Category Archives: English IPA

English IPA

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Two years ago I made a down-the-middle English IPA, which was a super satisfying beer. I decided it was time to do a re-brew, with slight modifications for my upgraded brewing system as well as ingredients on-hand.

deep gold beer in clear glass

English IPA

  • 12 lb. Maris Otter ale malt (Crisp)
  • 10 oz. white wheat malt (Briess)
  • 8 oz. biscuit malt (BlackSwaen)
  • 6 oz. crystal 120 malt (Great Western)
  • 6 oz. crystal 60 malt (Great Western)
  • 1 oz. Magnum hop pellets (10.1% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. East Kent Goldings (EKG) hop pellets (5.0% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Fuggles hop pellets (4.7% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. East Kent Goldings (EKG) hop pellets (5.0% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 2 pkg. Nottingham ale yeast (Lallemand)
  • 3 oz. East Kent Goldings (EKG) hop pellets (5.0% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.063 s.g, 1.016 f.g., 6.2% abv, 51 IBU, 12 SRM
  • Full-volume infusion mash, 154° for 60 minutes
  • Water built from Claremont tap water with mineral additions.

Procedure

  • I heated 7.5 gallons of water to 163°, adding 8 g of gypsum and a Campden tablet.
  • I mashed in with the grains, maintaining the temperature at 154° for 60 minutes. Next, I raised the temperature to 168° for the mashout.
  • In total, I collected 6.4 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.054, for 67% mash efficiency. This is pretty close to my target, so I’m quite happy with this result.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and kettle finings per the recipe. After the boil, I chilled and transferred to the fermenter.
  • I brewed this beer on 16 January 2021. It had a starting gravity of 1.064. I fermented at 66°.
  • I kegged the beer on 13 February 2021, putting the hops in a baggie in the keg. Final gravity was 1.019, for 5.9% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Clear with a deep gold color; the thin white head is moderately persistent.
  • Aroma
    • Malt, light caramel character, with a low level of fruity yeast character. The hop aroma is a bit underwhelming, with little to speak of.
  • Flavor
    • Moderately high, slightly herbal bitterness, but not over the top. It is a moderately-high malty beer, with a bit of caramel and toffee in the malt character. The bitterness is really smooth, and very nicely balanced against the malt.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-full body with moderate carbonation and an off-dry finish. The beer is very smooth for the level of bitterness!
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a pretty good beer overall. The color and clarity are gorgeous, as is the malt character. I would like a bit more hop aroma in the nose and a bit more hop flavor, beyond just the bitterness. I might try switching up the dry hop combination for future versions.
  • Overall
    • 7/10

English IPA

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I’ve done soooo many American-style IPAs (especially tending towards the citrusy/fruity variety) that I’ve lost sight of what else an IPA can be. I wanted to get back to the style’s roots roots, with an English-style recipe. Creatively, I decided to call it…English IPA. It’s modified from a recipe on the AHA website, which won gold in the NHC during 2016.

English IPA

  • 12 lbs. Maris Otter malt (Bairds)
  • 0.5 lb. biscuit malt (Dingemans)
  • 0.5 lb. red wheat malt (Briess)
  • 6 oz. crystal 120 malt (Great Western)
  • 6 oz. crystal 40 malt (Great Western)
  • 1 oz. Magnum hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc pellet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Fuggles hop pellets (5.6% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 2 oz. East Kent Goldings hop pellets (6.0% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 2 pkg. Nottingham dry yeast (Lallemand)
  • 3 oz. East Kent Goldings hop pellets (5.0% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.064 s.g, 1.015 f.g., 6.5% abv, 49 IBU, 11 SRM
  • Infusion mash with batch sparge
  • Water built from Claremont tap water with mineral additions.

Procedure

  • Starting with Claremont tap water, I added 9 g gypsum, 5 g epsom salt, and 4 g CaCl to 4.6 gallons of water with a partial Campden tablet. I heated it to 166° and added the grains along with .5 tbs. of 88% lactic acid, to hit a mash temperature of 152° for 60 minutes. Then, I added 0.7 gallons of water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected first runnings.
  • Next, I added 3.6 gallons of water at 185° with 0.3 tbs. of 88% lactic acid for the sparge. After 10 minutes, I vorlaufed and collected second runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.9 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.055 and 75% efficiency.
  • I brought everything to a boil and added the various kettle ingredients per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the flame and cooled to 85°. Finally, I transferred to the fermenter (with aeration) and cooled to 66°.
  • I brewed this and pitched the yeast on 7 November 2018.
  • I kegged the beer on 19 November 2018 and added the dry hops.
  • Original gravity was 1.063, and final gravity was 1.015, for 6.4% abv.

Tasting Notes

I drank this beer fairly quickly, because it was so tasty, and unfortunately I kicked the keg before I could do a full, formal tasting. Nonetheless, I kept a few brief notes on my last glass…

The beer had a hop-forward, nicely earthy aroma, with a slight caramel malt character behind that. On the taste, the malt and bitterness were well balanced. Hop character was pretty smooth on the finish, against the caramel malt qualities. Color was a gorgeous medium amber, with a slight haze.

Overall, I give this beer a 9 out of 10. I could perhaps round out the body a bit more (maybe with some oats or flaked barley), but overall this beer is pretty close to exactly what I wanted. The hops in particular are a treat–this feels like something Bilbo Baggins might enjoy next to the fire on a cold night in the Shire.