Admiral IPA No.5
I've brewed some good Admiral IPA beers in the past; versions one and two were a great success. Unfortunately then came the dreaded infection that ruined version three.
Not one to stay knocked down I've decided to return to this style and brew another IPA showcasing Admiral hops with a couple of others in the mix to play a supporting role.
Starter
I got the starter going on the Tuesday before Sunday's brew day as usual. The yeast will be my favourite Brewlab Yorkshire strain. This time I decided to use my large beaker for the starter because the straight edges make it less likely that the yeast will overflow.
The yeast never got any higher than this in the beaker so there was no danger of it overflowing and making a mess. After a few days it had fermented out and I saved back 500ml in the fridge for next time and the remaining 1.5l will go into the beer on Sunday.
Brew day
Here's the recipe, it's very similar to my other Admiral IPA recipes.
Recipe Specifications
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Date: 18 April 2026
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 15.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:67 Mg:13 Na:10 SO4:79 Cl:77
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type %/IBU
29.62 L Tesco Water Water -
2.50 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent -
2.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent -
1.50 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent -
1.30 ml Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent -
3.713 kg Crisp Clear Choice Extra Pale Malt (4.0 EBC) Grain 82.0 %
0.679 kg Crisp Light Munich Malt (25.0 EBC) Grain 15.0 %
0.136 kg Crisp Crystal 240 (240.0 EBC) Grain 3.0 %
0.50 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.40 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.30 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.30 ml Lactic Acid (Sparge) Water Agent -
18.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 23.9 IBUs
30.00 g Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6.5 IBUs
15.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7.2 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining -
20.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 2.2 IBUs
20.00 g Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 1.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Brewlab Yorkshire (Brewlab #Yorkshire) Yeast -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 4.528 kg
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 24.62 L of water at 72 C 67.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5L
I'm now of the opinion that when you have an assertive, fruity hop like Admiral then it works wonders if you pair it with Fuggle or Willamette because it serves to take the edge off and soften the overall flavour.
Anyway, brew day went well, or at least I though it did because I got a bit of a surprise at the end when measuring the OG:
The estimate was 1.044 and I actually got 1.050. I guess I must have measured out too much grain the night before. Oh well, this is going to be quite a bit stronger than I planned for.
I chilled down to near 20C, added the Brewlab yeast from the starter and tucked it all up in the brew fridge for the next couple of weeks.
Kegging day
I kegged the beer after 2 weeks in the fermenter and the FG was 1.007 which means that the ABV is 5.7%, considerably more than I intended so I'll just have to go easy on this one. As well as the whole keg I got 3 bottles as well.
Tasting notes
Taste wise, I've got no issues with it, it tastes fine but I can't escape the fact that it's too strong for my tastes at 5.7%. I'll be keeping it down a bit in the future.