Crawl Through the Woods IPA

[brew]

OK, so I'm not sure I can help myself... Maybe start slow at around 50 ibu... I was thinking Simcoe would go well with the Centennial / Cascade / Amarillo trio...

Do you think its a waste of Centennial and Simcoe to add them at 60? Should I instead replace with Galena or Magnum?

Recipe: Crawl Through The Woods IPA
Style: American IPA
Batch Size (fermenter): 18.93 l
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
OG / FG / ABV: 1.092 SG / 1.013 SG / 10.6 %
Color / IBM: 8.8 SRM / 54.2 IBUs

Grains: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
12 lbs                Pilsner, Bohemian (2.0 SRM)              Grain         1        70.6 %        
2 lbs                 Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)                    Grain         2        11.8 %        
1 lbs                 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)    Grain         3        5.9 %        
1 lbs                 White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)               Grain         4        5.9 %        

Boil: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
1 lbs                 Brewers Crystals (0.0 SRM)               Sugar         5        5.9 %        
0.50 oz               Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           7        18.5 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min     Hop           6        14.2 IBUs    
1.00 Items            Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)        Fining        8        -            
0.50 oz               Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min         Hop           10       9.2 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min     Hop           9        7.1 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           12       3.7 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           11       1.6 IBUs      
1oz Amarillo Dry Hop 7 days

Ferment: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
2.0 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast         13       -            

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, 150F One Sparge

[Richard]

I'd save the Simcoe for flavour/aroma if you're low on it; you still get some of its flavour character at 60, but not a lot. Magnum or Galena are both nice and clean replacements.

Also your BU:GU is about 0.5, which is way low for an IIPA... would suggest a minimum of 20 AAU in bittering - say 2oz of magnum @ 60.

[Chris Craig]

60 min boil for that much pils?  DMS?

I'd say shoot for 60 IBUs.  That's a good entry into IPA.

[Chris Craig]

1.092!  That may seem a bit unbalanced...

[chrismccull]

I have some comet leaf hops enroute if you want to dry hop it.

[brew]

Also your BU:GU is about 0.5, which is way low for an IIPA... would suggest a minimum of 20 AAU in bittering - say 2oz of magnum @ 60.

Interesting - I've never really considered BU:GU before - I think I'll remove the brewers crystals - that'll reduce the OG to 1.083 give me close to a 0.7. I'm just trying for a lighter IPA (rather than an IIPA), but something with a little kick. Or maybe I should lower the amount of pilsner instead? Should end up being more balanced that way?

Chris C, I've had really good luck with the bohemian pilsner - never any signs of DMS yet with 60 minute boils - Kyle I believe has had pretty good luck as well I think. Even still though, I may up the boil time anyway - isn't that typical for an IPA? Is there any difference between a hop addition at 90 and one at 60?

Chris M - that sounds like a fantastic idea! I'll be dropping by soon for a taste of that bitter (this week has been crazy busy). Maybe I could replace the 1oz of Amarillo with 1oz of Comet... might go well with the simcoe...

[Chris Craig]

There is significant difference with hops at 60 and 90.  I've never done an IPA on a 90 minute boil.  I like my IPAs dry, so I use very little crystal, and I usually mash at 149-150.

[brew]

Cool - yeah I think I'll try it a bit dryer as well so I opted for 150.

Here's an updated version, 90 min boil, lower ABV, lower OG, higher ratio. I split 1 oz of galena, half at 90, half at 60 - hope this isn't over the top for me:

Recipe: Crawl Through The Woods IPA
Style: American IPA
Batch Size (fermenter): 18.93 l
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
OG / FG / ABV / Ratio: 1.078 SG / 1.014 SG / 8.4 % / 0.823
Color / IBU: 8.6 SRM / 64.0 IBUs

Grains: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
11 lbs                Pilsner, Bohemian (2.0 SRM)              Grain         1        73.3 %        
2 lbs                 Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)                    Grain         2        13.3 %        
1 lbs                 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)    Grain         3        6.7 %        
1 lbs                 White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)               Grain         4        6.7 %        

Boil: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
0.50 oz               Galena [12.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min         Hop           5        22.1 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Galena [12.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           6        20.6 IBUs    
1.00 Items            Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)        Fining        7        -            
0.50 oz               Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min         Hop           9        7.8 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min     Hop           8        6.0 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           11       4.3 IBUs      
0.50 oz               Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min      Hop           10       3.3 IBUs      

Ferment: Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
2.0 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast         12       -            

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, 150F Two Sparges

[Chris Craig]

My disposal services are free if you have a problem with it  

[brew]

Oh yeah, forgot, likely dry-hop with 1oz of Comet (thanks Chris M!)

Chris C. - The offer of assistance is heart warming...  

[Kyle]

I generally use Simcoe for flavour. You can go with galena or another fairly neutral high a/a bittering hop and the Simcoe will shine. I also use Simcoe for dry-hopping

[Richard]

I'm just trying for a lighter IPA (rather than an IIPA)

You've landed literally at the bottom end of the IIPA specs there with the bittering and gravity... It'll definitely have some kick... not so much lightness.

[brew]

Yeah - thanks for confirming that for me - I think I'll make some more modifications before trying this... maybe cut the galena in half and add a bit more vienna / pilsner...

[Richard]

Well, if you want a dry IPA I'd cut the caramel in half, drop a few pounds of base, add a pound of table sugar, and maybe lose just a touch of the bittering hops. If you add more base you're just marching further and further into unbalanced territory... try to put together the recipe with a BU:GU of 1, IBUs where you want them (so if you want 50 ibus, go with 1.050 from base malt), then shove a pound or two of sugar in to bump up the booze kick. The sugar should ferment out dry and just contribute alcohol, whereas the malt:bittering balance of the original bill should shine.

Just my $0.02... don't want to completely dick around with your recipe - beer is beer eh

[brew]

Ahh I see - yes - I'm still getting the hang of this whole make up a recipe thing...

So the ratio is a direct indicator of how bitter it is? So the more alcohol, the less bitter? Or is the alcohol side of that ratio just an indicator of how much grain flavor there is to balance out the IBU? (so adding straight sugar doesn't affect perceived bitterness when drinking?)