help me hop my Belgian IPA?

oliver

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here's my recipe:

Going for 200:100 SO:Cl ratio ... 3 gal boil -> 2.25gal batch size

4lbs Belgian Pils
1lbs Torrified Wheat
1lbs Candi Syrup (0L)

WLP500 (Trappist Ale (Chimay))

Hop time. I want to use Simcoe, Citra, and Mosaic, an ounce of each, hopped to 100IBUs on the calculator

Initial thoughts:
.25oz Simcoe FWH, I want to first wort simcoe somehow,
1oz Citra between 20 and 5...
1oz Mosaic Whirlpooled right after flameout, starting around 200ºF.
toss in the rest of the simcoe after the wort cools, I guess?

Any suggestions?
 
I'd use a pinch of Simcoe at 20. To me that's where it gets a nice dank, smooth bittering note in the flavor. You'll get a lot of that in your First Wort, too, but doubling down on it will lay a nice foundation for the fruitiness in the late hops. Maybe keep your Citra at 5 and flameout. And I'd start the whirlpool at a lower temp to keep the volatiles intact...maybe 180.

That WLP500 will add a lot of clove spiciness and plenty of fruit notes on it's own. I did a 3-gallon low-gravity extract beer to get a bigger pitch for a subsequent batch and the yeast flavor/aroma was pretty strident. You don't mention your gravity but from the grain bill and sugar addition it looks like you're going pretty big. Should be a big, hoppy beer but one that balances out.
 
That's some good ideas

... I did mean to say, I'm aiming for 1067-1070 OG, and 7.75 - 8.25% ABV.

With what you're saying, I'll do a little bit of simcoe FWH, some at 20 like you've mentioned JA.... and moving the Citra down to 5 also will work out.

I also forgot to mention my whirlpool technique at this point is just chucking the hops in after the boil and stirring the hops with no temperature measurements.
 
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You will be suprised how quickly your chiller will get your beer down to 80c like 5 min if that dependingon your chiller so it pays to take a measurement dont wanna waste them hops.
 
I don't do Belgian IPAs but if I did, I wouldn't use American-style hops to do so. The combination of harsh bitterness and phenols does not taste good to me (I generally use the term "vaguely poisonous" to describe the taste). I'd go with some nice, soft Continental hops and keep the hops restrained. Good luck with it, though!
 
The Belgians don't mind using US hops.
They don't go for the intense fermentation characteristics Americans do when creating "Belgian" beers, either. A good Belgian "Belgian" has noticeable but restrained phenols. They also don't go for IBU bombs the way we do. It's not either I can't abide together, it's intensity of both phenols and bitterness, medicinal, harsh and hard to drink.
 
... I did mean to say, I'm aiming for 1067-1070 OG, and 7.75 - 8.25% ABV.

You might get attenuation high enough for 8% ABV+ but my experience is that the first pitch doesn't want to attenuate that well. About 80% should be possible with a good mash, careful temp control and patience but that won't get you to 8% with less than .074 OG. My 1.072 Belgian Dubbel using that yeast on the 3rd pitch (full cake left in the fermenter) went 83+ percent to end up at 7.8%.
My guess is that you'll hit right at 80% attenuation on a small batch and hit around 7.5% ABV.
 
They also don't go for IBU bombs the way we do.

Jandrain uses American hops exclusively. Cazeau's Triple gets to 60 IBU with Cascade, other Tournays use Warrior and Tomahawk. De Blaugie's Vermontoise uses Amarillo. De Ranke gets up to 100 IBU using Challenger and Brewer's Gold. American hops have found pretty wide use there. Not so sure about Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic specifically. Many of these breweries do pair the American with Continental hops like Northern Brewer, Mittelfruh, Brewer's Gold, etc. so that's worth considering.

I also favor the classic yeast-forward lightly noble hopped Belgians. But that's not the goal here, so hey, give it a try.
 
I am currently drinking a Belgian or White IPA whichever you want to call it. It is 50-50 white wheat/2 row with Magnum for bittering to 70 IBU then citra and centennial and cascade with centennial dry hop. I brewed it with T-58 not Trappist so its not as fruity. To me the Trappist may have trouble balancing out with to much citrus so I would be cautious with the citra and pile on the others. Brew on!
 
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I am currently drinking a Belgian or White IPA whichever you want to call it. It is 50-50 white wheat/2 row with Magnum for bittering to 70 IBU then citra and centennial and cascade with centennial dry hop. I brewed it with T-58
That sounds like a great beer! :)
 

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