Messages

91

Beer Recipes / Re: double IPA recipe help

« on: March 05, 2013, 09:36:58 AM »

Got it and all the advice makes complete sense.

I used to be a raging hophead and the more hoppy and bitter the better. Now, my palate has changed and I like things more balanced but I still love hop flavor and aroma. The bigger IPAs and IIPAs  that I like are still classified as these styles however I consider them to have more malt character and complexity than it appears most around here like.

It appears that I probably don't have the right hop types and amounts to do a good IIPA unless I did a smaller batch which is another option. I will probably scale it back to an IPA and use a hop schedule like something here:

Bravo - 60 min
Columbus - 20 min
equal amts of Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade - 10, 5, 0 min
Columbus - Dry hop

Maybe simplify the malt bill
75% two row
20% munich
5% honey/crystal

92

Beer Recipes / Re: double IPA recipe help

« on: March 05, 2013, 09:07:18 AM »

Sorry all I guess I am just an idiot. When I meant I wanted something to age I meant for 6 months or less. I know that a lot like their hoppy stuff very fresh but not me.

I have never had a barleywine that I liked and don't really want to brew one. I will just plan to switch gears and do something else.

My favorite double IPA is listed to have the following malts although I obviously don't have the %; 471 is a double IPA, that combines Pale, Munich, Caramel-30, Carapils and Torrified Wheat malts. I would assume the munich is a smaller % than what I was planning. It is described to have a "big sweet mouthfeel". I guess I had that in my head as a goal.

Thanks for all the help

93

Beer Recipes / Re: double IPA recipe help

« on: March 04, 2013, 09:27:47 PM »

I'd probably try to simplify the grain bill a bit. I normally love a bit of Munich in an IPA, but for an IIPA I think you really want the malt bill to get out of the way of the hops. I'd swap out the Munich for 2-row. The honey malt may be OK, but I'd be more inclined to replace it with a light Crystal (20-40ish) or even Carapils.

I'd add about 4-6 oz of hops at flameout and a minimum of 6 ounces as dry hops.

Thanks for the input. Any suggestions about bravo?

I am thinking half two row and half munich may be more to my liking after do an all munich APA recently. At first I thought it was way too malty but now I love it. I prefer my hoppy beers to be more on the balanced side with some sweetness. I am hoping to do this Friday so I still have some time to develop the recipe.

As far as the hops, I cannot afford to do 10-12 oz between flameout and dry hop. I was more in the range of 8 oz total max. Maybe I should scale it down to a regular IPA.... My normal IPA is 70% 2 row, 25% munich, and 5% crystal which is great. I only use about 5 oz of hops in the beer and it is very close to what I like at 69 IBUs and an OG of 1.063

94

Beer Recipes / Re: double IPA recipe help

« on: March 04, 2013, 04:23:41 PM »

okay I am slowly getting somewhere

For 5.5 gallon batch:
6.25# two row
6.25# munich I
1.5# wheat
.75# honey malt
.75# table sugar

Dropped by my estimated efficiency to 75% which calculates to an estimated og of 1.080

I am thinking about only using Columbus and Bravo for hops but I have not heard great things about Bravo. I have seen it compared to Columbus many times but it seems only appropriate for bittering. I have used a small amount of bravo once and I thought the pellets smelled great. So my hop scheduled is still TBD.

Proposed hop schedule:
18 g Columbus FWH
18 g Bravo 60 min
35 g Columbus 15 min
35 g Bravo 10 min
21 g Columbus 5 min

I have various leaf hops that I will probably throw in at flame out and let steep through cooling. Then I plan to dry hop with columbus and bravo. This is all dependent on what kind of feedback I get regarding Bravo as a flavor/aroma hop.  84.7 IBUs

95

Beer Recipes / Re: double IPA recipe help

« on: March 04, 2013, 01:19:30 PM »

I'd advise you to add at least a lb. of sugar to lighten up the body.

Good advice. I forgot about that

96

Beer Recipes / double IPA recipe help

« on: March 04, 2013, 11:38:57 AM »

Hi All. I am trying to do one last batch in my current home before I have to suspend operations for some time. I thought I would do a double IPA to get rid of some hops and also have a strong beer that will age well. I prefer more balanced hoppy beers.

For the grains I was thinking:
45% two row
40% munich I
10% wheat
5% honey malt

OG 1.080
Mash at 150
US-05 yeast

My first question is what kind of efficiency should I expect? I recently started going to a different brew store and my efficiency has jumped up about 10 points because of their grain mills. I have been getting around 80%. Any idea of what I should drop it to as an estimate for a 1.080 beer?

Now for hops. I have a bunch of columbus and bravo that I want to use up and I was going to shoot for slightly above 80 IBUs and a bitterness ratio of 1.0. I also have some centennial, amarillo, and cascade that I will probably use for later additions and or dry hopping. I plan to FWH with columbus and do a standard 60 min addition with bravo with both of those additions coming to about 1/2 of the total IBUs. Any recommendations on the rest of the hop schedule?

18 g Columbus FWH
18 g Bravo 60 min

97

Beer Recipes / Re: Check my recipe please

« on: February 21, 2013, 12:05:43 PM »

Personally, I would decrease the amount of chocolate malt and increase the flaked oats. I would also just do a bittering hop addition and nothing else but that's just me....

98

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Best way to aerate wort just prior to pitching yeast

« on: February 14, 2013, 12:26:53 PM »

I use a handheld electric kitchen mixer. Sanitize the beaters and put it on high for a couple of minutes or until there is a large frothy foam almost overflowing from the fermenting bucket. This seems to work well for me for aerating and mixing the yeast thoroughly with the wort.

99

All Grain Brewing / Re: help classify this beer

« on: February 14, 2013, 08:31:05 AM »

This falls squarely into American IPA territory per the BJCP guidelines.  On the other hand, if you were to enter it into competition, it will not score well because judges are expecting something of lighter color and less color.  But they're wrong.  This is a friggin American IPA, no doubt about it.

It also falls into the style guidelines of an APA. I overshot my OG by 9 pts due to a much higher efficiency than normal.

But, hard to say without tasting it.  Taste it and read the BJCP guidelines.  Compare and contrast where you think it will fit best per your tastes, appearance, and aroma.

Aren't the IBUs too low for an IPA?

It falls into the style guidelines of an ESB/English Pale Ale and I think that this is probably what it tastes most like. The biggest commonalities are "emphasis is still on the bittering hop addition as opposed to the aggressive middle and late hopping seen in American ales" and "Normally has a moderately low to
somewhat strong caramelly malt sweetness". I don't enter comps so I don't have to worry about that. This is more or less an excercise for my sanity and so that I can better describe it to people who try it.

It is very close to fitting into the Amber Ale category with the SRM being just outside of the 10 SRM threshold. It looks like an amber. I am leaning more toward the amber solely based on the ingredients but most ambers I have had are not quite this malty and have a bit more overall hop character. I need to taste it a couple of more times but at this point it "tastes" most like one of these two styles I think.

100

Beer Recipes / Re: basic blonde ale

« on: February 13, 2013, 08:34:26 AM »

Seriously, you are over thinking this .  Blonde ales are very simple.  Basically an all malt standard lager with ale yeast and maybe a little more hop character.  Mostly 90+% 2-row, occasionally an adjunct(i.e. wheat), and maybe a light crystal malt, with low hop profile.

Per the BJCP (you may need to scroll down):
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1b

Here is Jamil's recipe from the Beer Dujour website.  I like the centennial idea better than williamette:
http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsBlondeAle.htm

K thanks

Sometimes, the more simple the recipe, the better it tastes!

101

All Grain Brewing / Re: help classify this beer

« on: February 13, 2013, 08:32:17 AM »

Got ya. That all makes sense. At this point it does seems to possibly match up with an ESB/English Pale or an Alt. I will need to compare the two styles and see which one seems more appropriate. It has move alcohol and less color than an alt but I guess the flavor profile is what matters most here.

Thanks guys. Once I make a determination, I can use it instead of telling people, "well, it was supposed to be an APA but turned out...."

102

All Grain Brewing / Re: help classify this beer

« on: February 12, 2013, 09:27:05 PM »

Thanks guys. I obviously don't know much about styles/categories but I assumed that US05 would rule out anything other than american styles. When I say malty, it has a pretty prominent caramel malty flavor and aroma. The hops are really only noticeable from a bitterness perspective.

I will take your advice and take a more detailed look at style guidelines next time I have one....

103

Beer Recipes / Re: basic blonde ale

« on: February 12, 2013, 07:15:17 PM »

Thanks all. I will probably go back more to the original idea. My biggest challenge is to determine how much crystal I want to use. If honey malt is more or less crystal than I guess I should keep the total amount of honey malt + crystal at or below 10%. I do like hoser's idea too...

104

All Grain Brewing / help classify this beer

« on: February 12, 2013, 07:04:24 PM »

Please help me determine what category this should fit into. I am leaning toward American Amber though it was meant to be an APA. My issue is that I don't think I have tasted an amber this malty either. The flavor is very malty with a balanced hop bitterness although there are flavor/aroma addtions as well. I don't drink/brew many German style beers but it tastes like a malty german alt or something balanced by some hop bitterness and feremented with american ale yeast. Sorry I have been posting about this beer a lot....

100% munich I
16 g Zythos 60 min
7 g Zythos 20 min
23 g Zythos 10 min
23 g Zythos 5 min
23 g Zythos 0 min
21 g Zythos dry hop
US05

OG 1.060
FG 1.012
ABV 6.3%
IBUs 37.5
SRM 9.2

It's pretty tasty just not at all what I was going for...ha. It will help me to realize that I am drinking something other than an APA. I know it may not truly fit anywhere. Let me know if any additional info will help.

105

Ingredients / Re: honey malt

« on: February 12, 2013, 08:33:25 AM »

Next time you are in your LHBS and they have Honey malt, do sample a few kernels.  It does have an amazingly honey-like flavor that does make it to the beer.  I agree that this is one of those grains that should be utilized in moderation.  It would be easy to overdo.

I agree...a little bit goes a long way.
But it's great stuff and it finds its way into a lot of my 'standard' beers in varying amounts.    It adds a particularly appealing richness to the  brews I design specifically for long aging.

What is the highest % you have used in a beer? I have always stuck around 5% and have never thought that it was very noticeable. I would like to use more but don't want to overdo like many warn is easy to do