Hey all, so this is my third attempt at my IPA recipe and its getting better, but I hope you pro’s can help me dial it in a little more. I’ve already brewed and fermented within 2 points of my final expected gravity, cold crashed, dry hopped and slow carbbed for a week. The bitterness is kinda high for most to enjoy and I’ll adjust it on the next try but the biggest issue I’m noticing is a lack in body and head retention. My first thought is that the .5lb of flaked wheat just isn’t enough to get the result im looking for but im sure there is a better alternative. Any recipe advice is greatly appreciated. F.Y.I. the Joe White light munich isn’t the actual malt i used; only what my phone’s app had. Doubt it makes big difference but it was weyermann light munich. Also i did make a two stage yeast starter to ensure a good pitch rate. Thanks in advance
Style: American IPA OG: 1.073
Type: All Grain FG: 1.020
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 6.94 %
Calories: 239 IBU’s: 70.64
Efficiency: 66 % Boil Size: 7.00 Gal
Color: 10.0 SRM Batch Size: 5.50 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.057 Boil Time: 70 minutes
Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 21 days @ 68.0°F
Bottle/Keg 21 days @ 40.0°F
Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
13.00 lbs 80.00 % Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel 60 mins 1.037
2.00 lbs 12.31 % Joe White Light Munich 60 mins 1.038
0.75 lbs 4.62 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 60 mins 1.034
0.50 lbs 3.08 % Wheat, Flaked 60 mins 1.035
Hops
Amount IBU’s Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 39.09 Citra 60 mins 13.20
2.00 ozs 19.73 Cascade 20 mins 5.50
2.00 ozs 11.82 Cascade 10 mins 5.50
1.00 ozs 0.00 Cascade 0 mins 5.50
3.00 ozs 0.00 Palisade 0 mins 7.50
3.00 ozs Cascade 7 days 5.50
Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg American Ale Wyeast Labs 1056
Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
1.00 tsp Irish Moss 15 mins Boil
2.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient 15 mins Boil
0.25 tsp Gypsum 60 mins Mash
Mash Profile
Full Body Infusion In 60 min @ 156.0°F
I like my IPA’s to finish drier than 1.020…more like 1.010. I realize that this might just be your setting on your brewing program with attenuation set low. I also think that 1 smack pack of yeast for a beer this big is not enough. Are you going to make a starter? I like your grain and hop selections.
I’m surprised you find a lack in body with an IPA that starts at 1.073 and ends at 1.020. My go to IPA grain bill is 90% 2-row, 6% c20, 2% dextrin malt, and 2% simple sugars (cane, corn, brown, raw, whatever is available in the pantry), and it finishes at a perfect 1.010-1.014 (og dependent) for my tastes. That said, what you have doesn’t look bad for your goals.
Other than the gypsum, what else are you doing about your water?
Your hops can use some adjustment IMO. Citra, while I am not a fan, is wasted at 60, and I like to blend more for the later additions. I too am a fan of the 20 minute addition, but I exclusively use Columbus there. Throw some mosaic, simcoe, Galaxy, centennial, or any other west coast hop in with the cascade to give a more layered hop profile towards the end. I almost always have at least a smidgen of Columbus at 0 at dry for that dank hop flavor.
There’s no need for flaked wheat in this recipe. Hops are great head retention enhancers. If you are having poor head retention it is probably a fermentation flaw, most likely fermenting too warm or not enough yeast (or both). Keep fermentation temp, which will be several degrees warmer than ambient during peak high krausen due to exothermic activity, in the low to mid 60s. Make sure you pitch enough yeast, one smack packn will not be even close to being enough without an adequate sized starter. Stick with US-05 dry yeast and pitch 2 packs if you don’t feel like messing with starters.
As was also said, the citra at 60 min is a complete waste. I’d go with something like Columbus (CTZ) or Warrior or other high alpha bittering hop.
I have never heard of “Joe White” brand malt before, interesting. Normally I find for the best Munich malt flavors a good German Munich malt does the trick.
As far as my water profile goes I basically mixed filtered water from the grocery store and Denver tap water at a 50-50 ratio for the mash and basically a 30-70 ratio for sparge. Not exaclty sure what my PH is… my meter was incorrectly calibrated the day of apparently. Based off the report my PH sits around an 8, obviously high. After finding this out i was in a pinch during brew day so i just went with the gypsum amount as a small go-to. As for attentuation that was my calculated attenuation after fermentation was over. Not sure what else i can do to get that a little lower other than adding some cane sugar after high krausen like in belgians. At first i was skeptical about the citra at 60 too but figured with it’s high alpha% it would be a decent bittering hop and as said in the original post i will adjust that to either a smaller amount or different lower alpha hop for initial bittering hop.
Also for fermentation it was in a fermentaion chamber with a johnsons control temp controller in conjunction with a thermowell at 68* for the two weeks in primary and as said before i did a two stage yeast starter. i know for sure i had proper viability and count and was well within temp range. I used brewersfriend.com’s yeast calculator for my starter volumes and rates. I’m sure my issue has to be in recipe. Maybe torrified wheat instead or maybe add carapills, although ive heard mixed feelings about carapills.
Sorry I missed the part about the yeast starter. Glad to know you are using a temp controller, personally I think you’d be better off starting much cooler, like 64, and raising to 68-70 near the very end of fermentation. You really shouldn’t need any carapils or torrified wheat to assist in your head retention, especially when using a heavy amount of hops. Hops are excellent foam contributors. As Seas has pointed out, you most likely need more carbonation.
Recipe wise I’d probably target a drier beer as well by mashing lower than 156f or choosing a different yeast - weird that 1056 left so much on the plate after 2 weeks. Then again I’m used to brewing lower gravity wort and mashing lower.
Personally I’ve started using all my hops at FWH/60m then a 170f hop stand for an hour or so and about an oz/gallon dry hopping and abandoned the mid boil additions. So far I like it a lot more. I also like more like 90-100% pale malt in my IPAs with maybe some oats or wheat. But again, that’s personal preference.
Probably the carbonation level causing your head issues - I have real low head retention too when pulling samples before it’s finished up.
I mash American IPAs at ~149 for 75 minutes. I want a super fermentable wort. I also have gone to only 3 additions: First Wort for bittering, Flameout/Whirlpool/Hopstand/pick your favorite term for a little bittering and more flavor, and dry hop or keg hop for aroma and flavor. I do add about 1/2 pound carafoam per 5 gallons, but typically the hops will help a lot also. My IPAs tend to have excellent head retention with the two combined.
Ok so consensus is to mash lower and let it carbonate for longer. I’ll let it carb more and check it periodically to see. As for the mash at a lower temp and for longer from what i’ve read i thought the higher temps denatured beta amalayze allowing for a “thicker” mouth feel sense alpha can’t convert as much of the larger “branch” starches. This was my approach for the recipe but what does a drier beer offer in this case?
Drier is certainly more a matter of opinion although I think 1.020 would be technically too sweet for the style guidelines (not that that really matters, if you like more body in your IPAs stick with it). In general I prefer a dry IPA, it goes down easier and brings out the hop bitterness IMO. That thicker mouthfeel is related to the high Final Gravity/high mash.
After it’s carbed up you’ll be able to evaluate better - if you want it drier mash lower. If you want more hop flavor/aroma move those 20m additions to a hop stand and up the dry hops. But it may be great as is to your preferences.
Higher temps (above 150) do denature beta amylase. Since beta ‘trims’ off single maltose units, it takes longer to work, but produces a wort that yeast have an easier time fermenting; resulting in, generally speaking, higher attenuation. Alpha can cut more deeply into the sugar chain, but will leave more complex sugar (maltotriose) which yeast cannot metabolize as well, leaving you with residual sugars with most sacc strains (i.e. underattenuation). The current trend for American IPAs is more West Coast and to feature only hops with no sweetness remaining from malt.
Obviously if you like the way it tastes, brew what you like. If you plan on entering it in competitions, though, just be prepared to receive a lot of feedback about it being ‘too sweet’.
Also, with modern highly-modified malts mash temperature isn’t going to make nearly as much of a difference. It could be more significant for your Belgian base malt, but without a lot analysis it’s hard to be sure. Your attenuation does seem low for the grain bill and mash temp, anecdotally.