2011: The year I nail down an IPA Recipe?

I brew a lot of hoppy beers and refuse to apologize for it. Beer nerds/afficonados are well past this trend but I love a dank IPA in my glass. The pale ale or IPA is the standard I hold most brewpubs too and am quick to dismiss a brand if they have a subpar version. I have done many single hop IPA, traditional cascade pale ales, overdone DIPAs, massively hoppy barley wines and experimental hop beers. Most good, a few great, some down right terrible. So it's about time I practice what I preach and make a truly awesome IPA. This is going to happen in one brew, these things take time.

In January I brewed a sessionable IPA with 2 row, Munich, Caramel Malt, Columbus, Cascade and Citra. I purposely mashed a the low end of things, thinking it would add to the drinkability. It did but the bittering hops charged through and flattened the malt profile. It was not too bitter for my tastes but the average drinker would not appreciate it.

At the beginning of March I took the same recipe but mashed at the higher end of the scale. After hearing a Brewing Network podcast with Lagunitas, the brewer talked about mashing at 160F for the Maximus IPA. Even the brewcasters thought it was a wild concept but he said the body it delivers was right for the beer. I ended up mashing at 158F. Fermentation struggled a bit with the long chain sugars, ending at 1.018 (calculated 1.013). Out of the FV it was tasting great, there was more of a balance with the Columbus bittering charge. I just dry hopped it with 2 oz of Citra and will be kegged in 5 days.

The concept is to keep brewing this recipe, changing one variable until I feel it is locked in. If the change doesn't improve the beer we go back to the last good version and change another variable. Once solidified, I will enter it into a few competitions and see how it fairs against the judges.

The Citra Session - Pale Ale featuring Citra / The English Beat ESB

It's winter here in Chicago. Brewing has been sparse since I only brew outdoors. I did manage to brave the cold for a few sessions this month. Putting together a beer for a competition and one for my enjoyment. You may recall this Summer I went on a huge session beer kick. I love the challenge of getting maximum flavor and without impacting the beers drinkability. Keeping brew like this in my kegerator free's up my beer budget substantially, another positive. I must say this urge hasn't left, as you can tell from the recipe's below. Enjoy and as always, constructive feedback is appreciated.


The Citra Session Pale Ale

OG 1.054
PG 1.046
FG 1.013
ABV 5.4%
SRM 15
IBU 100 (estimated from recipe calculator, nowhere near this amount)
EFF 75%
Boil 60 min
Yeast US-05 (1 package)
1 tsp Gypsum split between mash and sparge (based on Chicago water)


Grain

8 lb 2 Row
2 lb Munich 10l
1 lb Caramel 80L
12 oz Caramel 40 L
4 oz Caramel 120L

Hops

1 oz Columbus 60 min 15.5%
1 oz Cascade 30 min 5 %
1 oz Cascade 15 min 5 %
1 oz Citra 10 min 12%
1 oz Citra 1 min 12%
2 oz Citra Dry Hop in secondary for 5 days

The English Beat ESB

OG 1.052
PG 1.045
FG 1.014
ABV 5.1%
SRM 12
IBU 41
EFF 70% (efficiency suffered last time due to the cold.)
BOIL 60 min
Yeast S-04 Safale (yeast flocs hard, beer will be crystal clear in the glass)
Water 1/2 tsp calcium chloride split between mash and sparge

GRAIN

11 lb Marris Otter
8 oz Caramel 10
4 oz Caramel 20
4 oz Carmael 120
2 oz Dehusked Carafa (for color)

Hops

2 oz Goldings 60 min 4.5%
1 oz Fuggles 01 min 4.5%