First brew of 2016: another kitchen sink ipa

I went on a brewing tear last fall. I brewed about six or seven beers in a two month period. I filled up all four of my kegs. By the time I brewed the last one, in December, I was done for awhile. Both because I had more than enough beer to drink, but also because brew days are long and physically demanding, and I just didn't have the time or energy recently to devote to creating a new beer.

Last Saturday, March 5, I took an inventory of my hops and also sketched out a simple beer. I had a lot of old hops, including a pound of Columbus from 2013 and nearly a pound of Chinook, from the same year. The Chinook had been opened, and didn't smell all that fresh and hoppy anymore, so I figured I would use them for bittering. I also had citra and galaxy on hand, among other things. Those are still fresh, and I figured they'd make up for or mask any shortfall from the older Columbus hops. I couldn't summon the energy to brew that day though.

So another Saturday rolled around -- this past one -- and I had a full day ahead of me. I'd been getting the brewing itch again, and have gotten kind of bored with the beers I have on tap; plus, the kegs are getting pretty close to empty. Therefore, it seemed a good time to make some beer.

I looked over my hops again, and in addition to the ones mentioned above, I also threw in centennial, vic secret, and the remainder of the experimental grapefruit hops. 10 ounces of hops total.

This was a smooth brew day, with no hiccups at all. I was finished in 5.5 hours, and that included a lengthened mash due to working out and getting food.

I used US-05 slurry that I reserved from the experimental grapefruit IPA back in December. I took out the container at the beginning of the day, and placed it in warm water midway through. As the yeast warmed, bubbles were rising to the top of the jar, and slurry was seeping out the top. I considered this a good sign, as it indicated to me that this yeast is still viable.

OG was around 1.068-70. Right around 5.25 gallons. I pitched about 24 ounces of US-05 slurry. At around 72 degrees. Mashed at what I thought was 154, but at the end of the extended mash, the temp was actually 156. I'm looking for a malty IPA this time, so that's fine.

I pitched the yeast around 5 pm, and there was no activity as of 5 pm Sunday, nor at 10:30 that night. There were several visible clusters of bubbles visible as of 8 AM Monday, though, and much more around 1 pm. That's a relief, as I've had problems using old slurry in the past. But I'm hopeful and encouraged that this will be a successful, delicious beer.

As of Friday, March 18, the beer is nearly finished fermenting. There's still a layer of gooey bubbles on top, but the krausen has mostly sunk. I'd say this will be ready to keg in just a few more days.