West Coast IPA - GMM System

DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 150°F (66°C) for 30 minutes, going for a liquor-to-grist ratio of 1.25 quarts/lb (2.6 liters/kg). Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle, adding the first-wort hops. (Stop the runnings if the wort drops below 1.010 or rises to 5.7 pH.) Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 7 gallons (26.5 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding dextrose according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, adding hops when the wort has cooled to 195°F (91°C); steep 10 minutes. Chill to 65°F (18°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 66°F (19°C) for 24 hours, then at 68°F (20°C). When primary fermentation is complete and gravity has stabilized—typically Day 6—drop the yeast or rack to secondary, add the first dry hops, and raise the temperature to 70°F (21°C). Rouse the hops on Day 7. On Day 8, drop the yeast/trub and add the second dry hops. Drop the trub again after 2 more days. Once the beer has passed a forced diacetyl test for two days (see “Hunting for Diacetyl,” beerandbrewing.com), crash to 30°F (–1°C), add Biofine, and package 1–2 days later, carbonating to 2.75 volumes of CO2.

BREWER’S NOTES
Water profile: Target 100 ppm calcium and a 2:1 sulfate-to-calcium ratio.
pH: We target 5.2 pH in the mash, 5.05 post boil, and below 4.4 post fermentation. Aeration: We oxygenate to 9 ppm; over-aeration can negatively impact the beer’s longevity.
Yeast pitch: We pitch 800,000 cells per ml/°P/barrel of healthy yeast. Homebrewers will want to make a healthy yeast starter.
IBUs: It’s worth noting that our software massively overestimates IBU calculations, so we adjust accordingly. This recipe shows up as 125 IBUs on our software, but the numbers above reflect what we’ve found by testing the beer. Ultimately, each brewer’s taste buds should lead them to get those IBUs up—or get their beer tested!

Rousing hops: A day after each dry-hop addition, we bubble the tank with 50 psi bursts of CO2, 3 times for 30 seconds each.