American IPA 2011 v2.0

I blogged earlier about 2011 being the Year of the IPA for me. Basic plan is to brew 4 IPAs in 2011 and change the recipe sligtly based on feedback from the local homebrew competitions I enter (there are 4 major ones). My American IPA 2011 v1.0 did pretty well at this years War of the Worts homebrew competition, placing 2nd out of 54 entries. I got some useful feedback (probalby got more from my friends, but oh well). Decided that maybe a touch more maltiness, an increase in bitterness and a touch more aroma hops might do the trick. This time around I switched the bittering hops from Citra to Warrior pushing the IBUs to 105. I also threw in a lb of Melanoidin malt which might help add a little malt flavor and body. Tossed in an extra ounce of Citra into the dry hop as well. All minor changes, so I guess we will see how it turns out. ,

Here is the recipe as it stands. I plan to brew this Sunday, April 3rd so if you read this and are interested in stopping by just contact me. 10 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil Based on 80% Mash Efficiency

Grain
14 lbs of American 2 Row
5 lbs of Maris Otter
2 lbs of Crystal 20
1.5 lbs of Carapils
1 lb of Melanoidin

Hops
3 oz of Warrior (15.8% AA) for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Centennial (13.4% AA) for 30 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo (10.7% AA) and Citra (13.4% AA) for 10 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 5 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra at KO

2 oz of Amarillo and 3 oz of Citra Dry Hop for 12 days
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 5 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale – 2 packs with large starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.057
OG = 1.069
FG = 1.010
ABV = 7.9 %
IBU = 105

Mash
7.5 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge
Fly sparge with 9.5 gallons of water

Sour Cherry Bock

Well I decided to enter into the world of Lagers. Although half of this batch is going to have quite a twist. Since I have been brewing mostly 10 gallon batches lately I have been trying to do something "different" with "other" half of each batch. This time around I decided to brew a fairly traditional Bock beer. First thought was to brew a Doppelbock, however I set out to create a recipe that would fall on the "lower end" of the Doppelbock category in order to keep the abv under 8% (didn't want to kill the souring bugs). This recipe turned out to be more in line with the Traditional Bock category. Here is the recipe.

10.5 Gallon Batch
90 Minute Boil

Grains
20 lbs of Munich Malt
5 lb of Pilsner Malt
3.5 lbs of CaraMunich
0.5 lb of Melanodin

Hops
3 oz of Hallertauer (3.8% AA) for 60 minutes
1 oz of Hallertauer for 30 minutes

Yeast
WLP833 German Bock Lager – 2 vials with 2,000 ML Starter (built up three times)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.052-1.055
OG = 1.070
FG = 1.016
ABV = ~7 %
IBU = 20

Mash
9 gallons @ 155 for 60 minutes (might not fit the whole 9 gallons, start with 8)

Sparge
Fly sparge with 10 gallons of water

Fermentation
Ferment at 50 degrees F for up to a month.

The Sour Half
Second half with be soured with Lacto, Pedio and Brett along with 2 cans of Oregon Cherry Puree over the course of the extended souring secondary. Once the original beer has finished I plan to transfer to a carboy and start out with one pack of Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus and one pack of Wyeast 5733 Pediococus for the first three months along with one can of the pureee. After approximately 3 months I will add another can of cherries and a pack of Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus. Let sit until ready (at least 10 months to a year). For those of you who are a little more experience in sour beer fermentation please let me know if you have any thoughts on this plan.

Year of the IPA

Well in 2010 I was all about the Double (or like some like to say Imperial) IPA. I brewed my Double IPA about 4 times last year and used that as my focus for the local homebrew competitions. This year I decided to change gears (although just slightly). "Regular" American IPA's it is. The American IPA category gets a considerable higher number of entries in homebrew competitions making for stiffer competition. Plus I purchased a new 14 gallon conical fermentor so I'll be brewing mostly 10 gallon batches this year and well...my mash tun just can't handle the grain bill of the Double IPA's. I plan to brew tomorrow AM (1/15/11), getting started around 9. Feel free to swing by the garage.

Here is the first version of my 2011 IPA's.

2011 IPA Version 1.0

11 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil

Grain
17 lbs of American 2 Row
5 lbs of Maris Otter
2 lbs of Crystal 20
1.5 lbs of Carapils

1 lb of Corn Sugar (added last 5 minutes of the boil)

Hops
3 oz of Citra for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Centennial for 30 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 10 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 5 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra at KO

2 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 12 days
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 5 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale – 2 packs with large starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity (without sugar) = 1.049
OG = 1.064
FG = 1.010
ABV = 7.2 %
IBU = 83

Mash
8 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge
Fly sparge with 10 gallons of water

*Photo has nothing to do with an IPA. I just thought it looks cool. Actually not even sure what beer that was.