01/29/2007: "Brewblogue: Hop & Choke IPA"

Listening to: Yo La Tengo - Painful
Current mood: tired

Water: 7 gallons OB Tap Water with 1tbsp. gypsum
Grain:

1lb British Crystal
2oz Roasted Barley

Extract:

9lb Light LME
1lb Light DME

Yeast: 1 vial WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast
Hops:

2oz Chinook 11.5%AAU @ 60min
2oz Northern Brewer 6.5%AAU @ 30min
2oz Liberty 3.8%AAU @ 5min
2oz East Kent Golding 6.2%AAU - Dry Hop*

Etc: 1/2 tsp. Irish moss

OG: 1.073

*to be added in secondary.

Note: Lynnea named this, because it is what she did when she tasted the wort.

90 minute boil and all that. The recipe I based this on called for 6lbs LME and 3lbs DME, but bulk LME is cheaper so I used mostly that instead... which made the gravity about 13 points higher than expected. But the WLP007 is supposed to be very attenuative so hopefully it'll end up nice and dry.

I'd also like to point out that this contains a full half pound of hops. That's, uh, a lot. IBUs here we come. And I'm also considering adding some oak chips to secondary to just kick the bitterness even more over the top, but I haven't decided whether or not I will.

This should be ready to rack in a week, and ready to bottle in two more.

Update: Racked after 6 days and added dry hops. Gravity had fallen down to around 1.028. The worgyle (wort/gyle) was pretty darn bitter but still had a nice crisp beery thing going on. It actually would have been pretty nice to bottle as it was except that the bottles would have likely exploded. The hop bitterness also lingered for a good 10-15 minutes, or rather, until I tasted something else. My rather limited attempt at IBU calculations puts this about 99 IBUs.

Replies: 4 Comments

Don't do the oak...

[Zac] on Wednesday, January 31st

Yeah, I've read up on it a bit more and I don't think I will.

[Matt] on Wednesday, January 31st

Lemme know if you need bottles, as my house is a never-ending source of them. Although, due to the increase in recycling payback, right now we only have 1.

[mary] on Thursday, February 1st

So, I'm actually delighted with the beer and the fact that I won't want to drink a single one. Good way to lose weight!! =)

[Lynnea] on Monday, February 5th