Rainy Day IPA 1.1

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The Rainy Day IPA that I brewed last March turned out to be one of the best beers I’ve made yet. It had everything that a good IPA should have – clarity, lots of IBUs, and a good hoppy aroma. The use of pelletized hops for the dry hopping phase seemed to be the key to getting good hop aroma retention after bottling. Perhaps the increased surface area is behind this? In that case, I wonder if finely chopping up whole hops would have the same effect.

At any rate, I decided to make another batch of this, with just a few minor tweaks (primarily related to the ingredients I had on hand). Except as outlined below, everything is the same as before. So, I’ll only list the changes.

Differences From the Last Batch

  • More by accident than anything, I ended up steeping the grains at a slightly higher temperature (~170°) for the steeping phase.
  • I used 3 oz. of whole Cascade hops for the bittering (instead of a combo of whole hops and pellets added at various points during the boiling), boiled for the entire 60 minutes.
  • I added 1 tsp. of Irish moss at the 45 minute mark (done before, but not explicitly noted on the recipe).
  • I added 1 oz. of whole Sterling hops 57 minutes into the boil, and boiled these for 3 minutes, for aroma (instead of 1 oz. of Cascade pellets for 5 minutes).
  • After cooling with the cooling coil and topping up to 4.5 gallons, the starting gravity was 1.060 (on 1 January 2011). This contrasts with a starting gravity of 1.056 for the last batch.
  • I pitched the yeast, and it has been fermenting at 68°-72° degrees for the past few days.

I can’t wait to see how it will turn out, and if I can replicate the good points of the last batch. I plan to dry-hop it once again with some Cascade pellets left over from last year. They probably won’t be as fresh, but I do want to use them up.

Schoolhouse Porter

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For the 2010-2011 brewing season, I decided to focus on porters (although I’ll certainly be brewing some other styles, too). So, it seemed appropriate to start off with a batch of just that, courtesy of a kit from Beer, Beer, and More Beer (there happens to be a store within a 45 minute drive of here). This is kit #168, which they title “Brown Porter.” I decided to jazz up the name a little.

Schoolhouse Porter

  • 7 lb. light malt liquid extract
  • 1 lb. English Brown malt
  • 1 lb. Crystal 40L malt
  • 1/2 lb. Chocolate malt
  • 1.5 oz. Vanguard hops (bittering)
  • 1 oz. Cascade hops (aroma)
  • 1 tablet Whirlfloc clarifier
  • 1 packet Safale S-04 dry yeast

Steps

  • I filled my brew pot with three gallons of water (tap temperature), added the malts, and turned on the heat. Following the directions, I left the grains in until the water reached 170 F. This took about 35 minutes. Then, I gently sparged them with about a quart of warm water.
  • I heated the water to boiling, turned off the heat (I’m using an electric stove), and stirred in the liquid malt. Then, I turned the heat back on.
  • Once the wort was boiling again, I added the 1.5 oz. of Vanguard hops.
  • After 55 minutes, I added the Whirlfloc clarifier. Apparently, this stuff is similar in function to Irish moss.
  • After another 4 minutes (59 minutes from the start of the boil), I added the Cascade hops.
  • After an additional one minute of boiling (for 60 minutes total boiling), I removed the pot from the heat and chilled it in an ice bath (my cooling coil was on loan).
  • While waiting for the wort to cool, I hydrated the yeast (as recommended in the directions) in one cup of water.
  • Once the wort had cooled sufficiently, I poured the wort into the fermenter, topped it up to five gallons, and pitched the yeast.
  • The starting gravity was 1.060 (with an estimated original gravity for the kit given as 1.046-1.052; not sure why I got such a high graviry). The wort had a wonderfully rich brown color.
  • This process was all started on 29 December 2010. Because I had to do another batch and only have one primary fermenter, I transferred it to a glass secondary fermenter on 1 January 2011. This was a little sooner than I wanted, but I had to brew while I had the opportunity. After these three days, the s.g. read as 1.026, suggesting ~4.5% alcohol by volume. The beer had maintained the nice brown hue, and also had a great chocolatey taste. I hope this is maintained after settling and bottling! The secondary fermenter continued to bubble steadily for two more days, so I suspect the gravity will drop a little more yet.

Experimental Golden Ale Bottled

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Last night we bottled the Experimental Golden Ale. Final gravity was 1.012, for an estimated alcohol percentage of around 4.75 percent. The beer was a really nice and clear golden color, with the exact flavor (not too malty, not too hoppy) that I was hoping for. I primed the beer with 3/4 cup of corn sugar in one cup of water. Interestingly, the EGA foamed more than any other beer I’ve encountered previously while bottling. Don’t know why this was; I’m curious to see what this will look like when I crack open some of the carbonated bottles.

The final yield was 37 12-oz. bottles and 2 of the big 22-oz. bottles.

Rainy Day IPA Update

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We just finished transferring the Rainy Day IPA over to its secondary fermenter. S.G. is 1.014, which from a starting point of 1.056 equals around 5 percent alcohol (as predicted). The beer is a beautiful amber color, with a nice strong and hoppy taste. Later this afternoon we’ll throw about 2 ounces of Cascade hop pellets in (with a bag), for a few weeks of dry hopping.

Rainy Day IPA

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As we head into the second week of March, the California brewing season is drawing to a close. In order to stock the shelves for next seven or eight months, it’s time to put together that final batch. Given the success of the season’s first IPA, and my personal affection for a good IPA, I wanted to finish off in that vein. So, I put together this little recipe. We’ll see how it turns out! Because I started it on a rainy day, and because I’m going to save some of this “for a rainy day,” the recipe gets a creative name.

Ingredients for Rainy Day IPA

  • 10 oz. 20° crystal malt
  • 1 lb. 60° crystal malt
  • 3 lbs. golden light dry malt extract
  • 3 lbs. sparkling amber dry malt extract
  • 2.1 oz. whole Cascade hops (bittering)
  • 1 oz. Cascade hops pellets (5.4% alpha acid; second addition for bittering)
  • 1 oz. Cascade hops pellets (5.4% alpha acid; aroma)
  • 1054 American Ale Yeast (Wyeast brand “smack pack”)

Steps

  • I heated 2.5 gallons of tap water to 158°, and steeped the crystal malt for 30 minutes.
  • I gently rinsed the malt (in its nylon steeping bag) with warm water, to bring the volume up to 3 gallons
  • I heated the liquid up to boiling, and then turned off the heat. I added the dry malt extract, and stirred it until dissolved. Then, I turned the heat back on. No issues with boil-over! I’ll have to try this procedure (rather than just adding the DME to boiling water) again. It probably results in a very slightly darker wort, but I think it’s worth the reduction in hassle!
  • Once the wort was back at boiling, I added the whole Cascade hops. I let it boil for around 18 minutes, before realizing I should add a few more hops in order to get to the desired bitterness. So, I then added an ounce of the hops pellets.
  • After 55 minutes of boiling, I added 1 oz. more of Cascade hops (for aroma), and boiled this for 5 minutes more. Then, I chilled, decanted into the secondary fermenter, and topped it up to around 4.5 gallons with distilled water. Finally, I pitched the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.056, calculating out to 7 percent potential alcohol content. This will probably translate, when all is said and done, to about 5 percent alcohol content. The wort is a nice straw color. . .somewhere between amber and golden.

Notes:
I found a very handy IBU calculator here. Assuming 6 pounds of DME in 3 gallons of water ([6 lbs * 43 points per pound]/3 gallons = 1.086 s.g. during the boil) and 5.4% alpha acids for all hops, the resulting black-box calculation showed an IBU yield of 108.4 for the 3 gallons. By the time this gets diluted out to 5 gallons, I would predict a specific gravity of 1.057 and an IBU of 72. My actual gravity (1.056) was a little higher because I only filled to about 4.5 – 4.75 gallons.