Beer Forum

Hello folks, I'm looking for some suggestions on IPA recipes that don't have crystal or caramel malts in them. Can those of you who have brewed such recipes post them and tell us how you liked the results?

All of the IPAs I've brewed so far have had caramel malt in them, but my next one is going to be 96% domestic 2-row and 4% Victory malt. I'm curious to see where the rest of you are taking your IPA malt bills.

When ever I see a recipe with too much crystal I replace it with Munich. It's never disappointed yet.

I like my IPAs with 90-95% Maris otter then a mix of Carapils and Munich. Then get crazy with the late addition hops.

NervousDad wrote:When ever I see a recipe with too much crystal I replace it with Munich. It's never disappointed yet.

I like my IPAs with 90-95% Maris otter then a mix of Carapils and Munich. Then get crazy with the late addition hops.

+1

NervousDad, that sounds like a nice mix of malt. What are you using the Carapils for, is it mainly to give some extra body to the beer? How much are you using? I haven't really used Carapils in the past and I'm not sure what it does.

Carapils is Breiss' brand name for their Dextrin malt.
It adds no color, but it does add unfermentable dextrins and so it improves head and body. It will also add a very small amount of residual sweetness, at least in my experience.

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Carapils.htm

Carapils/ dextrin malt is a crystal malt, so if you are adamant about a 0 crystal malt IPA you'll have to leave it out. I don't mind 5-8% or so of a light crystal malt in my IPAs; a low mash temp, a high attenuating yeast, and enough sulfates in your water will get you that crisp dryness in the finish that you are looking for.

I don't want to say a no crystal IPA won't work since I haven't tried it myself, but I'd be worried about a lack of body and mouthfeel. Let us know how it turns out.

Here's a BYO article from a while back on Carapils/dextrin malt: http://byo.com/grains/item/1586-what-is ... cara-malts?

Grain:
79% 2 row
8% melanoidin
5% Flaked barley
8% corn sugar

70% efficiency = 1.082 starting gravity
8.9 est. SRM
60 minute boil

Hops:
2 oz Amarillo 8.5% AA (10 min)
2 oz Citra 15.4% AA (10 min)
2 oz Mosaic 11.6% AA (10 min)
1 oz Amarillo 8.5% AA (5 min)
1 oz Citra 15.4% AA (5 min)
1 oz Mosaic 11.6% AA (5 min)
1 oz Amarillo 8.5% AA (0 min)
1 oz Citra 15.4% AA (0 min)
1 oz Mosaic 11.6% AA (0 min)
1 oz Amarillo 8.5% AA (dry)
1 oz Citra 15.4% AA (dry)
1 oz Mosaic 11.6% AA (dry)

Yeast:
Safale-05 (2 packs)

Everyone, thanks for the replies, this is very helpful. Just to clarify, I'm not against having caramel in an IPA, I enjoy having a few percent in my grain bill. I just want to explore other types of specialty grains and how they work in the style.

Regarding Carapils, it sounds like its primary contribution to the wort are additional dextrins. Can one achieve the same result by omitting the Carapils and mashing at a higher temperature, or is there something unique that Carapils adds? It sounds to me like high mash temp and Carapils are interchangeable, but I don't have much experience with the product.

Cascadiabrewer, thank you for the recipe! Can you give us some detail about your zero minute hop additions? I'm wondering how long the hops are steeping before the wort is chilled. What is your chilling method? I use an immersion chiller and I'm trying to work out an ideal steeping time before I turn the chiller on.