How To Brew Beer » ipa

So how’s that IPA?

Justin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:54:00 +0000

So a couple months ago I posted about my 1120 IPA recipe I crafted. I know the world is eagerly awaiting the report, so how was it? Ok, no one is dying to know, but if you were curious here’s the report. Enjoy!

Like I said in my previous reports, my racking cane got clogged so my volume was a bit light and my efficiency was a bit off being my first batch with my new water supply, so this is a high end APA or a low-end IPA, either way a damn tasty beer!

I was a bit concerned about the slow performance of the Nottingham yeast, but like I said I was fermenting this rather cool, in the 56/57F range. Well the beer turned out great, this was the first time I used Amarillo hops and really enjoy them, I prefer this Amarillo/Cascade blend over soley Cascade. I’ll stop rambling about the beer, here’s my review with a picture of the beer! Try the recipe out, if you like hops, you’ll love this!

At a couple months age (and even at just over one month) this beer is fantastic. It pours fairly clear golden-orange color with a moderate white head. The aroma is quite hoppy, lemon-citrus qualities from Amarillo and Cascade hops. The flavor is moderately hoppy with a noticeable, yet not tongue splitting hop bitterness. The beer finishes with a nice linger of hop flavor and a bit of sweet, nutty malt. The carbonation is moderate and body medium.This beer turned out wonderful, a refreshing, very flavorful pale ale!

1120 IPA Brew Day

Justin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:24:07 +0000

Last Sunday I was able to brew up the 1120 IPA recipe I shared a couple weeks ago. The brew day went well and my primary fermentation is winding down, 7 days later. I will be adding my dry hops to the primary fermenter in the next day or two. I’ll let those sit for about a week and then I’ll transfer the beer to the secondary. At that point I’ll let it clear further and age for another week or two and then bottle the batch. The only slight problem with the brew day was my auto-siphon got clogged at the end with hop flowers, so my final volume ended up a bit short, I only got about 5 gallons into the primary, I usually shoot for between 5.25 and 5.5 gallons.

Oh, and if you were curious I ended up going with Nottingham Ale yeast for this batch. I fermented at 57F, it took a full 24 hours to see action from the yeast at this cool temperature, but once it got going it fermented slowly and steadily through much of the week. It will be interesting to see how this beer tastes, I never have fermented an ale at this low of a temperature. I’ll post back in a couple months with a tasting. Here are a few pictures I thought you may enjoy from my brew day last Sunday.

1120 IPA Grains

Here is the grain bill mixed throughly before adding to the mash tun. The non-barley specs are flaked barley, which I think will give this IPA just a bit of a creamy mouthfeel.

Bittering Addition

The bittering addition, added at the beginning of the boil. The whole hops are Amarillo and the pellets are Cascades.

Mash after draining

Here is the mash after draining, before the first sparge, smells SO good!

Draining into brew kettle

Draining the first runnings from the mash tun into the kettle. I have the burner on low after running off to stop any further enzyme action that may be going on.

Rolling boil

Ah, a full rolling boil, you can see the whole hop flower pieces if you look closely.

Well there you have it, another enjoyable brew day! I can’t wait until this one is ready! Are you brewing anything soon?

What’s next? An IPA!

Justin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:08:34 +0000

So I’ve finally got the time to brew up my next batch. My next batch is going to be a celebratory brew, a rather strong, very hoppy IPA but with enough malt to keep it from being one dimensional. I’ll be brewing next Sunday. Here’s the recipe I’ve worked out so far.

Beer Name: 1120 IPA

OG: 1.061

FG: 1.012

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 53

Grains:

10# Maris Otter

1 # Flaked Barley

0.5# Victory

0.5# Crystal 40L

Hops:

0.50 oz Amarillo – 60 min

1.25 oz Cascade – 60 min

0.5 0z Amarillo – 15 min

0.5 oz Cascade – 15 min

0.5 oz Amarillo – 2 min

0.5 oz Amarillo – 2 min

0.5 oz Amarillo – dry hop

0.5 oz Cascade – dry hop

So I wanted to have a subtle, yet noticeable nutty/toasted malt flavor hiding beneath the all those citrusy hops, so the addition Victory malt seems reasonable. To give the beer a silky mouthfeel I thought a pound of flaked barley would fit nicely, this is what they do in a beer like Guinness to give the creamy mouthfeel.

Now the yeast and here enters my problem. Our new basement is quite a bit colder than our old one, I have moved my thermometers around and the basement ranges from 50F to 58F. I wanted to use a British ale yeast, but most varieties recommend mid 60sF to low 70sF for fermentation temperatures, my basement is much too cold for that. I could use Nottingham dry ale yeast or a clean American ale yeast, but I’m hoping for something different. I’m thinking of going with an altbier yeast, it will be a bit different, still relatively clean and dry enough. Although a Scottish ale yeast sounds good too. I have a feeling this yeast selection will be a game time decision. So do you have any comments about the yeast or anything else on the recipe? If you brew it up, drop me a line.

Justin