[TopBrewerComingSoon]

Was hoping for some constructive feedback on my latest brew that is currently fermenting. I recently received a home brew kit that came with the generic Brewdog Punk IPA. After following the instructions and bottling the beer came out very nice.

Upon finishing this one I decided I was going to wing an IPA and see how it came out. Upon doing some generic research I found a few ingredients that make a great IPA, but my issue was not knowing how much is enough or too much. Here is what I have constructed.
2 Gallon Batch
2 # Victory Malt
1# Honey Malt
1# Flaked Wheat (As i read this gives the beer the hazy look i am after)
Mashed for 60 min at 150 and mashed out inbetween 60-65 min at 170
I then steeped the wort 3 times getting a perfect gallon

I then brought wort up to soft boil and started adding hops
1 oz Centennial at boil
1 oz of Cascade at boil
1oz of Centennial at 45 min
1 oz of Cascade at end of boil

Once cooled I put in 1 TSP of Danstar Notingham and 1 TSP of S-04 yeast
1/4 TSP of Yeast Nutrient

I just finished cooking last night and have begun fermentation process
I was also planning to dry hop an additional 6 oz of cascade toward end of fermentation

Based on what i compiled i was curious what everyone's thoughts on this would be? Too much victory malt? Too much yeast? Again just looking for some feedback on how to improve.

Thank you

[BrewBama]

While it is certainly your beer, you might want to start with a foundation of base malt and layer your specialty malts upon it. Victory, in general, should be used at ~15% or less. YMMV


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[TopBrewerComingSoon]

Thank you for your input. What would you consider to be a good foundation/base malt for an IPA and the typical percentage?

[dmtaylor]

This is a strange recipe.  Yes, you have too much Victory malt.  Also too much honey malt.  Also, I don't see any base malt, so it's unlikely you'll get very good attenuation at all.  You've essentially made starch soup.  I have also never seen yeast measured in teaspoons, only in grams.  You are making beer, not soup.  Suggest you review howtobrew.com or similar text prior to your next batch.

You will get beer... but it may or may not be good beer.  Good luck.

[BrewBama]

Tell you the truth I am not a fan of IPA. You can find a bazillion answers to that question given the popularity of the style. I guess if I were to brew one I’d find a reliable recipe to start with and then apply variations based on my preferences on subsequent brews. Something like Jamil’s 85% 2 Row, 5% Munich, 8% C15 and 2% C40.

If you want to use Victory you could sub one of the crystal malts (or both).

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[TopBrewerComingSoon]

Dave greatly appreciate your response. As I mentioned this was a big trial and error run and looking forward to learning from comments like yours BrewBama.

My original research was what malt made a great IPA and having seen both victory and Honey listed i chose to use those as the primaries not realizing these are more for additives and specialty malts. Will have to do more research before my next batch

BrewBama thank you providing your insight, I will have to research that bill grain to learn exactly how much will be needed for my next batch.
 

[Bob357]

Sources list Briess Victory and Gambrinas Honey Malts both as having diastatic powers of 50 Lintner. Flaked Wheat clocks in at zero. Using these numbers, your total grist diastatic power is 150 at best, giving your grist a score of 37.5 Lintner(found by dividing the total diastatic power by the number of pounds of grain).  Minimum diastatic power of the grist is commonly noted as being 30 Lintner. While above the minimum, it would take quite a long mash to reasonably convert the available starches.

The best feedback I can offer is to do some research before you try to brew again. John Palmer's How To Brew will cover most everything you need to know about brewing beer and can be found on line and free at www.howtobrew.com. Take the time to read it through instead of just picking out tidbits as it appearse you did to come up with the grist for this beer.

A web search will net countless recipes that you can look at to get an idea of recipe construction and quantities and/or percentages of various ingredients.

Welcome to a hobby that can be very rewarding once you realize that it isn't as simple as heating up a can of soup.

[James K]

I think something you could do that would be fairly easy would be to make SmaSh IPAs. You could just use pale malt and one hop. Next run, pale malt an a different hop.
Don’t over complicate. But also stick to common base malts.

[tommymorris]

When you blend paint you start with a base paint and then add a bit of color (or multiple colors) to get the final colored product. When making beer you use a base malt (or blend of base malts) in large proportion and then add small amounts of specialty malt to add select flavors and character. The specialty malts have very strong flavors and should be used sparingly.

A few common generic base malts include (there are many):
2-Row (aka Pale Malt)
Pilsner
Pale Ale Malt
Maris Otter
Golden Promise
Munich
Vienna
Wheat Malt

Your IPA malt bill should be 80-95% one of the base malts or a blend of two of these. I think the most popular base malts for IPA would be 2-Row, Pale Ale Malt, Maris Otter, or Golden Promise. But people use all from the above list.

Munich, Vienna, and Wheat malt are sometimes used as base malts (for other beer styles) and sometimes treated like specialty malts. For an IPA malt bill, they are more likely to appear in specialty quantities.

Regarding whether your prior recipe will make beer, did you measure the original gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer? What  value did you get?


- formerly alestateyall.

[yugamrap]

When you blend paint you start with a base paint and then add a bit of color (or multiple colors) to get the final colored product. When making beer you use a base malt (or blend of base malts) in large proportion and then add small amounts of specialty malt to add select flavors and character. The specialty malts have very strong flavors and should be used sparingly.

A few common generic base malts include (there are many):
2-Row (aka Pale Malt)
Pilsner
Pale Ale Malt
Maris Otter
Golden Promise
Munich
Vienna
Wheat Malt

Your IPA malt bill should be 80-95% one of the base malts or a blend of two of these. I think the most popular base malts for IPA would be 2-Row, Pale Ale Malt, Maris Otter, or Golden Promise. But people use all from the above list.

Munich, Vienna, and Wheat malt are sometimes used as base malts (for other beer styles) and sometimes treated like specialty malts. For an IPA malt bill, they are more likely to appear in specialty quantities.

Regarding whether your prior recipe will make beer, did you measure the original gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer? What  value did you get?


- formerly alestateyall.

This ^^^

IPA can be a very simple and forgiving style to brew.  Mine is usually 95% 2-row and 5% Crystal 80.  You can do a single-infusion mash at 148 F to help it finish dry.  Hop to your preference.  Lately, I've been using a high-alpha neutral hop for bittering and a load of whatever hops I want to showcase at flameout/whirlpool.  Then, ferment with Chico yeast (US-05 / WY1056 / WLP001) and hit with some good dry hopping or, in my case, keg hopping.

Once you have a good basic IPA down and can repeat it, it's time to start playing around a bit to make it your own.  Maybe sub some rye malt for spiciness, or a little wheat or oats for mouthfeel.  Add a touch of de-husked chocolate or black malt to get the color you want.  The key is to get the basic style down and then start changing it up one variable at a time.   

[69franx]

Everything he just said ^^^!

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