Session IPA-first draft

[BlackDuck]

It sure is nice and clear. I think these beers are going to be a challenge to get right, so don't be dissapointed if it's not up to snuff the first time.

EDIT. Paul, what temp did you end up mashing at?

[Beer-lord]

This makes it not a true session beer at 5.25% ABV. I was hoping to keep it under 5 and while not a big deal, I'll have to try to be less efficient next time.
I mashed at 152-153 for 75 minutes.

[BlackDuck]

I mashed at 152-153 for 75 minutes.

I was just curious since you were trying to figure out where to mash at when you were planning the recipe. For me, I have a tough time judging the body before it's fully carbed. So it might come out a little fuller than it is now after it's all finished and ready to drink.

[Beer-lord]

Most definitely at 7 days you won't get a true taste. To me, tasting is only good to find out if something is bad. You'll know if it's not good at this point but if it tastes fine, then you know it'll be much better 4 weeks out and cold and carbed.
Still, I don't expect try #1 to be so great.

[Kealia]

...but still better than a lot of stuff you can buy!

I'll say it again, I think pursuing a session IPA is a great project. I just don't brew often enough, nor have the patience, to take on something like this...tweaking and re-brewing, tweaking and re-brewing.....

[Beer-lord]

Kegged this tonite. A bit higher ABV than intended....5.25% but my smallest ABV in 2 years!
Tons of aroma but didn't taste very bitter. Of course, time will tell. Actually, at just over 70 IBU's, it's much lower than many of my IPA's but the taste is going to be the key. Hopefully, it's not weak tasting. I guess since it's a bit higher than I thought, had I made this at 4.75% with less body..............ahhhh, who the heck cares. It's beer.

[Beer-lord]

First taste of the almost session beer. Great aroma, needs more carb (tank is running low) and I get a tiny bit of yeastiness so it needs to clear a bit more. I think in 2 weeks it'll be at it's prime.
I'm not bonkers about it-----yet but it's not a bad first shot. Decent beer that I might bring to my first homebrew meeting next week.

IMG_1445 (Medium).JPG (158.57 KiB) Viewed 1112 times

[BlackDuck]

It looks great. You guys that keg make me jealous. I still have a couple weeks before mine will be ready.

[Kealia]

What's coming through? The Chinook? Simcoe?

[Beer-lord]

It's actually very hard to tell. There's a good amount of bittering up front though not overly so for the style. That's likely the Summit followed by Chinook. The aroma is definitely orange, tangerine, citrus. When this gets finished carbing, the nose if going to be perfect. If not by Sunday, then I'll fill my tank and 'get er done'.

[Kealia]

I think Stone uses a fair amount of Chinook, don't they? If so, I can't say that it's my favorite hop. I mentioned in the Enjoy By thread I think I'm starting to lean heavily towards the citrus, floral hops. Basically, less "traditional" hops and more of the new kids on the block.

Uh-oh-o-o-oh!

[mashani]

I think Stone uses a fair amount of Chinook, don't they? If so, I can't say that it's my favorite hop. I mentioned in the Enjoy By thread I think I'm starting to lean heavily towards the citrus, floral hops. Basically, less "traditional" hops and more of the new kids on the block.

Uh-oh-o-o-oh!

I do like dank/piney hops not just citrus/floral hops. But I'd use CTZ or Simcoe over Chinook any day personally. Simcoe if I had it, because I really like Simcoe. Simcoe and Amarillo would be my pair of choice I think if I was doing something like this I think.

[Beer-lord]

Simcoe and Amarillo may be my favorite though I love Chinook for bittering but I've been moving away from that and trying other things for a bit.

[Beer-lord]

RedBEERd and I tried our very slightly different beers. His with 05 and mine with 001. Odd that his bottled version (1 bottle so far) was noticebly darker than mine. His kegged version was very close in color.
The flavors were all over the place. All quality and enjoyable beers albeit light and clean. Not bad for our first try at a session beer but I have to say, I think I'm willing to drink the extra calories and extra ABV and brew a 6.0 ABV beer and just to hell with the worry about lighter beers. I'm happy with our first shot but really miss all the flavor and body.

But of course, we followed those with some Ruin Ten and Racer 5 (ahhhh where my beer life started) then came home to some Hoptagon clone to finish the day.

[Kealia]

Glad to hear that you aren't shorting yourself on your hop needs. No height reference intended....

How would you compare yours to stuff like Easy Jack or GoTo? You've tried both at this point, right?