My First IPA part 2

Hops, hops, hops and more hops.  No, that’s not rabbit food in my hand, it’s hops.  These hops are what’s going to make this beer a bold IPA.  Hops is the key ingredient in making an IPA.  It is what gives the beer its bitter flavor, its floral and citrusy aroma and the strong, lasting finish.  I finished brewing my IPA on Sunday, and this thing is full of hops.  Four different kinds of hops actually, and I’m not done adding more.  In about a week the primary fermentation will be done, and I will move the beer into the secondary fermenter and add 2 more kinds of hops to give it another boost of dry hopped flavor. 

Sunday was a fun day of making my house stink like roasted malt and burnt flowers.  The process was a lot of fun too because it was my first time working with a recipe that I put together myself.  I finally feel like I know what I am really doing here, instead of just making brown liquid that will get you drunk.  These next two beers I have a feeling will be awesome.  I was able to grab a taste of the Scotch Ale about three weeks ago and it was good.  So, with a little more time in the carboy to really settle out and a few weeks to bottle condition, this is going to be a great beer.  I will get to taste the IPA on Wednesday before I add the other hops, so that will give me a good indication of flavor and finish before it gets carbonated.  Anyways, here is the recipe from the IPA and some pictures of the brewing process.

Extract

Light LME 9.75 lbs.

Steeping Grains

Munich LME .5 lbs

Crystal (15 °L) 1.0 lbs

Crystal (40 °L) .25 lbs

Hops

Warrior hops at 60 min for bitterness   1oz

Centennial hops at 10 min                  1oz

Simcoe hops at 5 min for finishing       2oz

Amarillo hops at 0 min for finishing      2oz

After primary fermentation (about one week)

Dry hop Amarillo and Simcoe, and directly add to the carboy for secondary fermentation.

Let the hops settle at the bottom of the carboy.  This will take about 2-3 weeks.

Brewing

Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil – take boil off the heat and steep the specialty grains for 20 min.

Bring back to a boil – take off the heat and add half of the Light LME.

Bring back to boil – at boil add Warrior hops and boil for 50 min.

Take off the heat and add the other half of the Light LME.

Bring back to a boil – at boil add the Centennial hops.

Boil for 5 min and add the Simcoe hops 1oz.

Boil for 5 more min and then add the Amarillo hops 1oz.

Cool the wort to 100° F as fast as possible with an ice bath.

Add the wort to the fermenter and pitch the yeast (Wyeast 1272 American Ale II)

Primary ferment for about 1 week

After primary fermentation, switch to carboy and add the Simcoe and Amarillo hops for dry hopping.

Allow hops to settle before bottling, which will be about 2-3 weeks in the carboy for secondary fermentation.

Bring 16oz of water to a boil, and then add 2/3 cup priming sugar.
Add to bottling bucket, then siphon the beer into the bottling bucket and bottle.

Let the beer condition in the bottle for about 2 weeks.