[jivetyrant]

So I'm starting at 6.75 gallons of water, waiting for it to boil.  This strikes me as an excellent opportunity to post the recipe I've whipped up!

The theme for this beer is fairly simple.  It's a American/English hybrid oak aged IIPA.  I'll do doing a 90 minute boil with continuous hopping using;

1oz Warrior
1oz Columbus
1oz Challenger

Fermentables are as follows;

preboiled with 1lb British Amber Malt

6 lbs Amber DME
3.3 lbs Amber LME
1lb Turbinado sugar (10 minutes remaining)
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient, dissolved in warm water (10 mins)
1 tsp irish moss, rehydrated (10 mins)
1/2 oz Amarillo (end of boil)

Whirlpool for 2 minutes and add Amarillo hops, cover and let stand for 20 minutes.

Cool with wort chiller, transfer to carboy and top up to 5 gallons if necessary.

pitch 2 11.5g satchets of Fermentis S-04 English Ale yeast, rehydrated.

Oxygenate and ferment.  Once primary fermentation is complete transfer to secondary and dry hop with;

1oz Perle (german, I know. I may change this.)
1/2oz Amarillo
1/2oz UK First Gold

Add 6oz Medium toast oak cubes and keep in secondary for 2 weeks.

Thoughts?

[pyrite]

Warlock yes.  Wood cubes for 2 weeks no.  Just from past experience, leaving oak cubes it contact with a beer for 2 weeks will produce little to no flavor.  Oak cubes are a great addition to an aging beer but it takes at least 3 months to see good results.  I think you'll get quicker results using oak chips.

[ryang]

For an IIPA, I'd go a bit heavier handed with the hops.  3oz for continous hopping is not much.  I'd double that.
You might consider putting in one more yeast slug as well.  It'll do good for a bigger beer, and it's pretty cheap.

As for aging, less oak, more time.  6oz of oak cubes is a lot.  The way it stands, the oak will be rather one-dimensional, but the hop freshness will be better the younger it is, so you'll just have to determine what is more important.  Anyways, don't dry hop it until a week before packaging.

Looks like a nice start.  Good luck!  You'll make beer.

[rbcraig]

You may also think about a yeast starter. This is going to have an OG of around1.085 2 packets of yeast realy is not that much on an Imperial IPA. 

[jivetyrant]

I followed the recommendation of MrMalty, it said that for a 1.087 OG 5 gallon batch I would need 1.4 11.5g satchets of dry yeast.  I pitched 2, rehydrated per instructions.  I'll also be pitching some yeast hulls tomorrow to help prevent a stuck fermentation.  (I love the stuff!)

My last continually hopped IPA was a 60 minute boil, I used 1/2oz of warrior, simcoe and amarillo, 1/2oz of amarillo for aroma.  I decided to double that amount for this recipe.  This time I used 1/2oz of Amarillo at the start of the boil (this was partially a panicked move, done to control the monster boil over that happened because I was busy posting on this forum!)  I also used all the aforementioned hop additions.  I followed the plan and continually hopped with;

1oz Warrior
1oz Columbus
1oz Challenger

plus 1/2oz Amarillo at the end of the boil, steeped while covered for 20 minutes.

I know that the bitter hop character will be more tame with a continually hopped recipe, but I feel like 7oz of hops would blow my tongue out of my mouth. O.o  I suppose that if anything it'll just taste like a strong, sweetish IPA rather than a Double Bastard, etc.

Thanks for the advice on the oak cubes.  I have a recipe that calls for aging a porter over Port soaked oak for 3-4 months, I'll save the cubes for that.  I'll swing by my LHBS this week and pick up some chips for this recipe instead.

Should I age for 2 weeks on the oak (or until the desired taste has developed) then dry hop after that, without the oak chips present?

Also, I've decided to keep true to the intent of the beer and will be substituting UK Bramling Cross pellets for the German Perle pellets during dry hopping.  I like the "minty" flavor characteristic of the Bramling Cross!

[pyrite]

I've added 2oz of oak chips to 6gal of dark lager in the primary at 40F for 1 week, and got a well balanced oak taste. But since you are adding them to a hoppy ale maybe two weeks would work for you.  You just have to draw samples until you get the flavor you want.  

I don't see a problem with adding oak chips and dry hopping at the same time away from the yeast cake in the secondary.  I don't think the hop oils will bind onto the oak chips, but I don't know for sure.  

You should be aware that the oak chips contribute a different flavor than oak cubes.  I would describe the taste as a sharper wood flavor than the velvet softness that comes with oak cube additions. But either way, I think you'll like the combination of oak chips and hoppyness.

[jivetyrant]

Update time!

Brewed the sucker, kept to the recipe with only 1 variation.  I had a monster boilover (because I was busily posting on this forum and not paying attention to my pot, go me) so I quickly killed the heat and added a handful of Amarillo hops to get things under control, probably about 1/2oz.  Hop additions went smoothly at a well controlled pace for the full 90 minutes, everything went to plan.

OG was 1.087

3 days into fermentation I added some yeast hulls and roused the yeast to keep things going strong.

Checked it tonight, it's now at 1.024.  Beersmith estimated 1.022 FG and I don't plan to switch it to secondary until tuesday so I feel pretty confident that I'll drop another point or two, even if it doesn't I'm quite alright with it.  The taste it great, a bit of a thick mouthfeel but I attribute that to the somewhat high FG, no aging/clarification and no carbonation.

I'll be dry hopping with 1oz Bramling Cross, 1oz UK First Gold and perhaps 1/2oz of something else, I've not decided yet.

I'll be wood-aging it with either the Oak cubes for about 1 month or some wood chips of one sort or another for 2 weeks or so.  I've seen apple and hickory chips if I decide to try something unusual.

[narvin]

3 days into fermentation I added some yeast hulls and roused the yeast to keep things going strong.

Checked it tonight, it's now at 1.024.  Beersmith estimated 1.022 FG and I don't plan to switch it to secondary until tuesday so I feel pretty confident that I'll drop another point or two, even if it doesn't I'm quite alright with it.  The taste it great, a bit of a thick mouthfeel but I attribute that to the somewhat high FG, no aging/clarification and no carbonation.

Estimated attenuation numbers from a homebrew calculator or yeast manufacturer are really not worth much, there are too many variables.  Once you get your process down, you will get a feel for where the beer will finish.

Regardless, why are you going to secondary after one week?  The merits are debatable in general, but I would always wait longer for a high gravity beer.

[tschmidlin]

Regardless, why are you going to secondary after one week?  The merits are debatable in general, but I would always wait longer for a high gravity beer.

Yes, I agree with this.  It's not just the FG, but leaving it longer will help the yeast clean up the fermentation byproducts faster.  The BDS I did recently went from 1.106 to 1.023, and I left it in primary for a couple of extra weeks.  It went from a bit solvently with acetaldehyde notes, to very smooth and delicious.  I would definitely taste it before racking (if you must), don't just rely on the gravity readings.

[jivetyrant]

Transferred to secondary today, it was in primary for about a week and a half.  Topped out at about 1.020.  I added 3oz of medium toast oak cubes and 1oz Bramling Cross, 1oz UK First Gold, 1oz Cascade.  (Amarillo was not available at my LHBS, this was the closest available subsitute.)  I plan to check it in 20 days or so, depending on the flavor I'll package in 30ish days.  The proto beer tasted great, good sweetness.  It could be a bit more bitter, easily adjusted for next time.  I'm quite happy with the results so far!

[jivetyrant]

Bottled two days ago, FG was 1.018.  The oak flavor was just where I wanted it!  It was a touch bitter without enough floral complexity so I steeped 1/2oz whole leaf Amarillo hops in the boiling priming solution for 5 minutes, took it off the heat and covered for another 10 while I prepped for bottling.  After adding this mixture the flavor was spot on!  I'll be back with a full report in ~2 weeks!

[jivetyrant]

Cracked one after a week and a half or so, I just couldn't wait anymore.  It's incredible!  Totally beyond any of my expectations and not like anything I've had before.  I can't wait to share it!

OG - 1.087
FG - 1.018
ABV - 9.18%
IBU - Not a clue!  It's more bitter than a 60 minute but less bitter than a Maharaja :p
color - ~15 SRM

Prepping the priming solution with 1/2oz of Amarillo was a good choice, I don't think it would have been floral enough otherwise.  The oak character is quite intense, I think 1 month on the oak cubes was just right.  The Challenger hops during dry hopping are what I feel make the most impression.  They have such a unique taste!

I'll definitely be refining this recipe and using it for years to come!