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Author Topic: session IPA tricks  (Read 6639 times)

Offline homoeccentricus

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session IPA tricks
« on: June 08, 2015, 08:41:56 am »
Hi folks,

I'm planning to brew a session IPA for the summer. Any tricks on how to do this? How to increase body (apart from mashing high), which yeast to use, which hops, how much,  optimum bitterness etc.

I read a few threads on the forum but they are already a few years old, so maybe there are some new techniques floating around...
Frank P.

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Offline dannyjed

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2015, 08:46:41 am »
I know the brewers from Founders say that they use a lot of Crystal malt in their session IPA. You could also try and mash at a high temperature.
Dan Chisholm

Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2015, 08:49:00 am »
I was going to recommend a decent amount of crystal malt as well.

Most commercial examples I see are around 40-45 IBUs so I would probably shoot for BU:OG of 1. There are some that I enjoy and others that taste like hop water.
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Offline toby

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2015, 08:50:21 am »
Make a really good APA.  ;)

Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2015, 08:55:36 am »
Make a really good APA.  ;)

Before we get into this type of discussion, I would like to point out to you and everyone else that I have a Master's degree in semantics.  :P
Frank P.

Staggering on the shoulders of giant dwarfs.

Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2015, 08:57:00 am »
I was going to recommend a decent amount of crystal malt as well.

Except that pretty soon someone will pop up and advice to use little crystal  :P
Frank P.

Staggering on the shoulders of giant dwarfs.

Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2015, 08:59:19 am »
I was going to recommend a decent amount of crystal malt as well.

Except that pretty soon someone will pop up and advice to use little crystal  :P

Most likely. I myself don't use much crystal malt in most my beers but I would think you would want a good amount in something like this...
On Tap/Bottled: IPL, Adjunct Vienna, Golden Stout, Honey Lager
Fermenting: IPA
Up Next: mexi lager, Germerican pale ale

Offline theDarkSide

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2015, 09:00:26 am »
I've added some white wheat malt for body, but then I find myself doing this for my normal strength APA's and IPA's as well.
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #8 on: June 08, 2015, 09:05:03 am »
Session IPA means what OG?

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2015, 09:16:24 am »
I've added some white wheat malt for body, but then I find myself doing this for my normal strength APA's and IPA's as well.

+1.  Munich would build some malty body for balance, too. Maybe 25-30% Munich, along with a higher amount of crystal (10%ish), and mashing @ 160ish would be a good start.
Jon H.

Offline AmandaK

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2015, 09:23:00 am »
I have used variants of the "West Coast Bitter" recipe to very good effect.
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Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2015, 09:49:56 am »
Session IPA means what OG?

Damn, thought it was in the new BJCP guidelines, but apparently it isn't. So let's take the ratebeer definition:
"typically 3.2 - 4.6 percent alcohol".

The guidelines do say about the APA: " More balanced and drinkable, and less intensely hop-focused and bitter than session-strength American IPAs (aka Session IPAs)", so the Session IPA's existence is herewith officially recognized.
Frank P.

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Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2015, 09:53:09 am »
And #1 on ratebeer is Hill Farmstead Walden: "A sessionable pale/blonde ale. <4% abv. 40 ibus. Hopped with Motueka, Amarillo, and Simcoe."
Frank P.

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Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #13 on: June 08, 2015, 09:56:05 am »
And these are recommendations from Mike Tonsmeire on session ales - http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/01/vienna-malt-session-ipa-recipe.html :

Boosting Perceived Body:
1. Add more crystal/dextrin malt, which will add sweetness and mouthfeel.
2. Add unmalted grains (especially oats and rye) for their beta-glucans, which add body without sweetness, but can also contribute haze.
3. Raise the saccharification rest temperature, a good choice to avoid the sweetness of crystal malts.
4. Use a less attenuative yeast strain, English strains are especially well suited.
5. Use a strain that produce a high amount of glycerin/glycerol, saison strains tend to excel at this.
6. Lower carbonation, I find high carbonation makes light beers taste seltzer-like (although higher carbonation can help excessively thin beers, like gueuze).

Enhancing Malt Flavor:
1. Use a more flavorful base malt like Maris Otter, Vienna, Munich, or dark wheat.
2. Raise the percentage of specialty malts, especially toasty malts like Victory, biscuit, and melanoidin.
3. Eliminate adjuncts like corn/table sugar, and corn which dilute malt flavor.
4. Conduct a no-sparge mash to increase color/flavor, and minimize tannin extraction.

Maintaining Balance:
1. For a hoppy beer reduce the IBUs proportionally to the expected residual extract (I think this is a better way to think about balance than the classic BU:GU ratio).
2. Do not trim late boil additions as much to maintain a solid hop aroma.
3. For dark beers consider increasing the percentage, but cold steeping your roasted grains to reduce harshness.
4. Use a more expressive yeast because the lower gravity will result in a cleaner fermentation profile.
5. Account for serving the beer fresher than you would a strong beer (e.g., use a highly flocculent yeast).
Frank P.

Staggering on the shoulders of giant dwarfs.

Offline toby

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Re: session IPA tricks
« Reply #14 on: June 08, 2015, 10:56:41 am »
Make a really good APA.  ;)

Before we get into this type of discussion, I would like to point out to you and everyone else that I have a Master's degree in semantics.  :P
With a dual degree in pedantics, that's an excellent combination.  But on a more serious note...  The 'trick' to a session IPA is to take an IPA bill and scale it down to get the ABV around 3 to 5% ABV (even though Session beer for me means below 4.5%).  I personally would not increase the crystal malts.