IPA recipe help

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Hey Guys. I have 5 gallons of rye pale ale finishing up and I am planning to brew an IPA on Saturday and rack onto the WLP001 yeast cake.

I don’t have a real recipe yet but this is what I was thinking

70% Two row
20-25% Munich
5-10% Crystal

OG ~ 1.067
IBUS ~ 70

bitter with Magnum (~35 IBUs)
flavor/aroma with Citra/Simcoe (additions in last 15 minutes)
dry hop with Citra/Simcoe

So the goal is to do a reasonably balanced IPA that is not overly bitter. The plan is to use Citra/Simcoe mainly because I don’t want to purchase more hops. My last attempt at an IPA didnt’ turn out well because I was too conservative with the hops. Any input?

[denny]

While I personally don’t care for Magnum bittering in an IPA (not aggressive enough for my tastes), I think that recipe will get you what you’re looking for.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Thanks Denny. What about Centennial for bittering? I may have some of that laying around

[erockrph]

Sounds like you’re in the right ballpark. I’d go with a big flameout addition and at least an ounce of each for dry hops.

[majorvices]

I think magnum works great as a bittering hop if what you are going for is flavor and aroma. They are very clean. That said, my go to bittering hop for IPA and IIPA is CTZ.

[denny]

@goschman

Thanks Denny. What about Centennial for bittering? I may have some of that laying around

Those would be fine, too, although I personally would go for something more intense.  But don’t let my own preferences influence you if you know what you want!

[hoser]

@majorvices

I think magnum works great as a bittering hop if what you are going for is flavor and aroma. They are very clean. That said, my go to bittering hop for IPA and IIPA is CTZ.

+1
chinook or apollo also work well.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

okay I use Magnum a lot so I will try something different.

I am leaning toward Nugget or Centennial since I have some but would be interested to try Columbus

[erockrph]

+1 to Columbus or Chinook for bittering. Also, make sure you have enough sulfate in your water. I start with RO water and use ~1 gram of Gypsum per gallon of my finished beer.

[pawtucket_patriot]

@majorvices

That said, my go to bittering hop for IPA and IIPA is CTZ.

Me too.  In fact, I use CTZ as my bittering hop in American Ambers and Browns too.

[slickdaddy420]

@erockrph

I’d go with a big flameout addition and at least an ounce of each for dry hops.

What is the difference in doing say 7x1oz daily additions do over one large 7oz addition at the start?

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

@slickdaddy420

@erockrph

I’d go with a big flameout addition and at least an ounce of each for dry hops.

What is the difference in doing say 7x1oz daily additions do over one large 7oz addition at the start?

A 7 oz addition should have a bigger influence than daily additions since each consecutive addition would be in the beer for less time. I am not sure what the benefit of doing daily dry hop additions would be although I don’t have much experience with dry hopping myself.

[slickdaddy420]

I just re-read the message I quoted and I did read it wrong, but I swear I have seen recipes with daily hops as the recipe.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Another question; will I get enough bitterness with 35 IBUs from the 60 minute addition? I have heard that 50% of your IBUs from the bittering addition is good for an IPA.

[dannyjed]

Yes, you’ll get enough bitterness with that.  I agree  with the CTZ.  You might want to also consider FWH for good flavor.

[garc_mall]

I agree with pretty much everything in here. I love magnum in all of my malt-forward beers, because it provides a clean bitterness that is very unobtrusive. In my IPAs though, I like my bitterness to stand out an fight a bit more, so I use CTZ. Simcoe/Citra is a good combo flavor wise, and maybe a half-ounce or so of each at FWH might bring out a bit more of that flavor, along with bumping up your initial IBU. Thirdly, I think you might end up a slight bit on the orange/amber side of the IPA, but I love munich in beer, it adds a lot of character without the sweetness of crystal. Sounds tasty.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Thanks everyone.

I am getting close to getting the recipe finalized but had one more thought. Should I used Columbus only for bittering or would it work well in the last 10 minutes of the boil?

[denny]

I love Columbus anywhere…bittering, flavor, dry hopping…

[bluesman]

@garc_mall

I agree with pretty much everything in here. I love magnum in all of my malt-forward beers, because it provides a clean bitterness that is very unobtrusive. In my IPAs though, I like my bitterness to stand out an fight a bit more, so I use CTZ. Simcoe/Citra is a good combo flavor wise, and maybe a half-ounce or so of each at FWH might bring out a bit more of that flavor, along with bumping up your initial IBU. Thirdly, I think you might end up a slight bit on the orange/amber side of the IPA, but I love munich in beer, it adds a lot of character without the sweetness of crystal. Sounds tasty.

+1

Magnum is a good clean bittering hop. Works well with malt forward beer styles.  I like CTZ and/or Chinook in my IPA’s for bittering.  I also agree with Denny in that Columbus works well all around (bittering, flavor and aroma) even as a dry hop.

[erockrph]

@goschman

I am getting close to getting the recipe finalized but had one more thought. Should I used Columbus only for bittering or would it work well in the last 10 minutes of the boil?

Give it a good smell. If you like it then use it liberally in your late adds and dry hops. If you don’t like it, then keep it for bittering. Some Columbus is more dank and pungent, some has more citrus. There’s definitely some variability between Columbus crops. Frankly, I love Columbus everywhere in all its forms, but YMMV.