[Hand of Dom]

For my most recent brew, I thought I'd have a go at one of these NE IPA's which caused a bit of discussion on here.  I admit that I've not actually tried one, but the descriptions I've read of them, sound like something I'd like to try.  My target for the brew was to produce a beer that had big hop aroma/flavour, full mouthfeel, soft bitterness, and come in at a session ABV. 

Batch size 19L (5 US gallons)
SG 1.049
IBU 30

Belgian pale ale malt 65%
Flaked oats 15%
Wheat malt 10%
Torrified wheat 7%
Carapils 3%

Mashed at 68c (154F) for 90mins
Water treated for 5.4 mash pH, Ca - 130, Cl - 195, SO4 - 64

60 minute boil
Magnum - 60m for 30IBU
25g each of Citra, Amarillo, and Galaxy added for a 60 minute hopstand at 80c
25g each of Citra, Amarillo, and Galaxy dry hopped for 14 days, at 7 days into fermentation

Fermented with WY1318 (starting at 18c/64f, gradually upping to 23c/73f, final 3 days will be cold crashed to 4c/39f for bottling).

Does anyone think I've made any massive errors with this approach?  Am I likely to end up with a beer that meets my planned criteria?

[kramerog]

According to Scott Janish's blog (http://scottjanish.com/blog/), there should be an addition of hops 3 days into the fermentation and an addition after fermentation.  Whether an addition 7 days into fermentation instead would work is not question I can answer.

[natebrews]

Having never made one, that looks pretty in line with the ones that I have seen.  I am also trying an experiment hopping during the ferment currently.  How much bitterness are you going for?  The long hop stand with that large charge of high alpha stuff is going to give you a bunch of bitterness so you might end up closer to 60 IBU or something.

[natebrews]

So, on the subject of hopping during the ferment, I added the hops this morning and something interesting occurred.  There was about 3" of krausen on the beer when I added them and now (2hr later) most of the krausen is gone.  The beer is still churning along like crazy and fermenting but the krausen has been reduced to a few blobs on the surface around the edge.

[HoosierBrew]

IMO there's no right or wrong way to hop an IPA (unless you underhop it). Personally I think by dry hopping at 3 days in, you'll be able to smell the fermentation blowing most of the aroma right out the airlock. I prefer the hop stand followed by dry hopping in keg when the beer is clear. To each his own.

[natebrews]

Yeah, that is how I have always done it but I thought I would try out this other method and see what it makes.  There are some things that you can get from the yeast/hop interaction that you wouldn't get otherwise, but I don't know if that will be sufficient to counteract the problems associated with the blowoff you are talking about. 

[HoosierBrew]

Yeah, that is how I have always done it but I thought I would try out this other method and see what it makes.  There are some things that you can get from the yeast/hop interaction that you wouldn't get otherwise, but I don't know if that will be sufficient to counteract the problems associated with the blowoff you are talking about. 

Wasn't trying to discourage you from doing it that way by any means - go for it. Like I said, no right or wrong way. There are yeast/hop interactions for sure, but I see it as a tradeoff. Hopping in the fermenter with lots of yeast in suspension will give those interactions, but the excess yeast will absorb  hop character and as the yeast drops out, hop character drops with the yeast. There are great commercial brewers who dry hop in primary, others that dry hop clear beer for a longer lasting aroma. The best way for any of us is the one we like best.

[Hand of Dom]

Having never made one, that looks pretty in line with the ones that I have seen.  I am also trying an experiment hopping during the ferment currently.  How much bitterness are you going for?  The long hop stand with that large charge of high alpha stuff is going to give you a bunch of bitterness so you might end up closer to 60 IBU or something.

I'm looking for a fairly low bitterness, I have done a similar hop stand on my last brew,and that has turned out really well. The temp drops to about 65c by the end of the hour.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[reverseapachemaster]

I don't know how much I believe there are significant biotransformations of the hops in that brief period of time (and I've yet to see a triangle test to confirm or dispute) but I feel pretty confident that not all of the NE IPA/PA brewers are doing that.

[denny]

I don't know how much I believe there are significant biotransformations of the hops in that brief period of time (and I've yet to see a triangle test to confirm or dispute) but I feel pretty confident that not all of the NE IPA/PA brewers are doing that.

Agreed.  My research shows that there isn't a single method they all use.  Seems like each one does it differently.

[Hand of Dom]

According to Scott Janish's blog (http://scottjanish.com/blog/), there should be an addition of hops 3 days into the fermentation and an addition after fermentation.  Whether an addition 7 days into fermentation instead would work is not question I can answer.

well, they go into the FV tomorrow, there appears to be a bit of a krausen still in place, so I might get a little interaction with the yeast.  There doesn't appear to be much in the way of airlock activity, so I hopefully won't lose aroma.

[kramerog]

The one NE IPA I made makes me a believer that yeast-hop interactions can be significant. I can't recognize the citra in this beer.

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

[natebrews]

I am doing mine with cascade hops.  It should be apparent if they are different from the norm and also I have a pile of them.

[Hand of Dom]

Just taken a gravity sample, it's at 1.014, so pretty much at the expected FG (1.013 based on the mid range of the quoted 71-75% AA).  Tasted the sample, and the bitterness appears to be pretty much spot on.  Not getting a lot of aroma/flavour from the hopstand hops, so may cut that step from the recipe next time, and add the hops to the dry hop.

[denny]

The one NE IPA I made makes me a believer that yeast-hop interactions can be significant. I can't recognize the citra in this beer.

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

I have proven that to myself and is why I never dry hop on the yeast.