Single-Malt, Single-Hop IPA (For Beginning Homebrewers) Recipe

Updated August 09, 2018

For this SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) beer, I chose Mosaic hops, the daughter of American IPA hop stalwart Simcoe. Mosaic hops only became commercially available following the fall 2012 harvest, but they're already picking up steam among home and craft brewers for creating an array of flavors and aromas that have been said to include cedar, stone fruit, tropical fruit, blueberry, and floral notes. To round things out, I paired the Mosaic hops with the sweet, clean Golden Promise pale malt. Think of it as a Scottish equivalent to Maris Otter pale malt.

If you want to switch out the hops, you can figure out the amount to substitute using homebrew bitterness units (HBUs). HBUs are calculated by multiplying the weight of each hop addition by the percentage of alpha acids (AAs). For example, this recipe has a 12.3 HBU first wort hop addition (1 ounce x 12.3% AA). If you wanted to use, say, Centennial hops with 10% AA, you would need to add 1.23 ounces (1.23 ounces x 10% AA = 12.3 HBUs). This is also useful if the hops your homebrew store carries have a different AA percentage than what your recipe specifies.

One caveat: If you're using a hop with a lower percentage of alpha acids (say, 5% to 6% or below), you might want to consider using a hop like Magnum or Warrior for the bittering addition to limit the amount of vegetal mass in the kettle. Using a low alpha acid hop like Strisselspalt for a bittering addition is likely to result in a beer that just tastes like your lawn.

Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV: 6.7%
Bitterness: 66 IBUs
Color: 4 SRM (gold)

How to Brew a Single-Malt, Single-Hop IPA at Home (And Why You Should Try It)

Recipe Details

Single-Malt, Single-Hop IPA (For Beginning Homebrewers) Recipe

Active 5 hrs

Total 504 hrs

Makes 5 gallons

Ingredients

12 pounds Golden Promise malt
1 ounce Mosaic hops, 12.3% AA (first wort hop)
1 1/2 ounces Mosaic hops, 12.3% AA (15 minutes)
1 tablet Whirlfloc (15 minutes)
1/2 teaspoon Wyeast yeast nutrient blend (10 minutes)
1 1/2 ounces Mosaic hops, 12.3% AA (0 minutes)
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast
2 ounces Mosaic hops, 12.3% AA (dry hop; 5-6 days in secondary)

Directions

Heat 15 quarts tap water to 164°F and add to mash tun.
Mash-in slowly, adding all grains to the mash tun while stirring to prevent clumping. The mash temperature should equalize to 152°F.
In a separate container, heat 8.4 quarts tap water to 202°F.
Mash out by adding 8.4 quarts of 202°F tap water to mash tun, while stirring, after allowing the mash to rest for 60 minutes. Temperature should equalize to approximately 168°F.
Leave at mash out temperature for 15 minutes. In a separate container, heat 2.8 gallons tap water to 172°F.
Slowly drain off wort and add back to mash tun, recirculating until the wort runs clear and free of grain particles.
Drain mash tun to boil kettle, sparging with 2.8 gallons of 172°F tap water. Add first wort hops once the kettle is full.
After all mash runnings are collected, record preboil gravity. Bring wort to boil.
Allow wort to boil 60 minutes, adding hops, Whirlfloc and yeast nutrients as noted above.
Chill wort and transfer to a sanitized carboy or bucket with an airlock. Aerate by shaking or oxygenate with an oxygenation stone.
Pitch yeast and allow to ferment at 66°F to 68°F.
Once the gravity is within a few points of your target final gravity (about 1.014), rack beer to second sanitized carboy or bucket with dry hops in a sanitized hop sack and allow to condition for 5 to 6 days.
Bottle or keg at 2.6 volumes.