Wednesday, May 23, 2012

White IPA

Racked to secondary today with the gravity of 1.016 placing ABV at 5.7%.  Dry hopped with 1 oz of the following: Citra, Cascade, and Cluster. 

Flavor is good at this point.  The grapefruit notes are subtle so far, but I feel will emerge with aging and conditioning.  I do get some slight bitterness from the grapefruit zest at the finish, nice.

 Thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted!

Cheers!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

White IPA

After enjoying Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA immensely and not being able to locate it here in Colorado, I decided to try and make my own version of a White IPA.

What I am aiming for is a smooth wheat beer complimented by the citrus, especially grapefruit notes, from the hops, as well as the overwhelmingly awesome hop aroma.

I brewed early a.m. on May 19th before I had to go to the Colorado State Bowling Tournament.  I chose a malt bill for flavor and smoothness which consisted of Rahr Red Wheat Malt, Rahr White Wheat Malt, Weyermann Vienna Malt, and Weyermann Pilsner Malt.

I chose the hops, based on flavor characteristics, for what I am aiming for.  I chose CTZ, Chinook, Centennial, and Challenger for the boil, opting for late hop additions to tame the bitter bite, but still have the gusto of an IPA.  I will dry hop with Cluster, Citra, and Cascade to finish it out.

I also added some ground coriander, ground ginger, and fresh grapefruit zest to draw on the grapefruit/citrus flavor and a little spiciness.

I used Fermentis Safebrew T-58 yeast for it's spiciness and phenolics which would be great for a wheat beer.  (I love this yeast by the way.)

Brew stats:  5 gallons, IBU 51, OG at primary 1.060.  Already fermenting nicely and the basement smells of delicious hops, citrusy, and floral.  AWESOME!

Thanks for reading!  I'll keep you posted!

CHEERS!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bottling the Smoke Beer

I bottled 2.5 gallons and ended up with 25 - 12 oz bottles.  FG is 1.014 which is 6% ABV.  Color is a beautiful copper/red.  Aroma at this time is sweet malt and sweet smoke.  Flavor is smooth sweet malt finishing with a sweet smokiness and slight hops bitterness.  Quite balanced.  It should dry out slighty in the bottle.  This will be a very tasty smoke beer! 
I'll post on this one in two weeks when it is carbonated.

Cheers!