My attempt at an American IPA

[walrusdunne]

Would love some feedback on this recipe that I'm hopefully brewing tomorrow. Have been toying with the idea of adding some Simcoe hops at around the 10 minute mark as well.

Title: Intergalactic IPA
Author: Alex Dunne

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 17 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 21 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.060
Efficiency: 72% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.074
Final Gravity: 1.021
ABV (standard): 7.04%
IBU (tinseth): 67.74
SRM (morey): 11.89

FERMENTABLES:
5 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (89.3%)
0.3 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (5.4%)
0.3 kg - United Kingdom - Cara Malt (5.4%)

HOPS:
20 g - Apollo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 19, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 47.01
30 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 20.72
30 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 0 min
40 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - English Ale Yeast S-04
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 23.89 C
Fermentation Temp: 21 C

[lee1]

hi mate im no real expert but an american yeast wont go a miss ie safeale 05

[bob3000]

Also, Galaxy is from Australia. Just being a pedant, doesn't matter it's a great hop.

i really like apollo late in the boil and dry hop. I would chuck a bit in at the end and it will give you loads of resin, pine and citrus flavour. Might compliment the galaxy, but I have never tried to two together.

[walrusdunne]

Going to the brew shop before I start tomorrow so yea will probably pick up some us-05 yeast. When I said american I was more referring to the style than the hops. Going for a citrusy/piney flavour so might well try adding some Apollo at the 10 minute mark. What do you think of the malt additions? Too much crystal/caramalt? This is only my second all grain brew and I havn't brewed with either before.

[scuppeteer]

Nice, but bit of a waste of a good hop for bittering IMO, but then I used Amarillo in mine so what do I know! For that IBU ratio I would at least double the late additions to balance better. As Bob suggests use the Apollo late as well. I would mash at 68 C for a better body. Grist is fine, if they have it pick up some BRY97 (west coast yeast) slow fermenting but worth it.

[Matt12398]

I'd use less crystal malt maybe ditching the 60L and reducing the caramalt down to 5%.

An IPA that finishes around 1.021 is going to be a bit cloying in my opinion. A better yeast choice that's high attenuating like S05 would help. I wouldn't mash at 68 unless scuppeteer can explain why. A chewy IPA is not going to be as nice as a crisp hoppy one but that's my opinion.

I'd agree that you're wasting you Apollo. It's got a lovely aroma.

[barry44]

I would also agree re using the apollo as bittering. I use magnum for bittering all of my brews which is very clean and allows the aroma hops to shine.

[walrusdunne]

Cheers for the replies guys, this is what I ended up brewing. Missed my target OG by 5 points (1.065), but pretty sure I know why this happened (my mash tun is two FVs inside each other which gives about 5L dead space at the bottom and I only recirculated about a litre when I was sparging).

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 18 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 22 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.058
Efficiency: 72% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV (standard): 6.65%
IBU (tinseth): 79.18
SRM (morey): 11.44

FERMENTABLES:
5 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (89.3%)
0.3 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (5.4%)
0.3 kg - United Kingdom - Cara Malt (5.4%)

HOPS:
20 g - Apollo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 19, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 45.51
30 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 20.06
30 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 0 min
40 g - Galaxy, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 15.4, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days
30 g - Apollo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 19, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 13.61
25 g - Apollo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 19, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 23.89 C
Fermentation Temp: 21 C

[Barley Water]

Well you already brewed it and I hope you enjoy the results however I agree with the previous poster, I'd reduce the crystal malt (in fact I like mine better without any at all). I may be going against the grain a bit here as many commercial examples contain some crystal but I think dry is better in an IPA. When they do the Imperial IPA's over here many brewers add sugar primarily because they are looking to dry the beer out, otherwise it starts getting pretty close to being a Barley Wine (which definately aint a quaffer). Most single IPA's are in the 1.065 OG range, the higher you get the higher the terminal gravity which causes problems with drinkabilty.