Scared to Brew the Maharaja

[Newgene]

Ok, I plan to run a Maharaja recipe that someone posted on here. From what I've read, it's pretty close. HOWEVER, this thing has 14.7 ounces of hops, and over half a pound is dry hopped. The beer itself is 9.5% ABV, but I'm wondering if I can get by with using around 8-10 ounces of hops. To me, nearly a pound of hops is ridiculous. I have brewed a strong black IPA before, and with 6.5 ounces of hops, I think I could have gone for a half pound. I just don't know if nearly a full pound of hops is going to ruin an otherwise good beer.

BTW, I plan to brew this for the most part. I will tweak it of course, though.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/maharaja-clone-93250/index4.html#post2012342

Should I throttle back the hops or go for it? If I did cut it back, I would probably back off about 25% from each one across the board.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I think it looks fine and tasty. I have found it hard to over dry hop with too large of quantities. I have done a Pliny the Elder clone a couple times and they require similiar dry hop amounts. I would go full bore without thinking about it but if you are worried break up the dry hop schedule. Do half the dry hop for a week and taste. If it's not where you want it add the other half.

 

[lumpher]

i love hops, but exceeding 100 ibu is ridiculous. 100 is saturation point for the beer, and any more is just hop oil floating on top. i hope this doesn't start a huge discussion, as it's just my opinion, but i hop out at around 80

 

[Newgene]

Any last thoughts? I have it full strength scheduled for this weekend.

 

[Calder]

I just looked at he link and it has nearly 2 lbs of hops, with over a pound for dry hopping.

Someone else can chime in, but I've never dry hopped with more than 2 ozs, and really don't see any real advantage of using much more. Dry hop flavor will fade with time.

I've used a pound of hops in a brew before.

I would brew basically as given, but drop the dry hops to 1 oz for each.

 

[Newgene]

I just looked at he link and it has nearly 2 lbs of hops, with over a pound for dry hopping.

Someone else can chime in, but I've never dry hopped with more than 2 ozs, and really don't see any real advantage of using much more. Dry hop flavor will fade with time.

I've used a pound of hops in a brew before.

I would brew basically as given, but drop the dry hops to 1 oz for each.

BTW, I am brewing a 5 gallon batch. The recipe is written for double that. That's why I'm using a little less than a pound of hops. All of my ingredients are halved across the board.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I say go for it full strength. It will be a hop bomb but it should not be any more potent than some commercial brews that do the same and have large demands.

 

[Newgene]

Cool. I'm about to start toasting some 2-row to make some victory/biscuit. I was actually at the LHBS yesterday but decided not to pick up any. I wanted to see how it came out by toasting it myself.

I'm going per the recipe. I can always cut it back the next time. A buddy and I are going to split this batch anyway.

 

[Newgene]

BTW, the recipe calls for 0.56 lbs of 120L. I want to make sure I have decent head retention, so I'm adding just 0.25 lbs of carapils. I know the crystal will add the head retention as well, but does it sound about right to have them much of both in the 5 gallon recipe? It will be 0.81 lbs of crystal and carapils combined.

Should be good I'm thinking.

 

[Newgene]

Ok, well it seemed to finish at 1.016. It calculated out to 9.7% ABV, which is fine. However, when I moved it to the secondary, it immediately started bubbling in the airlock again. At that point, I had already added the half pound of dry hops. So, I really don't plan to measure FG again. I'm guessing it will finish somewhere between 9.7% and 10%. This stuff will be potent.

The only thing know is to figure out how long to let it dry hop. I'm thinking I will leave it for exactly 14 days. I guess if it's gonna be a bear, it oughta be a grizzly.

 

[Newgene]

Just an update. Less than 2 weeks in bottles, and it tastes great!

 

[Scut_Monkey]

BTW, the recipe calls for 0.56 lbs of 120L. I want to make sure I have decent head retention, so I'm adding just 0.25 lbs of carapils. I know the crystal will add the head retention as well, but does it sound about right to have them much of both in the 5 gallon recipe? It will be 0.81 lbs of crystal and carapils combined.

Should be good I'm thinking.

With the amount of hops that are in this you should have no problem with head retention even without the carapils. It won't hurt though.

Ok, well it seemed to finish at 1.016. It calculated out to 9.7% ABV, which is fine. However, when I moved it to the secondary, it immediately started bubbling in the airlock again. At that point, I had already added the half pound of dry hops. So, I really don't plan to measure FG again. I'm guessing it will finish somewhere between 9.7% and 10%. This stuff will be potent.

The only thing know is to figure out how long to let it dry hop. I'm thinking I will leave it for exactly 14 days. I guess if it's gonna be a bear, it oughta be a grizzly.

I find 14 days works well. You could do less but I have never found 14 days to be TOO long.

Just an update. Less than 2 weeks in bottles, and it tastes great!

AWESOME!