There are many reasons why you might want to try this recipe, if you are a hop head though, you might as well as go back to browsing other post on this blog because you’re not going to like this one. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, I should say that this is child’s play for you.
This is really for those that aren’t big IPA fans and are either making an IPA for someone and you know you are going to be drinking some of it, or if you are just trying to get your feet wet in the IPA world, but you’ve had bad experiences so far. Well, don’t give up! This is a recipe that you should try if you fall into either of those categories or some where close to it. I do have some suggestions at the end of it as well as a break down as well.
I’m Going For Round 2 – IPA
Ingredients
1 lbs Munich Malt
.75 lbs Biscuit Malt (or Victory)
.5 lbs Carapils
6 lbs Pilsen Light Malt Extract (Dry)
.5 oz Columbus Hops (60 min 7.5 AAU)
.5 oz Magnum Hops (15 min 7.25 AAU)
1 oz Amarillo Hops (Dry hop 12 AAU)
2 oz Crystal Hops (Dry Hop 7 AAU)
WLP 001 or WYeast 1056
Specifications
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.013
SRM: 8
IBU: 45
ABV: 6.7
Directions:
- Heat 2.5 gallons of water up to 150 degrees
- Steep grains for 30min, then take out
- Add malt extract
- Bring wort to boil
- Add Columbus hops
- Boil for 45 min
- Add Magnum Hops
- Boil for 15 min
- End boil
- Cool down, put in fermenter, pitch yeast
- Ferment for 7 days
- Either rack to secondary or not depending on your equipment
- Add Amarillo hops and crystal hops
- Let sit for 14 days
- Then bottle with 5 oz or .75 cup of corn sugar
- Drink it 3 weeks
Analysis of the recipe
This recipe is aimed at people who don’t really like hoppy beers, want to make an IPA but don’t want something that is going to burn off their taste buds after one beer. So with that said, does this even count as an IPA? Yes it does, this beer actually makes the mark 100% for style comparison. What that means is, if you were going to send this into a beer competition, you would be brewing to style for the American IPA. The IBU’s are low, yes very low for an IPA, just about as low as I could get them actually. Even with that said though, you are brewing to style (IPA IBU’s 40-60).
The malt bill is really easy. I chose the Munich malt, and biscuit malt because this is going to give a nice balance. Both of these malts have this bready flavor to it. Very appealing to balance out the beer and won’t be overly sweet. We were staying to Rule #1 for this. The carapils is really just there for head retention. It doesn’t change the color, doesn’t add any flavor but will help your beer in appearance.
If you are wondering why Pils was added instead of Golden light, it’s because it gives the beer a bit lighter of a color. Maybe my taste buds are off but in the past I really haven’t tasted to big of a difference when specialty grains are added. Adding lighter malt extract does make the beer, “Pop” in the glass. If you are looking at a way to make sure it stays light check out one of our post on how to keep beers light. Keeping beers light is something I like to do for American style beers, just ascetically pleasing I guess.
When doing the hops, I chose it this way for a very specific reason. Magnum as well as Columbus are extremely clean hops. If you go with something like Chinook, it tends to linger a bit giving a grassy like flavor, and cascade taste like a grapefruit. But the hops we are using are going to come and go pretty quick. For this particular IPA we are going to dry hop it. Dry hopping will not impact the flavor, just give it a lot of aroma. Amarillo paired with crystal hops are becoming a favorite pairing of mine for dry hopping. Crystal hops have this very flowery smell to them, love it. Amarillo hops are known to have a little spice and a bit of melon in there. Now picture this, you get this big smell of floral hops, with some melon and a bit of citrusy aroma going, then take your sip and it’s clean… so legit.
White labs Cali yeast is the go to for IPA’s. It’s just one that people do so much for them it’s almost becoming the standard protocol. If you wanted fruitier flavors think about While Labs 051, or if you wanted to dry it out even more it’s not a stretch to think of WLP 007. It really is all up to you, play around with it. But if you are just dipping your toes in the water, try out WLP001 – it’s a safe bet every time.
Suggestions:
One thing that you might want to do is try adding some oak chips in with it when you are doing secondary fermentation. 1 oz is what I would recommend. Just add them in when you’re dry hopping. What this will do is add an oak flavor to your beer, I know I’m captain obvious. But the reason why this is nice is, it will help mellow out the hops. I know 45 IBU’s is not crazy hoppy, but it’s a lot for some – adding oak chips will help mellow out that flavor, and ultimately it will turn out pretty well.
Note: Adding oak chips to beer is a trick that I do if I mess up or don’t get results I like. I learned early on with making red pasta sauce from scratch that if it’s too acidic, add some grated carrots and it cleans it up every time. That’s how I use the oak chips. If it’s too hoppy for me, I just add in some oak chips. My mess up gets cleaned up and all of a sudden your friends have that, “Ohhhhhhhh”, reaction when you tell them, “Ya I just added some oak chips to make the beer a bit different, it’s an oak aged IPA”. Little did they know you couldn’t take the heat. So keep that card close to you.
Conclusion:
This is not a recipe for those that are hop heads. If you are a hop head, you probably are going to view this beer as a weird pale ale. But it is brewing an IPA to style. I know a lot of people don’t like brewing to style and normally I don’t make to big of an effort to either. But if you want to taste what an IPA taste like when brewed to style, this is a good one. Not for hop heads, but for people who want to get their feet a little wet into the IPA world. If you are making this beer for someone who can not get enough of the IPA’s, hopefully at least with the dry hopping they will appreciate a nice bouquet of hops. The bitter aspect of this beer will be clean, it will not taste like you’re eating a grapefruit or munching on alpha in a field. Also add oak chips if you are still a bit nervous about making an IPA. Just be careful, you are always 1 oz away from your beer tasting like mulch when it comes to oak chips, so a little goes a long ways.
Hope you enjoy and good luck!
Let me know if you have any great tips for people that are starting off with the IPA’s!
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Jay's Brewing Blog 
November 7, 2012 at 8:11 pm
When I dry hop as I never have done it will pellets work or should I get leaf or whole and how do you get them out of the beer at bottling time
November 7, 2012 at 8:28 pm
So when it comes to dry hopping there are a few different schools of thoughts. But to put it simply there are pro’s and cons to both pellets and leaf. The biggest pro with leaf is that they are easy to clean out from the fermenter, because you put this in a bag and then lift them up – it’s now clean. The down side to them is that they end up sucking up a good bit of wort, depending on how much you plan on dry hopping with. So take that into account.
As far as pellets, the pro is that they don’t suck up any wort, the con is that they break apart and mess the look of your beer up.
I’m not picky when it comes to it, I end up getting what ever type of hop is available.
As far as applying them, just put them in a bag with some weight on the bottom of the bag and let them in and they will sink. Stainless steel or glass marbles do the trick normally.
I add Gelatin to my beer if I am trying to clear it up, I would suggest you do the same as well if that’s what you are going for. You would add this in at least 5 days before you plan on bottling and after your fermentation is complete. I go 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp for a 5 gallon batch. Some people go all the way up to 1/2tsp per gallon. Just wait 5 days and see what happens. Hope that helps, let me know if you got any other questions.
November 7, 2012 at 9:55 pm
I was planning on going by your recipe here for dry hopping I do rack to a secondary if that makes and differences would it be bad to rack to secondary and then like a day before bottling like rack it again for a third time to another carboy or better bottle to help get rid of the hops if I go the pellet way and do I need any special bag or anything like that to use leaf I saw a hop ball on northern brewers website I wish you didn’t stop selling online I would be buying from you since you have been a great deal of help to me
November 7, 2012 at 11:38 pm
First off thanks for the compliment. To answer your questions, you could do that with the racking if you wanted to, or you could just add the gelatin to where the dry hopping is at, doesn’t much matter. It’s 6 to a half dozen – same thing (I’m sure someone would argue differently with it though). As far as the container for the hops, again that’s preference. All that stainless steel thing is the same thing that you can by from your super market in the tea isle; same thing. Personally I just use a muslin bag, then I’ll take some stainless steel washers that I own (Walmart had them) or marbles and put them in the bag to weight them down. People come up with some elaborate ways to weigh down the bag. One is that you can take a stainless steel washer, tie a steel leader from fishing to it (it’s a metal rope) then on the other end tie that to bag. The washer will sink to the bottom and then the steel leader will connect to the bag keeping it submerged. Hope that answers your questions, let me know if you have any others of if I need to clarify.
January 30, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Jay, just getting into homebrewing (two whole batches in!) and I’m just wondering about grossing up the recipe for a 5 gallon batch. I’m guessing that your measurements (2.5 gallon boil) gets you about a 2 gallon yield after boil, am I thinking about that right? Or is this actually designed for a 5 gallon recipe and I just missed getting it into carboy and filling to 5 gallons?
Thanks!
January 30, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Welcome to the homebrewing community! 5 gallon batches are a good call. Normally that is the standard so recipes become easier to measure out for 5 gallons. It’s assumed with 5 gallon batches if you are going to be doing specialty grains and extract you will be boiling around 2 gallons – 3 gallons of water on the stove top. That is one of the advantages for specialty grains and extracts, you can do it in your kitchen. So if you go that route and you do what is called a, “Partial Boil”, then after you are done working with it you cool it down and then fill it up to 5 gallons.
If you have a burner/large pot you can do a full boil, but normally that is just what all-grain brewers do. So you are correct it is for 5 gallons and you are just doing a partial boil and then going to cool it down, fill it up to 5 gallons and pitch your yeast. Any other questions just let me know!
Cheers,
Derek
May 20, 2016 at 9:41 pm
Original IPA was casked in oak barrels, so adding an ounce in 5gal. smooths out and rounds off the cutting edge of the hops. I’ve done this with my double IPA’s. Nice site !