Double IPA

[Mrhandsome]

Hey guys I'm doing a double ipa for my next brew, I've never tried one before. How does this look?

Makes 5 litres:

1kg Belgian pale malt
500g crystal malt
250g caramalt

Mash at 63c for 90 mins

6g Chinook 60mins
8.5g Amarillo 20mins
10g Amarillo end
7g Chinook end

Dry hop
10g Amarillo
5g Chinook

 

[user 18729]

Looks like too much crystal / caramalt. You maybe want around 100g for a 5 litre batch.

 

[An Ankoù]

Hey guys I'm doing a double ipa for my next brew, I've never tried one before. How does this look?

Makes 5 litres:

1kg Belgian pale malt
500g crystal malt
250g caramalt

Mash at 63c for 90 mins

6g Chinook 60mins
8.5g Amarillo 20mins
10g Amarillo end
7g Chinook end

Dry hop
10g Amarillo
5g Chinook

That's hell of a lot of crystal malt. I'd drop it altogether and replace it with a similar weight of pale ale malt to give you an OG os something over 1070. I think double IPAs have to be balanced, but they're more hop forward than malt-forward.

 

[MickDundee]

As the others have said, just under 45% of the grainbill as crystal/caramalt is excessive. Tone it down to about 10% and it’ll be fine.

 

[Mrhandsome]

OK so less crystal, more pale malt.

I'm still a bit new to brewing so I'm experimenting heavily, and this is what I have left until I buy more ingredients.

How about 1250g pale, and 250g each of crystal and caramalt? A ratio of about 70/15/15, or should I use even more pale and less of the other two?I'll save this recipe until my next shop.

I take it the hop profile looks good to you guys then?

 

[user 18729]

OK so less crystal, more pale malt.

I'm still a bit new to brewing so I'm experimenting heavily, and this is what I have left until I buy more ingredients.

How about 1250g pale, and 250g each of crystal and caramalt? A ratio of about 70/15/15, or should I use even more pale and less of the other two?I'll save this recipe until my next shop.

I take it the hop profile looks good to you guys then?

Still too much crystal, I’d use 50 grams of each if you want to use it. As said, use a max of 10% crystal & cara combined

 

[Mrhandsome]

OK so a 90/5/5 ratio. In fact I think I'll leave the crystal out and do 90/10 pale and caramalt then. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Gulpitdarn]

I'm wondering why Mrhandsome as a newbie, isn't asking why is it too much Crystal? What would be gained from having say 500g, would the beer taste be too toffee like? I can understand the temptation to add more as the smell of dried crush Crystal is amazing.

 

[Mrhandsome]

I'm wondering why Mrhandsome as a newbie, isn't asking why is it too much Crystal? What would be gained from having say 500g, would the beer taste be too toffee like? I can understand the temptation to add more as the smell of dried crush Crystal is amazing.

A bit cryptic... And I definitely should ask more questions.

Are you saying maybe I should use all that crystal to find out what would happen?

Like I said, I am fairly new to this, and I AM experimenting.

Not all experiments go well of course, but maybe I should say to hell with it and do it anyway. It's only a small 5l batch after all.

 

[simon12]

I like some crystal in an IPA most would only use base/pale malt I might use up to 10% in a standard IPA but for a double I think 5-7% is plenty 20% I think would be the most anyone would use in any style as it gets a bit chewy.

 

[terrym]

I'm wondering why Mrhandsome as a newbie, isn't asking why is it too much Crystal? What would be gained from having say 500g, would the beer taste be too toffee like? I can understand the temptation to add more as the smell of dried crush Crystal is amazing.

Crystal malts (and caramalt I guess since they are similar, although I don't use it) contain unfermentable sugars and in increasing amounts will provide increasing levels of sweetness (at the expense of alcohol ) and ultimately become cloying to the taste. I have seen up to 15% crystal used in recipes for mild but mild is a completely different beer to an IPA in my view and 15% would be in keeping with the style, whereas in an IPA it would not

 

[Gulpitdarn]

Good reply from Terry, still leaves a newbie wondering and myself included!

Not all experiments go well of course, but maybe I should say to hell with it and do it anyway. It's only a small 5l batch after all.

My kind of thinking

 

[Gerryjo]

Good reply from Terry, still leaves a newbie wondering and myself included!

My kind of thinking

Due too the fact he had only stated crystal and caramalt is such large amounts he has not stated what lovibond/EBC they are and therefore don't know how long they have been malted/processed to give the colour/flavour to the brew.Due too the nature of these malts they are not designed to be base malts and have been further process to enhance colour/body/mouth feel and sweetness due to unfermentable sugars that are extracted when they are kilned for longer which will then possibly lead to sickly toffee quite possibly even burnt flavours with a high Fg when finished.
It's not so much an experiment it's knowing what malts you are actually using and why for when you purchase these from your LHBS you will find attached a data sheet telling you about the malt type and quantities that can be used and this comes from professional people who have tried and tested these not to mention the recipes put together by thousands of others that can be found online or in a book and all it takes is a bit of research.
I love experimental brews but I will do a bit of research first then make my own but don't go wasting precious time and money to find it a flop and if all your experiments turn out great first time fantastic,you could even write it up on a forum or put it in a book so people can read and learn from it.

 

[Mrhandsome]

Due too the fact he had only stated crystal and caramalt is such large amounts he has not stated what lovibond/EBC they are and therefore don't know how long they have been malted/processed to give the colour/flavour to the brew.Due too the nature of these malts they are not designed to be base malts and have been further process to enhance colour/body/mouth feel and sweetness due to unfermentable sugars that are extracted when they are kilned for longer which will then possibly lead to sickly toffee quite possibly even burnt flavours with a high Fg when finished.
It's not so much an experiment it's knowing what malts you are actually using and why for when you purchase these from your LHBS you will find attached a data sheet telling you about the malt type and quantities that can be used and this comes from professional people who have tried and tested these not to mention the recipes put together by thousands of others that can be found online or in a book and all it takes is a bit of research.
I love experimental brews but I will do a bit of research first then make my own but don't go wasting precious time and money to find it a flop and if all your experiments turn out great first time fantastic,you could even write it up on a forum or put it in a book so people can read and learn from it.

So in a nutshell there would be too many unfermentable sugars so don't bother. Got it

I'm not too fused with keeping to a particular style, I just want to make drinkable beer. Posting on here gives me insights from those more experienced than me, and hopefully will stop me making any major mistakes.

I think I'll try two different brews in this case, one 90/5/5 pale/crystal/cara and one 80/10/10 to see the difference myself. I take it the 80/10/10 will turn out sweeter than the 90/5/5.

 

[Gerryjo]

So in a nutshell there would be too many unfermentable sugars so don't bother. Got it

I'm not too fused with keeping to a particular style, I just want to make drinkable beer. Posting on here gives me insights from those more experienced than me, and hopefully will stop me making any major mistakes.

I think I'll try two different brews in this case, one 90/5/5 pale/crystal/cara and one 80/10/10 to see the difference myself. I take it the 80/10/10 will turn out sweeter than the 90/5/5.

What is the EBC of your crystal/caramalt?
A quick search gives this so as to give insight to what the difference is between the types of malt.
Have a look here which will also help.
Certainly good to see the difference in flavour the % of each shall contribute as both will be totally different and you will also notice the difference that your quantity of hops play regarding bittering due to the higher sweetness in the second recipe.

 

[Mrhandsome]

Caramalt EBC is 30-64
Crystal EBC is 150-175

 

[MrRook]

Some brewers use a bit of munich malt and no crystal.