BeerBorg

It is supposed to hit mid 50s here Thursday. I have a hop order in with Yakima Valley Hops. If I receive my hops tomorrow I am going to brew the following on Thursday. I am doing my usual Simcoe/Amarillo IPA with a twist. I am replacing the Caramel 40 I usually use with Honey malt. I am hoping the little bit of extra sweetness will completely neutralize the bitter finish. This will be an interesting experiment.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Ralph's Springtime IPA 2016
Brewer: Roger
Asst Brewer: Ralph The Wonderdog
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.70 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.20 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 8.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 99.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Wes Grain 1 69.6 %
3 lbs Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 26.1 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.3 %
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 4 16.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 23.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 12.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 17.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 6.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 9.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30. Hop 10 5.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 Hop 11 7.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 m Yeast 12 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 8.0 oz

A little honey malt goes a long way. I think I've not used more than 4 or 5 oz and I did notice it but not in a bad way. Everything I've read said to stay under 5%.

Yes on this recipe it is 4.3% so I should be good. And it is replacing caramel malt which is sweet as well. So I don't think will be stepping my game up drastically.

You had me at Simcoe/Amarilo.

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OK I brewed this today. I did make two revisions. I used 8.5 pounds of two row and I added 2oz of Columbus hops to the hop stand. The high was 54 which made for nice brewing in my little garage/brewery. The downside was cleaning my equipment with 34 degree water coming from the hose.

I kegged this beer today. I did have a couple of surprises.

One was the color. I thought it was rather dark given the grain bill. it looked like I had added an ounce or two of roasted malt. That honey malt must be a bit darker than I thought. The runnings didn't give me an indication it would be this color.

Second was the FG. it came out at 1.012. It started at 1.066. With Munich being 26% of the grain bill I didn't think it would attenuate this well. It ended up being 7.4% ABV.

When I tasted the hydrometer sample the first thing that did hit me was a bit of a sweet flavor. But not overwhelmingly so. More like a note of sweetness. It did have a very strong bitter finish. I know that will mellow a bit before this keg gets tapped. It was interesting how it went from one flavor to the other so quickly.

I am looking forward to blowing my next keg so I can get this on tap.

Now that this beer has had some time to carbonate I poured a 6 oz sample from it. The sample was so good I poured a 16 oz sample. The flavors seem to have melded and canceled each other out just like I had hoped would happen. I have a really nice hoppy flavor with almost no bitter finish at all. It finishes about like an Odell's IPA does if not a bit smoother. I have attained the golden grail of IPAs as far as I am concerned. Oddly the color is not as dark as it was at kegging. I will take photos of it later. It does not have as much aroma as I had hoped but it does have a very nice bouquet. This is my IPA in which I am well pleased.

Congratulate Ralph for me!

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I love Simcoe + Amarillo, and I love some Munich in my IPAs, and I like honey malt too - so I'm sure I would love this beer.