This is an IPA recipe that I have brewed several times, with small variations. It won a competition at a local brewpub (Founders Hill, in Downers Grove IL) a couple of years ago, and was scaled up and brewed at the pub. There's nothing quite like seeing over 400 gallons of beer from your own recipe being brewed! It has also taken ribbons in other local competitions (DMC and the AHA NHC First Round). I hope you enjoy it.

Please note the non-standard batch size… a typical brew session for me consists of a pair of small batches (2 different styles of beer). Scale everything up linearly for a 5 gallon batch (in other words, multiply everything by about 1.4).

• 8 lbs US 2-row malt
• 8 oz DWC Cara-vienne (21L)
• 3 oz DWC Special B (110L)
• 1 oz 12% Chinook pellets (70 minutes)
• 1/2 oz 5.1% Mt Hood pellets (20 minutes)
• 1/2 oz Mt Hood pellets (steep at end of boil)
• 1/2 oz Cascade pellets (dry, add to secondary fermenter)
• Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II) yeast
• 2.5 oz dextrose (bottle prime)

(Optional) mash-in at 130F for a protein rest. Conversion rest at 152F, until complete. Total boil time 70 minutes.

OG = 1.065, FG = 1.014

Try to keep the ferment temp in the high 60s, and pitch the yeast at as close to fermentation temperature as possible.

In my opinion, the Wyeast 1272 is a big factor in the flavor of this beer. Don't substitute on the yeast unless you must! Also, if you've never used Wyeast 1272 before, be aware that it benefits from periodic rousing (shake the fermenter every couple of days); otherwise, it tends to take a while to ferment out. Also, with 1272 it is normal to have a really heavy, gooey-looking yeast cake floating on top of the beer as you near the end of primary fermentation, so don't be alarmed – it is not an infection!

With all the Chinook, Mt. Hood, and Cascade in this recipe, it is definitely an "American Style" IPA. Some judges apparently feel that all IPAs should have English hop character, and will subtract points if you enter a beer like this in the IPA category. You may actually be better off entering it as an American Pale Ale.

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(Posted to Web September 3, 1999; last updated January 10, 2000)