Hop Bomb IIPA

Beer Recipes
1

I’ve got a massive hop-bomb IIPA up next on the brew docket. I’m basically putting hops everywhere I can in the brewing process, trying to maximize the amount of hop flavor and aroma I can get. I’ll gladly accept any recommendations on how to stuff more hoppiness in here.

I haven’t finished formulating the hop blend I’m planning on using yet, so the 10 AA% is just a placeholder. My IBU’s will likely be maxed out anyways, so the actual value isn’t a major concern. It should end up in the 10-12% AA range.

The batch size says 3.3 gallons, but I’m figuring I’ll net about a case of bottles in the end after everything gets sucked up by hops.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Gratuitous Waste of Hops IIPA

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Imperial IPA
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 3.3 gallons
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Efficiency: 80%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.086
Final Gravity: 1.017
ABV (standard): 9.01%
IBU (tinseth): 198.38
SRM (morey): 5.65

FERMENTABLES:
7.5 lb - Pale 2-Row (81.5%)
0.5 lb - Flaked Barley (5.4%)
0.8 lb - Cane Sugar (8.7%)
0.2 lb - Caramel / Crystal 40L (2.2%)
0.2 lb - Wheat (2.2%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Mash
1 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Mash (Sparge)
1 oz - Citra (AA 12.2), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Mash
1 oz - Citra (AA 12.2), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Mash (Sparge)
1 oz - Fruit Bomb Hop Blend (AA 10), Type: Pellet, Use: First Wort
1 oz - Hop Shot (AA 11.74) for 90 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 30 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 15 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 5 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for -30 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for -60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for -90 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
1 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Aroma
1 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6) for -1 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Aroma
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 12 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 9 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 6 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop
1 oz - Fruit Hop Bomb Blend (AA 10) for 3 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop

MASH STEPS:

  1. Infusion, Temp: 153 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 12.5 qt, Sacc Rest
  2. Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 5.5 qt, Batch Sparge

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
3 each - Fermcap-S, Time: 90 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

NOTES:
Chillburst -  add first flameout hops and steep 30 min, chill to 170 then add hops and steep 30 min, chill to 110, then add hops and steep/monitor temp. When temp hits 103, add last addition and steep additional 30+ min.

1 oz each of Citra and Amarillo in mash, and 1 oz each in sparge water

“Aroma” addition of Amarillo is a “Hopback” during runoff using a nylon stocking zip-tied to the end of the runoff tube. Second “Aroma” addition is hopback into fermenter.

90 minute addition is 60 IBU from Hop Shot

2

if i remember correctly the human tongue can’t taste bitterness beyond 120-130ish IBU, but the flavor/aroma additions could give the impression of “bigger” hop-bomb. In my humble/novice homebrewer opinion and lover hoppy beers this looks very tasty.

3

My head exploded while reading this  :o and I’m a hophead!

I think by bottling time you’ll be lucky to get that case you’re hoping for.  How much $$ is this costing you?

4

I like your style…

How are you doing the dryhops? Adding one addition, pulling them, then adding another?

Definitely stealing the “runoff hops” idea. I usually filter with just a strainer and fine-mesh bag, but why not use hops?!

5

For the dryhops, I’m just throwing them in loose every 3 days. I heard about someone doing this on a recent CYBI episode, and figured “why not”. Maybe dry hops at 3 days gives a little something different than dry hops at 10+ days. Maybe not. Can’t hurt too much either way, I figure. I am going to increase my first dry hop addition to 2oz, just to make sure I max out the dry hop contribution as much as possible.

This is pretty much a “kitchen sink” beer, where I’m trying to put hops everywhere I can think of in the brewing process. I’m even going to chuck a few pellets in my bucket of Star San for good measure.

6

Why only 3.3 gallons? Are you kettle limited? If you are going to spend this much money on hops I would brew a full 6 gallon batch and plan on loosing 1 gallon to trub. Plus this recipe is way too much hops for 3.3 gallons to absorb (IBU wise) so you are basically wasting them. Probably the same is true for 5 gallons but at least you will have more beer when you are finished.

7

I typically do 3 gallon batches. I brew on an electric stovetop in a 5-gallon kettle, and have a 5-gallon mash tun. I usually BIAB/no-sparge in my mash tun, but I’m going to batch sparge this one just to get some extra wort in my kettle. The most wort I can get to a decent boil on my stove is 4 gallons.

As far as IBU’s go, I’m getting 60 IBU from a hop shot at 90 minutes. All the “real” hops are there for flavor/aroma contributions. Any additional IBU’s I may get from them (and I realize that will be a considerable amount) is just gravy. Thus the beer name - Gratuitous Waste of Hops IIPA. The hops are pricey, but I try to buy in bulk to keep my costs in check. What’s the point of having a massive hops hoard if you can’t go crazy on an IIPA every once in a while?

8

i’d drink it for sure.

i’d top it off and make 5+ gallons as well.  all that hop goodness needs some beer to make love to.

9

So I finally tasted this last night. Apparently there is such a thing as too much hops in a beer. I think I chalk a lot of that up to the dry hops. If I were to use this much dry hops in several stages again, I would be sure to put all the additions in a hop bag and pull them when I add the next one. I think there is quite a bit of fine hop matter in the bottled beer.

My brewing software projected an SRM of 5.7, but the beer is hazy & murky and looks like it’s closer to the low-20’s SRM. I’m thinking a lot of that is very fine hop material in suspension. I’m going to give the bottles another week or so at room temp to finish carbing up, then lager them for a few weeks to see if I can get any more hop material to drop out. Hopefully I can get these to be a bit more drinkable while the hop character is still fresh.

Fun facts - I started with nearly 4 gallons preboil volume, and ended up with just fifteen 12oz bottles. Normally I would get a full case plus another 4 or 5 bottles from a batch this size. Lost at least 2 gallons to hops. My brew kettle had about an inch or two of pea-soup looking hop sludge after I racked it all to the fermenter - it was quite an impressive sight :slight_smile:

10

DOH!!  I wish I would have seen this thread sooner - I would have warned you that 19 is an extremely unlucky number.  I see you used 19 oz of hops.  What were you thinking?  Don’t you read Stephen King?  :o

11

19 is not unlucky.  Everything is 19.  Whether the beer turns out or not is up to ka.  If it bites the big one that is also ka.

12

If I ever rebrew this, I’ll be damn sure to have the Horn of Eld by my side…

13

[quote]
What’s the point of having a massive hops hoard if you can’t go crazy on an IIPA every once in a while?

Amen to that brother!

Edit:  I appreciate the effort.  Just finished reading the rest of the posts.

14

Can you be more specific on what your Fruit Hop Bomb Blend is??

15

I think this is what he used
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=13397.msg175753#msg175753

16

That is a ridiculous hop profile.

I like it…

17

Charyou tree…

18

19 is my extremely lucky number.  Nine’s are very powerful.  I read Stephen King all the time, BTW.

19

I wanted to follow up on this. Lagering these in the bottle has made a huge difference. The hop harshness has faded away, and it is now a damn good beer. My friend’s wife, who doesn’t usually like IPA’s, even remarked “maybe I only like the strong ones” after trying this. I wouldn’t use this hop blend again next time (the hop character is still a bit muddled and the Nelson is still a bit overpowering to me), but I will definitely plug different hops in and give this recipe another go.

Lesson learned - lagering can possibly save an overly harsh IIPA

20

You are a sick and twisted individual, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter  ;D