PLease comment on this recipe!

[micmacmoc]

Opinions and advice please folks!


I've not brewed for some weeks, upgraded my boiler to a dual element plastic 60 litre jobby so I really need to get cracking. The beer is running out! I'm a bit wary of committing myself to a whole 50 litres of beer if I end up with something awful.
So I've not got alot of ingredients, what I do have would make an IPA something like the recipe below. I have Progress, willamette, EKG, magnum and a few part packs, Goldings, cascade, fuggle, challenger and beata. I thought bittering with the High Alpha Magnum 17.7! and some of this and hat to add flavour and aroma. Would there be any problem mixing the Magnum with, say, EKG?
Anyway this is what I thought:

Session IPA for the pressure barrels.
50 litre
Maris Otter 8000g
Torri Wheat 400g
Sugar 400g
Crystal 500g
Magnum (17.7) 90 mins 33g
EKG (6. 15 mins 40g
EKG (6. 0 mins 40g
Which leaves a bitterness of 44 IBU.
I thought as this is to be barrelled I would use Notts yeast
This is working at the limit of my 30litre mash tun, I get much better efficiency from larger mashes, logically so.

Any advice, particularly regarding hop combinations and how to handle big brews would be gratefully received.
Thanks all!
moc in mevagissey.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Those ultra-high alpha hops have a reputation for rather harsh bitterness and at 44IBU that's going to be a very bitter beer so any harshness will be very noticeable. You might want to consider getting say half of your bittering IBUs from Challenger to round it out a bit.

[micmacmoc]

I hoped someone would come up with some advice like this, I don't have enough challenger but combining progress and challenger I could manage a decent bitterness or would this be too harsh too?
Perhaps the Magnum would be better used in a stout?
I'm not making a stout in my nice clean white buckets until they've seen some dirty action.
Thanks again Mr Badger!

[196osh]

Magnum does not suffer from the unfortunate harsh bitterness of some of the ther high AA hops. So I would fire away.

[micmacmoc]

So i will reduce the IBU and use magnum. Putting the IBU level to 34 ish. A golden bitter for the summer. Lovely. Thanks all. Mash was done overnight, 10Kg is right to the brim on my 30 litre coolbox, it was 65C this morning. I really need a bigger tun. Right, rehydrate yeast, weigh hops, its a brewday.

Thanks very much folks!

[steve_flack]

Those ultra-high alpha hops have a reputation for rather harsh bitterness and at 44IBU that's going to be a very bitter beer so any harshness will be very noticeable. You might want to consider getting say half of your bittering IBUs from Challenger to round it out a bit.

Magnum is actually very smooth - not all high alpha hops are the same - it's not some shitty target. It won't taste rough at 44 IBU. I've used way more than that in beers and it's fine. I'd be tempted to use a bit more late hops myself but that's just me.

What's your OG going to be? If your going for the Greene King definition of IPA then 44 IBU is a bit high. If you're aiming higher (say 1.060) then 44 would be fine...maybe a tad low.

[micmacmoc]

I'm going 1044ish, just jiggling about the hops on beer engine. I have 100g of EKG, what about using just magnum for bittering and 50g EKG at 15 mins?
To be honest I'm open to any suggestions! I've not done anything as unplanned as this before (an unexpected day off) and would certainly appreciate your advice!
(need to collect about 10 litres more at the mo, so pleanty of time for last minute changes!)
Thanks all.

[steve_flack]

If it was a bitter I'd probably aim for 30-35IBU for that OG. In my last bitter, I added 60g for a 20 minute steep at 80C once I'd turned the boiler off. I then dry hopped with 30g in the secondary (actually the primary after I'd removed most of the yeast). That was for 40 litres.

[micmacmoc]

Well I went ahead with magnum bittering and some 'proper' hops....ie English.
Here:
10Kg Maris Otter....50 litre lentgh
Magnum 17% 90 mins 40g
EKG 6.8% 15 mins 30g
Fuggles 3.8% 15 mins 17g
Fuggles 3.8% 0 mins 17g
EKG 6.8% 0 mins 30g
2 pks Notts yeast

The boils on now with my new 60 lt dual element from Joe at Leyland, a top man!

Thanks for your help all, I hope you approve of the hops....its a bit of chaos here with a three year old to occupy whilst I try to get this beer going.

[micmacmoc]

Oh hopping in the barrel, theres some goldings in the freezer, did'nt think of that. I really must brew more, plan more and drink less. Yeah, sure.

[micmacmoc]

well this turned out lovely, thanks for all the advice folks, I have about 8 gallons left, its a bit on the strong side but a proper thirst quencher.

doing another one Monday with cascade, willamette and anything else thats a part bag in my freezer, can't be having two empty kegs hanging about. Theres surely some law against that.