Caramelly IPA

[Deebee]

A friend of mine gave me a homebrew to enjoy at the hotel i stayed at last night.

It was a simple pale ale at around 5 % and the taste was something i have been after for a while.

I got the recipe from him, 2 malts 2 english hops and an english ale yeast, OG was 55 IBU was 31 it was just a beauty! So i wondered if it might be able to be recreated and made stronger for an IPA of the same type.

His recipe was for 35 litres and i have adjusted it slightly to the OG i want for 25l I have some thoughts and queries though.


Beserker IPA

6780 Pale malt
240 Crystal 150 EBC
240 Crystal 400 EBC

Hops
41,2 IBU Fuggles at 60
3,8 IBU Goldings at 5

Safale s-04

Sats:-

Expected OG 1.065
Expected FG 1016
IBU 45

So the thoughts and questions.

This is rich and there is a lot of crystal.

Would that amount of crystal be cloying in 25 litres?

Should i mash lower in order to get a slightly thinner beer at the end?

The original recipe just calls for Crystal 150 but i chose to mix crsyal malts in the hope to bring different levels of toffeeness out. Would this work?


Would the 45 IBU be enough to balance the amout of crystal or should i increase them. If so how can i ensure that the caramel taste is still there.

Would maybe Nottingham be a better choice of yeast?


Thanks ans always

[killer]

I think the addition of crystal 400 will push this towards slightly cloying/ roasty. I'd leave it out.

I've brewed a couple of beers with 5% crystal 120/ 150 and I'm convinced that it's this gives the slight caramel that you are talking about (crystal 60 doesn't do it so well). You could bump the amount up slightly if you remove the crystal 400.
I also agree that 1016 will be a little too high for your FG. I'd look towards 1013/1014 for 45 IBU.

S04 is not my favourite yeast but is slightly more flavoursome than nottingham which is in fairness very neutral... for me it would be a coin toss...

[Deebee]

I think the addition of crystal 400 will push this towards slightly cloying/ roasty. I'd leave it out.

I've brewed a couple of beers with 5% crystal 120/ 150 and I'm convinced that it's this gives the slight caramel that you are talking about (crystal 60 doesn't do it so well). You could bump the amount up slightly if you remove the crystal 400.
I also agree that 1016 will be a little too high for your FG. I'd look towards 1013/1014 for 45 IBU.

S04 is not my favourite yeast but is slightly more flavoursome than nottingham which is in fairness very neutral... for me it would be a coin toss...

Small tweak then.

Beserker IPA

6780 Pale malt
480 Crystal 150 EBC


Hops
41,2 IBU Fuggles at 60
3,8 IBU Goldings at 5

Safale s-04

Sats:-

Expected OG 1.065
Expected FG 1016
IBU 45

Mash at say 64?

[killer]

Well the AA of SO4 is supposedly 75% which gives you 1016.... so 64 sounds reasonable to dry it

[Deebee]

The original grist was for a 35 l batch that the guy who gave me the beer made. He had 7 k pale and 500g crystal. i have basically adjusted it slightly to get the OG i wanted. Am still interested in that caramel taste though.

I could use nottingham and mash as 66 but as much as i love nottingham it does kill lots of flavours so i was thinking the 04 would still leave some tast and body-.
64-65 as a mash could just dry it enough

Any other tweaks?

[killer]

No I think you're good
Other than say switching out the yeast for WLP002 - which would be ideal for retaining sweetness I think it's looking spot on.

[Deebee]

No I think you're good
Other than say switching out the yeast for WLP002 - which would be ideal for retaining sweetness I think it's looking spot on.

I have some edinborough (wlp0028) slurry. What do you think. It attenuates well and brings out the malt backbone... worth a thought? If not i have notty or s05 too

[killer]

I've never used it. But on paper it's spot on. I know a lot of people on here swear by it too.

[Deebee]

Think i will make a smaller normal strength batch first. Then do the edinborough when i have a keg free.