Foothills Brewing’s Hoppyum is one of my favorite IPAs on the market right now, and it makes it even better that it’s a North Carolina product. I’ve tried several recipes to try and produce a home brew that has the similar flavor profile as Hoppyum. Here’s my attempt at a tribute recipe that is not as good as the original, but certainly a close second place in my mind.
Edwin’s IPA Honoring Foothills Hoppyum
Grains
- 11lbs American Pale Ale Malt
- 1 lb Caramel Malt (20L)
- .5 lb Caramel Malt (40L)
Hops
- 1.25 oz Simcoe (Pellet) Full boil
- .75 oz Cascade (Pellet) Middle of boil
- 1 oz Centennial (Pellet) Last 5 minutes of boil
- .75 oz Simcoe (Pellet) In Fermenter for 7 days
- 1 oz Cascade (Pellet) In Fermenter for 7 days
Yeast
- Wyeast 1056 – American Ale
I mashed the grain for 1 hour around 155 degrees with 4 gallons of water in my DIY mash tun. After an hour, I used the ball valve and drained what I could into the brew pot. I had to sparge with another 3 gallons at about 170 degrees to get my full 5.5 gallons for the boil.
I boiled for 60 minutes hopping at the start, middle, and last five minutes with the hops in the recipe above. I let the wort cool to about 72 degrees before pitching the yeast. Once pitched, I added the last 3 hops additions into the fermenter. I gave it a good stir, sealed the fermenter and put on the airlock.
OG – 1.040
RESULTS:
Great tasting IPA. I fermented the first stage for 7 days, which was probably 2 days too long. My schedule didn’t work out to move it to the secondary fermenter it when the activity stopped in the primary. This probably contributed to some off flavors. The final beer is good, but I do have a little bit of an aftertaste that could probably have been avoided if I pulled it out of the primary fermenter in time to avoid dead yeast contributing to the flavor profile.
Overall, I’m impressed, and will make this again. Came out to about 6.5% ABV, and has a good aroma and bitterness that you would expect in a classic IPA.
