It’s fairly easy to make a drinkable AIPA. But AIPAs have always been a little difficult for me to do really well. Personally, my favorite examples of the style are Odell IPA and Bell’s Two Hearted, which are both relatively balanced, IMO. In other words, they have a pronounced hop presence that is complimented by a discernible malt presence. My most recent AIPA is a bit too dry for my tastes (although the hop profile is nice). How do you guys (and gals) prefer your AIPAs?
What’s your body preference when it comes to AIPA?
Dry – I like my AIPA like the French like their Champagne!
Balanced – I like the hop profile to be complimented by a malt backbone
Sweet – I like there to be a pronounced malt presence to offset the hop profile
While I like my IPA on the dry side I don’t want it too dry, so I chose “balanced” on the poll. I find IPA one of the easiest styles to do well. Maybe its my water.
You could be on to something regarding water, Keith. I always make sure my mash pH is correct (between 5.1-5.5), but I don’t do much water adjustment beyond that. One of my issues with my dry AIPAs is that the hop bitterness just isn’t very pleasant – it’s too harsh. A lacking mineral composition could be having an effect on the quality of the bitterness.
My most recent hop profile for AIPA was:
.33 oz Centennial, .33 oz Cascade, .33 oz Amarillo (FWH)
.50 oz Columbus (60 min)
.33 oz Centennial, .33 oz Cascade, .33 oz Amarillo (30 min)
.33 oz Centennial, .33 oz Cascade, .33 oz Amarillo (15 min)
.33 oz Centennial, .33 oz Cascade, .33 oz Amarillo (1 min)
.50 oz Centennial, .50 oz Cascade (dry hop)
O.G. 1.062, IBU 67
On the other hand, my water is almost perfectly suited for many German beers. Alts and Helles turn out particularly well with virtually no water adjustment.
However, I like a nice supporting role from the malt without taking away from the main event (hops). I agree Matt, a dry IPA is not my cup of tea…errr beer ;D So…how does one avoid that. Well, I think the mash temp is one factor, the hopping rate can also deliver an astrigency and the yeast can also have an impact as well. A Bell’s Two Hearted is pretty well balanced more like an APA. So I would look at your mash temp first then think about your yeast selection. The hop schedule can be tweaked after that.
+1 on the Bell’s Two Hearted. It’s in my top handful of favorite beers because it’s very hop-forward (nothing but Centennial’s I believe) but has a strong malt backbone to support it. Love my hops but the best IPA’s have a good balance, not just hops. Also not too dry or too sweet. Hard to get just right, but 2hearted does the trick.
I like mine balanced also. I use about 20% light Munich malt and 10% 40-50 L crystal and I get a nice malt profile without the sweetness of excessive crystal malts.
I like balanced AIPAs, I also like them dry. I also like them when they’re on the sweeter side. It all depends on my mood, what I’m eating, time of day, phase of the moon, I don’t know. There was no “all of the above” option, so I picked other. Maybe I should have chosen no pants.
IPAs are mostly what I drink. I prefer more of a balance between malt and hops, with no over the top bitterness. I like them dry also as long as they’re not just bitter, but have a great hop flavor/aroma. Most of the IPAs I brew come out dry because I use US-05 a lot and that yeast tends to attenuate like a fox. But I don’t hop the hell out of my bittering addition either; most of the hops I add to the boil are near the end. So dry (or malty), not too bitter, and a bombshell of hop flavor and aroma. I guess you could call that “other”…
Lately I have been steering clear of IPAs for the most part as they make me very sleepy with all those hops. but I do lke one now and again. The ones I really enjoy tend to be fairly dry but with some nice malt and caramel flavors and lots of hops flavor and aroma without quite so much bitterness. I had one the other day (New belgium Ranger IPA) that was really nice. it had tons (tuns?) of hop aroma and very little perceived bitterness with a nice malty/caramely flavor underneath.
I’m pretty much with beersk - mostly late additions of hops for big flavor/aroma, dryhop in the keg, 5% xtal, 5% munich and Maris Otter, but US-05 to keep the resultant beer dry in the end.
That said, I’m getting a little bored and am experimenting with Cali V on the next run, so we’ll see how that goes.
Blatz, I’m also beginning to experiment with other yeasts, Cali V, Pacific Ale, DC 1450, etc, instead of just using US-05. That will remain my go-to or backup yeast though.
