I was asked to submit my American IPA for the British Beer Fest Lucci Cup. My first reaction was why the heck are we doing an American IPA for a British competition.. but I get it, we’re still riding the IPA wave that everyone is craving and brewing and we can get a ton of entries. I would rather do a Flanders red if we are going off the map, but 3 years is not that fast of a turnaround for a competition that is in two months.

As Richard Sheppard stated from the  Lucci Cup 2017 write up, “For those of you unfamiliar with the Lucci Cup, it is a competition within the greater British Beerfest competition. A club member throws out a style and a recipe and a separate prize is given to the winner of that category. The Lucci Cup is normally categorized by a high number of entries for style, bragging rights and copious amounts of trash talk. You do not have to use the recipe given below, it is just a suggestion.”

This American IPA I named Alan’s Hoppyness, was my first IPA I made back in 2012. I named it so because it was my neighbor’s favorite thirst quencher after running and training for his marathons on a hot summer day. The recipe is a Bell’s Two Hearted clone I found on Brew Your Own and chose it since it was simple and I had all the ingredients. It did really well with people enjoying it and in competitions where I entered it in both the Pale ale and IPA categories.

Here is the recipe for Alan’s Hoppyness:

Ingredients:

For 5 gallons (19 L)

12.83 lb (4.5 kg) | Two-row Brewers Malt (1.8°L)

8.0 oz (227 g) | Caramel (40°L)

1.2 oz (34 g) | Centennial pellets, 9.1% a.a. (45 min)

1.2 oz (34 g) | Centennial pellets, 9.1% a.a. (30 min)

3.5 oz (99 g) | Centennial pellets, 9.1% a.a. (dry hop)

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast or WLP California Ale V Yeast

SPECIFICATIONS

Original Gravity: 1.063

Final Gravity: 1.012

ABV: 6.7%

IBU: 55

SRM: 10

Boil Time: 75 minutes

Efficiency: 65%

Pre-boil Volume: 6.6 gallons

DIRECTIONS

Use 4.5 gallons (17 L) carbon filtered water, adjust with 4 grams gypsum.

Step mash: 45 minutes at 150°F (66°C), ramp to 170°F (77°C) over 15 minutes (or ramp by infusing 2.5 gallons boiling water), rest 10 minutes at 170°F (77°C). Vorlauf until clear.

Collect 6.6 gallons (25 L), sparging with 175°F (79°C) water. Boil vigorously for approximately 75 minutes, hopping as in ingredients section. Whirlpool and allow to settle for 15 minutes. Chill wort to 64°F (18°C). Aerate wort and pitch yeast.

Ferment warm (ale temperature). Dry hop one week into fermentation in a secondary. Allow beer to stay warm with hops for a week. Rack beer, crash cool, and cold age for a week. Rack beer, prime with sugar and bottle or carbonate in a keg.

Extract Version

Use 6.6 lb (3 kg) Briess Golden Light Liquid malt extract and 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) Golden Light Dry malt extract instead of the two-row malts.

Steep the 8 oz caramel malt in 1 gallon (3.8 L) of 150°F (66°C) water for 20 minutes. Strain and sparge through the grains, topping up to 6.6 gallons (or up to 3.5 gallons for a partial boil) and bring to a boil.

Add the malt extracts. Add 2 grams of gypsum to the boil.

Continue as per all-grain recipe (unless using partial boil process where water needs to be added to bring post boil volume up to 5.25 gallons (20 L)).

Gautam Bagchi