Fermentation less than 12 hours after pitching
Trying to stay on top of my homebrewing game, which has been distracting me a bit from posting too many reviews here. That might seem like a lame excuse, and maybe it is, but, well, what can ya do? I took it upon myself to offer Stinky and his awesome wife Jillian some homebrew for their wedding party this summer, in the middle of July, and since I want it to be good, I decided I would try a test run, get some opinions, and then adjust accordingly. Given the timing, we’re on track if I get this thing racked, dry-hopped, and carbed in the keg in time to try it and then quickly brew another and do the same. Being a big fan of a nice IPA in the summer time, and knowing that Stinky is a huge fan, I thought it would be a good style, since I’ve never tried to brew a “clean” American styled Ale before, to both provide a crucial brew offering, and to get my homebrew game up.
I went down to Sixpoint to score some homebrew supplies, and was blessed enough to get my hands on a ton of hops, some nice Ale yeast, and the necessary specialty grains for a pittance — man, I love those guys. Having a local brewery that is owned and operated by homebrewers is a blessing — especially in a city with NO HOMEBREW STORE. Seriously, what the fuck, NYC?
I’m still working on a 55# bag of Marris Otter Pale malt, which I didn’t want to use as too high a % of my grist since by all accounts it leaves a decent amount of residual sweetness, and I wanted my beer to have the following properties: 1) Finish Very Dry (around 1.012) 2) Have a pronounced hop flavor 3) Not be overly bitter 4) Not be overly swet. Yes, that just sounds like “make a dry, balanced beer,” but these guidelines helped me figure out the right questions to ask around, and with the good natured help of Craig at Sixpoint, I came up with the following Recipe:
5.5# Marris Otter Pale / 5.5# Rahr Pale / .5# Belgian Cara 8 / .5# Belgian Cara 20 / 1# Dextrose
60 Minutes: 1oz Warrior / .5 oz Columbus
45 Minutes: .5 oz Centennial
30 Minutes: .5oz Amarillo
5 Minutes: .5oz Simcoe / .5oz Cascade
0 Minutes: 1oz Cascade / 1oz Centennial / 1oz Simcoe / 1oz Amarillo
Mashed for 75 minutes at 148 / 60 Minute Boil / Pitched yeast at 68F
OG: 1.075 (Higher than I wanted) – about 80% efficient
I didn’t think I would be quite so efficient, so this 100 IBU beer will now be closer to 8% than 6%, which makes it somewhere between an IPA and a Imperial IPA, hence being the 1.5 IPA. Fermentation vigorously exploded less than 12 hours after pitching. Hopefully will dry out within a week, and then get two rounds of 7 day long dry hopping, on a few ounces of pellets each time. I’m looking for outrageous hop aroma and hopefully the flavor is there without being overly bitter. We’ll see!
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