Second BIAB Recipe - WC IPA

[Prairie Dog]

Well, my first attempt at an all-grain BIAB pale ale didn't exactly go as planned, but I am undeterred and have a much better idea of how the whole process works, so next weekend, for Labor Day, I'm going to brew my second BIAB all-grain recipe.

I tried to make a super simple, straightforward WC IPA. I really enjoy old-school, citrusy, piney IPAs, with a good bit of malt backbone. This is what I came up with and wanted to see if I messed anything up. I've been doing a fair amount of research on making recipes, and this seems like it will suit my taste. Thanks for any feedback!

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1491231/labor-day-west-coast-ipa

 

[Megary]

This is what I came up with and wanted to see if I messed anything up.

Hoo-boy, where should I start?! First of all…

Just kidding. It looks great. An argument can be made for upping your flameout hop additions and maybe even a dry-hop, but that’s brewer’s choice.

Good luck!

 

[Sandy Feet]

If I'm doing late additions, I think it is easier adding at 10 minutes, but that is my preference and maybe not that of others. You are going to have some malt with that much crystal in that size batch. I would use that amount for 5 gallons. If that is what YOU want, go for it.
Another thing that we go back and forth on here about is efficiency. If your last batch hit OG with that efficiency number, you can probably keep it, otherwise, it may need to be dialed back some with BIAB. 150 will help on the FG side.

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

I really enjoy old-school, citrusy, piney IPAs, with a good bit of malt backbone.

If you have the malts (or ordered them), brew it as is. I've brew a couple of SNPA inspired pale ales with Carapils and the beer is enjoyable.

If you don't have Carapils, I would replace it with base malt . 10% crystal 40/60 is reasonable for an "old-school, citrusy, piney IPAs, with a good bit of malt backbone'.

 

[Megary]

Not to upset anyone, but if you can notice the contribution from 4-5% Carapils, then you are a far, far more in-tune beer drinker than I.

 

[Prairie Dog]

If you have the malts (or ordered them), brew it as is. I've brew a couple of SNPA inspired pale ales with Carapils and the beer is enjoyable.

If you don't have Carapils, I would replace it with base malt . 10% crystal 40/60 is reasonable for an "old-school, citrusy, piney IPAs, with a good bit of malt backbone'.

I haven't bought the malts yet, so I still have some room to tweak. SNPA is definitely is close to what I'm shooting for. Originally the recipe I wrote was just the base two-row along with about 10% crystal, similar to the SNPA clone on their website, just with more ABV and hops, but I saw a ton of recipes with Carapils and figured it would help with head retention and body. Maybe I could cut it though. I am trying to keep my recipes as simple as possible while I figure out my system.

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

SNPA is definitely is close to what I'm shooting for. Originally the recipe I wrote was just the base two-row along with about 10% crystal, similar to the SNPA clone on their website, just with more ABV and hops, but I saw a ton of recipes with Carapils and figured it would help with head retention and body. Maybe I could cut it though. I am trying to keep my recipes as simple as possible while I figure out my system.

I've brewed SNPA-inspired APAs both with and without Carapils and have yet to notice a difference - either recipe resulted in enjoyable beer. Whether or not it's "simpler" to leave it out is up to you.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Carapils is for head retention and a little color. You aren't going to taste much.
For an ale, when I was bottling, I liked to use white wheat for the head retention.
Kegging my first lager, Carapils worked. I would keep either choice around 4% if that is the intention.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Based on some of this feedback, I decided to cut back the crystal 60 to about 6.5% and nixed the carapils. Instead, I decided to add about 4% Munich for a little complexity. I'd really like to dry-hop this, but my fears of infecting or oxygenating the beer make me hesitant. I might adjust the hop schedule before the weekend too. Anyways, thanks for the help.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Munich will give you some malt too. If you want some more mouthfeel or make it heavier, lots of people/places will use some flaked oats in those beers.

 

[Donoroto]

Dry hopping carries low chance for infection (alcohol is germicidal, and the yeast is dominant by then), and if done during (near the end of) active fermentation the yeast will consume the very tiny amount of oxygen.

 

[Bigbre04]

Based on some of this feedback, I decided to cut back the crystal 60 to about 6.5% and nixed the carapils. Instead, I decided to add about 4% Munich for a little complexity. I'd really like to dry-hop this, but my fears of infecting or oxygenating the beer make me hesitant. I might adjust the hop schedule before the weekend too. Anyways, thanks for the help.

if it isnt too late, some wheat, flaked wheat, flaked oats, etc will help with the body and the head.

I would consider doing 15 and higher hop additions. Up your additions at as the time gets smalller. A dryhop will help a whole lot with aroma and will add some flavor. you can add it during fermentation or post with different results.

enjoy your brewday!


This is an old school style(2017) pilot batch that I did. it is a decent example of the hopping schedule. focus on the the %s not the types and amounts of the hops. same thing for the grain bill.

I can scale it down for you if you want me to.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/569132

 

[Prairie Dog]

Dry hopping carries low chance for infection (alcohol is germicidal, and the yeast is dominant by then), and if done during (near the end of) active fermentation the yeast will consume the very tiny amount of oxygen.

Thanks for the information! Do you recommend just opening the bung on the primary fermenter and dropping in the dry hop additions when fermentation is done or close to done? I know back in the day everyone used to recommend racking to secondary and dry hopping then. I'm a little concerned of the infection possibility with this method. Also, I'm sure this is a dumb question, but: if I am using hop pellets from a bag that has already been opened, do I need to worry about sterilizing the hops in anyway?

 

[Prairie Dog]

if it isnt too late, some wheat, flaked wheat, flaked oats, etc will help with the body and the head.

I would consider doing 15 and higher hop additions. Up your additions at as the time gets smalller. A dryhop will help a whole lot with aroma and will add some flavor. you can add it during fermentation or post with different results.

enjoy your brewday!


This is an old school style(2017) pilot batch that I did. it is a decent example of the hopping schedule. focus on the the %s not the types and amounts of the hops. same thing for the grain bill.

I can scale it down for you if you want me to.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/569132

Thanks, this helps a lot! I'm still unsure how different hop schedules affect the beer, so I appreciate a template to work from. I have not bought any malt yet, and probably won't for a few days, so I could tweak this and add some wheat or oats. Should I keep them around 5-7% like in your beer? I really do like a nice full-bodied beer and some serious foam. I also think I might actually try dry hopping with this one since it seems easier than I thought.

 

[Bigbre04]

Thanks for the information! Do you recommend just opening the bung on the primary fermenter and dropping in the dry hop additions when fermentation is done or close to done? I know back in the day everyone used to recommend racking to secondary and dry hopping then. I'm a little concerned of the infection possibility with this method. Also, I'm sure this is a dumb question, but: if I am using hop pellets from a bag that has already been opened, do I need to worry about sterilizing the hops in anyway?

Not Donoroto obviously

no to racking

dont worry about sanitizing hops.

open your fermenter. if you have a co2 bottle Gently blow some CO2 in there while dryhopping.

I dryhop during high fermentation, but im leaning towards more juicy style ipas with lower bitterness. another advantage is that it gives the yeast more of an opportunity to "clean up" the beer.

Thanks, this helps a lot! I'm still unsure how different hop schedules affect the beer, so I appreciate a template to work from. I have not bought any malt yet, and probably won't for a few days, so I could tweak this and add some wheat or oats. Should I keep them around 5-7% like in your beer? I really do like a nice full-bodied beer and some serious foam. I also think I might actually try dry hopping with this one since it seems easier than I thought.

So the one above was more of an older style hop schedule.

This one is a more modern style. Remember that when you see Cryo or lupomax hops, you basically have to double the quantity to get the equal effect.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1499339 Medium IPA (sort of old and new school)
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1491155 Double Juicy(new school)
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1352389 Session IPA

These are what i have on draft right now. For reference. the IBUs are deceptive. the double juicy is far less bitter more fruity then the medium ipa. the session is sort of in between.

 

[Bigbre04]

Schedule wise,

If i want a background bitterness i will toss a bittering addition at boil(60 min) Generally its a small addition like 1 oz or 5-6 ibus worth of columbus cryo.

Everything else goes in the last 15 mins of boil, whirlpool, or dryhop.

15-5 mins will be bitterness+flavor (smallest addition)
5-0 mins is flavor with lower bitterness
0-whirlpool(180-185F) is aroma and flavor (bigger)

Dryhop(biggest addition)
High fermentation(tossed before halfway point in attenuation) will give you some haziness(depending on yeast) and i find it adds some flavor and a lot of aroma.
post fermentation(more traditional) will generally provide more aroma and less flavor then the above dryhop.

obviously this all depends on your gear and goals, but this is the general framework that i go by. Remember that i almost exclusively use Cryo hops.

Happy to scale down things if you want me to.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Not Donoroto obviously

no to racking

dont worry about sanitizing hops.

open your fermenter. if you have a co2 bottle Gently blow some CO2 in there while dryhopping.

I dryhop during high fermentation, but im leaning towards more juicy style ipas with lower bitterness. another advantage is that it gives the yeast more of an opportunity to "clean up" the beer.



So the one above was more of an older style hop schedule.

This one is a more modern style. Remember that when you see Cryo or lupomax hops, you basically have to double the quantity to get the equal effect.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1499339 Medium IPA (sort of old and new school)
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1491155 Double Juicy(new school)
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1352389 Session IPA

These are what i have no draft right now. For reference. the IBUs are deceptive. the double juicy is far less bitter more fruity then the medium ipa. the session is sort of in between.

Thanks for that. I'm actually hoping to brew a more old-school, Sierra Nevada style beer but am also interested in brewing NEIPAs in the future, so this is super helpful. Do you have any recommendations for amount of hops in the dry hop? I'm brewing a 2.5 gallon, and I think I will have leftover Chinook from my brew. I was reading some articles that say it isn't great to dry hop with high alpha hops. Should I dry hop with something else?

 

[Bigbre04]

Thanks for that. I'm actually hoping to brew a more old-school, Sierra Nevada style beer but am also interested in brewing NEIPAs in the future, so this is super helpful. Do you have any recommendations for amount of hops in the dry hop? I'm brewing a 2.5 gallon, and I think I will have leftover Chinook from my brew. I was reading some articles that say it isn't great to dry hop with high alpha hops. Should I dry hop with something else?

Dryhop away! Most of my hops are high AA! my mosaic cryo is 24.6AA (i think) and i dryhop with it regularly!

My Dry hop rates are pretty high and i am making Juicy IPAs generally speaking so take this with a pinch of salt. It looks like for the ones that i have on draft now im dryhopping with about 40-50% of my total hop bill. These numbers are going in the day after i brew it(Voss for the win). Im cranking them out from grain to glass in 7-8 days for 8.6% ipas!

My older recipe looks like it was only about 25% of the hop bill, but it was for 6 days and likely would have been cooled to drop/harvest yeast before dryhop.

If you are looking todo a Pale Ale, you dont really need a Dryhop.

This is the most recent Pale ale that i did.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1481668

heres another one.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1452142

 

[Prairie Dog]

Dryhop away! Most of my hops are high AA! my mosaic cryo is 24.6AA (i think) and i dryhop with it regularly!

My Dry hop rates are pretty high and i am making Juicy IPAs generally speaking so take this with a pinch of salt. It looks like for the ones that i have on draft now im dryhopping with about 40-50% of my total hop bill. These numbers are going the day after i brew it(Voss for the win). Im cranking them out from grain to glass in 7-8 days for 8.6% ipas!

My older recipe looks like it was only about 25% of the hop bill, but it was for 6 days and likely would have been cooled to drop/harvest yeast before dryhop.

If you are looking todo a Pale Ale, you dont really need a Dryhop.

This is the most recent Pale ale that i did.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1481668

heres another one.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1452142

Thanks for the advice! I'm definitely going for an IPA with this one. I just meant an old school West Coast style IPA. I made a new hop schedule, using some of the advice here and added a dry hopping round, with the dry hopping accounting for 21% of the hop bill. Good to know that isn't overboard!

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1491231/labor-day-west-coast-ipa

 

[Donoroto]

What he said.