Please help improve a very good IPA

[Pelican521]

Well I finally brewed a beer I'm proud of! Here's the recipe:

American 2-Row.....................2.5 lb
Wheat Malt, White..................0.5 lb
Carapils® Malt.......................0.5 lb
Crystal 40.............................0.5 lb
Golden Light DME...................5.0 lb

Chinook (US) 1.0 oz 60 min Pellet
Cascade (US) 0.5 oz 30 min Pellet
Cascade (US) 1.0 oz 15 min Pellet
Simcoe (US) 0.5 oz 5 min Pellet
Amarillo (US) 0.5 oz 5 min Pellet
Amarillo (US) 0.5 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet
Cascade (US) 0.5 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet
Centennial (US) 1.0 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet
Simcoe (US) 0.5 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet

American Ale Wyeast 1056

It's been bottled for 2.5 weeks and tastes great. The only thing I'd like to improve is to add a little more Malt character. The alc. came in around 6.15% which is perfect for me so I'm hoping not to increase the alc. if possible.

Any ideas on how I could possibly improve on this recipe?

Thanks in advance!

 

[opiate82]

I like adding a little Munich or Vienna malt in place of pale malt to add some additional malt character to my IPAs.

 

[maynardtl8]

I would give it a little more time to age before i really decided on my changes

 

[CRoth36]

If its very good then don't change it

 

[agrazela]

Out of curiosity, were your grains steeped or mini-mashed?

Agreed with both above posters...

Wait at least 4-6 weeks after bottling (and 2-3 days' fridging) before judging. But for an IPA, not much longer than that!

And a touch of Munich, or Vienna, or Victory can make a notable change in the malt character. And/or a touch of rye malt can add a spice that goes well with your Chinook--especially if you were to do some late-addition (flavor / flame-out) Chinook.

 

[jaynik]

I would just move to a pound of C40 and see if that helps. You could always mash higher and see if that gives you what you want.

Hop bill sounds great.

 

[BamaPhil]

Thanks for posting the recipe! I'm getting ready to do my first 5 gallon recipe and was looking for a partial mash IPA. That size mash looks perfect for my setup.

What did you do for carbonation?

 

[iowabrew]

+1 to the Munich. I use it in every ipa I make. Recently did very well in a homebrew festival, lot of comments on how balanced my ipa was even at 70 ibu.

 

[Pelican521]

Thanks for the replies! After doing a bunch of researching, I pieced this recipe together myself. Oh, I also added about a half ounce of my first year of home grown hops (cascade/cent).

I like the idea of adding some Vienna, should I sub 1/2 lb of it for the 2 row or just add and not change the amount of 2 row?

I used 4.15 oz of corn sugar for carbing (by weight).

The IBUs ended up being approx 75 and just needs a little more malt backbone to be perfect (in my opinion).

 

[te-wa]

change 1lb of 2row for munich.. sub the crystal 40 with 20.

.75oz amarillo on first wort (+/-10 min. before boil)

 

[mrphillips]

My 5 gallon APA with 1 pound flaked wheat (not wheat malt), added an excellent body, mouth-feel, and head to the beer. It wasn't crystal clear by any means, but personally, that's not the most important thing in my book.

I also recently used 1 pound vienna in a 2 gallon batch, and I really enjoy the breadiness against the hops...but it's all up to YOUR taste. If it's a good recipe, I might just cut my first hop addition down to .5 oz. You will lose some IBU's, but you might also get a perceived boost in malt. Just don't do anything nuts - like other posters have said...if it's good, don't do anything to turn it into just another "ok" beer.

Happy Homebrewing!

 

[Pelican521]

Thanks again for the replies, I appreciate the feedback. I do want to make a few minor changes so I can take this very good beer to a fantastic beer!

Here's my plan to improve it, let me know what you think. As others mentioned, the Vienna will add a little breadiness to it, which is what I'm looking for.

My plan is keep my grain bill the same but just add .5lb of Vienna and remove 1lb of my Dry Extract, which will keep the alc% about the same.

I'm also looking to add .5 oz. to one of my 5 minute hop additions. Would the Simcoe or Amarillo contribute more to a piney/resinous hop character?

 

[opiate82]

You will get more piney character out of the Simcoe.

 

[mrphillips]

I've never used Simcoe before, but from what I've read/heard about them, that would be a nice choice. I might add .5oz along with your .5oz Cascade 30 min. addition, bringing the total up to a full ounce of flavor hops.

I'm not a huge hop-head, but I'm excited about this one! Keep us up to date!

 

[Black Island Brewer]

My plan is keep my grain bill the same but just add .5lb of Vienna and remove 1lb of my Dry Extract, which will keep the alc% about the same.

To get the same points/per gallon/per pound, you'll need to either up the Vienna or lower the amount of DME you are dropping. IIRC, Vienna is about 1.037 ppg/pp, and at 75% efficiency, your half-pound would be almost 14 points, while 1# of DME would be 45 points. So cut the DME by 1# and add 1.5 pounds of Vienna to get close to the same alc%. (and anyone, feel free to check my numbers, this isn't my forte).

 

[dannypo]

Personally I would replace all the 2-row with marris otter. It will add a really nice bready/biscuit flavor.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks again for the replies, I appreciate the feedback. I do want to make a few minor changes so I can take this very good beer to a fantastic beer!

Here's my plan to improve it, let me know what you think. As others mentioned, the Vienna will add a little breadiness to it, which is what I'm looking for.

My plan is keep my grain bill the same but just add .5lb of Vienna and remove 1lb of my Dry Extract, which will keep the alc% about the same.

I'm also looking to add .5 oz. to one of my 5 minute hop additions. Would the Simcoe or Amarillo contribute more to a piney/resinous hop character?

I'd probably just sub the Vienna malt for the regular two-row. It's fairly subtle, but a very nice addition. Or, sub a pound of Munich malt in for one pound of two-row. That should get you what you're looking for, without changing the body or the balance of the beer, and giving you more malt flavor and aroma in the beer.

I love simcoe- it's a piney citrus that I use often in beers like this. I find amarillo purely citrus, and I love that as well.

 

[unionrdr]

The best way to improve a great IPA is to stop messing with it! But I also have to agree with yooper here. Instead of vienna,I added a half pound of melanoiden malt. Got a nice amber color & some light malt flavor agains 8.3ozs of hops between bittering,flavor & aroma. Simcoe was also part of the equasion.

 

[Pelican521]

Ok then, it is settled (for now...)

I'm going to dump a lb of the dry extract and add 1lb of the Vienna and keep the rest of my grain bill the same. If my alc % drops a bit, I'm ok with that. Maybe I'll keep some extra DME on hand if my efficiency is off.

I'm also going to add an additional oz. of Simcoe, .5oz at the 15 min addition, and .5 oz more for dry hopping.

I plan on brewing next week, I'll let you know how it is progressing.

Thanks again!