I'm a bit of two minds when it comes to full-blown IPAs/DIPA/IIPAs. On the one hand, I love IPAs, who wouldn't? It's the ultimate balls-to-the-way full on hop blast. I don't think I will ever get sick of drinking or brewing IPAs. On the other hand, sometimes I'll have an IPA and think 'More hops hey? Nice one guys very creative'. Maybe it's just the sheer number of IPAs on the market today that makes me more critical.
Anyway, I decided I try my hand at an IPA well into the double/imperial category as I hadn't brewed anything that intense otherwise. My Intergalactic Pale Ale, whilst was a great beer, wasn't quite as hoppy as I had expected. I'd had a few really good US DIPAs recently which had put me in the mood for it.
The grain bill is based Pliny the Elder which unfortunately I haven't had the oppurtunity to try although it's obviously very highly regarded so I figured it would be a good point of reference. I went with Columbus, Centennial and the new variety Mosaic hops, with the intention of not having any left at the end of it, and having a decent amount to dry hop with.
Full disclosure - the name looks to be taken already by a commercial brew although I'm sure I'll never come across it in Australia. One of my bros thought of it and it was just too good to give up.
Hoptimus Prime
Imperial IPA
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 19.0
Total Grain (kg): 6.500
Total Hops (g): 300.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.080 (°P): 19.3
Final Gravity (FG): 1.017 (°P): 4.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 8.19 %
Colour (SRM): 8.1 (EBC): 15.9
Bitterness (IBU): 192.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.500 kg Pale Ale Malt (84.62%)
0.500 kg Cane Sugar (7.69%)
0.250 kg Carapils (Dextrine) (3.85%)
0.250 kg Crystal 40 (3.85%)
Hop Bill
----------------
90.0 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (4.7 g/L)
10.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
20.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
20.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
50.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (2.6 g/L)
50.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (2.6 g/L)
20.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (1.1 g/L)
10.0 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (0.5 g/L)
20.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (1.1 g/L)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 15°C with Wyeast 1272
Notes
Recipe was for 19 litres but it was more like 15 after huge trub losses. Next time I will definitely use hop bags to seperate them. I've never had a problem before just using the whirlpool method and siphoning off the trub, but I must admit this is about twice as much hops per batch then I've ever used before.
Yeast was washed from a previous batch then made about a 500ml starter a few days earlier.
No dramas with fermentation. One of my best airlock sniffers. 3 weeks in primary, 1 week in secondary with the dry hops in a hop bag weighed down with sanitised marbles. Crash chilled with gelatine for a week to clear and then bottled. Bottled to 2 volumes CO2.
From memory it finished a bit lower then brewmate had calculated. Hydrometre sample tastes promising although it was before breakfast and a bit of a shock.
Tasting Notes
- Smell - Massive tropical fruit really leaps out the glass. You can smell this one as soon as you pop the cap.
- Appearance - Pours with a fluffy head. Cracked this maybe 6 weeks after bottling, can't believe I was worried it wasn't going to be ready! Surprisingly quite red especially when held up to the light. Reasonably clear but would probably benefit from a few weeks in the fridge. Head is holding up even leaving a little bit of lacing on the glass.
-Taste - HOPS. Really happy with this one. Finally hit the mark. Big tropical fruit vibe with a bit of pine. Hop Hog killer over here. Considering the calculated bitterness is in that range where its just so huge it doesn't matter any more, it actually doesn't taste hugely bitter or at least it doesn't take long very long to acclimatise to it. With the Columbus and centennial I was expecting maybe something more like Green Flash West Coast IPA but definitely no complaints - the hop profile works for sure.
In terms of booziness, it's definitely a strong beer but not overpowering. You know it's a sipper and not a slugger. Having said that I think hop forward beers are pretty forgiving on this front. The only double/imperial IPA where I've ever felt overwhelmed is Sierra Nevada's hoptimum. It was great for the first half but a bit of a struggle in the second half. Will still be going back for the 2014 batch though!
Conclusion - Really could not be happier with this one. So much so in fact I will probably use this formula as a base for future double IPAs. Possibly I'd mix up the specialty grains just for an experiment depending on what I'm looking to test out at the time. But damn what a great way to showcase the hops. I'm thinking next time I'll have to go Australian/NZ hops to showcase what the new school southern hemisphere hops have to offer.
Anyway, I decided I try my hand at an IPA well into the double/imperial category as I hadn't brewed anything that intense otherwise. My Intergalactic Pale Ale, whilst was a great beer, wasn't quite as hoppy as I had expected. I'd had a few really good US DIPAs recently which had put me in the mood for it.
The grain bill is based Pliny the Elder which unfortunately I haven't had the oppurtunity to try although it's obviously very highly regarded so I figured it would be a good point of reference. I went with Columbus, Centennial and the new variety Mosaic hops, with the intention of not having any left at the end of it, and having a decent amount to dry hop with.
Full disclosure - the name looks to be taken already by a commercial brew although I'm sure I'll never come across it in Australia. One of my bros thought of it and it was just too good to give up.
Hoptimus Prime
Imperial IPA
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 19.0
Total Grain (kg): 6.500
Total Hops (g): 300.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.080 (°P): 19.3
Final Gravity (FG): 1.017 (°P): 4.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 8.19 %
Colour (SRM): 8.1 (EBC): 15.9
Bitterness (IBU): 192.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.500 kg Pale Ale Malt (84.62%)
0.500 kg Cane Sugar (7.69%)
0.250 kg Carapils (Dextrine) (3.85%)
0.250 kg Crystal 40 (3.85%)
Hop Bill
----------------
90.0 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (4.7 g/L)
10.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
20.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
20.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
50.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (2.6 g/L)
50.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (2.6 g/L)
20.0 g Centennial Pellet (9.7% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (1.1 g/L)
10.0 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (0.5 g/L)
20.0 g Mosaic Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 7 Days (Dry Hop) (1.1 g/L)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 15°C with Wyeast 1272
Notes
Recipe was for 19 litres but it was more like 15 after huge trub losses. Next time I will definitely use hop bags to seperate them. I've never had a problem before just using the whirlpool method and siphoning off the trub, but I must admit this is about twice as much hops per batch then I've ever used before.
Yeast was washed from a previous batch then made about a 500ml starter a few days earlier.
No dramas with fermentation. One of my best airlock sniffers. 3 weeks in primary, 1 week in secondary with the dry hops in a hop bag weighed down with sanitised marbles. Crash chilled with gelatine for a week to clear and then bottled. Bottled to 2 volumes CO2.
From memory it finished a bit lower then brewmate had calculated. Hydrometre sample tastes promising although it was before breakfast and a bit of a shock.
Tasting Notes
- Smell - Massive tropical fruit really leaps out the glass. You can smell this one as soon as you pop the cap.
- Appearance - Pours with a fluffy head. Cracked this maybe 6 weeks after bottling, can't believe I was worried it wasn't going to be ready! Surprisingly quite red especially when held up to the light. Reasonably clear but would probably benefit from a few weeks in the fridge. Head is holding up even leaving a little bit of lacing on the glass.
-Taste - HOPS. Really happy with this one. Finally hit the mark. Big tropical fruit vibe with a bit of pine. Hop Hog killer over here. Considering the calculated bitterness is in that range where its just so huge it doesn't matter any more, it actually doesn't taste hugely bitter or at least it doesn't take long very long to acclimatise to it. With the Columbus and centennial I was expecting maybe something more like Green Flash West Coast IPA but definitely no complaints - the hop profile works for sure.
In terms of booziness, it's definitely a strong beer but not overpowering. You know it's a sipper and not a slugger. Having said that I think hop forward beers are pretty forgiving on this front. The only double/imperial IPA where I've ever felt overwhelmed is Sierra Nevada's hoptimum. It was great for the first half but a bit of a struggle in the second half. Will still be going back for the 2014 batch though!
Conclusion - Really could not be happier with this one. So much so in fact I will probably use this formula as a base for future double IPAs. Possibly I'd mix up the specialty grains just for an experiment depending on what I'm looking to test out at the time. But damn what a great way to showcase the hops. I'm thinking next time I'll have to go Australian/NZ hops to showcase what the new school southern hemisphere hops have to offer.
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