Cigar City Jai Alai IPA (pretty complete - missing yeast)

[benfoot]

Jai Alai IPA Recipe:

Hey all - i built this recipe in beer alchemy from the interview using wayne's percentages and then building out the IBUs as he stated. I missed the yeast strain - can someone fill me in on that? And let me know if the IBUs seems nuts for this recipe

OG: 1.071
FG: 1.015
IBU: 107.8
ABV: 7.5

Mash: 154F 60 min
Boil: 90

Yeast: Wyeast
Ferment: 65F

Ingredient Amount % MCU When
US 2-Row Malt 13.89 lb 90.0 % 4.2 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 60L Malt 0.74 lb 4.8 % 7.4 In Mash/Steeped
German CaraMunich I 0.74 lb 4.8 % 4.3 In Mash/Steeped
US Victory Malt 0.06 lb 0.4 % 0.3 In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Ahtanum 6.0 % 0.50 oz 12.5 First Wort Hopped
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 15.5 % 0.50 oz 32.2 First Wort Hopped

US Amarillo 5.0 % 1.00 oz 18.2 Bagged Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Ahtanum 6.0 % 0.50 oz 10.9 Bagged Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 15.0 % 0.20 oz 10.9 Bagged Pellet Hops 60 Min From End

US Cascade 5.5 % 1.00 oz 5.4 Bagged Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Centennial 5.0 % 1.00 oz 4.9 Bagged Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 15.0 % 0.40 oz 5.8 Bagged Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Cascade 5.5 % 0.75 oz 2.8 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Ahtanum 6.0 % 0.60 oz 2.4 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Amarillo 5.0 % 0.50 oz 1.7 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End

Dry Hop Cold: 2 oz Simcoe for 2 weeks.
Optional add 13 inch spanish cedar

[DannyW]

Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley is Cigar City's house yeast.

[sexychicken]

I think the mash temp was 150F. everything else looks good. have you brewed it yet? how'd it turn out?

[Bobbie Dooley]

Is a half a percent victory malt really going to do anything?

[mattman688]

Is a half a percent victory malt really going to do anything?

probably not. If they every expand to a larger full size scale production brewery they would nix that so quick.

[Afterlab]

Is a half a percent victory malt really going to do anything?

probably not. If they every expand to a larger full size scale production brewery they would nix that so quick.

Not necessarily considering breweries tend not to make too many changes to their flagship recipes if there isn't a problem with the final product or availability of the ingredient. 0.4% of a character malt may seem negligible on a homebrew scale but on a commercial scale that's several 55# sacks of grain.

The flavor impact of any one ingredient really depends on the volume and intensity of flavors being brought to the table by the other ingredients. 0.4% may not mean much in a Russian Imperial Stout but it does in a Pilsner and in this instance an IPA where 90% of the grist is 2 Row. I only say this because I was reviewing my notes from when I brewed this last year and made a note that my clone attempt finished dry with a biscuity note from the Victory malt; which was rather surprising despite it's small percentage of the grist. Given the clean profile of the Thames Valley yeast and the reasonable amount of crystal malts presents I would say the Victory Malt provided a english character to the beer that otherwise would've been absent. I certainly won't omit it next time I brew it.

[brewinhard]

Well stated Afterlab! Did you feel that the recipe lived up to the actual beer?

[Afterlab]

Unfortunately been able to try the commercial product but I initially went into brew day without any real expectations or excitement. There's so many highly regarded IPAs and clones out there that it was pretty much just another batch. With that being said I was pleasantly surprised by how well the beer came out and the flavors melded together. It was my first time using the Thames Valley yeast, dry hopping cold and for such an extended amount of time so I was stoked that those all worked out for the better. To date I would say it was one of the most flavorful and aromatic IPAs I've ever brewed so it definitely exceeded expectations.