5 oz Chinook hops for steep.
5 lbs. light DME
2 lbs. Corn Sugar
Add 2 lbs. of DME at the beginning of the boil, and the remainder with 15 minutes to go.

0.5 oz Chinook (60 min)
1 oz Chinook (15 min)
1 oz Centennial (5 min)
1 oz Centennial (0 min)_
1 oz Centennial (dry hop)

OG=1.068

I pitched the yeast cultured from a 2 hearted bottle, and it's doing VERY well up to this point. I've got high hopes for this one.

 

[esarkipato]

FG=1.018 after 1 week or so. That yeast is a beast, at temps <63 with pretty good attenuation. Would have been better up near 67/68 I bet.

This brew smells delicious, and tastes the same already. Might bottle this weekend.

 

[cuinrearview]

Tried to PM you, but your box is full.

 

[esarkipato]

Wow. really tasty brew after a few months. VERY HARD not to drink all of these 22's right now.

 

[esarkipato]

This beer is so good. I'm planning another batch using the same yeast that I've washed and stored. Hopefully it's still viable, but I've got some Nottingham on hand if things go awry. I'm shooting for a more direct clone by removing the rye, adding more munich, and tweaking here and there. The slightly modified recipe is:

6 gallon batch:
8 oz. Cara-pils
3 lb. Munich
Steep/Mash these grains for 30 minutes at 150 degrees, then step up to 170 for another 30 minutes. Added the 1 oz Cascade hops for the mash.

6 lbs. xtra-light DME
2 lbs. Corn Sugar
Add 3 lbs. of DME at the beginning of the boil (3 gallons), and the remainder along with corn sugar at flameout.

1 oz Cascades (mash hops)
1 oz Centennial (60 min)
1 oz Centennial (15 min)
1 oz Centennial (5 min)
1 oz Centennial (1 min)
1 oz Centennial (dry hop)

Target values are:
OG=1.072
IBU=50.1

Hopefully it rains today, and I can brew tonight!