Brewing an India Pale Ale
- By Steven Hooch
- Published 11/17/2011
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
India pale ale, abbreviated as IPA, is a style of beer within the pale ale family. It has a strong and clean flavour with equal parts hoppy and malty sweetness. It usually has a moderate and persisting head while the colour ranges from golden to amber.
Keep in mind that IPA has an overwhelming flavour that can easily override most dishes so it is important to find dishes with equally strong flavours. This way, the food and beverage combination complements each other to the fullest. Experts recommend IPA to be paired with roasted meats, spicy Buffalo-style chicken wings, pepperoni pizza, Stilton cheese and escargot (French snails) as well as with rich desserts like carrot cake with extra-rich cream cheese frosting.
Most beer connoisseurs prefer India ales brewed by craft breweries simply because these are of the highest quality. Of course, you can make your own IPA at home with the assumption that you have the essential home brewing supplies, tools and equipment to do the job.
Essential Ingredients:
The following ingredients will result in the standard 5-gallon IPA. Keep in mind that you can experiment with the ingredients - add, subtract and substitute - as you gain experience. This way, you can have a customized IPA suited to your own preferences.
The essential ingredients for the basic India pale ale are:
7.5 pounds of pale barley malt extract
1/2 pounds of roasted caramel malt, 60 oL (This will ensure a sweet, true caramel flavour with warm colour to the beer)
1/2 pounds of caramel malt 20 oL
3/4 ounces of hop pellets- bittering at 42 IBU
1 ounce of American Cascade hops for flavour with
a 12 IBU
1 ounce of hops for aroma
Basic Steps:
It is of utmost importance that a home brewer first learns the theories of beer brewing before actually making his first batch of beer. Yes, beer brewing is both an art and a science - learn the science through books, video tutorials and online resources while learning the art through experimentation. This is true for brewing India pale ale, too.
With the above mentioned ingredients on hand, you can start the process, as follows:
Soak all the grains in hot water - not boiling and not exceeding 180 degrees Fahrenheit - for 15 to 20 minutes, maximum. Strain the grains and then pour the resulting grain tea along with 5 and a quarter gallons of water into the brew kettle. If you are using a grain bag to steep the grains in the hot water, just remove it and then add the water.
Heat the water-grain tea mixture to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add the malt extract, and then stir to dissolve completely - this is the wort. Turn on the heat and bring the wort to a boil.
When the wort is boiling, add the bittering hop pellets and continue boiling for 40 minutes.
Add the flavouring hop pellets. Boil the mixture for another 15 minutes.
Add the aromatic hops and then continue boiling for 5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and cool down the wort to approximately 65degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the chilled wort to the primary fermenting container, shake or stir, and then add the yeast.
Ferment the beer in cool dark place with ideal temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-7 days. Bottle as you would any other pale ale.
In the end, you should have bottles of India pale ale that you can be proud to serve to your family and friends during parties.
Keep in mind that IPA has an overwhelming flavour that can easily override most dishes so it is important to find dishes with equally strong flavours. This way, the food and beverage combination complements each other to the fullest. Experts recommend IPA to be paired with roasted meats, spicy Buffalo-style chicken wings, pepperoni pizza, Stilton cheese and escargot (French snails) as well as with rich desserts like carrot cake with extra-rich cream cheese frosting.
Most beer connoisseurs prefer India ales brewed by craft breweries simply because these are of the highest quality. Of course, you can make your own IPA at home with the assumption that you have the essential home brewing supplies, tools and equipment to do the job.
Essential Ingredients:
The following ingredients will result in the standard 5-gallon IPA. Keep in mind that you can experiment with the ingredients - add, subtract and substitute - as you gain experience. This way, you can have a customized IPA suited to your own preferences.
The essential ingredients for the basic India pale ale are:
7.5 pounds of pale barley malt extract
1/2 pounds of roasted caramel malt, 60 oL (This will ensure a sweet, true caramel flavour with warm colour to the beer)
1/2 pounds of caramel malt 20 oL
3/4 ounces of hop pellets- bittering at 42 IBU
1 ounce of American Cascade hops for flavour with
1 ounce of hops for aroma
Basic Steps:
It is of utmost importance that a home brewer first learns the theories of beer brewing before actually making his first batch of beer. Yes, beer brewing is both an art and a science - learn the science through books, video tutorials and online resources while learning the art through experimentation. This is true for brewing India pale ale, too.
With the above mentioned ingredients on hand, you can start the process, as follows:
Soak all the grains in hot water - not boiling and not exceeding 180 degrees Fahrenheit - for 15 to 20 minutes, maximum. Strain the grains and then pour the resulting grain tea along with 5 and a quarter gallons of water into the brew kettle. If you are using a grain bag to steep the grains in the hot water, just remove it and then add the water.
Heat the water-grain tea mixture to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add the malt extract, and then stir to dissolve completely - this is the wort. Turn on the heat and bring the wort to a boil.
When the wort is boiling, add the bittering hop pellets and continue boiling for 40 minutes.
Add the flavouring hop pellets. Boil the mixture for another 15 minutes.
Add the aromatic hops and then continue boiling for 5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and cool down the wort to approximately 65degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the chilled wort to the primary fermenting container, shake or stir, and then add the yeast.
Ferment the beer in cool dark place with ideal temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-7 days. Bottle as you would any other pale ale.
In the end, you should have bottles of India pale ale that you can be proud to serve to your family and friends during parties.
Steven Hooch
Steven Hooch is a leading connoisseur for a variety of fine wines and ales. He has been sharing his insights and reviews for over 11 years striving to provide expert advice and information on a wide range of alcoholic beverages including Indian Pale Ale.
View all articles by Steven Hooch