Green Door IPA

So the time has come. Time for me to take a stab at an IPA. A number of IPAs that I enjoy use Simcoe hops, so I decided to use them as well (along with four other varieties). Simcoe arent the easiest hops to find, so to make sure I had them on hand (and didnt have to mix-and-match at the brew store, last minute), I mail ordered hops from the Beverage People in Santa Rosa. I used the local brewshop for my malts.

As has been my standard operation for the last handful of brews, I used a one-step partial mash, bringing the water to 160 before adding the grains (Two Row, Carastan, Flaked Barley), then letting it rest under a towel for one hour.

Here is the grain bed as the first runnings go into the kettle.

Poured the first runnings into another pot and then poured them back through the grain bed (called recirculation).


Brought my sparge water to about 170 and then ran that through the grain bed. Here is the grain bed after sparging...

Wort before it hits the stove (and before extract goes in).

1 oz of Simcoe hops. I put half an oz into the wort immediately, before it got to a boil.


Beginning of the 90 minute boil

1 oz of Chinook hops (my recipe called for 1 oz of Chinook hops for the boil, and another oz used for dry hopping (but as usual, I got a bit sidetracked well into the boil and accidentally used the entire 2 oz in the boil (where it was supposed to be .5 oz at 60 minutes & .5 oz at 40, I used a whole oz at each interval))) - hoppy!


Straining out the hops after the boil, and cooling, take three...

Yeast goes in... I hit it with the White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - temp was fairly high, around 78.


Hydrometer reading was at a whopping 1.079. Provided this has fairly good attenuation, this will most likely fall under the Imperial IPA category.


Green Door IPA
-------------------

Malts
- - - - -
8.5 lbs Malt Extract
2 lb Two-Row
1 lb Carastan
1 lb Flaked Barley

Hops
- - - - -
2 oz Simcoe (1 oz is for dry hopping)
2 oz Cascade (")
2 oz Chinook
1 oz Centennial (for dryhopping only)
2 oz Amarillo (1 oz is for dry hopping)

Yeast
- - - - -
White Labs California Ale WLP001

Etc
- - -
1.5 lb Turbinado Sugar
1 Whirfloc tablet
1 Servomyces capsule

Bring 1.75g water to 160, adding grains, rest for one hour (should mash around 155); sparge water up to 170; add extract and .5 oz Simcoe before bringing to flame; 90 minute boil as follows: 90 (.5 oz Simcoe), 60 (1 oz Chinook, 1 lb Turbinado), 40 (1 oz Chinook), 20 (1 oz Amarillo, .5 lb Turbinado), 15 (1 oz Cascade, Whirfloc), 10 (Servomyces).

Planning to dry hop 1 oz Simcoe, 1 oz Cascade, 1 oz Centennial, and 1 oz Amarillo. More on that later...


Brewed on Sun, June 28
Racked/Dry-hopped on July 9
Bottled on July 21

Monticello Door Ale

So my next project was an idea I had to make a Pale Ale style brew with Fuggles only hops based on a basic recipe I have seen that apparently Thomas Jefferson used to use back in the day. It so happened that his birthday was coming up (April 13), so I was shooting to brew that day, however, life struck, and I wasnt able to get to it until the following weekend.

It so happened that Shep's (who is from Virginia) 30th B-day was coming up in about a month, so I invited him over to help with the brew, and then, when it was ready, I put half of it into the Party Pig, and it was enjoyed at his 30th b-day celebration along with other assorted bottles I contributed to the occasion.

Anyway, between the initial idea for the Monticello to be a classic Pale Ale, as usually happens, some random events changed its course. The first was when I went to buy the malt at Brewcraft, I was looking through the yeast selection. Originally planning to use the California Ale yeast (standard yeast used for brewing stuff like Sierra Nevada clones, classic IPA stuff, etc), I noticed a lone silver vial of White Labs Bastogne, which is a Belgian strain originating at Orval, apparently. Well, Orval happens to be one of my favorite beers. So I picked it up, I could use it on a future beer. I looked at the expiration date. "Best if used by April 13". That solved that. It was written!

To make things even a bit crazier, I had been saving up some Brettanomyces yeast from the dregs of numerous Orval bottles. It was back in my fridge. So I cleaned that stuff off, and when we bottled this sucker, with the half that was actually going into bottles, I hit it with the Brett, to age in the bottles. What that does, over time, is give the beer that slight sour tinge, like Orval.

So after all that, it ended up a Belgian-style Pale Ale, in the tradition of Orval. And it is super good!


Monticello Door Ale
------------------------

5.5 lbs Pale Malt Syrup
2 lbs Two Row
.75 lb Crystal 20L
.75 lb Crystal 40L
.5 lb Carapils

3 oz Fuggle hops

1.5 lbs Turbinado sugar
Whirfloc tablet
Servomyces capsule

White Labs Bastogne Yeast (WLP510)



Partial Mash brought to 160; 60 min rest; sparge w/ water at 170 - 60 min boil - Hop sched: 60 (1 oz), 30 (1.5 oz), 20 (.5 oz) - .5 lb Turbinado at 30, 1 lb Turbinado at 15 - Whirfloc tab at 15 - and at 1o - Servomyces

When I bottled, after priming, and funneling half into the Party Pig, I tossed in dregs of two Orval bottles into the remainder brew in the carboy, and let it sit for another 10 mins or so before bottling it up.

Brewed Sat, April 18
Racked Tue, April 28
Bottled Mon, May 4 (Half into Party Pig - only bottles got the Brett)

Infinite Door tasting

These may be my favorite labels that H has done so far... She does an awesome job, and this one, I think is just perfect. She used the author photo from the jacket of "Infinite Jest".


In bottle for 98 days

Appearance - Nice two-finger head into 1; nice latte looking head atop opaque dark brown/black brew

Aroma - Sweet malt, Edinburgh yeast (a bit fruity but dark, crimson fruits, dark cherries for instance); oaky; slight pepper; bourbon

Taste/Mouthfeel - Thick, smoky malty intro; nice carbonation; dark malt flavors hit, coffeeish; nice hoppy bang suspending into oaky toasted finish; pretty complex and layered

Overall - I really think the bourbon comes out in the aroma, whereas the oak comes out in the flavor. Perfectly, I think, though next time I may leave the oak in secondary for a bit longer... A woody stout is one of my favorite types of brew & I think this is right onto it. The alcohol is masked well by the imperialness of the brew (and creeps up on you!) - hits you hard but slow. The Edinburgh yeast is perfect for this brew.


Specifics of brewing this in previous post

The Power and The Glory pt. II

A month later more guajillo chiles ready to go into the secondary... I left this brew in the initial fermenter for 32 days (!). Longest I've ever done that...

Chiles went into a muslin bag and my buddy Shep assisted in steaming that bag of chiles...


I racked the brew into the carboy, and then I shoved the bag of chiles down in there. Let chiles soak in the brew for about 15 more days before I bottled it up.

More to come... Specifically a 3rd installment about the chili I cooked using this brew in the base. Recipe etc to come...

The Power and The Glory pt. I

Good idea or bad? Mostly good! A brew with chiles? One day an idea hit me: to brew a Belgian Dubbel and then add chiles to the mash (and secondary). Not that this is something super novel, but it was a bit risky. The overlying "idea" for the name, and the beer, came from a Graham Green novel, about a drinking priest.


Here's the grain bed during recirculation of the partial mash...




Guajillo chiles (and one Ancho) for the mash, recipe sheet, along with some hop plugs...



Hops and chiles caught before the mash hit the fermenter...


The Power and The Glory
------------------------------

7 lbs. Pilsen Malt Extract
1 lb. Two Row
1 lb. Munich
.5 lb Vienna
.5 lb Crystal 90L
.5 lb Special B
.25 Chocolate Malt

1 oz Fuggles
1 oz Mt. Hood
.5 oz Saaz

1 lb. Turbinado Sugar
3 Guajillo chiles, 1 Ancho (for mash)
Bag of Guajillo chiles (about 6 or 7?) for secondary

1 Whirfloc tab
1 Servomyces capsule

White Labs Trappist Yeast (actually used yeast that was a 4th generation strain I have harvested from Enchanted Door, Trappe Door 2, etc.)

Partial mash rest at 160, 60 mins, recirculated wort through grain bed, sparged with 170 h2o; 60 min boil; 60 (1 oz Fuggles), 30 (.5 lb Turbinado), 15 (Whirfloc), 10 (1 oz Mt Hood, Servomyces, .5 lb Turbinado), 5 (.5 oz Saaz, Chiles)

Brewed on Thu, Apr 2
Racked on Mon, May 4 (added chiles to secondary)
Bottled on Tue, May 19