Thinking about a Belgian IPA

[logan3825]

I recently stopped at a local brewpub that had a Belgiam IPA(The Vintage Brewing Company, Rochambeau) which got me to thinking about making one on my own. I was thinking about 3 possible hop profiles. The first is one I have never done, the second is one I have done but only on a simple APA, the third is one with the same hops as the brewpub.

6lb Gold LME
8oz Carapils
8oz crystal 10L
Wyeast 1214

1.75 oz Pearle 5.4% 60m
2oz Amarillo 6.9% 15m
2oz Amarillo 6.9% 2m

I have never used Pearle or Amarillo so I don't know how they will be together.

1oz Centennial 8.6% 60m
1oz Cascade 5% 15m
1oz Cascade 5% 2m

I will probably up the IBU's to around 60 on that one. Trying to get a little under half of the IBU's from later hop additions.

1oz Sorachi Ace 10% 60m
1oz Sorachi Ace 10% 15m
1oz Sorachi Ace 10% 2m

Have not played around with the hops much on this one. This is the hop used in the original.

 

[ericd]

Malt bill looks okay, you could switch out the crystal for some belgian aromatic malt. Replace some of the LME with sugar (add at the beginning of boil) 20% isn't too much for the style.

All amarillo works great in a belgian IPA, i'd shoot for around 40-50IBU with a least half of that past the 20 min mark.

Ferment warm (you want a lot of yeast character) and try to get 75%-80% attenuation. You want it dry too. Give it some time to age as well.

 

[logan3825]

Thank you for the response. I guess I will have to wait until things warm up to brew a Belgian.

So drop the Pearle? Does Pearle work with Amarillo in a pale ale?

 

[ericd]

I've never used perle, but I think it'd be okay.

The main thing is not to make it too bitter. Belgian IPAs are supposed to be a perfect balance of malty-hoppy-yeasty which is what makes them so great.

 

[dirty_martini]

I've never used perle, but I think it'd be okay.

The main thing is not to make it too bitter. Belgian IPAs are supposed to be a perfect balance of malty-hoppy-yeasty which is what makes them so great.

agreed. most of the ones I didnt like was because they were too bitter. The big bitterness clashes with the belgian yeast. I think because most of the beers were basically belgian tripels, people were bittering it like a IIPA since the abv was over 8%. Problem was, tripels dont have the malt profile to balance that out so it was over done.

I think any of the hop schedules would be fine. I think the first will give you a big citrus punch. The second will be more floral and citrus. The third will be more lemony and grassy.

 

[Mathematics]

Replace some of the LME with sugar (add at the beginning of boil) 20% isn't too much for the style.

Not sure I 100% agree with this, wouldn't you want a bit of a thicker malt backbone to balance out the hops? Brewing some sort of Belgian IPA this week on a cake of WLP515, might use 1/2lb of piloncilo but thats about it.

Also - Any thoughts on using all noble hops? Every recipe I see has a blend of American & Noble, or just all American hops. I am not thinking the grapefruit/citrusy flavor would go as well with the yeast profile as something spicy like saaz or tett. Maybe the answer is a 1oz addition of nugget as the bittering hop, and then lots of noble hops at 30/15/0 min

 

[dirty_martini]

You should still be aiming for 1.012-1.013ish. Same FG for both IPAs and tripels. However, without the malt character of an IPA, that's why you need the ibus to be lower than your standard IPA.

 

[logan3825]

I don't think I will add any sugar unless I was going to go with more extract. I think it will already get low enough with only 6lb LME.

The one I had with Sorachi Ace was 5.8%abv, 1.060 OG and 60 IBU, I think. I will double check this weekend. I don't want the hops to drown out the yeast flavors.