Beer Forum

Going off IPA experience (many brews personally and commercially tasted) and what Jamil and Tasty have stated. I am in full agreement with them. No Crystal 40+ in IPA's of the west coast variety. We are stubborn lovers of IPA's out here on the left coast.

brewlander wrote:What is wrong with Crystal? is it all of them or just the 40? just not a fan of it in general or is there downsides to the malt

At the 18-20% rate you proposed, the C40 will lend some pronounced caramel flavors. Any caramel notes in an American IPA should be a background note. As a rule of thumb, keep all your crystal additions under 10% in an American IPA.

You'll see a lot of regional variation in the amount of crystal malt used in an IPA. West coast IPAs tend to have minimal (5% maybe) crystal malts; in the midwest, where they generally seem to be allergic to hops (with a few notable exceptions), you'll see more used, and the result is a little more body, less dry finish, and some noticeable caramel flavors, which while they can be tasty, are not as drinkable as the dryer, crisper west coast interpretations. So depending on how your tastes run, adjust your recipe accordingly. Remember, you're drinking this, not us, so brew what you like, not what we say we like

Being from the East Coast, I can tell you most Eastern brew pub, microbrewery's, and craft brewers IPA's are mediocre at best. Yah, there are a few I enjoy, but none of them blow me away. I find myself saying " Thank GOD for San Diego Breweries!" Skip the crystal!!!!!!

My favorite IPA by far is Ballast Point Sculpin, perfection in a glass.

gwk453 wrote:Being from the East Coast, I can tell you most Eastern brew pub, microbrewery's, and craft brewers IPA's are mediocre at best. Yah, there are a few I enjoy, but none of them blow me away. I find myself saying " Thank GOD for San Diego Breweries!" Skip the crystal!!!!!!

My favorite IPA by far is Ballast Point Sculpin, perfection in a glass.

And that is the issue I run into when sending beers in to local competitions sometimes (NY state). Being East coast, I feel that many judges around here prefer a maltier IPA while I enjoy brewing and drinking drier/hoppier (hop delivery vessels) West coast version IPA's. While they score well (and place too), they sometimes get dinged for lack of malt character. I wonder how that plays out with NHC regional judging as well (east coast sites vs. west coast sites).

brewinhard wrote:
And that is the issue I run into when sending beers in to local competitions sometimes (NY state). Being East coast, I feel that many judges around here prefer a maltier IPA while I enjoy brewing and drinking drier/hoppier (hop delivery vessels) West coast version IPA's. While they score well (and place too), they sometimes get dinged for lack of malt character. I wonder how that plays out with NHC regional judging as well (east coast sites vs. west coast sites).

A lot of the stigma about East Coast IPA's, in my opinion, is based on malty DFH 90 Minute IPA's popularity, and it's use as a judging standard. I feel this is where we get dinged. When brewing West Coast IPA's, you really have to NAIL the hops (hop varieties, variables of hop addition timing & technique, complementary hop combinations, and dry hopping), to compensate for the low 2-row flavor. It is a brewer's art. Brewing IPA's is not easy. I'm happy with small step improvements.

I am glad that the West Coast has so many quality hop flavored IPA's.

gwk453 wrote:My favorite IPA by far is Ballast Point Sculpin, perfection in a glass.

+1

OP - send Mylo a private message and he'll send you all the Chandler water info you need.

BDawg wrote:OP - send Mylo a private message and he'll send you all the Chandler water info you need.

Awesome, Thanks for all the help!