Beer Forum

I'm with NervousDad and Kbar. I really like a Marris Otter and Amarillo smash ipa.

WABrewer wrote: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.

Why are you opposed to crystal malt? I'm guessing you probably just want the hops to come through better. If that's the case there's nothing wrong with using crystal malt- just use it sparingly and for a specific purpose. I use 93% 2-row and 7% Crystal 20. I have a small bittering addition at 60 minutes and about 6-10 oz. of hops in the last 15 minutes of the boil/whrilpool.

Have you used victory malt before? I've used it a couple of times in English style beers and didn't care for the flavor it gave. I would not want that flavor in an American IPA. If you're opposed to using crystal malt then consider substituting the crystal malt with Munich malt or another base malt for complexity.

I use an immersion chiller as well. So on the 0 minute hops when i turn the water on for chilling is when i throw the hops in. The recipe will give you a very drinkable imperial ipa that is dry but with that amount hops, it has almost a "hoppy body" to it unlike a sweet body in a beer with unfermentable sugars in it. It will finish usually in the range of 1.009 to 1.011.