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House IPA
Im not talking hop aroma, or flavor here, that's why I use the dogfish head method, it really takes advantage of all the hops you have to add, and I always dry hop. What I don't agree with is putting 4 oz of centennial hops for your bittering add in a 5 gallon batch for a 1.065 beer, really makes it almost undrinkable for me, but hey to each his own. I like to drink my beer, not suffer through it.
I totally agree with you about keeping the bitterness addition low. My latest beer had a FWH of 33 IBU of Galena in a 1.067 beer and it's just right. All other hop additions were 8 minutes or less.
I've tried the Dogfish method and found it covers up too much of the malt flavor, maybe that's why I'm not a fan of Dogfish heads IPAs.
Balance in an IPA is almost like an oxymoron. However it is still necessary. True aroma is the key to the great ones and I am a sucker for it, but sacrificing bittering hops WILL make an unbalanced IPA. It isnt like you need to go nuts and have a 100 IBUs, (a good impy IPA should, but that is a different chapter), but you still do need to support the malt backbone with a poroper balance.
Most properly balanced beers have what Ray Daniels refers to as a BU:GU ratio. Malty beers are usually around .50-.70, while most hoppy beers, (and IPA is regardless of how tame you want it) may have a ratio of .90-1.20. This means to achieve an exact 1.00, then the BU (bittering units) is exactly equal to the GU (gravity units)
So in an IPA with a 1.065 OG, or 65 GUs, then it should have 90-120% BUs, or 58-75.
We have the ability as homebrewers to decide what we like and how to achieve that and brew it, but an IPA that has 35 IBUs and all late hop additions is just simply not an IPA- it is a light pale ale with extra aroma. Which is fine if that is what you like.
thirsty wrote:
We have the ability as homebrewers to decide what we like and how to achieve that and brew it, but an IPA that has 35 IBUs and all late hop additions is just simply not an IPA- it is a light pale ale with extra aroma. Which is fine if that is what you like.
If you were referring to my quote of 33 IBUs, that is FWH's only. With all the late additions it comes out to 67 IBU's which is at 1:1 where I like my IPA's to land.
Giventofly wrote:
[If you were referring to my quote of 33 IBUs, that is FWH's only. With all the late additions it comes out to 67 IBU's which is at 1:1 where I like my IPA's to land.
That is what inspired me to make that comment, however there was some help with earlier posts about toning down the bitterness in an IPA. I just wanted to make the point of higher gravity beers requiring higher IBUs even if they are not perceived, creating that balance. 30+ IBUs from aroma additions didnt click, but if you are dropping a ton in late it is more than possible. Those must be some heavy handed additions! I likey!
thirsty wrote:
Those must be some heavy handed additions! I likey!
Yea, but not very cost effective. Next month I'm taking a road trip to Hops Direct (Puterbaugh Farms) and buying 5 pounds of hops. At an average of $0.58 an ounce I can be much more heavy handed.
It's going to be the "Year of the IPA" for me.
Giventofly wrote:
[ At an average of $0.58 an ounce I can be much more heavy handed.
It's going to be the "Year of the IPA" for me.
Sweet! Have you messed around with mash hopping? I like the results from FWHing, but never mashed hopped.
thirsty wrote:
Sweet! Have you messed around with mash hopping? I like the results from FWHing, but never mashed hopped.
Yes I have, both in the mash and on top of the mash during mashout. Without a side by side comparison it's hard to say if either made much difference. I like FWHing a lot though, and I do it on every beer I make.
I bought a Hop Rocket and have only used it once, so far. It wasn't the smoothest brew day, and I need to brew with it a few more times to get my procedure down. I think I'm going to like it.
The one place I don't hop is in the keg. I like my beers to be ready to drink and clean when they are in the keg with no fussing about hopping too long.
to the point of soaking up a gallon of the fermenter
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