Success in IPA’s

Originally posted by pellegjr
Why not start with one of the most contentious styles?



For reference, this is the first post of the idea profiled here http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/success-in-series-idea_253193.htm



Success in IPA’s:



1. Simple grain bill

2. Up to 10% sucrose

3. High quantity additions of aroma hops at flameout and secondary

I don’t agree with the low esters/overly clean fermentation. Now, obviously, you don’t want any diacetyl or acetaldehyde, but I think brewers make a big mistake whenever they try to make there American-style ales too lager-like. Especially if you are using a Chico strain, don’t overpitch or ferment too cold. At the end of the day, this is still an ale and a touch of fruitiness will compliment all of those hop characteristics nicely. I only pitch 7*10^6 cells/ml to 60 bbl batches of Elevated and 1*10^7 cells/ml to 15 bbl batches of Dank and there’s nothing "dirty" about the fermentation, but they are still characteristically ales through and through. Beyond that, as our pitch rate has come down, our fermentations have actually sped up a bit and our measured IBUs have gone up as well.

I also firmly agree with adjusting water. We use a whole lot of CaSO4, CaCl, and Phosphoric Acid, but our CaCO3 from our ground water is near 200 ppm. We have kept a close eye on the final runnings pH, but have noticed undesirable tannins in beers when the final runnings were as low as 5.6, so we stopped paying too much attention to pH and just trusted our palates. If it’s harsh, add more next time.

Originally posted by erway
Sucrose no es bueno. Doesn’t ferment very well at all. Dextrose is a much better choice.

I agree with Erway about fermentation characteristics. We use a moderately characterful ale yeast with high flocculation and I think that it gives a lot of character to our IPAs, rounding out the hop fruitiness. The key is to have absolutely no detectable diacetyl or other fermentation flaws. I love chico strains for IPAs, but don’t know if I will ever use them myself. There are way too many boringly clean and empty tasting IPAs out there because of a neutral yeast profile. We definitely have to work diligently to get a high attenuation in our beers, but everything typically finishes below 3P.

Originally posted by SamGamgee
I agree with Erway about fermentation characteristics. We use a moderately characterful ale yeast with high flocculation and I think that it gives a lot of character to our IPAs, rounding out the hop fruitiness. The key is to have absolutely no detectable diacetyl or other fermentation flaws. I love chico strains for IPAs, but don’t know if I will ever use them myself. There are way too many boringly clean and empty tasting IPAs out there because of a neutral yeast profile. We definitely have to work diligently to get a high attenuation in our beers, but everything typically finishes below 3P.

I guess I have to be the dick that points out the grammatical mistake in the thread title?

1) quality ingredients (most importantly fresh hops)

2) balance (drinkability still rules the game)

3) dry hop mgmt. (method/amount/timing)

Originally posted by mkgrenwel
I guess I have to be the dick that points out the grammatical mistake in the thread title?

Sure seems like there’s a lot of consensus here, and I fall in line:

1. Clean, simple grainbill
2. Priority on late addition hops (flameout and dry hopping)
3. Low fermentation temps (64F plus/minus two)

I brewed IPAs for years with the various permutations of the Chico strain: Wyeast 1056 / White Labs WLP001 / Safale US-05. The results were clean, good. Then I tried a side-by-side brew, half with Chico, half with Whitbread. The Chico finished at 1.010, the Whitbread at 1.011. But with that one point difference in final gravity, the Whitbread tasted noticeably sweeter. And the taste was almost ’juicy’ by comparison. It really delivered a lot more citrus to the taste.

So if you want that clean dry finish, go with Chico. But I’m liking Whitbread better.

White Labs WLP017 Whitbread Ale
Traditional mixed yeast culture. British style character, slightly fruity, with a hint of sulfur production. North American style ales will also benefit from fermentation with WLP017. The beer will clear easily.


Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale
A mildly malty and slightly fruity fermentation profile. With good flocculation characteristics, this yeast clears well without filtration. Low fermentation temperatures will produce a clean finish with a very low ester profile.


Safale S-04 Whitbread Ale
English Ale yeast displaying fast fermentation and excellent sedimentation (flocculation) properties