All Citra pale ale

Dry as a bone. That's what comes to mind when I taste this beer. Even though I undershot the target gravity by only three points and despite a final gravity of 1.010. But yet a beer like this demonstrates what can happen when a less-than-vigorous boil leaves you with too much volume. And what's what happened here. I had too much wort by about half a gallon. I think if I'd reached my target volume, I of course would have had a higher original gravity, which would have led to a higher final gravity, and thus a slightly sweeter beer. This beer needs some sweetness to balance out the bitterness and hops.

This isn't an extremely hoppy beer though. It doesn't pop, at least not like some of the other hoppy beers I've made his year. I wonder if it might have some more zing if it were sweeter.

It has pretty good aroma -- fruit, citrus -- but the flavor doesn't quite follow. Flavor is where that lack of zing is especially apparent. Maybe due to the older hops that made up half of the boil hop bill? Maybe due to some oxidation that I'm not aware of? I never opened the fermenter between brew day and keg day, so I'm not exactly sure where that would occur.

Clarity is quite low, but not as low as the london ale iii beers. The oats might be imparting the haziness, or maybe these early pours are just picking up some yeast at the bottom of the keg.

All in all, not a bad beer. I certainly don't have a problem drinking it. But I can definitely find room for improvement. Beers like this kind of highlight the downfall of being the creator and drinker. For a person unfamiliar with what I had in mind for the finished product, it's probably really enjoyable, and they can just enjoy it for what it is. For me, however, my enjoyment is tempered by knowledge of what it isn't. Maybe I just need to let go of those thoughts.

https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/citra-pale-ale-21cfad

Update 12/8/15:

This beer is a little sweeter than I originally thought, or at least compared to All day IPA. I had that last night, followed by this citra pale ale, and the citra beer seemed much maltier in comparison. Additionally, the taste is more like raw hops, rather than the typical mellow, nuanced flavors and aromas I get from hops that have interacted with yeast or served as dry hops. I'm not particularly fond of that raw hop flavor.

Experimental grapefruit IPA brew day

11/14/15:

It was well past time to keg an all-citra IPA that I brewed on October 25, so I decided I'd keg and brew on the same day. These days are really tiring. There's little down time, since I'm constantly working on something, whether it's cleaning, adding hops, chilling the beer, or kegging.

First, I went to walmart and got a package of flaked oats. Adding these to IPAs and pale ales seems to be all the rage these days. Then it was on to coming up with a recipe. I knew for sure I was using 100% experimental grapefruit, which seems to be a variety only available through Yakima Valley Hops. I thought I'd use 12 lbs of grain, because I was aiming for more body and higher alcohol, so I calculated the water I'd need for that, but thought better of it once Brewtoad told me I'd be in the 8% ABV range. I wasn't sure I wanted an 8% beer with hops I'd never tried before. So I reduced the grain bill to 11 lbs, but failed to account for that when I measured out my water.

By the point I changed my mind on the amount of grain, my mash water was heating. I figured I'd just reduce the sparge water, but I guess I forgot. In the end, I had about six gallons of wort that was well under the calculated OG, which was 1.063. Instead, it was around 1.054-56. I ended up dumping half a gallon of wort. And because the wort nearly filled the fermenter to the neck, once fermentation began, krausen began seeping through the airlock. So I had to go to Lowe's and buy tubing for a blow-off tube. By the morning, I had lost an additional half gallon or so to the blow off. So that was disappointing and added unnecessary stress. But it should be a good beer nonetheless.

I continue to drink the galaxy ipa, which tastes great, but continues to be flat, despite two weeks on the gas, and cloudy. I've just had samples here and there, so maybe I haven't drawn off enough to clear it up. Yet it's still curious to think that this beer was quite clear in the fermenter and now is murky and frankly not all that appealing to look at.

Vic Secret IPA kegging and coffee grinder ipa brew day

11/15/15:

Vic secret ipa:
Brewed 11/1
Kegged 11/15

OG 1.062
FG 1.018

I opened the vic secret fermenter for the first time today, in the hopes that leaving the beer alone until kegging day will reduce exposure to oxygen and wild yeast or bacteria. I checked the gravity and tasted the beer. Golden, good clarity. Kind of a tartness, lemony. Slightly viscous, either from the relatively high final gravity or from the pound and a half of flaked oats, or both.

As for brew day, I bought a 55 lb sack of unmilled German pale ale (avangard) the other day, for $46. I don't own a mill, but figured it might be fun to play around with nonetheless. So I set to work on grinding -- grinding, not crushing -- the grain. I might have just created flour, at least initially. But toward the end, the resulting crushed/ground grain was looking much more usable. The lesson here? I'm not sure the extra time spent weighing and crushing grain is worth a few dollars saved per batch. And I'm using a coffee grinder, which really increases the amount of time necessary to crush the grain. Could I do better with an actual grain crusher, both in the quality of the crush and the amount of time spent? Maybe. But then I'd have to spend a decent amount of money on a crusher, and I may not save any time or that much money, if I then have to also purchase a drill.

The other thing that remains to be seen is how this mash will lauter. I added five pounds of grain that I crushed, along with five pounds that the homebrew shop crushed. If it's a really sticky, slow lauter, then I'll know why. But it also has a pound of ground flaked oats, so it might be hard to say for sure. The mash did not clog, thankfully, but the lauter was very slow. Another trade-off to add to the list of issues with crushing my own grains. Or maybe it was just the pound of oats?

Coffee Grinder IPA came in at 1.054. Anticipated OG was 1.065. But final volume was at least 5.5 gallons, maybe even 5.75. Toward the end, the boil became much less vigorous; I think because the propane is getting low. Either way, the OG is still disappointing, as I'm looking to drink some higher alcohol beers, but I keep brewing thinner beers. In the end, it will still be beer though, and I'm sure it will taste just fine.

Coffee Grinder is a blend of citra and galaxy. And Willamette. I'm not a huge fan of noble-like hops, but they're so mellow that they'll probably be overtaken by the more aromatic citra and galaxy. But that's ok. Hopefully they'll add something. I needed to use them. They'd been in my freezer for about a year, and since this has been the year of brewing IPAs -- and not a more hop-neutral style -- they've remained unused.

On another note, these brew-and-keg days really leave my kitchen a mess, and me feeling tired. On yet another note, pitching onto a previous beer's yeast cake is an extremely effective way to produce a quick, strong fermentation. The airlock was already bubbling away a mere twenty minutes after racking the wort onto the vic secret ipa's yeast cake.

100% Galaxy IPA

This beer is finally carbonated after three weeks in the keg. [Note to self: try setting the gas at 30 psi for a day or two]. Despite going into the keg relatively clear, it's coming out opaque, presumably because it's been in contact with dry hops ever since I kegged it. And that's after several pours, probably at least a gallon so far.

Finish is somewhat dry, which is puzzling, since the early, flat samples I had were sweet, nearly to the point of cloying, and because the beer finished at around 1.014. However, it might just be carbonation, bitterness, and hop matter that leads to the perception of dryness.

I'm ok with some haze, but this beer is straight up cloudy, and I'd appreciate some more clarity.

Taste is ... galaxy hops? Fruity. I can't think of any flavor descriptors analogous to this hop except fruit. A family member tried a (flat) sample last weekend and immediately said "grapefruit." This recipe has seven ounces of galaxy hops. It's not extremely hoppy though. If I brewed it again, I might reduce the boil hops to three, put them later in the boil, and increase the dry hops to four ounces. Or maybe just increase the total to eight or nine ounces. This beer is not especially bitter, but it's apparent.

Overall, I'd say this recipe is successful. I set out to brew a northeast style ipa, but not actually having had any of those beers, I can't say I achieved my goal of emulating that style. As a stand-alone beer, though, I think it works.

https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/galaxy-ipa-5666eb

Update 11/28/15:

The more I drink this, the clearer it gets, and the sweeter it becomes, too. I think the beers drawn from the keg early on contained more hop particulate, which led to increased perception of dryness. But now, as the beer has been in the keg for about four weeks, it is really hitting its stride. The hops are balanced by silky maltiness. It's cleared up, has great aroma and punchy hop flavor, and its golden appearance almost glows. The murky opacity has dwindled to a translucent haze. It's a really pretty beer.

12/8/15:

This is a fantastic beer. I wish I had the means to can it, because I'd do that so I could keep it around longer. Instead, I'm drinking it as quickly as possible to make room for other beers, as all four of my kegs are in use and I have a newly brewed beer and a completed beer (experimental grapefruit) ready to be kegged. I guess I'll just have to re-brew it at some point.

London Ale III 100% Galaxy IPA initial samples

I usually can't resist pulling a few samples from the keg well before the beer is carbonated, and I especially couldn't wait this time since this was my first time using London Ale III and galaxy hops. While this beer was pretty clear going into the keg, it's now obviously quite milky. Yeast or hop matter/oils in suspension? Chill haze? All three? London Ale III has a reputation for producing cloudy beer (notwithstanding Wyeast's spec sheet stating to the contrary), and I suppose the sample I tasted on Sunday, directly from the fermenter and before the dry hops touched the beer, had a touch of haze. But overall it was pretty clear. I expect this beer to clear up over the next few weeks.

So are these cloudy northeast IPAs permanently cloudy? Or are they just young beers? For example, even heady topper, evidently, clears up over time, as shown in this video. It seems to be all the rage among homebrewers to brew cloudy IPAs. There's a lot of speculation about the cause: Water profile? Flaked adjuncts? Flour? Yeast? Hops? Maybe the commercial examples just haven't sat around long enough to clear up.

Taste is fruit. Generic fruit. Like many other hoppy beers I've brewed this year, at least when I've tasted flat beer. Super sweet, although the pre-dryhopped beer was relatively dry. I think that's just a matter of perception. The intense hoppiness in these early pours creates a sense of sweetness that isn't really there. This beer should come together in the next week or so, once more of the cloudy beer at the bottom is drawn off and carbonation increases. And the remaining hops will round out and meld with the beer.

Vic Secret IPA Brew Day and Keg Day

Fantastic, beautiful day. Sunny, a slight chill in the air. The sun sits slightly different in the sky relative to the time, since we switched back to standard time. Great day for brewing.

This is another experimental beer. It has one pound of toasted oats. Toasted in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, and 300 for 30 more. The oats took on a slightly more golden, amber appearance and a toasty, perhaps acrid aroma. That acridness seemed to dissipate as they cooled. I've read that they're supposed to rest for a few days before using, but other folks claim they've had no problem tossing them in the mash right away, so that's what I did. To add to the experimentation, I'll be using Vic Secret hops for the first time. I'll round out the beer with 7.5 pounds Avangard german pale ale, a half pound of non-toasted oats, and two pounds of Munich. This beer will be fermented with the same yeast that I used to ferment the beer that will be kegged today.

That beer is my first northeast-style IPA. I just checked the gravity for the first time and tasted it for the first time as well. It's a semi-smash beer with 100% galaxy hops, 91% 2-row, and 9% oats, fermented with Wyeast 1318 London Ale III. This is my first time using galaxy hops and first time using that yeast. The gravity sample was quite delicious. I've had issues lately with hoppy beers using US-05. Again, I question: is it the better bottle--some contaminant that I'm not able to kill? Old hops? Oxygen getting in somehow? The yeast (which was a fresh pack and which has never created issues in the past)? The galaxy beer, however, was fermented with a different yeast, fresh hops, and a different fermenter. And tastes and smells amazing. So much so that it brought a smile to my face. I can't wait to try it once it's carbonated and dry-hopped. OG was 1.060 and FG is 1.014, putting it at right around 6%. It definitely has a creamy, soft mouthfeel, but it's hard to say whether that's due to residual sweetness or the oats. It's very clear too, with just a touch of a mostly-transparent haziness.

It's interesting, too, to think about yeast and hop interaction. At some point during fermentation, the hop aroma transforms. The rawness mellows out, and no longer smells like a bag of hop pellets.

Vic Secret beer:

OG 1.062. Pitched yeast at around 73. Vigorous boil this time, so ended up with right at five gallons. Racked onto galaxy beer's yeast cake. I've found that oats make for a really thick, sticky mash, which really extends the brew day, since it takes so long to drain the mash tun. Did the toasted oats add much? The ones I chewed on didn't have an especially prominent flavor. But maybe it will be more apparent in the finished beer.