IPA - advice please

[kakistos_uk]

I’d like some advice if I can please. Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.

I would like to make an IPA but augment the recipe. I normally make mead but have recently started with beer. I made a coopers stout and it was pretty good. After some research I made it again with 2kg of sugar – half demerara (next time it will be treacle). I added chocolate crushed malt for extra body. I let it brew for 2 weeks, then wracked it into a pressure barrel to age a month and then bottled and left it another month.

The results from the 1st and 2nd attempt were vast. The 2nd attempt was much better. I stumbled across the amended stout recipe on another forum.

I’d like to do the same but with an IPA but I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. Whatever extra malt I’ve found on amazon (normally I use ballihoo as they don’t mind emails with dumb question) the supplier don’t think its suited to an IPA.

Is there anyone that can make a suggestion? The works if you can – the best sugar for flavour, hops, ways to increase body, brew short, etc. I’d be most grateful.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Poochops]

Have you thought about making a two can kit? I'm enjoying a pint of youngs American IPA right now, it comes with brewing sugar, 100g hops in two varieties and bottling sugar also. It's outrageously good for a kit.

 

[Godsdog]

I’d like some advice if I can please. Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.

I would like to make an IPA but augment the recipe. I normally make mead but have recently started with beer. I made a coopers stout and it was pretty good. After some research I made it again with 2kg of sugar ��" half demerara (next time it will be treacle). I added chocolate crushed malt for extra body. I let it brew for 2 weeks, then wracked it into a pressure barrel to age a month and then bottled and left it another month.

The results from the 1st and 2nd attempt were vast. The 2nd attempt was much better. I stumbled across the amended stout recipe on another forum.

I’d like to do the same but with an IPA but I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. Whatever extra malt I’ve found on amazon (normally I use ballihoo as they don’t mind emails with dumb question) the supplier don’t think its suited to an IPA.

Is there anyone that can make a suggestion? The works if you can ��" the best sugar for flavour, hops, ways to increase body, brew short, etc. I’d be most grateful.

Thanks for the help!!

if your asking the best way to pimp a kit then go for wilkos hoppy copper use some golden syrup and dry hop with one of the big C hops,for under 15 quid youll get a decent ipa type ale

 

[Lesinge]

Or you could get some non mash grains such as Crystal or ones starting Cara (Caramalt, Carared etc) and steep them for about half an hour then boil the results with some hops and add it to your kit. I also use spray malt as well as sugar to give one can kits some body. Or as the contributor above says, why not try a two can kit as there are some good ones out there.

 

[LarryF]

There a loads of ways of pimping kits, avoid using just brewing sugar, try brew enhancer or spray malt in its place. There are the options of liquid malt extracts dark or light or steeping grains, all of these will add body and malt flavour to your beer. You can the boil or steep hops as a hop tea to add to your beer and you can dry hop adding hops to your FV nine days or so after pitching your yeast. This will add some hop bitterness and hop flavour and aroma and you can tweak the amounts to suit. I put on a Wilko delicate Pilsner on Tuesday, I added 1kg brew enhancer, 300g of Golden Syrup. I boiled 30g of American Crystal hop for 30 mins and added the tea, nine days in I'm going to add another 20g of the same hop to the FV. What I'm hoping for is a rich light ale with a slight hop bitterness and an added hop kick. I'll bottle this into 600ml bottles primed with 1tsp of sugar to get a lager style carbonation on it.

 

[kakistos_uk]

This is all excellent, thank you. I've got much to think about.

Forgive my ignorance - is there a glossary of terms? I'm not familiar with 'steep' and I'm rather new to hops - I've never used them before. Are they the part that gives litter ales the bitterness and aroma?

Thanks again!

 

[terrym]

This is all excellent, thank you. I've got much to think about.

Forgive my ignorance - is there a glossary of terms? I'm not familiar with 'steep' and I'm rather new to hops - I've never used them before. Are they the part that gives litter ales the bitterness and aroma?

Thanks again!

Steep is a term which means 'soak' and is applied to soaking grains in hot water at about 65*C fro a limited time, say 30mins, to extract sugars and flavour from the grains. The liquor is then separated from the grains, and then boiled to sterilise it. It is not 'mashing' which is a different process and carried out to convert grain starch to fermentable sugars.
Hops are indeed used to give beer bitterness, flavour and also aroma. The boil part of brewing is mostly about extracting bitterness from the hops, and then flavour. The longer the hops are boiled the more bitterness will be extracted, and the less flavour. Some hops have more bittereness potential than others, usually defined by Alpha Acid or AA, and a typical bittering hop would have about 8%AA but it could be less or more. Hop aroma is usually acquired by dry hopping which means the hops are added to the cooled wort at some time during the brewing process, usually for home brewers when the primary fermentation has died down. More on this here
A Newbies Guide to Dry Hopping Your Beer - The HomeBrew Forum
and here
Hops Varieties for Brewing Beer Guide | Where legends are made

 

[kakistos_uk]

This is great. Thanks!