Which IPA recipe

[snowbeast]

Our local brew club is having a brew to a style tasting and we are all brewing IPA's. They opening it to extract brewers and this will be the first time providing beer to non family and close friends.

My two recipes are

Hoppin' IPA

Description:
Hoppy bite with a clean hop finish, but not overpowering. Lower FG and ABV than normal IPA, but refreshing.
Ingredients:
6 lbs Pale DME
1/2 lb Crystal 90L
2 oz Chinook (11.9%) at 60 minutes
2 oz US Goldings (4.4%) at 15 minutes
1 oz US Goldings (4.4%) at 5 minutes
English Ale Yeast (WLP002)
OG: 1.054 FG: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 2 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A


And

Mad Dog IPA

Description:
Bold and hoppy about 7 or 8 per cent alcohol content. Definately for mad dog brewers.
Ingredients:
8lbs dry malt extract lite
.5lb crystal malt
4oz choc malt
3 oz galena hops
2 oz cascade hops
1oz saaz hops

Primary Ferment: 10days
Secondary Ferment: 7days

I'm leaning towards the Hoppin IPA as its a lighter beer and will go down well as we heading into a hot summer here in South Africa. Was 33degrees today and its not even spring.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[seymour]

Both sound good to me, but I agree the lower-grav version would be more representative of style, if that's the whole point. Plus, the Chinook-Goldings combo with Fullers yeast sounds delicious.

[Hanglow]

I'd be tempted to replace some of the DME with sugar to dry them up a bit, for both and especially the second one. And dry hop

With dme and crystal and the fullers yeast it'll finish too high for an IPA in most cases I'd have thought

I'm sure it'll taste nice though

[seymour]

With dme and crystal and the fullers yeast it'll finish too high for an IPA in most cases I'd have thought

I'm sure it'll taste nice though

Perhaps if he's just steeping the crystal malt, it's probably contributing colour and flavour more so than lots of unfermentable sugars? Plus, that Fullers yeast is more highly attenuative than some people give it credit for...

[Hanglow]

I know I always struggled on my, admittedly few : o , extracts and partial mashes to get the FG down to where I wanted it on all my beers no matter the yeast. And yeah you are right about the crystal, I was thinking partial mash there for some reason

The last brew I did with the fullers came in about 76% AA I think and that had a reasonable amount of sugar in it and pitched onto a cake, the previous few brews were lower FWIW

No doubt it'll be a good beer

[snowbeast]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm steeping the grains at 67deg celc.
I have limited selection here and can only get the Windsor British Ale Yeast.

[seymour]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm steeping the grains at 67deg celc...

That makes sense. As Hanglow said, no doubt it's good beer.

...I have limited selection here and can only get the Windsor British Ale Yeast.

Did that change? In your original post you stated English Ale Yeast (WLP002) which is the Fullers strain. Windsor is delicious, but it may take a long time to get down to 1015. I don't think a full-bodied IPA is flawed, but the modern conception is usually very light in colour and body. In any case, best of luck with your brew!

[snowbeast]

Unfortunately it did change when I realised I could not get the Fullers.
I have been doing some reading and the original IPA sounded strong and full of hops. My coopers kit ended up dark and very strong. I dry hopped it with a local strain (12%). I do want a lighter beer for a couple around a summer braai.
I'm still waiting for the ingredients to be posted.