[Herminator]

Hello All,

Well that time has come and I am planning a double brew day.  I am rather new to brewing so I was hoping I could get some feedback on the following recipes.  The IPA was drafted with some help of this forum!

IPA
Extract - 5 gallons
60 minute boil
org. grav. 1060
final grav. 1.017
ABV 5.63
IBU 54.35

7.5 lb dry light malt extract
.5 lb sugar
1 lb crystal 20L (steeping grains)

1 oz Armarillo (first wort hop)
1 oz Cascade (first wort hop)
1 oz Warrior (60 minutes)
.33 oz falconer's (15 mins, 10 mins, 5 mins)
.33 oz cascade (15 mins, 10 mins, 5 mins)
.33 oz armarillo (15 mins, 10 mins, 5 mins)
1 oz falconer's (flame out)
1 oz Armarillo (7 days dry hop)
1 oz Falconer's (7 day dry hop)
Yeast: US-05

Pale Ale
Extract
5 gallon - 60 minute boil
Org. Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity 1.012
ABV: 4.19
IBU: 43.47
6 lb Light Liquid Extract
1 lb Belgian Carmel Pils (steeping grains)
2 oz Cascade (60 mins)
1 oz Cascade (flame out)
1 oz Cascade (7 day dry hop)


Any suggestions would help. It would be great if I could get the ABV in both of these beers up a little.  Roughly 5.5-6.5 ABV.

Thanks a lot.

[morticaixavier]

If you just want to bump the ABV up you can either add more extract, which will up the OG, ABV, and FG (just a little though) or you can add more simple sugar which will lighten the body, raise the OG and ABV but either leave the FG the same or lower it slightly.

[kylekohlmorgen]

+1 for sugar if you want a little more gravity. Its appropriate for both beers.

Overall great recipes! Simple, and restrained crystal malts in hoppy beers (a mistake too many professional breweries make these days).

Happy brewing!

[Herminator]

So I just realized that I have a bag of Centennial hops and not Cascade.  A little more AAs in the Centennial but just going to sub those out.  Yeah for hops!

[Herminator]

Alright.  One more question. 

So I decided to just brew one beer and am focused on the IPA.  I picked 9.25 pounds of light golden for the IPA recipe.

My question is...due to the amount of extract, how much water should I start with?  2.5 gallons for steeping and then pour in extract?  Then bring to full boil and top off to 5 gallons after boil?

Thanks.  I am not following a set of of instructions so your help is much appreciated.

[erockrph]

For an IPA, I'd recommend using as much water as your pot/burner can handle. The less you have to dilute the wort post-boil the better as far as IPA's are concerned. For extract beers I usually add the steeping grains right as I start to heat my water. Once it hits about 165-170F, I pull the grains and add my extract. I'd also suggest only adding about 1/3-1/2 of your extract at the beginning, and add the rest right before your 15 minute addition. This will get you higher utilization from your 60-minute addition, and less kettle caramelization.

[Herminator]

Thanks for the reply.  Brew went really well.  I hit 1.060 OG which I was really happy about.  I decided to forgo the cane sugar because I just pitched dry and not a starter.  I ended up having to add a little more water at the end than I was hoping to add....but overall went well. Smelled hoppy which I was excited about.  2nd batch under my belt so all smiles here. 

Thank you all for the feedback.