Levitation, with a twist

[Kealia]

I've posted the recipe before so I won't take up space here unless somebody wants it.

This is going strong in the fermenter and as much as I love this beer as-is I'm thinking that I'm going to mess with the dry hop schedule a bit. Aside from the normal Simcoe and Amarillo additions I think I'm going throw some Mosaic into the mix since I'm loving that hop right now and have some lying around.

I just haven't decided if I want to do a true dry hop with it, or keg hop it.

Decisions....decisions.......

[Beer-lord]

Go for it. Who says you have to do the same recipe over all the time. Make it YOURS!
Mosaic is ok for me in late and small amounts. Too much gives me too much grape.

[Inkleg]

Why not do the standard dry hop with Simcoe and Amarillo and then keg hop with the Mosaic?

[Kealia]

Jeff, that is exactly what I'm thinking right now. I should have enough in this batch to bottle a few on kegging day so I would be able to compare them if I do that.

[Kealia]

So after yesterday's blow off concern the krausen has already fallen and there is a thick trub layer on the bottom. The WLP007 really went to town. I'll swap out the blowoff for an airlock tonight,

[Kealia]

48 hours post pitch and the crazy blow off is done. I switched to an airlock and there's some minor activity but not a lot. Plenty of trub at the bottom and I am SOOO tempted to check gravity tomorrow - not because I want to rush it but because it seems like it is working quickly and I just want to know how quickly.

[Kealia]

1 week in and it's down to 1.020 or so. This usually finishes at either 1.016 or 1.018 for me so I'm starting the dry hop as the hydro sample was already pretty clear.

In went some Citra and Simcoe. On Tuesday I'll add some Amarillo and then keg-hop with Mosaic.

[Beer-lord]

That sure looks yummy and sounds yummier.
That clear in 1 week? That almost never happens for me.
I tested mine yesterday after only 5 days and I'm already at FG but I'm going to wait a few days before beginning the dry hop for more yeast to drop out. I think I'll do a 5 and 3 day dry hop and leave it out the keg.

[BlackDuck]

That is a thing of beauty!!!

[Inkleg]

You drank that wonderful looking sample. Right?

[Kealia]

You drank that wonderful looking sample. Right?

Nope. It went into a 12oz bottle to act as my satellite fermenter now. I'll check that again in about 5 days to see if it dropped at all. That way, I don't have to mess with getting into the carboy again (just for the sake of reducing chances of infection I like to limit how many times I dip in).

And Paul should be happy to see from the first picture that no space was wasted in the carboy this time!

[Beer-lord]

Sure am, we all know how efficient I am with hops.

[Kealia]

This got kegged today and finished right around 1.019 for just about 4.0% or 4.1%. The high gravity doesn't worry me because I know how flavorful this beer is.
That was confirmed again by drinking the sample. This is a good batch! My OG and FG were slightly higher than previous batches and I have to say I loved how the sample tasted (which I normally don't).

I did end up racking in onto about 1.75oz of Mosaic in the keg so it will have a little something extra in it. I was able to get about 8 bottles too so I can do a side by side and see how much the keg hopping made a difference.

Even better news is that I'm heading out for vacation soon so this can carb up while I'm gone and I won't have to sit around thinking about it. I think we have 6 different breweries tagged for stopping at on this trip - and that's only about 25% of the ones we'll be passing!

[Kealia]

I found the last 6-pack holder of Levitation I had and my label (used images from Stone) go very nicely with it!

[Beer-lord]

That's pretty cool! Nice swan song.