14C - Hophead Imperial IPA
Info:
- Brewer: Chris
- Mash: single infusion
- Date: 6/13/2009
- Size: 5.25 gallon post-boil
Grain Bill:- 16lb Gambrinus organic pale malt
- 10oz Briess crystal 40L
- 8oz CaraPils
- 4oz Belgian Special B
- 1lb 8oz sucrose
Yeast:
Misc:- small amounts of gypsum, baking soda, and salt to the mash water
- yeast nutrient
- Irish moss
The Mash:- mash at 151F, hold for 60 minutes
- mash out to 170F, hold for 10 minutes
- sparge with 170F, collect 7.5 gallons
The Boil (90 minutes):- 2.0oz Zeus (16.4%) @ 70
- 0.5oz Centennial (9.7%) @ 20
- 1.0oz Cascade (4.5%) @ 15
- Irish moss @ 15
- 0.75oz Amarillo (5.0%) @ 10
- 0.7oz Summit (18.1%) @ 10
- 0.75oz Amarillo (5.0%) @ 5
- 0.5oz Cascade (4.5%) @ 5
- 0.7oz Summit (18.1%) @ 1
- sucrose @ 1
- Total: 127 IBU(ish)
The Finish:
- OG: 1.100 (it's imperial, right?)
Dry Hops:- 1.0oz Amarillo (5.0%)
- 0.5oz Cascade (4.5%)
- 0.5oz Centennial (9.7%)
- dry hops will be blended together and sit for 5 days in secondary
Dry hopping was 3x of the above additions :)
ReplyDeleteOverall a great beer, but here's the changes I would make, namely to cut down on the sweetness:
- ditch the Special B and 40L
- add a half pound of Munich
- sugar down to 1 pound
- make a 4x starter (I made a 2x starter)
- replace Amarillo with Simcoe
The beer was balanced, thanks to the Amarillo. It has a big sweetness to it because of all the crystal malt, even the carapila is basically 10L crystal. The Special B and Amarillo did a weird dance, with the malt contributing a plum/raisin flavor and the hops giving off a apricot/fruit fit aroma and flavor. Some may like this, but I prefer the more citrus hops.
I liked it, a lot of others did too, but I don't think I'll brew this as-is because it's not what I'm looking for.
Keg killed on 8/28/2009