Sometimes I just need a quick IPA fix. I’m working through my hop stash, and threw together a recipe to finish off a few 2-oz. packages, targeting varieties that had classic citrus, pine, and resin character. The base recipe is just a typical classic American IPA, with a mix of 2-row, crystal, and biscuit malt. This time around, I aimed for a quick mash (30 minutes) and quick boil (30 minutes), to keep that brew day moving along!

Quick IPA

• 12.75 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
• 0.5 lb. crystal 40 / caramel 100 (Viking)
• 0.25 lb. biscuit malt (Dingemans)
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
• 1.25 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 30 minute boil
• 0.5 tsp BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 0.75 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 2 pkg. New England East Coast Ale yeast (Lallemand)
• 2 oz. Anchovy hop pellets (12.0% alpha), dry hop in keg
• 2 oz. McKenzie hop pellets (11.7% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

• 1.061 s.g., 1.014 f.g., 6.2% abv, 68 IBU, 7 SRM
• Full volume infusion mash, held at 152° for 30 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
• Claremont tap water adjusted to hit 100 ppm Ca, 19 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 224 ppm sulfate, 110 ppm Cl, 20 ppm CaCO3, RA=-66, alkalinity=16

Procedure

• I collected 7.25 gallons of tap water and added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid in order to neutralize the carbonates. Then, I added 7 g of gypsum and 2 g of epsom salt to hit my target water parameters.
• I heated the water to 158° before adding the grains, and held the mash at 152° for 30 minutes, with recirculation.
• At the end of the mash, I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
• In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.051, for 63% mash efficiency. I suspect the low efficiency was due to the short mash time.
• I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After a 30 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled the wort down to 78°. Then, I transferred the wort to the fermenter and chilled to 66° in the fermentation chamber. This took about 6 hours, after which time I pitched the yeast.
• I brewed the beer on 5 October 2024; it had a starting gravity of 1.056. I fermented the beer at 66°.
• On 25 October 2024, I kegged the beer and added the dry hops loose to the keg; I put a hop screen in place on my floating dip tube.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Pours with a fluffy off-white head. A gold beer with moderate haze.
• Aroma
  • I get some vanilla aroma as it warms; fascinating! As it warms caramel comes through more, along with (oddly enough) some berry. Moderately high hop-forward aroma, with pine, resin, and citrus pith qualities.
• Flavor
  • Very bitter resin and pine hop character. Slight caramel quality at the back end, especially as the beer warms.
• Mouthfeel
  • Very dry finish with a touch of astringency. Medium body, moderate carbonation.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • It’s a decent American IPA, very much in the old school. The berry quality on the aroma is interesting. It scratches my classic IPA itch, but is nothing exceptional. I gave it a 6, but the cool aroma bumps it to 7.
• Overall
  • 7/10