Hops Shots
When it comes to IPA my West Coast roots are hard to hide. I like the malt lean and the hops to sing. Particularly important are huge punches of citrus and tropical aromas that jump out of the glass. I like IPAs dry and on the lower end of the alcohol spectrum which helps keep them from being oppressive to the palate. To the chagrin of other west coasters, I don’t like them bitter. At 61 IBU’s, this is not a massively bitter beer. The hops make their presence known via flavor and aromatics, not through face collapsing bitterness. This is achieved through getting the majority of BUs through late hop additions in addition to a hop extract charge at the beginning of the boil. The hop extract is derived from Amarillo hops which feature a low cohumulone level and relatively smooth bitterness. To add a subtle malt complexity I blend base malts. This beer showcases Nelson Sauvin hops which are quite unique and help the beer stand out.
Specifications
Volume: 6.6 Gallons (be prepared to lose a lot of volume from all the hop additions)
Original Gravity: 1.061
Terminal Gravity: 1.011
Color: 8.19 SRM
Alcohol: 6.56% (ABV)
Bitterness: 61.7
Efficiency: 76% (tweak recipe to match efficiency of your brew house)
Boil Length: 90 Minutes
Ingredients
5 lb (33.3%) Golden Promise Malt; Thomas Fawcett
4 lb (26.7%) 2-Row Brewers Malt; Briess
2 lb (13.3%) Vienna Malt; Weyermann
2 lb (13.3%) Weyermann Pils
12 oz (5.0%) White Wheat Malt; Briess
6 oz (2.5%) Caramunich® TYPE III; Weyermann
6 oz (2.5%) Cara-Pils® Malt; Briess
.5 lb (3.3%) Corn Sugar
4ml Amarillo Hop Extract (Hop Shots) – added during boil, boiled 60 m
1 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15 m
.25 oz (2.1%) Nelson Sauvin (12.2%) – added during boil, boiled 15 m
.25 oz (2.1%) Centennial (8.8%) – added during boil, boiled 15 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Amarillo Leaf (10.9%) – added during boil, boiled 15 m
.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10 m
.25 oz (2.1%) Nelson Sauvin (12.2%) – added during boil, boiled 10 m
.5 oz (4.3%) Centennial (8.8%) – added during boil, boiled 10 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Amarillo Leaf (10.9%) – added during boil, boiled 10 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Nelson Sauvin (12.2%) – added during boil, boiled 5 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Centennial (8.8%) – added during boil, boiled 5 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Amarillo Leaf (10.9%) – added during boil, boiled 5 m
.75 oz (6.4%) Nelson Sauvin (12.2%) – added during boil, boiled 0 m
1 oz (8.6%) Centennial (8.8%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 m
1 oz (8.6%) Amarillo Leaf (10.9%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 m
1 ea WYeast 1056 American Ale – 1800ml starter on stir plate
1 oz (8.6%) Nelson Sauvin (12.2%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
1 oz (8.6%) Centennial (8.8%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
1 oz (8.6%) Amarillo Pellet (10.1%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
Water
Carbon-filtered Seattle water which is very soft. All salts added to grist before mashing in.
6.0 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)
4.0 g Calcium Chloride (Calcium Chloride (anhydrous))
2.0 g Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulfate)
Mash
60 Minute Saccharification Rest at 153° F
10 Minute Mashout Rest at 170° F (I do a second hot water infusion to mashout)
Sparge at 170° F and collect sufficient runnings to hit pre-boil volumes
Fermentation
- Chill wort to 60° F and pitch yeast slurry.
- Set temp controller to 64° F and allow to rise to this temp.
- Ferment at 62-64° F until beer is 2-6 points from terminal gravity then raise temp to 68° F. Hold at 68° F for 2 days.
- Chill fermenter to 34° F. Rack beer off yeast and package.
Keys to Brewing
- This beer really shines when you get it to attenuate properly. Shoot to get this beer 80-83% attenuated.
- This beer is about hops. Use the freshest ones you can find. I buy in bulk each fall from Hops Direct and vacuum seal and freeze that year’s harvest. There are great savings doing this if you brew a lot of hoppy beers.
Awards
The beer brewed from this recipe has won awards as a BJCP Category 14b. American IPA:
- 2012 NHC First Round – 1st Place
How old was your beer when it was judged?
I would say it was about 4 weeks old (from brewday until it was consumed).
Nice, I’m planning on entering an IPA this year. Timing is kinda of bad. Even if I turn in a 21 day old beer (grain to glass) on the final day of turn ins, the beer will still be 5.5 weeks old by the time they judge. Are you allowed to rebrew if you make it into the final round?
5.5 weeks sounds good. If you’re careful not to oxidize the beer at packaging and keep it cold, it shouldn’t be an issue. And yes, you are allowed to rebrew for the final round (if you have time).
Where did you find the Amarillo extract shots?
Northern Brewer used to sell varietal specific (Amarillo) Hop Shots. It now appears that they do not. They do however sell none-hop specific extract which should work well:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/hopshot.html
Hi!
If I where to use pellets instead of Hop Extract, how much should I use?
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I’d replace the 4ml in the recipe with 30-40 IBUs of your favorite clean bittering hop.
Hi,
just to let You know that with a little tweaked and adjusted recipe to match your malt bill (as we don’t have all of them here), and added Saaz to aroma steep hop bill, I managed to win a bronze medal on III. Croatian Homebrew Chalenge held on Saturday the 7th of June, between 35 IPA/IIPA/BlacIPA entries…
Thank You very much for posting Your recipes and sharing Your knowledge…
Stay safe and Big Cheers,
Mario
Hi Nick – are you chilling the primary or secondary fermenter to 34 degree before bottling? i am dry hopping and wondering if its best to dry hop when i am a couple points from my target FG and move the temperature up to 68 degree. Or do you recommend chilling the fermenter before transferring to secondary and bottling? Thank you,
Michael,
I’ll typically crash down to freezing to get as much yeast our of suspension as I can, keg the beer, and then dry hop at room temp in a purged CO2 environment. There are definitely different schools of thought in terms of when to add dry hops to minimize oxygen exposure as well maximize extract. I tend to prefer getting all the yeast out first since it’s easier for me to dry hop directly in the serving keg (with the help of a hop bag).
Ahh.. got it. I’m still bottling, kegging is on the horizon. So if I cold crash before transferring to a secondary fermenter to dry hop, and cold crash once more before bottling you see more good than bad? i was worried about fluctuating temperatures but i like the idea. My gravity reads 1.25 after 7 days in the primary. i was planning on leaving for 2-3 more days then cold crash. then transfer to secondary for 5-7 days. Is that too long to leave in the secondary? i want to be sure to get the aroma flavors before bottling. And then leave in bottles for 2-3 weeks? Thanks again,
Your timelines sound pretty good, although I’ll typically only dryhop for about 3 days. I might avoid the double cold crash unless you’re able to bung up the fermenters before dropping the temps. Cold crashes tend to draw vacuums which suck in air through normal airlocks and risk oxidation of the delicate hop compounds. I’d probably let fermentation cease and the majority of yeast fall out, carefully rack to secondary, dry hop, and then chill and bottle. I’d drink it as soon as it is carbonating (maybe 5-8 days).