11 replies to this topic

[al_bob]

Well, I guess our spring is here. Not going below freezing at night for the next 10 days according to weather reports. It's going to be in the 60's and 70's except for one day forecast to be 57 for the high.I'm going to do my Hopocolyptic IPA again, featuring Belma hops. I got the last 3 ounces from our club. I'm gonna order more and return them back.I wanted to brew tomorrow, but we have our club meeting tonight, and that usually requires a day of rest afterwards, so, I think I'm going to try and squeak it in today.I've changed a few things on my brewing and for what ever reasons, I'm getting great results on my IPA's. I've been working on this style off and on since I started brewing. I've only ever brewed 3 styles. IPA, Pale, and Stout. I was determined to figure out this style before moving to other ones.Well, I'm feeling like I'm pretty close if not already there. I'm finally getting that perfect balance between sweetness and hoppiness. I am so stoked. It's also my favorite style to drink. Now, I'm finally going to enter some comps. I think I have a good chance with IPA now. It is the most entered style in comps, so I'll be interested to see how well I can do.Cheers!

[al_bob]

I did the same recipe on my last beer but substituted Chinook hops for the Belma in the 25 min. addition. I aslo tried some Munich. It is an Excellent IPA, too, but I liked the last one even better. So, I'm going back to the original recipe to see if I can produce the same result as the 1st one.

[al_bob]

Here's the recipe if you didn't see it in one of the other threads.Waiting for the Mayans Hopocalyptic IPA14-B American IPAAuthor: Al ScottDate: 12/21/2012Size: 5.5 galEfficiency: 75.0%Attenuation: 75.0%Calories: 231.31 kcal per 12.0 fl ozOriginal Gravity: 1.069 (1.056 - 1.075)Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (1.010 - 1.018)Color: 12.78 (6.0 - 15.0)Alcohol: 6.84% (5.5% - 7.5%)Bitterness: 67.4 (40.0 - 70.0)Ingredients:13.0 lb Pale Ale Malt1.0 lb Crystal Malt 40°L0.25 lb Cargill White Wheat0.25 lb Cara-Pils® Malt1.0 oz Chinook (13.9%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min0.25 oz Belma (12.1%) - added during boil, boiled 25.0 min0.25 oz Citra (15.6%) - added during boil, boiled 25.0 min0.25 oz Amarillo Leaf 2011 (10.4%) - added during boil, boiled 25.0 min0.25 oz Amarillo Leaf 2011 (10.4%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min0.25 oz Citra (15.6%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min0.25 oz Belma (12.1%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min0.50 oz Amarillo Leaf 2011 (10.4%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min0.50 oz Citra (15.6%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min0.50 oz Belma (12.1%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min0.0 ea WYeast 1028 London Ale1.0 oz Citra (15.6%) - added dry to primary fermenter1.0 oz Amarillo Leaf 2011 (8.9%) - added dry to primary fermenter1.0 oz Belma (12.1%) - added dry to primary fermenterSchedule:Ambient Air: 70.0 °FSource Water: 60.0 °FElevation: 0.0 mNotesYeast starter was stepped up twice with 2 liter wort additions creating 351 billion cells. Saving 100 billion for next starter and pitching recommended 251 billion cells per Yeast Calc.Pitched at 68-70 degrees.whirlfloc 1/2 tab yeast nutrient 1/2 tspResults generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3

[denny]

Hope ya have a great brew day....I'll be at work. But I did get to brew twice last week!

[DieselGopher]

Hovering around 0. Brewing tomorrow. O'fest that will get a nice long lager.

[al_bob]

Hope ya have a great brew day....I'll be at work. But I did get to brew twice last week!

This is shaping up to be my best year. I've already brewed 4 in a month or so, I believe.And, if the IPA's keep coming out this good I'll have to brew once a week just to keep up. They are getting hit real good by my friends, and me, of course. It's about time to start the 10 gal set up. Now that I know I'm hitting things nicely, I'm not worried about brewing that much.

[al_bob]

Wow, talking about good timing, my new thermometer came in today. It was on the porch when I went outside this morning. I love that thing. For one it is supposed to be accurate now, and it also has a calibration screw. For the price this thing is great. You can tell the quality as soon as you hold and use it. Very nice for $19 + $6 shipping. I'll get the Thermapen one day, but for now I still have a reliable Thermoworks thermo. I may buy a few more of these for the brewery while they're cheap.

[al_bob]

I changed that recipe above to replace the Chinook bittering hops to .85 oz of Columbus 13.6%aa. I thought I was out of Chinook, but after I broke open a vacuum sealed bag of Columbus pellets and weighed them up, I found an oz of Chinook. I'll use it next brew.I mashed at 156 for 45 min, and will boil for 60. Almost done!

[al_bob]

Bam! 4 hour brew day, and I wasn't even ready. I still have to go siphon and pitch the yeast. I actually got everything cleaned up as well. Next time will be better. I Batch sparged after a 45 min. mash and only boiled for 60 min.

[DieselGopher]

Mashed in for the first 10 gallons of the day. Black ale clone of Keewena Brewing's Widowmaker Black. Then 10 gals of O'fest after that. It has warmed all the way up to the teens. Friggin heat wave!

[Buzz Buzzard]

Made same recipe as last time , only bumped the grain bill and changed up my mashing method a bit.Battling horrible efficiency.But a great brew day !Also kegged the first batch of this original vs today - carbing now.It finished at 1.010.

[SchwanzBrewer]

No brewing here till next week. I have some serious drinking to do to kill a couple kegs so I can refill them. I'm probably gonna have to dump 10 gallons of beer that didn't turn out well.