Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Back in Black (IPA)

So about ten days ago I brewed up another Black IPA. This one is bigger and badder than other ones I've brewed. I did an 11 gallon batch, and I will be pouring 5 gallons of it at the Expo Center for Sac Beer Week. Since Black IPA is a style so indelibly linked to the beer scene in Portland - in part due to the annoying Northwestern habit of naming everything after the northwest - I decided to name this one "Dream of the 90's Black IPA"

Here's what I got:

Recipe: Dream of the 90's Black IPA
Style: 23 Imperial Black IPA

Expected OG: 1.075 SG
Expected FG: 1.013 SG
Expected ABV: 8.3 %
Expected ABW: 6.5 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 95.6
Expected Color: 31.3 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 81.3 %
Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 58 degF

Fermentables
Canadian Pale Ale Malt 26lb 0oz (80.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Munich Type II 2lb 0oz (6.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal (120EBC) 1lb 8oz (4.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Melanoidin Malt 1lb 0oz (3.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Carafa Special II 2lb 0oz (6.2 %) added at Sparge

Hops
US Delta (5.0 % alpha) 42 g First Wort Hopped
US Magnum (17.0 % alpha) 28 g 60 Min From End
US Summit (15.5 % alpha) 57 g 15 Min From End
US Citra (14.2 % alpha) 57 g 15 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 57 g 15 Min From End
US Centennial (11.0 % alpha) 57 g 5 Min From End
US Citra (14.2 % alpha) 57 g 5 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 57 g 5 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 71 g At turn off
US Citra (14.2 % alpha) 28 g At turn off
US Centennial (11.0 % alpha) 28 g At turn off
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 57 g Dry-Hopped
US Citra (14.2 % alpha) 28 g Dry-Hopped
US Centennial (11.0 % alpha) 28 g Dry-Hopped


Yeast: East Coast Yeast ECY 10-Old Newark Ale

Step: Rest at 149 degF for 60 mins

Recipe Notes
Add Carafa Special II at sparge and sparge cool (150F-160F) for 15 min. 
 
Ferment at 58F for 2 weeks, then raise to ambient temperature. After fermentation is complete, reduce the temperature to 30F for 2 days before adding gelatin. Then leave at 30F for 3-5 days before racking into keg or secondary. Dry hop in secondary or keg at ambient temperature for 10-14 days and drop to 30F for 2 days before bottling/carbonating.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Brewing at Sanatar's - Hopfenweizen and a Double Mountain IRA clone


My club is manning a booth at Cal Expo for Sacramento Beer Week, so I set myself to the task of brewing a couple kegs-worth of good beer to represent our club. One batch is going to be a bigger, badder version of my Rose City Black IPA, and the other is a collaborative brew. My friend John (who I think is the club president), had a bunch of wheat malt lying around and I had a bunch of pilsner malt taking up space, so I figured we could brew a wheat beer - but with a twist. We're brewing a beer that meets the reinheitsgebot definition of a "Weizen" (meaning nothing but hops, water, malt, and yeast - with greater than 51% of the malt being wheat), but would drink like a hoppy American Pale Ale. We're calling this style "Hopfenweizen" which means "hoppy wheat beer" in German. There is a beer out in the midwest that I've never had called Gumballhead, which is said to be similar, but I have never had it, so I can only guess as to how this beer is going to taste.

We brewed it at John's because his garage is a much nicer place to brew than my tiny apartment balcony. In addition to the hopfenweizen, we brewed a "slightly-bigger-than-the-real-thing" clone of Double Mountain IRA, a beer I miss not being able to get since leaving Portland. There was a twist to this, too (in addition to making it bigger and hoppier) - I split the 12 gallon batch of the IRA into 2 fermenters and am fermenting one with WLP540 Belgian Abbey IV, a Belgian strain nearly identical to the one Double Mountain uses; and the other fermenter was going with ECY10 Old Newark Ale- an American yeast strain sourced from the now-defunct old Ballantine Brewery in Newark, NJ. The American one is fermenting in the mid-high 50's fahrenheit and the Belgian is fermenting in the mid-high 60's fahrenheit. This is the first time I have split a batch like this, and I am pretty excited to see how it will turn out.



The recipes are below. I will post tasting notes and pictures of the beers when they are done.

Recipe: Greenbelt Hopfenweizen
Style: 10A-American Ale-American Pale Ale

Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 14.70 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 12.75 US gals
Volume Transferred: 11.00 US gals
Water Added: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 11.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 10.50 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.042 SG
Expected OG: 1.048 SG
Expected FG: 1.009 SG
Expected ABV: 5.2 %
Expected ABW: 4.1 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 40.2
Expected Color: 5.0 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 81.2 %
Mash Efficiency: 79.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 58 degF

Fermentables
US White Wheat Malt 10lb 8oz (48.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
Canadian Pils Malt 9lb 8oz (44.2 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Rice Hulls 1lb 0oz (4.7 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal (120EBC) 8.00 oz (2.3 %) In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Summit (15.5 % alpha) 30 g Loose Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
US Amarillo (6.8 % alpha) 40 g Loose Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Amarillo (6.8 % alpha) 90 g Loose Whole Hops used 5 Min From End
US Amarillo (6.8 % alpha) 90 g Loose Whole Hops used At turn off
US Amarillo (6.8 % alpha) 90 g Loose Whole Hops used Dry-Hopped


Yeast: White Labs WLP001-California Ale

Mash at 151 degF for 60 mins


Recipe: Double Mountain IRA
Style: 14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA

Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 16.00 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 14.00 US gals
Volume Transferred: 11.00 US gals
Water Added: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 11.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 10.50 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.060 SG
Expected OG: 1.068 SG
Expected FG: 1.013 SG
Expected ABV: 7.4 %
Expected ABW: 5.8 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 73.6
Expected Color: 9.6 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 80.0 %
Mash Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF

Fermentables
Canadian Pils Malt 28lb 0oz (91.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal (120EBC) 2lb 8oz (8.2 %) In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Columbus(Tomahawk) (10.0 % alpha) 57 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
US Magnum (10.0 % alpha) 28 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 113 g Loose Whole Hops used 15 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 113 g Loose Whole Hops used 5 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 113 g Loose Whole Hops used At turn off
US Simcoe (12.7 % alpha) 113 g Loose Whole Hops used Dry-Hopped


Yeast: White Labs WLP540-Abbey IV Ale Yeast and East Coast Yeast ECY10-Old Newark Ale

Mash at 151 degF for 60 mins

Recipe Notes
Split into two fermenters, one half fermented with WLP540 and one half fermented with ECY10.