Homebrew 2 - IPA
10 December 2005 @ mid-afternoon | Comments (15)
Moving quickly from extract recipes toward something more challenging, I chose a slightly modified version of a partial-grain extract India Pale Ale recipe from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian.
The recipe
- 3lbs. light DME (American)
- 3lbs. light DME (Coopers)
- 1lb. Crystal Malt (20L)
- 1/2lb. Victory Malt
- 2tsp. gypsum
- 2oz. Northern brewer hops (boiling)
- 1/4oz. Cascade hops (boiling)
- 3/4oz. Cascade hops (finish)
- Dry English ale yeast (White Labs)
Lacking both a lauter-tun and knowledge of the necessity of lautering spent grains after steeping, the original gravity (1.037) was quite low. As would most homebrew beginners, I initially blamed the equipment (hydrometer) rather than see the flaw in my beermaking process. However, the beer was bottled on day 13 with a final gravity of 1.018 (exactly where it should have been), thus disproving the bad hydrometer theory and confirming that quite a bit of sugar was left behind in the mash.
The result
Considering the high hops and low alcohol content (under 3%) of this beer, it remains too light both in body and in alcohol to support its bitterness. I’ll continue to let it age for another couple of weeks to see how its character changes, but if I don’t see any noticeable improvement in drinkability I may dump some of it to free up some bottles for the next batch of beer.
On a positive note, I improved the slow wort chilling process from my first batch of homebrew, which caused a slight corny flavor because of DMS and also caused quite a bit of chill haze. With all extra water chilled to around 40°F, the final temperature landed at the perfect yeast-pitching temperature of 76°F. So at the very least this batch is haze-free and corn-free! After I begin doing full-boil recipes I’ll have to obtain a nice wort chiller, but for now this method works well.
Lessons learned
Despite the not-too-tastiness of this IPA, I still learned quite a bit from the mistakes made during this batch. First of all, careful and controlled lautering is a necessity in order to get all the sugars from the spent grain. I’ve yet to acquire a lauter-tun or the knowledge of the process, but hopefully will within the month. Additionally, quick rinsing of bottles after drinking a homebrew is a good idea; I had quite a tough time sanitizing bottles that had been left around for a few days after drinking.
I love everything about the process of making beer, from choosing a recipe’s ingredients to watching the hypnotic CO2 bubbles escape through the fermentation lock, so I don’t view any failed attempt as a failure. On the contrary, a botched batch only serves to further motivate me to brew more beer.
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