HopBurst IPA

I've been really intrigued lately by the idea of "hop bursting". In a nutshell, you skip your early bittering additions and add a huge hop addition toward the end. I sort of did this with The Captain's Nephew IPA where I just did a bittering addition and a ton of late hops. Here I went all the way with ONLY a big 15 minute addition.

Malt Bill:
11lb (92%) Rahr 2-row
1lb (8%) Crystal 40L

Hop Bill
1oz Simcoe (13% AA) @ 15min
1oz Amarillo (8.5% AA) @ 15 min
1oz Citra (12% AA) @ 15 min
1oz Centennial (10% AA) @ 15 min

Yeast: Safale US-05

OG: 1.064
FG: 1.015
SRM: 8
IBU: 70
ABV: 6.4%

I'm really anxious to see how this bad boy turns out!

Watermelon Wheat

Amber has been asking me to make her a "girly" beer for awhile now so I'd been kicking around the idea of a watermelon wheat (a la the one that 21st Amendment makes). I tried to keep the recipe pretty simple here:

Malt Bill:
4lb (50%) Rahr 2-row
4lb (50%) White wheat malt

Hop Bill:
1oz (2.5% AA) Czech Saaz
0.5oz (5.5% AA) Cascade

Yeast: Safale US-05

Puree, filter, and add 6lb watermelon into secondary (adds 6 points to the gravity)

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
Color: 3.5 SRM
IBU: 19

The hiatus is soon to be over...

After taking two months off from brewing, I'm ready to get at it again! The BJCP class and test really took it out of me. After going to the National Homebrewers Conference this last weekend and with the UP State Fair competition coming up soon I've really got the bug. Stay tuned to see what's in my fermenter!

Citra American Pale Ale

This year Third Eye Brewing is hosting Big Brew Day on May 1st (1008 2nd Ave N in Escanaba, stop by!). I realized the other day that I damn well better have beer for everyone or there might be a riot. I also have over a pound of Citra hops that I've been meaning to play with. Since not many people I know have tasted this hop I really wanted to showcase it. What better style to do this with than a simple American Pale Ale?

Malt bill:
9lb (90%) Rahr 2-Row
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 10L
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 40L

Hop bill:
0.75 oz Citra @ 60 min
0.5 oz Citra @ 15 min
0.5 oz Citra @ 0 min

Yeast: US-05

OG: 1.058
IBU: 44
ABV: ~5.8%

Real simple...should be a great beer to drink while brewing!

A blast from the past - OR - Time fixes all beers

To mark the (approximate) third anniversary of my homebrewing, I decided to reach waaaay back in my cellar and grab a bottle of the second beer I ever brewed - chocolate coffee stout. This is also the only beer I ever brewed that got dumped down the drain. It was my first attempt at a recipe and I had NO clue what I was doing. I can't remember the exact recipe by far, but it was a mix of dark malt extract, who knows what hop, chocolate brownie coffee, and 4oz of cocoa powder. The OG was ~1.060 if memory serves.What a disgusting mess! After 6 or 8 months I gave up on this beer and dumped all but a sixer down the drain. I've tried some periodically since then and not a one of them have been finished. I'd say that the last one I tried was a good year ago. I just cracked into my second-to-last one and this is actually a pretty damn good beer! Now I wish I had that case and a half I drainpoured. Oh well, just goes to show how much a beer really changes over the course of three years. I'll bring my last bottle to the Bay de Noc Brewers meeting on Saturday to get some other opinions.

RIP Vanilla Cherry Stout

It's always sad when you drink the last bottle of a great beer that you brewed. This was my first fruit beer and even though the vanilla never really came through and it took awhile for the cherries to fade and balance, it was interesting to taste it throughout. It really does remind me of chocolate cherry cake, which is what I was going for. Brewed 12/30/08, bottled 2/22/09, killed 3/8/10. I'm definitely going to brew this again some day, but will cut back on the cherries a bit and add more vanilla

Malt:
10lb (80%) 2-row
1lb (10%) Chocolate Malt
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 40L
0.5lb (5%) Crystal 80L
0.5lb (5%) Roasted Barley
1lb Lactose in boil
Mash at 158

Hops:
2oz East Kent Goldings @ 60min - 35 IBU

Fermentation:
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
2 weeks primary

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.019

ABV: 6.3%
5 weeks secondary on 5lb montmorency cherries, ~3oz homemade vanilla extract

The Captain's Nephew IPA

Last week I ordered 9 lbs of hops, so you know what that means - IPA time! My friend Steve will be brewing this with me, his first homebrew experience. He also happens to be the nephew of a teacher I had who we all called "Captain", hence the name. Recipe is as follows:

Malt:
12lb (83%) 2-row
1lb (7%) Munich Malt
0.75lb (5%) Crystal 10L
0.75lb (5%) Crystal 40L
Mash @151F for 60min

Hops:
1oz Nugget @60min
1oz Cascade @15min
1oz Willamette @10min
1oz Centennial @10min
1oz Amarillo @5min
1oz Simcoe @0min
Dry hop 1oz Simcoe and 1oz Cascade for 1 week

SafAle US-05
1tsp each of Gypsum, Irish Moss

OG: 1.075
IBU: 69
Approx ABV: 7.3