After a bunch of little tweaks and advice from some wise souls on this site I have decided to brew this recipe this weekend. Please let me know if you have any criticisms.
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
1 lbs Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
3 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.50 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
5 lbs Light Dry Extract [Boil for 3 min](8.0 SRM)
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil for 3 min](1.0 SRM)
1.0 pkg London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028)
3.00 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.091
Est Final Gravity: 1.020
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.3 %
Bitterness: 81.7 IBUs
Est Color: 15.7 SRM
I will be doing a 2 step starter (step 1 already done) for this since its a big beer.
I want this to be a bit sweeter so my biggest concern is I get a higher attenuation than expected and end up with a dry and overly alcoholic beer. Do you think I have too much table sugar? BeerSmith2 actually estimated my FG to be at like 1.013 and a 10.4% ABV which is not what I’m looking for.
I was concerned about the large amount of specialty grains in this so I reduced them and increased the DME and lowered the sugar a bit. Here’s the modified version.
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
6.4 oz Honey Malt
3 lbs Light Dry Extract
1.40 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.50 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
6 lbs Light Dry Extract [flameout]
1 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [flameout]
1.0 pkg London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028)
3.00 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days
I agree with your decision to decrease the C40 and simple sugar.
Don’t trust what Beersmith estimates for FG…especially when brewing with extract. By the way, I get 77-78% apparent attenuation with 1028 pretty consistently, but that’s all-grain. You are doing a yeast starter, right?
In any type of IPA–but especially a DIPA–I don’t think 2 oz of late hops will yield anywhere near the results you want in terms of flavor and aroma. I would skip the 15 minute addition and load up between 10 and 0. It’s not uncommon for me to use >6 oz of late hops in an IPA. I think you’ll want to use at least 4 oz. It’s very hard to overdo late hop additions in an IPA.
Good luck! GLBC does not distribute anywhere near here, but I was luck enough to get a four pack when it was released this year. I loved it.
I’d double the zero minute additions (maybe move 2 total ounces to 1 minute) and do about 4oz of the same hops as dry hop. Add the sugar, dissolved in boiled/cooled water around day 3 of fermentation. You don’t want to add it during the boil or at flameout as I have heard the yeast can go for the simple sugars first and get lazy with the maltose, maltriose, etc. Your beer will be drier my way. Otherwise, looks good.
For those following this, I brewed this yesterday using the following recipe:
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
6.4 oz Honey Malt
3 lbs Light Dry Extract
1.40 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min
1.00 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min
6 lbs Light Dry Extract [flameout]
1 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [flameout]
1.0 pkg London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028)
3.00 oz Mosaic [11.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days
The Mosaic was leaf hop and let me tell you what a nightmare 2 oz. of leaf hops when pouring through a strainer is. I suggest getting a smaller strainer that can scoop the leaves out before trying to pour. Started with a 3 gallon boil, I lost about 1 gallon from boil off and hop absorption. I spilled about 12oz on the floor when pouring into the carboy. I topped it off to 5 gallons fearing i would miss my target OG by a bunch but hit it dead on (1.090).
I also didn’t pre-dissolve my flameout additions like i originally planned cause i just plain forgot. Had to leave it on the heat for an extra 5 minutes to get everything dissolved.
I added about 6 drops of Fermcap-S after pitching at 64 degrees. Being a big beer, i expected quite a bit of blowoff but 12 hours after pitching there is a nice krausen but it still hasn’t reached the airlock. I’m hoping its the Fermcap-S keeping it down and not strained yeast. I’m keeping it pretty steadily between 62-64 degrees.
I’ll post to this thread to update as things progress.
After just over 1 week in primary, I took a gravity reading and a taste. Gravity was around 1.021 so I almost hit my target (1.020) clocking it in at 9.1%. The initial taste was very good!
Was a bit sweet but I don’t think the honey malt took over too much cause the maltiness was not overpowering but definitely had a strong malt backbone. Bitterness was a little lower than I expected but still good for an IIPA. Hop taste was good with mostly citrus and a slight apricot/mango finish. Also hides the alcohol very well (which Alchemy Hour also does very well). The aroma was lacking a bit but I assume after a 14 day dry hop of 4oz of cascade/mosaic mix that should be remedied in the finished product. Overall I am very happy with the product so far!
Not having had an Alchemy Hour in over 6 months I’m not really sure how close this is as I would really need to do a side-by-side comparison. Not sure when they plan on re-releasing this (under a different name apparently) but I doubt, if i aged a couple, the hop character would last long enough for me to do a true apples to apples comparison when it’s released again next year.
[quote=“mattnaik”]
Was a bit sweet but I don’t think the honey malt took over too much cause the maltiness was not overpowering but definitely had a strong malt backbone. Bitterness was a little lower than I expected but still good for an IIPA. Hop taste was good with mostly citrus and a slight apricot/mango finish. Also hides the alcohol very well (which Alchemy Hour also does very well). The aroma was lacking a bit but I assume after a 14 day dry hop of 4oz of cascade/mosaic mix that should be remedied in the finished product. Overall I am very happy with the product so far![/quote]
Congrats on your progress. Don’t worry about the bitterness level at this point. After it’s carbonated, you’ll find that you perceive a higher level of bitterness. That 4 oz dry hop will definitely increase the aroma.
