Session IPA Critique

Nola_Brew

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Want to brew one in a couple weeks. Here's what I have come up with. Need thoughts/opinions.
Anything I need to add or change before ordering my grains?

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.005
IBU: 40
SRM: 6.1
ABV: 4.5

5 lb MO
1 lb Vienna
1 lb Munich 10
1 lb C20
.5 lb flaked oats or flaked wheat or flaked rye

1 oz Simcoe @ 60
1 oz Simcoe @ 5
2 oz Amarillo @ WP

Yeast: 1318 or Conan

Mash 154
 
Caveat:
Recipe looks really good and I'm sure it would be fine as is. I love the idea of flaked rye!

If I had to nit pick:
I would skip the @5 and just whirlpool and dry hop to taste.

Good luck. Keep us posted.
 
That sure will be a flavourful beer I just wonder if maybe pushing it too malty.
I'd start with just MO and flaked wheat or if need drop one of the Munich or Vienna but just my 2c.
My thoughts are Marris Otter is a flavourfull malt on its own so beefing it up with these specialty malts my just push it toward too sweet maybe
 
Thanks for the replies.
Made some changes:
6 lb MO
1 lb Munich 10
1 lb C20
.5 lb Flaked Oats, wheat or rye

1 oz Simcoe @ 60
1 oz Simcoe WP
2 oz Amarillo WP

I usually do not use a pound of crystal. Would that be too much? Maybe cut back to .5 or .75 lb?
as for the flaked items, I've never used flaked rye. Thinking maybe trying that. Thoughts or should I stick with either oats or wheat?
 
It's not too much, as long as you keep your bittering level correct, many people are crystal haters, I'm not one of them, salt and sugar have there place in all cooking, it should bring out the amarello flavor
 
Brewed yesterday. Used 1318 and went with recipe in post #4.
Should be about a 4.5% ABV brew, at least that's what I am hoping for.
 
Kegging this batch today. It's day and it has been cold crashed for 2 days. Still alot of yeast on top. Never had this happen before.
Weird but it smells great and FG is 1.012.
 

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Kegging this batch today. It's day and it has been cold crashed for 2 days. Still alot of yeast on top. Never had this happen before.
Weird but it smells great and FG is 1.012.
I think you will like that grain bill. Session IPAs are very difficult. Every detail of the brewing process needs attention. Looking forward to hearing how it turned out. Cheers!
 
Here's the recipe I ended up with:
7 lb MO
.75 lb Munich 10
.75 lb C20
.5 lb Flaked Rye
.5 Simcoe @ 30
1 oz Simcoe and .5 Amarillo @10
1 oz Simcoe and .5 Amarillo @10
2 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Cascade WP for 20 min @ 160
1.25 oz Simcoe, 1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Cascade DH for 5 days
Wyeast 1318

Wanted to try and go without a DH but the gravity check sample was kinda blah.
I'll have a taste test on Saturday.
 
For a 1st attempt, it's pretty good. Easy to drink. It does lack aroma so next time I will need to make some changes to my hop schedule and probably increase the flaked rye and maybe add in some white wheat.

Yeast wise, I am not impressed with 1318. Not much yeast character. First time using it. I much prefer Conan or even Kveik.
I'll definitely re-brew with some changes.
 

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That’s a lot of changes. I really think the grain bill is good. 4.5 ABV is tougher than aiming for 5%. The lighter you go, the more the flaws show through. As for aroma, I assume you mean hop aroma since it’s an IPA. Maybe try getting most of your IBUs from a clean bittering hop at 60. Then skip the boil hops or just keep them to no more than 2 ounces at 5 min. Get that aroma from 30 min. whirlpool hops starting at 185df, and dry hops. Probably about 8 ounces of hops total. As for yeast, keep it simple. Think Chico 1056 or British 1098 (my fav). I don’t know what you are doing for water treatment, but 1.5:1 so4:cl is a good start on a session IPA with 50 to 100 ppm total calcium. Try not to use Epsom salts as it adds too much magnesium for this beer. There are plenty of other land mines. Just my 2c and keep brewing it. Cheers!
 
I agree with Group W for the most part. Higher mash temps, lower attenuating yeasts and Carafoam or light colored Crystal malts will give you the body you need. Bittering hops are key to turning a low ABV beer into a believable IPA. Where you get the flavor and aroma from is subjective. Late boil additions, steep/whirlpool, dry hopping or any combination will do the trick.
 
That’s a lot of changes. I really think the grain bill is good. 4.5 ABV is tougher than aiming for 5%. The lighter you go, the more the flaws show through. As for aroma, I assume you mean hop aroma since it’s an IPA. Maybe try getting most of your IBUs from a clean bittering hop at 60. Then skip the boil hops or just keep them to no more than 2 ounces at 5 min. Get that aroma from 30 min. whirlpool hops starting at 185df, and dry hops. Probably about 8 ounces of hops total. As for yeast, keep it simple. Think Chico 1056 or British 1098 (my fav). I don’t know what you are doing for water treatment, but 1.5:1 so4:cl is a good start on a session IPA with 50 to 100 ppm total calcium. Try not to use Epsom salts as it adds too much magnesium for this beer. There are plenty of other land mines. Just my 2c and keep brewing it. Cheers!
I agree. I'll probably go for 30 or so IBU's for bittering. I do need to mash a bit higher. I dont have any Chico yeast but I do have San Diego Super that I can use.
 
For a 1st attempt, it's pretty good. Easy to drink. It does lack aroma so next time I will need to make some changes to my hop schedule and probably increase the flaked rye and maybe add in some white wheat.

Yeast wise, I am not impressed with 1318. Not much yeast character. First time using it. I much prefer Conan or even Kveik.
I'll definitely re-brew with some changes.
That sure looks good, looks darker, and richer than most Sessions.
 
It's a little lighter than in the photo but it is a bit darker than i wanted.
here's the final grain bill:
39.5% MO
39.5% Pale
10.5% Munich 10
10.5 % Flaked Rye
Using MO and Munich increased the SRM to 5.4.
Next time, I'll probably increase the flaked rye and maybe go w
 

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