For this next beer, a Double IPA, I poured that chilled wort directly on top of the yeast cake, trub and all, to make a bigger version of my IPA - The Essence. I intended it to be about double the size of my original version but, like when I made my first Russian Imperial Stout, my efficiency went way down to 65%. Apparently it ain't that easy making big beers because you're using the same amount of water on twice the amount of grains. My recommendation and what I should've done is add a couple extra pounds of base malt to compensate for your lowered efficiency. My efficiency seems to go down below 70% on anything above 1.065. You could double sparge and then do a long boil...or....you could just buy a couple more pounds of grain. Here's how Don Osborn makes Big Beers on a batch sparge set up.
I did a couple of things different in this beer. I mashed pretty dang high...158 degrees. I did this because I'm adding a bunch of honey which tends to dry a beer out and I wanted it to have a medium mouthfeel. Hopefully it doesn't turn out like syrup as some DIPA's tend to. I also added some earthy Fuggle hops towards the end of the boil to hopefully balance out the abundance of citrus hops in this recipe! I also FWH'd the shit out of it which tends to help the hop aroma last longer then dry hopping. I also whirlpool hopped it at 170 degrees while I was chilling it. Keep in mind that this is a 6 gallon batch...which I did intentionally since I'm primarily using leaf hops that will soak up a bunch of the beer.
Here is the recipe. I think it's gonna be mighty tasty!
The EssenceX2 - DIPA
malt & fermentables
% | LB | OZ | Malt or Fermentable | ppg | °L |
72% | 13 | 0 | American Two-row Pale | 37 | 1 |
11% | 2 | 0 | Vienna Malt | 36 | 3 |
8% | 1 | 8 | Honey | 35 | 1 |
3% | 0 | 8 | Flaked Oats | 33 | 2 |
3% | 0 | 8 | American Crystal 40L | 34 | 40 |
3% | 0 | 8 | Cara-Pils/Dextrine | 33 | 2 |
18 | 0 |
Batch size: 6.0 gallons
Original Gravity
1.074 / 18.0° Plato
Final Gravity
1.013 / 4.25° Plato
Color
6° SRM / 11° EBC
(Yellow to Gold)
Mash Efficiency
65%
hops
use | time | oz | variety | form | aa |
first wort | 60+ mins | 0.5 | Amarillo | leaf | 7.0 |
first wort | 60+ mins | 1.0 | Citra | leaf | 11.0 |
first wort | 60+ mins | 1.0 | Simcoe | leaf | 13.0 |
boil | 20 mins | 0.5 | Amarillo | leaf | 7.0 |
boil | 20 mins | 0.5 | Simcoe | leaf | 13.0 |
boil | 10 mins | 1.0 | Fuggles | leaf | 4.5 |
boil | 5 mins | 0.5 | Amarillo | leaf | 7.0 |
boil | 5 mins | 0.5 | Simcoe | leaf | 13.0 |
post-boil | 5 mins | 0.5 | Amarillo | leaf | 7.0 |
post-boil | 5 mins | 0.5 | Simcoe | leaf | 13.0 |
Bitterness
81.6 IBU
dry-hop | 10 day | 2 oz | Amarillo |
dry-hop | 10 day | 1.5 oz | Simcoe |
dry-hop | 10 day | 1 | Galaxy |
dry-hop | 10 day | 2 oz | Columbus |
yeast
American Ale medium flocculation and 75% attenuation |
Alcohol
8% ABV
***tasting notes: 10.3.11
Rating: A (I really wish you all chould try this and please brew it and let me know what you think!)
Appearance: Orange with a little bit of haze either chill haze or haze from the abundance of hops that went into this beer. Nice head that starts of at two fingers and stays around for a while. Great sticky lacing! - B+
Aroma: Citrus, Tropical fruits, mixed in with honey and caramel. Really fantastic aroma on this beer! A+
Flavor: Flavor profile changes from the aroma. Starts off with a burst of Pine and citrus, the middle hits you with some honey and malt, and then the end finishes off with earthyness and piney hops. Bitternees is present but not super aggressive, and the alcohol warms you a bit as you wait for your next sip. Very well balanced flavor profile. - A
Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is medium. I've always felt my beers that I've used honey in always end up too dry, and this one ended up being perfect. Not thick and syrupy, not too sweet, just right in the middle where I wanted it! - A
Overall: This is a hop bomb but with slightly restrained bitterness (by restrained, I mean, under 100 IBUS's. With all of the hops that I put into this, the Fuggles actually lay a nice organic, earthy background at the end of the sip. It actually really complements all of the fruity, citrus, piney hops that went into this brew. Probably the most well balance DIPA, or IPA I've ever brewed! - A
***tasting notes: 10.3.11
Rating: A (I really wish you all chould try this and please brew it and let me know what you think!)
Appearance: Orange with a little bit of haze either chill haze or haze from the abundance of hops that went into this beer. Nice head that starts of at two fingers and stays around for a while. Great sticky lacing! - B+
Aroma: Citrus, Tropical fruits, mixed in with honey and caramel. Really fantastic aroma on this beer! A+
Flavor: Flavor profile changes from the aroma. Starts off with a burst of Pine and citrus, the middle hits you with some honey and malt, and then the end finishes off with earthyness and piney hops. Bitternees is present but not super aggressive, and the alcohol warms you a bit as you wait for your next sip. Very well balanced flavor profile. - A
Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is medium. I've always felt my beers that I've used honey in always end up too dry, and this one ended up being perfect. Not thick and syrupy, not too sweet, just right in the middle where I wanted it! - A
Overall: This is a hop bomb but with slightly restrained bitterness (by restrained, I mean, under 100 IBUS's. With all of the hops that I put into this, the Fuggles actually lay a nice organic, earthy background at the end of the sip. It actually really complements all of the fruity, citrus, piney hops that went into this brew. Probably the most well balance DIPA, or IPA I've ever brewed! - A
