What dog (or dragon) doesn't wish for never ending brew? It's about time that Falcor gets his own bowl of never ending Imperial India Pale Ale and we found it only appropriate to use hops that sounded like they came straight from the movie like Falconers Flight and Zythos. The dragon-dog taxis princes and princesses around all day in the classic NeverEnding Story, so he most certainly needs some 100 IBU Imperial IPA to put out the flames.

Double/Imperial IPA is an American craft ale that originated around 1990 in California. The flavor has plenty of malt, but is massively hoppy. The aroma gives you a huge hit of American hops and a nice backup of rich caramelly malt. The balance is rich and fatty, but always ultra hoppy and dries out as it ages. Imperial IPA is brewed year round thanks to IPA pros like Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada. Double IPAs are great with sweet desserts like carrot and cheese cake, but usually too hoppy for pairing with food.

The normal gravity range for an Imperial IPA is 1.080 -1.100 with an ABV range of 7.9 - 10.5%. Bitterness is extremely high on this beer around 65-100 IBUs with color 6-14L (gold to amber) and attenuation/body crisp and dry. [Check out our brewing calendar to see when you should brew an Imperial IPA]

We chose a few newer and exciting west coast bittering hops for this recipe including Falconers Flight, Zythos, 7 C's and also ending with a blast of Sonnetâ„¢ Golding with low alpha acid (4%) for flavor and aroma. This hop is a newer baby hop similar to a Golding. As for the yeast, we recommend a classic California ale yeast like WLP001 as it finishes with clean flavors, balance and has the ability to be used in almost any style ale. This yeast accentuates the hop flavors and cultivates well for large yeast starters.

Double / Imperial IPA - All Grain
Batch size 5 gallons Boil size 7.4 gallons Boil time 90 minutes Grain weight 15.85 pounds Efficiency 70%	Original gravity 1.083 Final gravity 1.019 Alcohol (by volume) 8.4% Bitterness (IBU) 136 Color (SRM) 8.8°L
Yeast 3 liquid packs White Labs ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2WLP001 California Ale Grains/Extracts/Sugars 15.85 pounds 2 Row Base ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/237ppg, 1.5°L 12.1 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/276.3% CaraVienne ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/235ppg, 20°L 0.8 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/25.0% Maris Otter ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/238ppg, 4°L 0.8 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/25.0% Carastan (Dark) ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/228ppg, 35°L 0.8 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/25.0% Dry Sugar - Corn ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/242ppg, °L 0.75 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/24.7% CaraPils ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/233ppg, 1.5°L 0.6 pounds ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/23.8% Hops 11.75 ounces Sonnet Golding hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/24%, Pellet 4 ounces Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 3.25 ounces 7 C's hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/29.9%, Pellet 2 ounces Zythos hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/210.9%, Pellet 1.5 ounces Amarillo hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/27.7%, Pellet 0.5 ounces Warrior hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/216%, Pellet 0.25 ounces Simcoe hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/213%, Pellet 0.25 ounces Additions 0.16 ounces Irish moss ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2Fining 0.16 ounces	Mash 60 minutes, 9.9 gallons Strike ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2Target 152°F 5.7 gallons 163°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge 4.2 gallons 170°F Boil 90 minutes, 7.4 gallons Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 1 ounce 90 minutes (+0) Warrior hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/216%, Pellet 0.25 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 0.25 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Simcoe hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/213%, Pellet 0.25 ounces 30 minutes (+60) Zythos hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/210.9%, Pellet 0.25 ounces 30 minutes (+60) 7 C's hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/29.9%, Pellet 0.75 ounces 20 minutes (+70) Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 0.75 ounces 15 minutes (+75) Irish moss ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2Fining 0.16 ounces 15 minutes (+75) Zythos hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/210.9%, Pellet 0.75 ounces 10 minutes (+80) 7 C's hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/29.9%, Pellet 0.75 ounces 10 minutes (+80) Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 0.75 ounces 5 minutes (+85) Sonnet Golding hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/24%, Pellet 4 ounces 0 minutes (+90) Ferment 19 days @ 68-73°F Rack to secondary 7 days (+12) Falconers Flight hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/211.4%, Pellet 0.5 ounces 7 days (+12) 7 C's hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/29.9%, Pellet 0.5 ounces 7 days (+12) Zythos hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/210.9%, Pellet 0.5 ounces 7 days (+12) Amarillo hops ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/2ï¿1/27.7%, Pellet 0.5 ounces 14 days (+5)

Directions
Mash the grains at 152° F (67° C) for 60 minutes or until starch conversion is finished. Mash out at 168° F (76° C) and sparge. Collect 7.4 gallons (28 L) of runoff, pour in your dextrose, and bring everything to a rolling boil. Drop in your hops as directed in the recipe. After a 90 minute boil, chill the wort down to 67° F (19° C) and transfer to your primary fermenter. Pitch your yeast, whether it be a yeast starter, liquid or dry yeast and aerate well. We suggested 3 liquid vials of White Labs WLP001 in the recipe. Ferment the Imperial IPA at 67° F (19° C) for 7 days or until fermentation activity subsides, then rack to secondary. Drop in your first round of dry hops and age 7 days, then add the second round. Age 5 more days then bottle or keg.

Here we look at the build of the total IBU as each hop addition is added during the boil. Notice dry hopping adds no bitterness to the finished brew, but only aroma. IBUs are calculated using Rager's hop utilization method.

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