My first centennial+cascade IPA

[Brewer #422640]

Hi!

I'm planning to brew this tomorrow: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1606831/ale-017-centennial-cascade-ipa
It'll be my first 'dual-C' beer, although I have made a fair few similar IPAs that I've been happy with.

I wanted to hear your thoughts, mainly on the hop schedule. I'm aiming for around 70 IBUs (I think). I don't have much feeling for things like: how much of the IBUs should come from the late additions, should I have a 30min addition, or 15min? Should I move the 5min addition to being at whirlpool? Maybe these are pretty minor adjustments.
I also have some magnum and galaxy in stock, so I wondered if it's better to use one of these for the 60min addition, rather than centennial, then I'd have more centennial to use for the later additions. But I like to keep things simple and not have more hop varieties than needed.

Also, the Munich II is there just to use up the bit I have left to add a little bit of colour, though it's not much.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sandy Feet]

You probably want one early addition (60, 45, or 30) depending on the AA of the hops, one late addition (probably around 10), maybe a flameout. A 1/2 oz probably won't do much on a dry hop, but it is a good way to experiment on the process. You will get more out of the hops flavorwise using more of them later. If you decide to use a crapload of late additions, make sure you have a floating dip tube in the keg.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I think Sandy Feet is on the right track.

A small hop charge in the beginning and shift the hops to the 5 minute mark. The bitterness can be dropped to 60 or so. The newer way of making IPA's here in the States is by dropping the bitterness and shifting hops to very late addition, cool pooling (whirlpool at 74C) and large dry hop additions. You have a smaller batch size, so the amount of hops used are reduced. In the US, it's not uncommon to see a total 500g of hops used in a 19 liter batch, so you could easily double the amount of hops. If you keep the bitterness low and use more hops, the beer is very nice.

Not saying you should go nuts with hops, but if it were my beer, I would bump up the amount of hops and shift them to later in the brewing process.

 

[J A]

Yeah...get your IBUs down to around 60. I love the Centennial but she can but a bit of a harsh mistress.
And get at least an ounce in the dryhop. Personally, I'd want a little more malt character. If you have some Victory or cara malt in the 40 range, 5% would make a difference.

 

[Bigbre04]

So i just brewed a more "modern" west coast IPA yesturday. ill post that and a couple other modern style ipa recipes for examples. dont worry about the amounts only look at the %s and the IBUs at each step.

Generally with cascade and centennial you are in the west coast territory. but you can make any of those work with whatever hops you have on hand. I would also use magnum as your bittering for efficiency sake.

Modern West Coast IPA
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1617296

Old school IPA
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1524873

Session Juicy IPA
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1614488

Double Juicy IPA
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1393954

 

[Brew Cat]

IMO use the Magnum for bittering since you have it then use that centenial in a whirlpool
as far as IBU a rule of thumb is match the IBU to the OG in your case its 63IBU so 70IBU is not far off and it all depends on what you are going for and your personal tastes and ABV
another rule that I personal have used is match ABV and IBU so your 6.7% becomes 67 IBU if your final gravity is .10 you could end up with 7% so 70IBU would work
you don't show a mash profile so maybe the FG will be lower

 

[J A]

IMO use the Magnum for bittering since you have it then use that centenial in a whirlpool
as far as IBU a rule of thumb is match the IBU to the OG in your case its 63IBU so 70IBU is not far off and it all depends on what you are going for and your personal tastes and ABV
another rule that I personal have used is match ABV and IBU so your 6.7% becomes 67 IBU if your final gravity is .10 you could end up with 7% so 70IBU would work
you don't show a mash profile so maybe the FG will be lower

I don't disagree with your logic bit I would submit that a higher ABV because of better attenuation could lead to a somewhat lighter body and drier finish, both of which would sit better with a slightly lower IBU count. OG is a more reliable marker, in my opinion.

 

[Brewer #422640]

Thanks all for the tips so far.

Hadn't heard of / thought of matching IBU to OG, that's a nice rule of thumb.

I'll use the Magnum for a bitter base (say ~15 IBUs?) then add the Centennial+Cascade much later. I only have 50g/1.8oz of each so it might be a stretch, so I might add some at 10mins, the rest either 5min or whirlpool.

Then I'll be able to buy more hops before it's time to dry-hop so I can boost the amounts there too.
Would you recommend to dry-hop with both centennial and cascade? Or favour one over the other?

One day I'll have the time to split a big mash and run multiple boils to experiment more

About the malts: I normally do use some cara malt, but right now I'm cleared out except that little bit of Munich II. Though now I might hold on until Saturday when I can get to the LHBS to restock. It feels worth it, especially if I'm buying more hops as well.

 

[Brew Cat]

I don't disagree with your logic bit I would submit that a higher ABV because of better attenuation could lead to a somewhat lighter body and drier finish, both of which would sit better with a slightly lower IBU count. OG is a more reliable marker, in my opinion.

 

[Craigerrr]

One
I would switch the early hop addition to Magnum as well for 2 reasons.
One is cost, Centennial is a spendy hop
Two, Magnum will bring a predictable bitterness
Maybe even make the early addition a first wort addition, if it is Magnum it will give you what I would call a smooth bitterness.

Two
I would up the Munich to bring more color, and backbone to the beer. Not that we brew for color, but I think that the number of IBU's you are looking at there need more malt character to balance it out. Not to mention that the bottom end of the SRM scale for American IPA is 6, I would shoot for a color more in the 7's.
Couple this with your IBU's being way at the opposite end for the style, you may want to bring that IBU number down.

Three
In your water profile, sulfate to chloride ratio is spot on for the bringing emphasis to the hops.

Four
The hop schedule in general doesn't need to be so complex. A 60 minute (or first wort) addition. A 30 minute addition, and a flame out addition with a short rest before cooling should be good. For your dry addition, I would increase that to about 3 grams per liter.

Having said all of that, it is your beer, brew it, then come back and review the various opinions here and decide if you want leave it as is because you love it, or make some adjustments to make it more to your liking.

 

[Bigbre04]

the matching IBUs thing to OG really confused the hell out of me. i was trying to wrap my head around a 16IBU IPA until i remembered yall are talking about SG not Plato lol. 16p is 1.065SG. that makes alot more sense. To me, having brewed some >60 ibu IPAs recently, i find that my 50s IPAs get much higher scores then my 60s IPAs. i think the general trend towards less bitterness and more fruit/aroma is a good thing, albeit an expensive thing.

I would also say that if you ARE gonna be up above 60ibu you really need a malty backbone or it will be way too bitter. Just my 2cents though.

 

[Craigerrr]

I would also say that if you ARE gonna be up above 60ibu you really need a malty backbone or it will be way too bitter. Just my 2cents though.

You are preaching to the choir my friend!