The Delicious BIPA plays on two fronts: the caramelised roundness of an amber and the hoppy punch of an IPA. A generous Pale Ale base, lifted with a hint of caramel malt, gives it that deep amber colour and mellow body.
Chinook sets the bitterness, Simcoe perfumes the nose with bright citrus. And for fans of American IPA, the recipe lends itself to the game: just push the Chinook to drive the bitterness as far as you like.
/ The ingredients
Quantities for 25 litres in the fermenter. Adjust the volume: the proportions recalculate automatically.
| Pale Ale malt7 EBC | |
| Caramel malt (crystal)120 EBC | |
| Chinook hopsbittering · 80 min | |
| Simcoe hopsaroma · 5 min | |
| Fermentis US-05 dry yeast |
Original gravity 1.066 (16 °P) · final gravity 1.014 (3.46 °P) · efficiency ~72%.
/ The brew
- Mash — Crush the malts and mash at 67 °C for 60 min.
- Mash-out & lautering — Raise to 76 °C, then sparge the grains at 78 °C.
- Boil (80 min) — Chinook from the start. Irish moss 10 min before the end, then the Simcoe 5 min before flame-out.
- Whirlpool (30 min) — At flame-out, create a vortex, cover and let it rest 30 min.
- Fermentation — Cool to 20 °C, pitch 2 packs of US-05 and let it ferment at 20 °C.
- Bottling — Bottle conditioning with 8 g of sugar/L and Fermentis F-2 yeast. See the dedicated article →
- Conditioning — 2 weeks at 21-22 °C, then enjoy.
/ Tasting
Amber colour, creamy head. The nose, expressive, unfurls the Simcoe’s citrus. On the palate it’s round and mellow, carried by the malt’s caramel notes, with a well-present bitterness that gives the whole thing structure. A fine bridge between Belgian tradition and American hops.
A hoppy amber is the best of both worlds in a single glass.
Serve between 7 and 9 °C, in a tulip glass. For bitterness lovers, crank the Chinook to “11”.
