Bubs' India Pale Ale (IPA)

[Beer-lord]

I know sugar will dry beer out but I truly didn't know cane sugar is beet sugar. When I did a search I read they "share the same chemistry but act differently in the kitchen". I thought there was a bigger difference between the two. But, why would my LHBS label is beet and not just cane? Likely to charge more for it.

[philm00x]

Ohhh I gotcha now. Yeah I dunno why it would act any different. Sucrose is sucrose whether it's gotten from cane or from beets. The only difference I have seen via the Google machine is that refining sugar from cane is a longer, more arduous process than refining it from beets, but both yield 99.95% pure sucrose. Like you said, it's likely just a marketing ploy to sell it for more.

[BlackDuck]

So will that beet sugar give your beer a reddish color?

[Kealia]

Man, you show up late to a discussion and the question has already been answered AND it's gone off topic already!

Congrats on your first. I've only brewed a couple of IPAs myself now and two years ago if you told me that I would have a bunch in my fridge I would have told you that you were crazy.

[philm00x]

Ahh well you know... It's the way of the Borg! Hehe. I'm slowly coming around to IPAs as well. But they've gotta be fruity or citrusy, not piney and dank. Hopefully this recipe will turn out how I imagine it in my head.

[Beer-lord]

Ahh well you know... It's the way of the Borg! Hehe. I'm slowly coming around to IPAs as well. But they've gotta be fruity or citrusy, not piney and dank. Hopefully this recipe will turn out how I imagine it in my head.

I'll have 6 of each please!

[jimjohson]

Black Duck, no it looks like cane sugar and I never could taste a difference.

[philm00x]

This was probably my fastest, easiest all-grain brew day since I started brewing AG! I finally figured out what was throwing my water volume calculations off and hit my volumes perfectly. OG came out to 1.068 and expected 1.067. The wort chiller brought the temp down from boiling to 80 in under 10 minutes (and whirlpooling plays a major part in bringing that temp down fast). It took another 10 minutes in a sink of cold tap water to bring it down to 70 so I can pitch. From heating strike water to pitching yeast, I was done in 3h 45m! I've never had a brew day less than 4.5 hrs!

[BlackDuck]

Awesome Phil....glad to hear that everything went well. Great job on hitting your numbers.

[philm00x]

Thanks Chris! What's funny, too, is I had a freak out moment because my preboil gravity was short 11 points and then remembered that I had a late sugar addition to the boil which made up that difference. The smell from the kettle was just so damn good! Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

[Inkleg]

Fantastic brew day Phil, looking forward to hear how this one comes out.

[philm00x]

My nerves were kicking in this morning because I saw nothing coming out of the blowoff tube and the lid on the bucket wasn't bulging. Granted, when I've used 3522 it's been on beers with OG over 1.07, but this one wasn't too far off. I pried the lid open and saw a head of krausen, and the fermometer sticker thing was showing 70* inside the bucket (I have the controller set for 68*) so the yeast is working. I just expected a lot more out of this fermentation. I need to stop worrying!

[philm00x]

Poured a shot of this out of the fermenter to see how it was going. The malt is very bready, but when I finally tasted the hops, it seems like this has a lot of the melon quality from the Belma. I know Belma has many descriptors of strawberry and tropical and such but I'm really intrigued and excited to get the melon from it. It's like a ripe honeydew!

[philm00x]

Quick check of gravity today shows it at 1.015, 3 points shy of the expected 1.012 although my starting gravity was a point higher than expected. Even at this gravity, it's at 7% ABV which is in the neighborhood where I wanted it to be. And honestly, I don't mind it being a touch sweeter than expected. The hop flavor is definitely there, so a little malty sweetness behind it will be great. Probably gonna drop in the dry hop addition today and then check the gravity on Sunday to see if it's good to bottle. With my family coming up here on Friday next week, I'll be able to pop a couple of these open by then and it should have enough carb to serve.

[philm00x]

Well I went and bottled this today and gravity dropped to the expected 1.012, so this is a 7.4% ABV melon and passion fruit dream 2 weeks in the fermenter would seem to be plenty of time, and typically I would let it sit for even one more week, but I want to have some on hand for this weekend when my family comes into town to visit. Plus, IPAs are supposed to be better the younger you drink them, right?!