Neomantra.org

Well needless to say my first crack at this recipe was somewhat of a disaster from a process perspective.  It was my first time using whole hops, first time using dry malt extract, etc.  Since then I have gotten my technique with these ingredients into better shape and this time I won’t be doing a split batch which should further simplify things.  Here’s to a better beer for iteration number 2!

I’ve modified the recipe a good bit since then based on additional reading and am going with a healthy dose of chinook hops at the end for aroma.  I’ve also settled on using a belgian yeast strain, this time in liquid form from White Labs.  I’ll be harvesting this using the yeast washing technique I mentioned in previous posts so that I can make this vial last me for a while and to bring some consistency to the taste of the beer as I refine it.  Here is the new recipe:

http://hopville.com/recipe/196494/belgian-specialty-ale-recipes/belgian-american-ipa

Brew day (4/25/10)

I made a minor process change today.  Normally I have issues whirlpooling everything in the kettle to collect the trub to the center because the copper coil and hops bag takes up so much space in there.  Today I pulled them out first but after looking at the amount of actual trub in the bottom I’ve concluded that whirlpooling doesn’t really matter much when using DME and whole hops (in a hops bag).

The other thing on my mind today was refractometer readings.  I took about 5 readings today.  One during the boil for kicks to see where it was at before evaporating off some of the water.  Then several more at the conclusion of transferring to the carboy.  They varied wildly!  And I’m talking about the end readings.  I put a few drops on the refractometer and took a reading about 2 minutes later.  It read 11.8 brix.  Then I wiped it off, shook up my sample to be sure it was mixed and put another 2 drops on there.  After letting it sit a while it was more like 12.8.  I let it sit there and essentially forgot about it for a while and checked like 30 minutes later and it was 16.2!  I need to do some research…I can’t believe a 60 dollar piece of equipment like this could be so unstable so I must be doing something wrong.  The only thing I can think of is that since I’d mixed up the wort really well and aerated it while transferring to the carboy maybe all the air bubbles were causing issues with the reading?  In any case, it reminds me how badly I need to hurry up and get a new hydrometer.

Last but not least, I did not make a starter for this batch.  First time in a while I haven’t done that.  In addition when I opened the vial it was overly bubbly and spewed a little bit out of the top while I was trying to get the cap off.  I hope the lack of starter plus loss of a small amount of the vial doesn’t amount to a stuck fermentation.  I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Transfer to secondary (5/9/10)

FG – 1.013.  Slight hint of belgian yeast in the flavor but pretty subdued.  Chinook hops comes through in the taste as hoped.  Added 2oz of Chinook for dryhop to add to aroma. Overall taste seems good so far and am excited for finished product.  It looks to be way more on target for the style of beer I’m going for compared to iteration #1