"What are you lookin at" IPA

Having just recently switched to kegging (in the last couple of months), I've been able to skip over the very long bottle carbonation times I experienced before.  And for my love of hop forward beers, it's been a blessing in disguise.

This recipe is based on the Punk IPA clone from BYO clone brew magazine and others opinions from Aussie Homebrewer forum.  If you don't like bitter IPA's this beer is not for you.  The bitterness comes on like a Scottish punk and punches you right in the face.  It tastes fantastic.  As always mouthfeel just isn't enough but it's always an area of continued research.

This beer is definitely going to become a staple in my keg rotation.

"What are you lookin at" IPA

Batch size:  20L

Recipe:

1.4 Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes

350g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes

54g Columbus (12% AA) @ 60 minutes

1 x whirlfloc  tablet @ 15 minutes

34g Ahtanum Hops (8% AA) @ 15 minutes

1 tsp Yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes

500mL Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 minutes

1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes

*** Cold Crash ***

Yeast Nutrient

2 x US-05 Yeast

50g Amarillo Dry Hop @ 7 days

Double IPA - Drinking

This would have to be my favourite beer so far.  I was happy with the amount of body (although it can always do with more), the abundance of hop flavour and the huge grassiness from all the dry hopping.

I passed it onto a local craft bar owner who rated it as the best gluten free beer they've tried yet.

I've also entered the beer in the Queensland Amateur brewing competition to get some critical feedback.  I'll be sure to post the results when I hear back.

As per the photo, it definitely looked the part.

Was it a hop too far?  No.  It turned out just right :)

Chinook IPA - Drinking

The Chinook IPA turned out very drinkable.  It had a nice amber colour (as per the picture), grassy flavour from the dry hopping and strong grapefruit flavours from all the Chinook hops.

Definitely need to brew it again.

A Hop Too Far? (IIPA) - Brewing

Ok, I confess.  I'm a hop addict.  Can't get enough of American hops.  So it was inevitable that I'd try and make a Double IPA.  This beer is a bit of a beast and if all goes well, should be quite drinkable.  Although the dry hops are listed I haven't reached that stage of fermentation yet.  The aroma coming off this beer at three days in is the stuff dreams are made of.  I expect this will come together very well in the bottle.

Also I used Calcium carbonate in an attempt to lower the acidity from the fermented sorghum, in the boil this time.  And I added the Amber Candy Syrup at flameout.  This should make for a nice amber coloured beer.

Recipe:
8oz Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 mins
0.75oz Columbus Hops @ 60 mins
0.75oz Centennial Hops @ 60 mins
0.5oz Cascade Hops @ 30 mins
0.5oz Columbus Hops @ 30 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 30 mins
1 x whirlfloc tablet @ 15 mins
0.5oz Cascade @ 15 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 15 mins
0.5oz Cascade Hops @ 5 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 5 mins
0.5oz Chinook Hops @ 5 mins
1tsp Calcium carbonate @ 5 mins
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 5 mins
500ml Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 mins
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 mins
*** Cold Crashed for 30 minutes ***
2 packets of US-05 American Ale Yeast

Dry hops
1oz Cascade Hops
1oz Centennial Hops
1oz Chinook Hops
1oz Citra Hops

Chinook IPA - Brewing

Continuing on with my Single Hop IPA Series (thanks Mikkeller for the idea) I thought I would trial Chinook.  Having heard some bad things about boiling Chinook for 60 minutes I decided to cut this recipe down to a 30 minute boil.

Recipe:
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 30 minutes
250g Maltodextrine @ 30 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 30 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 15 minutes
1 Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 5 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 0 minutes
250ml Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 minutes
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes
*** Cold Crash for 30 minutes ***
2 packets of US-05 American Ale Yeast

I also dry hopped this beer with 3oz (84g) of Chinook Hops at 7 days.  Sampling just before bottling I get Hop bitterness, hop bitterness and then a big dose of tropical flavours.  And I also put 1 teaspoon of Calcium carbonate post fermentation.

Fruit Beer - Drinking

Well this ended up being a huge success, although it was an expensive operation.  The raspberries definitely dominated both the flavour and the aroma of this beer.  It was highly regarded by glutenous brewers and they actually convinced me it was good (I wasn't originally sold on it).  The calcium carbonate definitely helped to keep the acidity down from the raspberries, otherwise it may not have been drinkable.

So to recap:
Very easy drinking
Strong Raspberry flavour and aroma
The beer is very tart like natuaral raspberries

Photo of the beer as taken by my wife:

Fruit Beer - Update

Yesterday I racked the trappist base onto 3kg (6.6 pounds) of Frozen Raspberries.  The trappist base has been made very light to allow the Raspberries to dominate.  With just 1 hour of soaking the tart raspberry flavour was coming through and it had changed from Yellow to Pink.  If this is successful I'll be looking to do a cherry version next.

Fruit Beer - Brewing

This is my first attempt at brewing with fruit.  Following many tips from other brewers I will be racking to the fruit in secondary, none has been added to primary.  This weekend it will have been two weeks of fermenting so it should be time to rack it.  You'll see as you read this recipe that the base is quite plain.  I want something that will be quite easy drinking and will allow the raspberries to dominate.  I also didn't add sugar to primary as I expect the fruit's natural sugars will dry out the beer.

Raspberry Trappist Beer base

1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
160g Tapioca based maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
15g Hallertaur Hops @ 60 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 30 minutes
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 10 minutes
1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes
*** Cold crash for 30 minutes ***
1 packets of Fermentis S-33 Trappist yeast

Basic Lager - Brewing

About a week and a half ago I put this beer down with a guest brewer.  Well actually I was the guest in his house brewing.  Even with the dramas we had with the town losing power and the water running out (pumped from tank electrically), I think we still put the beer down successfully.  This is currently fermenting at 12 degrees celcius in his lager fridge.


Basic Gluten Free Lager
---------------------------------
1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
230g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
375g Demerara Sugar @ 60 minutes
45g Saaz 3.5% AA @ 60 minutes
15g Saaz 3.5% AA @ 15 minutes
1/2 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 minutes
1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ Flameout
*** Cold Crash ***
W-34/70 Fermentis Lager Yeast

I dare say this beer will take quite some time to ferment.  I hope it's worth the wait.

Brew Dog inspired IPA - Brewing

This is the other beer I brewed last week.  Tasting from the fermeter at about 10 days reveals a very bitter beer.  The bitterness lingers on your tongue for a few minutes.

Angry Scotsman IPA
---------------------------------
1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
168g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
28g Columbus @ 60 minutes
28g Cascade @ 15 minutes
1/2 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
28g Amarillo @ 10 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 minutes
20g Cascade @ 5 minutes
400g Iron Bark Honey @ Flameout
1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ Flameout
*** Cold Crash ***
US-05 Fermentis American Ale Yeast


50g Amarillo @ 5 days

Little Creatures Pale Ale - Brewing

Last week I put down two beers while I had some leave from work.  Little Creatures Pale Ale and a Brew Dog inspired beer.

I used this guide as a base for the Little Creatures Pale Ale recipe.  Little Creatures pale ale was a beer I really loved back when I could drink glutinous beer.




Little Creatures Pale Ale
---------------------------------
1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
140g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
250ml Amber Candy Syrup @ 60 minutes
5g Chinook Hops @ 60 minutes
30g East Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes
10g Chinook @ 20 minutes
10g Cascade @ 20 minutes
1/2 whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
15g Chinook @ 10 minutes
15g Cascade @ 10 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 minutes
25g Chinook @ 5 minutes
25g Cascade @ 5 minutes

1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ Flameout
*** Cold Crash ***
US-05 Fermentis American Ale Yeast

10g Chinook @ 5 days
10g Cascade @ 5 days

Early tasting from the fermenter was really good.  Hope to give an update in about six weeks.