"Simple" IPA for my return to brewing

jmcnamara

jmcnamara

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With all the wedding stuff going on, it looks like I won't be brewing until after the honeymoon in mid-november.
I was tinkering with an IPA recipe, since it's been awhile since I brewed one. I've already got amarillo and columbus on hand, as well as wlp008.
From what I've read about that yeast, it's sort of a combination of wlp001 and an English yeast. Still pretty clean, but a bit less emphasis on the hops. With that in mind, i went towards the higher end for IBUs.
Also, i've got the corn sugar and amber dme on hand too, i'm trying to clean out some brewing ingredients that have been sitting for a bit.
any help is always appreciated

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... simple-ipa
 
looks great, don't change a thing unless you were to hope steep at the end
 
ha, i remember somebody telling me about that recently... ;)

what the heck, i'll probably still have a bit of hops leftover to use anyway. clear out the freezer to make room for more
 
I love to hope steep.... But I digress. The recipe looks spot on, it should make a very nice beer. I'm curious about the malt extract but it's more curiosity than critique - what were you hoping to achieve with it that you couldn't with more two row and a bit of high-Lovibond crystal?

I also agree with OMB - a slight improvement could be made using whirlpool hops - steeping an ounce or so at the end of the boil for ten minutes or so, perhaps some dry hopping but all in all, should be a very serviceable recipe.
 
I just have the dme lying around. I had bought a lb in a pinch to make a yeast starter. Normally i try to just use 2row to get about 3gal of wort, then can it by the quart for later use.

Figured id just use it to get rid of it, but i can sub it out. Im more closely tied to the hops and yeast, since ive already bought those.
 
And you bring up a good point, the dme isn't really doing anything unique by itself.
If it turns out to be a decent recipe to tinker with, I'd definitely drop it in favor of actual grains.
My head says it's not, but my heart considers extract to be a shortcut. Not cheating, but just a quicker way from point a to b.
Thanks for the comments everyone!
 
if anything it will add head retention and a bit more alcohol, you might not know this but dme has carapils in it and is a good way to liven up the yeast and get fermentation started sooner the way you have it kind of like a late corn sugar
 
I did not know that about the carapils. Thats good to know. Do you know if that's something specific to amber dme, any dme, or just extract in general?

And i guess i retract my statement about extract being a shortcut, there's just different (and sometimes unknown) variables at play
 
I'd consider extract to be a shortcut. Not that there's anything wrong with using it. If it makes you feel better, remember they use actual grains to make extract! It would be interesting to know what grains the manufacturers use, even percentages. That sure would make converting to all grain a no brainer. I doubt that any two manufacturers would use the exact same recipe for the same type of extract, be it amber or whatever.
 
ha ha, anything that goes in beer is beer, there's no right or wrong, Ive brewed many home made extracts, partial mashes and lots of last minute add ins, do what ever makes you happy
 
I've won awards with extract beer, as long as it's fresh and color isn't a factor, not a thing wrong with it. In fact, I almost prefer it for hop-forward beers. But you do raise an interesting point about what goes in. Our LHBS repackages extract so all you know is if it's light, amber and so forth. Even DME has little information about content on it. It's food, you think they'd have to label it but here in the States, food labels are practically useless as well. Okay, the Briess site will tell you what's in SOME of their extracts but not all, claiming proprietary formulation. Amber is one that isn't described so I wouldn't use it in favor of a defined product and some steeping grains.
 
even with all our planning and science, I still think there's a bit of hocus-pocus that's in every batch of homebrew
 
Amen to that. Every brew day begins with an appeal to Ninkasi and the prayer, dona eis cerevisium.
 
here's the key to repeating beers, its not something everyone wants to do, buy in bulk and I mean large amounts, like a pickup full of 50 pound bags of 2 row, 10 pounds each of most flavoring grains and 5 to 10 pounds of the same crop of hops... and you need to store each of these at perfect conditions to make it last for a year. most of the time I just do 6 months worth at a time. at the same time the costs would seem large but in fact its cheaper in the long run. The point is nothing on the suppliers side will change like it might now month to month, you never know how dry a grain is or if bulk packed dme is bought at the same place or time so flavor can be way off just brewing the same recipe unless you prepare ahead of time
 
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