My collection of Australian and New Zealand hops is to the point where I need to brew something or it’s going to start to look like that I am building a museum for these varieties in my fridge.

I started to examine the hop profiles and began to put a plan together to hopefully meld all the flavors from each hop into a pleasing blend. Without real brewing experience with any of these hops, any plan I put together will only be theoretical.

So this India pale ale will be using hop varieties from AU and NZ to support the flavor and aroma of this beer. We’re going to be using a large amount of hops, or at least compared to the typical amounts that I use when I brew.

So let’s get into it. Let’s turn the malt up a bit so we can have a good delivery system for the hops.

Down Under IPA All Grain Recipe

Boil size: 7 gallons
Final batch size: 5.5 gallons
Volume for fermentation: 5 gallons

Ingredients:

13.0 lbs. American 2 Row Malt
1.50 lbs. Pilsner Malt
.5 lbs Caramel Malt 60°L
0.75 oz Warrior hop pellets (16% AA) boiled 60 minutes
1 oz Pacific Jade hop pellets (13% AA) boiled 10 minutes
1 oz AU Topaz hop pellets (12.5% AA) boiled 0 minutes
1 oz Nelson Sauvin hop pellets (11.5% AA) boiled 0 minutes
1 oz Galaxy hop pellets (13% AA) dry hopping
Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Instructions:

Mash grains at 149°F for 60 minutes. You can extend the duration of the mash to 90 minutes if you feel like you haven’t gotten full starch conversion after an hour. Start the boil with 7 gallons of wort and add the hops when indicated. After the boil, chill the wort to 67° F and aerate it well. Pitch a mighty amount of yeast and ferment at 67° F for two weeks. Rack to a secondary vessel and add half of the Galaxy hops to the beer. After three days, add the second half of the Galaxy hops. Bottle or rack as usual.

Predictions:

Original Gravity: 1.069
Terminal Gravity: 1.014
Color: 10.69 °SRM
Bitterness: 58.0 IBUs
Alcohol % of volume: 7.2 %

I have read a few tips on dry hopping IPA with a couple of charges. I have dry hopped in the past and have had good success in getting aroma out of the finished beer. I am looking to get some clean bittering from the Warrior hops to support the herbal, spiciness from the Pacific Jade, and fruitiness from the Topaz, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy.