Timing an IIPA batch

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I’m planning on brewing my first IIPA in the next couple of months. I want to have it ready in mid-November, ideally at peak flavor/aroma. My available brew days are mid-August, mid-September or I can request a day off sometime in the last 2 weeks of September (yes, I will take a day off to brew this beer - my obsession has finally reached that level). I don’t have an exact recipe nailed down yet, but I’m aiming for around ~1.085 OG, probably using WLP001 or 007. Grain bill will probably be based on Tasty McDole’s Pliny clone with a massive fruit-bomb hop selection/schedule (Citra, plus several NZ hops and possibly some Galaxy or Cascade).

My thought is that mid-September is probably the way to go. That gives me 2 weeks for fermentation, about 2 weeks for my dry-hopping regime, then about a month to bottle condition. Does that sound right? I haven’t brewed anything this big yet, so I’m not sure how long to count on for bottle conditioning. Should I plan on pitching a half-pack of US-05 at bottling as a safety net to be sure it carbs in time, or will I be fine if I give it a month to carb up?

2

A month should be plenty of time for this to carb up.  You probably don’t have to pitch additional yeast but it can’t hurt as additional assurance if you’re worried about it.  Your timing sounds fine.

3

With an IIPA (or any hoppy ale, really) fresher is better. It should reach FG in less than a week, so allowing two weeks for dry-hopping and two for carbonation, you’re looking at 5 weeks total time. I’d brew it in early October.

4

I agree with this.  The IIPA that I put in the NHC was definitely past its prime being in the bottle for 6 weeks.  The score was 29 and it would have done much better if it was tasted a month earlier when the hops were really popping.