Sunday, June 10, 2012

“Green Eyed" (I)PA [Bottled]

Bottle date: June 3, 2012 (5+ weeks since brew date)

Got a helping hand from my dad for bottling. Thanks, Pops! All in all, it went smoothly enough (except for one spilled beer). Took approximately 2 hours to bottle. Conditioning the bottles in our basement at roughly 68-72 'F for at least three weeks before sharing. Decided to use Northern Brewer's priming sugar calculator this time around. My Red Baron German Alt seems over-carbonated...

Ingredients:
  • 6 oz Light DME
  • 16 oz cold water
Instructions:

Add DME to16 oz cold water and boil for 5-10 min. Remove from heat. Slowly add to fermented beer in bottling bucket. Siphon into bottles.

Observations:

FG: 1.010 (1.008 @ 76 'F)
Smell: Spicy
Taste: Spicy with hint of citrus, nice hop bitterness but not too much bite

“Green Eyed" (I)PA [dry hop]

Dry Hopping Date: May 6, 2012

A little dry hopping while we wait...

Fermentation is complete. Time to rack to a secondary. The recipe calls for dry hopping 4-6 weeks to add flavor and aroma to the beer (without adding bitterness). This is my first attempt.

Ingredients:
  • 1 oz Willamette (A: 5.7%) flowers
Observations:

FG: 1.016 (a little higher than the recipe maintains, but close)
Color: Goldenrod yellowish-orange, slightly cloudy
Smell: Spicy, sweet, Belgian-ish
Taste: Spicy, slight citrus, good hop bite, well-balanced

Experience:

Racking went quickly (for once). Although I opted to use hop flowers, it was a pain to force them into the fermentor through its neck. I may use pellets for future dry hopping. To maintain sanitation, I did my best to crush the hop flowers a bit while still enclosed in their packaging. I used a funnel to get the hops through the neck.

The best part of racking: Getting a chance to taste the (nearly) finished product. I predict this will be my best beer yet! Great hop flavor. Well balanced. Here's hoping the dry hop adds a touch more spiciness and aroma. Not much more is needed.