As foretold by the prophets, August 7th is IPA Day. And hey, did you know that folks are bonkers about IPAs!? I like to joke that here in San Diego it’s impossible to throw a stone without hitting a brewery that’s pumping out two or three world-class IPAs (indeed, I can almost literally hit Stone with a stone from my house). While my tastes of late have shifted away from hop explosions, I do still enjoy a good IPA now and again; rest assured I’ll be kicking back tonight with a nice lupulin-laced liquor.
To celebrate IPA Day, here are some tips I’ve gathered about making a world-class West-Coast IPA.
IPA Tips
- Keep the malt bill simple. All you’re looking for is just enough malt to provide a framework for the hops. A small malt layer is fine for complexity, but hops are the star of the show.
- Choose a clean yeast and ferment low. You’re looking to minimize any esters and alcohol heat that’ll get in the way of hop character.
- Dry that puppy out! The drier the beer finishes the more impact the hops will be making. If your beer is finishing higher than a gravity 1.012 consider mashing lower (~148ºF) and/or replacing up to 10% of your malt with dextrose.
- Mix up your hop techniques to maximize flavor and aroma extraction. A combination of first wort hopping, hop bursting, whirl-pooling, and double dry hopping will make the hop character explode into your face.
- Don’t be stingy with the hops. Lately I’ve seen some recipes for IPAs that use less than 3oz of hops *total* (5 gallon batch). That was fine back in the day, but modern IPAs are bursting with hops and you just can’t get the hop character folks expect without bucketfuls of hops.
- Serve fresh. Hop aroma is one of the first characteristics of a beer to fade so serve it as fresh as possible to capture the delicate aromatics.
As a bonus, here’s a recipe for everyone’s favorite IPA Pliny the Elder, straight from the horse’s, err, Pliny’s, err, Vinnie Cilurzo’s mouth (PDF warning!).
Pliny the Elder Recipe
Recipe Details
Batch Size | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | ABV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.5 gal | 90 min | 181.4 IBUs | 6.2 SRM | 1.072 | 1.011 | 8.0 % |
Style Details
Name | Cat. | OG Range | FG Range | IBU | SRM | Carb | ABV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Imperial IPA | 14 C | 1.07 - 1.09 | 1.01 - 1.02 | 60 - 120 | 8 - 15 | 2.2 - 2.7 | 7.5 - 10 % |
Fermentables
Name | Amount | % |
---|---|---|
Pale Malt (2 Row) US | 13 lbs | 86.67 |
Cara-Pils/Dextrine | 10 oz | 4.17 |
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L | 10 oz | 4.17 |
Corn Sugar (Dextrose) | 12 oz | 5 |
Hops
Name | Amount | Time | Use | Form | Alpha % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) | 3 oz | 90 min | Boil | Pellet | 14 |
Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) | 0.75 oz | 45 min | Boil | Pellet | 14 |
Simcoe | 1 oz | 30 min | Boil | Pellet | 13 |
Simcoe | 2.5 oz | 0 min | Boil | Pellet | 13 |
Centennial | 1 oz | 0 min | Boil | Pellet | 10 |
Centennial | 1 oz | 8 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 10 |
Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) | 1 oz | 8 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 15.5 |
Simcoe | 1 oz | 8 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 13 |
Centennial | 0.25 oz | 4 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 10 |
Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) | 0.25 oz | 4 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 15.5 |
Simcoe | 0.25 oz | 4 days | Dry Hop | Pellet | 13 |
Yeast
Name | Lab | Attenuation | Temperature |
---|---|---|---|
California Ale (WLP001) | White Labs | 77% | 68°F - 73°F |
Mash
Step | Temperature | Time |
---|---|---|
Saccharification | 150°F | 75 min |
Mash Out | 168°F | 10 min |
Notes
Mash grains at 150° F for an hour or until conversion is complete. Sparge, stir in dextrose, and bring to a boil. After boil, chill wort to 67° F and ferment until activity subsides. Rack to secondary and add first set of dry hops for 4 days then add the second set. Age 4 more days then bottle or keg the beer. Serve fresh! |
Download
Download this recipe's BeerXML file |
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