Need help coming up with a basic IPA grain bill to shadow 70-75 IBU's of simcoe. IM doin partia mashes so please take that into consideration.. Any advise is welcome.

How simple do you want to keep it? I did a simcoe ipa last year... just 2row and C60. Mashed around 152.

Thats kind of what im goin for. I was thinking 2 row with a lighter crystal like 15 or 10. Maybe something else just for extra flavor. Not sure of how much of each to use though. Its a 5 gallon batch. And the whole purpose of this is to get a good idea of how these hops taste by them selves in an ipa. Im not a big fan malty beers either

those hops do taste great in IPA's IMO

Im tryin to find a base grain bill so i can brew a couple of single hop IPA's to really get a good taste of what different hops taste like. I figured id keep the grains the same and change only the hops. Staying at around 70- 75 IBU's.

9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.80 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 9.76 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.44 %


This gives a nice color and is pretty simple.

This looks good Tonton. Since im doin partial mashes i'll convert the 9 lbs of 2row to 5 lbs of DME and 1 to 2 lbs 2 Row.

I would go with this, personally:

6 lbs Pilsner Extract
4.5 lbs Pilsner Malt
1 lb Caramel 20L
1 lb Torrified Wheat

You'll get a light color, heady, IPA that should stand up to the Simcoe hops. I would mash anywhere between 149* and 151* for 60 mins, then mashout for another 10 mins at 170*. Do the boil for 90 mins as to boil off DMS from the Pilsner malt. The reason I tell you Pilsner Malt is because it has a higher diastatic power and will help convert the Pilsner Extract, C20, and Torrified Wheat. Also, the lighter character will play well with the hops and let the hops shine through.

I have used this grain bill (AG version of course) before and it has served me well. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

wow thats alot of pilsner malt. Would that make it real malty? What is the torrified wheat?

Sorry, I didn't realize that you were doing a partial. your suggestion of the 5lbs of DME and 2 od 2-row looks good, but it may turn out just a slight bit darker because DME usually has a bit higher SRM than 2-row.

I also like reddskinnfan's suggestion, however I personally like my IPA around 7 to 8 SRM. His will have more head though.

The lower C20 will leave less residual sweetness when compared to the C40.

So heres what ive come up with. All hops are simcoe..

6 lbs. DME
2 lbs. 2 row (us)
1 lbs. C-20
.4lbs. Cara-pils (for more body maybe?)

.5 oz FWH
1 oz 60
.5 oz 30
1 oz 20
.5 oz 10

dry hop 1.5 for week or two

Yeast - safale us-05
Calculations on beersmith brings this to 72.8 IBU's

Do you guys think this grain bill will work out with these hops?
I want to make this beer this weekend so all help/advise is needed.

Looks tasty

I would skip the CaraPils. You won't need the extra body, in fact it will clash with the hops IMHO. I would definitely do the Torrified Wheat. It adds something to Pale Ale's that I haven't been able to put my finger on yet... Since I tried it once, AFTER DOING MULTIPLE PALE ALES, I always add it.

I would also only do the dry hop for a total of 4-7 days. Personal preference talking here again.

Thanks guys, youve been very helpful.

Reddskinnfan, im goin to take your advise and drop the carapils and add the torrified wheat. Should i go with the pound with this or less/more?

I put at least a lb in my 5g batches. Usually I do 1.5 lbs, but that's me.

If I may add to the discussion gents: I like torrified wheat as well, especially in these types of beers. It is pre-geletanized wheat, which is easier to convert than flaked, unmalted, or malted wheat even. It slightly thickens the beer up, and gives nice head retention. It is great for extract guys or all grain guys. You could use it in about any style really.

I like your recipe too. I personally would sub a lb or half lb. of sugar for extract to get that final gravity down. This works great with these styles, and I love turbinado for the sugar in ipas, among others. Carapils would add a nice mouthfeel to your beer, and a little residual sweetness, like your light crystal malt.

Here it is guys. Making this tomorrow morning. I might go with your advise MMMBREW and substitute some sugar for extract. Would regular table sugar work since i cant find turbinado sugar anywhere?

6 lbs. DME
2 lbs. 2 row (us)
1 lbs. C-20
1 lbs. Torrified wheat

.5 oz FWH
1 oz 60
.5 oz 30
1 oz 20
.5 oz 10

dry hop 1.5 for 1 week

Yeast - safale us-05
Calculations on beersmith brings this to 72.8 IBU's

Good luck! Keep this thread alive with this beer's progress!

Nice recipe man. I like it. A couple things: I encourage you to use two row, and to get used to mashing, but the other ingredients in your batch do not need to be converted, so that 2 lbs of two row is not needed. Do you add this to the grains you steep? I am doing a full partial, with anywhere between 6-9 lbs of grain and 4-6 lbs of extract or so per batch. In my case, I normally need the conversion of grains like wheat, rye, oats, ect.

As for the sugar, yes! that simple table sugar works great in beer, and will help you significantly with reaching your final gravities and fermenting that wort nice and thouroughly! I'm a huge proponent on simple sugars! If you can get some corn sugar, it works prob. slightly even better than standard cane sugar.

Update:

Brewed this batch today. Everything went ok except i was under my OG by 14. Beersmith projected 1.074 and my reading just before pitching was 1.060. I tried keeping my mash temp at 150 but was having problems keeping it there. My question is will the safale us-05 yeast get me to a low enough FG to still have respectable ABV% for an IPA or can i go with the advise given above and add a 1/2 or 1 lb. of sugar into the fermenter to lower my FG?

"can i go with the advise given above and add a 1/2 or 1 lb. of sugar into the fermenter to lower my FG?"

While its fermenting..

I would let the us-o5 go do it's thing. Messing with it now is risking infection. IMHO

yeah you can certainly add a half lb. or full lb of sugar to your primary fermenter. Incremental feeding is common, and many commercial brewers do this. If you want to boost your gravity, I would add the sugar soon, while your yeast is active and able to easily ferment simple sugars. However, 1.060 is fine for an ipa, and with a mash temp of 150 or less, you'll get that sucker pretty low as is.

Thats my only problem. I couldnt get a real steady temp. for very long. I just worried of having to many unfermentables. But i think i'll just sit it out and see how it turns out.

What were you mashing in? Cooler, Pot?

I was attempting to mash in my boil pot. Ive had success doing this before, hitting my projected numbers. This time i tried to mash with my grains in a loose/open grain bag (so the grain wouldnt be bunched up). For some reason i couldnt get good temp readings. Needless to say next time im goin back to not using a grain bag..

Buy yourself a 48qt cooler and make a MT out of it. It will help you sooooo much in the long run!

I think thats the next step for me. I really want to convert to AG. I just want to get to know more about it before i just dive right in..

Did you dump the sugar in dry or in a simple syrup? Dumped in during your primary fermentation?

IPA Update:

Its been 5 days in fermenter and i havent had any action in my airlock for the last 2 days. I went ahead and took a SG reading and its down to 1.011. Awesome. I was a little worried i wasnt goin to get that low but this yeast (safale-05) has proven itself. Goin to rack to secondary tomorrow and dry hop with 1.5 of simcoe. Things are lookin pretty good so far. And bye the way, i took a little taste from the sample and though it is delicious, its hard for me to tell how the beer is really goin to taste without being cold and carbed. Until next time..Cheers

Sweet! Keep us posted. By the way, the low mash temp is what made it so fermentable. 1.011 is great though. That makes your beer around 6.5%!