So I put together a recipe modeled after Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp IPA after sampling a few and get a reply from the brewer that was kind enough to provide me the list of ingredients and the hops used in the recipe.
The only thing I added to the grain was the torrified wheat to try and bump up the richness of the head, not sure if it’s really necessary though?
Looking for some input on the percentages/amounts used in the grain bill and thoughts asa well on what I came up with for the hop additions and amounts. Appreciate the feedback!
Recipe: Belgian IPA
Brewer: Commune Brewing Company
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
Boil Size: 9.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.00 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.073 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.2 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6.25 gal Chicago, IL Water 1 -
13 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 71.9 %
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 16.6 %
1 lbs Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.5 %
10.1 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.5 %
7.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 6 2.4 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - First Wo Hop 7 37.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 8.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 6.1 IBUs
0.31 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 10 -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 11 3.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 2.4 IBUs
1.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 13 -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 14 0.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) [12 Yeast 15 -
1.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 16 -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 18 lbs 1.1 oz
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 5.65 gal of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.15gal, 4.63gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
My only comment would be the Belgian yeast. I have found that the hop profile in my IPA’s tends to mask the flavors I would normally get from the yeast. But otherwise, looks tasty. But it doesn’t look like a real heavy hop profile, so maybe the yeast will shine through.
Thanks for the input Denny, Do you think if I get up around 70 IBUs would be good and should I just bump up the bittering additions and I’ve got enough aroma or should I bump up everything across the board?
BTW, I’ve got your Bourbon Vanilla Porter conditioning in bottles right now. The pre-bottle sample tasted amazing! It’s only been a week so I’m hoping to try a bottle around the New Year ;D
I think I go a wholly different direction with my Belgian IPAs than most people, but my way of doing it is basically just brewing a very basic IPA - something like 95% 2-row, 5% crystal, and a simple hop bill with a big flameout dose, a big dry hop addition, and no more than 2 varieties - then I just swap out the yeast for something Belgian. I got the idea from Double Mountain’s India Red Ale, which is basically a crystal-heavy IPA bittered with brewer’s gold, and then dosed with simcoe throughout the boil and after. I like the results and so have most people who have tasted my BIPA’s, but they taste NOTHING like Belgo, if that’s what you’re going for.
I think you’ve got a great basis for a recipe there, duboman. A few comments:
I agree with Denny that there doesn’t seem to be enough hops in there. Personally I would double the last 4 additions, which will bring you up into the 65-70 range for IBUs.
7 oz torrified wheat isn’t doing much for you. Why not increase this to 1.5 lb, then reduce your base malt (pilsner) by the same amount to even out the intended OG.
Increase the Caravienne to 1.5 lb. This will add more color and caramelly sweetness. It’s okay for this beer to be a little caramelly sweet to help balance out all the hops that we’re recommending.
And that’s it! Looks like a solid recipe. The hopping schedule appears appropriate to me, and Amarillo and Centennial are the hops I would have picked out. My own tasting notes for the real Clown Shoes beer state simply, “lemon and tangerine”. To me, “lemon” = Centennial and “tangerine” = Amarillo or Warrior. So this really seems to validate the brewmaster’s info. I think you will come really really close to the real thing with this recipe, with or without my suggested tweaks. Nice work and thanks for sharing. I might have to brew this sometime – I’ve entered into my database for safekeeping.
@Skyler, Thanks for the input and your idea is a great one, however this time around I am really shooting for the Belgian
@Dmtaylor, I really appreciate the additional recommendations on the grain bill adjustments as well as the hops schedule from you and Denny. Exactly the type of input I was hoping to get. I’m going to do a little tweaking and plan on brewing this after the New Year with a cousin that wants to learn All Grain.
Cheers to All! I 'll let you all know how it turns out.
Thought I would provide a little update to this recipe:
The brew day went very well albeit quite cold and as a result the boil off ran a little higher than expected so I wound up with a little less than calculated in the primary, but hey, it’s still beer!
Fermentation started at 68F and was slowly ramped up to 72F and it has completed. The yeast attenuated all the way to 1.008 leaving me with a 9.8% Belgian IPA. Today’s gravity sample tasted great but I was missing the aroma impact so I decided to toss 2 oz of citra in the primary this morning and will leave it sit for 7 days, crash for a couple after that and then bottle it up.
