Single Challenger IPA Extract Help/Idea

[oldpathwhiteclouds]

Hi HBF,

I've been brewing extract beers for a little while using recipes from Graham Wheeler's British Real Ale book. I've also been growing and harvesting challenger hops which I bought from Aplus Hops. So I now have some extra pale malt extract left and a load of challenger hops frozen along with some Irish Moss. I have some safale us-05 dried yeast. I hope that should be enough for a brew.

I was hoping that I could make a single hop IPA(ish) ale with these ingredients.

Can anyone give me a suggestion for a recipe based on these? I'd be happy with anything between 4% and 6%. If not I guess I'll just have to wing it.

Thanks

Max

 

[clibit]

Do you have any crystal malt? And any hops you could use for bittering, cos the AA of the home grown hop will be impossible to predict.

 

[oldpathwhiteclouds]

Thanks for the response Clibit. Right I didn't realise that. So does that mean I can't really use my homegrown hops for a single hop beer? Doh, I should have done more research when I bought the rhisomes. I went for challenger because of it's dual purpose character.

This was the info that came with the plants:

Alpha acid (range) 6.5 – 8.5%
Beta acid (range) 2.5 – 4.3%
Ratio Alpha:Beta 1.8 – 2.1:1
Cohumulone (% of alpha) 20 – 25%
Total oils, ml/100g (dry) 1.0 – 1.5

Is that range of Alpha acid too wide? The book I referred to puts it at 7.6%. Can't I just use the same amounts for bittering as recommended there?

I can get some crystal malt, should I?

Cheers

Max

 

[clibit]

Thanks for the response Clibit. Right I didn't realise that. So does that mean I can't really use my homegrown hops for a single hop beer? Doh, I should have done more research when I bought the rhisomes. I went for challenger because of it's dual purpose character.

This was the info that came with the plants:

Alpha acid (range) 6.5 ��" 8.5%
Beta acid (range) 2.5 ��" 4.3%
Ratio Alpha:Beta 1.8 ��" 2.1:1
Cohumulone (% of alpha) 20 ��" 25%
Total oils, ml/100g (dry) 1.0 ��" 1.5

Is that range of Alpha acid too wide? The book I referred to puts it at 7.6%. Can't I just use the same amounts for bittering as recommended there?

I can get some crystal malt, should I?

Cheers

Max

Have you dried the hops? If so, you would probably be ok. If not, it wil be harder to predict, but you could always wing it and see what happens. You need a lot more wet hops than dry.

You don't need crystal malt. If it was me, being the author of darkness, I would want to use home grown hops in an all grain beer, to maximise the joy. And I would get a sexy yeast too. But I can do a recipe with just pale extract, your hops and US05 if you like.