Howdy all,
I just brewed my second all grain on Sunday, and I’m curious if people think this will turn out something tasty or underwhelming/boring. It was supposed to be a strong American IPA, but efficiency was only 63%, so now it’s an American-hopped English IPA 
. Here 'tis:
Grain bill:
12 lbs 6-row
.75 lbs crystal 60L
Hops:
0.5 oz Columbus- pellets - 60 minutes
0.5 oz Cascade - pellets - 15 minutes
0.6 oz Centennial - leaf - 15 minutes
1.0 oz Cascade - pellet - 10 day dry hop
SRM: 8
OG: 1.051 (actual)
IBU: 46
BU/GU: 0.91
Yeast: Wyeast 1450 (2nd gen)
Personally I would say this was under hopped and has too much crystal malt. It should make a nice Pale Ale.
Any particular thought behind using 6 row? Not saying it is wrong, just different.
Mostly curiosity. At one point I had the idea that it might produce a slightly more substantial mouthfeel or body than 2-row, but I couldn’t track down what gave me that impression.
What will that amount of crystal malt contribute that you might not like?
My house ipa is quite similar to your recipe but usually 5oz of west coast hops of different varieties. After a number of batches using 3/4 lb of C60 per 6 gallon batch, I realized that it was a little too much, especially once it aged more than 8 weeks or so. Cutting back to 1/2 lb was a noticable improvement to me. 3/4 lb certainly isn’t over the top and might be more to your liking.
I’m interested to hear what your thoughts are on the taste of the 6 row.
Cool. I don’t have much to compare 6 row with, but I’ll report back here to let you know how it strikes me.
What kind of OG do you get with your house IPA? And, what improvements did you see when you cut back on the 60L?
I shoot for 1.054 but it’s gone as high as 1.060,with the IBU’s in the low 60’s.
I usually shoot for tapping it at 6 weeks. With 3/4 lb of crystal, at 8 weeks or so the flavor of the crystal really starts to jump out at you. After that it becomes too noticeable and leaves an almost cloying aftertaste. Cut down to 1/2 lb this is much less noticeable and seemed to let the hops come through better.
Dry, bitter beers are my preference, so let your tongue be your guide.
Interesting. Part of the reason for the simplistic grain bill is to try to learn to discern different flavors. Should it be obvious which flavors are coming from the 6-row and which are coming from the crystal 60? I’ve read that 6-row can be somewhat “grainy” compared with 2-row. What about crystal 60? Distinctly malty-sweet? [edit]Er, probably caramel…heh.
Also, how much pale are you using and what SRM are you getting with 1/2 lb of crystal 60? What other malts are good for upping the SRM of an IPA?
A simple grain bill was also my thought so I could play with different hops to get an idea of what each tastes like. It also let me realize that l was using too much crystal.
I have used 6 row once but there was enough other flavors going on that I couldn’t say it was particularly grainy, although that is the term I read mostly about it. The crystal does have a distinct flavor that I don’t think could be confused with the base malt. If you really want a good idea what it tastes like, bottle a few from this batch and try them a few months down the road. The hops wiill have become more subdued and the crystal should show through well.
The house IPA is 12.5 lbs of pale malt with the 1/2 lb of crystal for 6 gallons at the end of the boil and efficiency in the low to mid-70’s. I haven’t looked to see what the finished products color is but it’s calculated to be 6.3 SRM. Personally I wouldn’t be concerned about the color and certainly wouldn’t try to darken it for the sake of aesthetics.
That said, I did make a clone recipe that Beersmith said was coming out too pale, so I added a tiny amount of carafa III to bring the SRM up without any noticable flavor impact.
I was thinking about your poor efficiency. Typically 6 row kernels are smaller that 2 row. Is it possible that husks didn’t get completely cracked/broken?
Cool, I’ll try (heh) to put a few aside for a few months to see how the crystal cuts through further down the road.
Darkening to 8+ SRM is primarily to get within the hypothetical “natural range” (~8 - 14 SRM) for my water profile. By that I mean, the range within which I should be able to hit a good pH without making adjustments to the mash. Good to know about carafaIII being a fairly neutral option. I’ve also read that you can add very small amounts of roasted barley without much concern.
Regarding grain crush, the LHBS is set to .045", which I’ve come to understand is quite wide. I’m going to see if they will adjust to .030" for me, otherwise I’ll hold off on brewing until I can get a grinder of my own (couple weeks at the most, hopefully). It’s good to know for future crushes that 6-row may have smaller kernels.
So, for dry hopping, I was originally going to use 1 oz of Cascade, but I have 1.5 oz Centennial leaf, 1.5 oz of Cascade pellet, and a 1/2 oz of Columbus pellets on hand.
Should I consider using the full 1.5 oz of Cascade on its own? Use it in combo with other options? I’m thinking maybe I’ll go up to 2 oz total. Thoughts?
OK, I’m really happy with this one. It’s still pretty young (4 weeks since I pitched the yeast) but so far no cloying sweetness. I think IPA is pretty apt for the hoppiness, although it is surprisingly reminiscent of SNPA. It does have a good malt presence beneath the hops, and there is an interesting, subtle yeastiness to the aroma and flavor. I figure the latter will dissipate over time, unless it’s normal for 1450. If it will dissipate, I like it, so I’m glad I tried it early. If it’s characteristic of 1450, awesome! I suppose it’s also possible that my palette is getting better.
Also, I think I understand what people mean when they say that 6-row is more “grainy,” but I’m gonna brew this up with 2-row and see how it compares.
How come you’re not using English hops - don’t like em, or they’re too expensive?
[quote=“ickyfoot”]
I’m curious if people think this will turn out something tasty or underwhelming/boring.[/quote]
I’m just going to throw it out there that it can be kind of underwhelming/boring and still be really tasty.
Because it was supposed to be an American IPA, but my efficiency was terrible, so the ABV is too low (according to BJCP). But, it definitely tastes like an American IPA (or maybe an American Pale Ale…bitterness is right on the cusp).
Of course, this is all totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of enjoying the beer .
I guess what I meant was, “bland”. Like, not bad, just not something you’d be excited to drink again because there’s nothing really to it. I have to say, the answer to my original question (will it be underwhelming/boring) is pretty definitively no (for my tastes, at least). It’s oddly dynamic and I really like it, which is surprising because I haven’t been into hop-prevalent beers for quite some time.
