OK! So, here's the update!
My FG was 1.012. My OG was 1.062 and according to brewheads.com stats calculator that puts my apparent attenuation at 79%. This is my best yet! But, its no surprise because I did a few things different this time around. This biggest thing that I did different this time was aeration. I purposely swirled that bucket around like crazy for a good 4-5 minutes. I think this made a huge difference not only in flavor but allowing the yeast to kick start.
I also used Wyeast for the first time. The little activator inside of it makes a big difference in my opinion. The fermentation kicked off quicker than any of my other beers. I am VERY pleased with their product and I will continue to use them.
It spent a little extra time in primary more so than I wanted, but that's ok. It maybe spent 2-3 days more than the two weeks I originally thought.
So, now on to taste...
First off you can smell the floral aroma of the cascades mixed very well with the slightly citrusy Amarillo. It was very heavy smell when I opened the fermenter. There was also a hint of a slight sweetness from the honey malt. I did some more research on honey malt and next time I might do this recipe as a partial mash to get the full effect.
In the glass, it smelled like a typical IPA. The smell reminded me of Stone IPA and the taste did as well. I couldn't help but think of Stone IPA as I drank it. The taste was very good. It wasn't amazing, but it was amazing to think I made this! It was quite bitter just like Stone IPA. The aroma was there but not as powerful as I hoped. I was hoping for a more slightly sweet taste, but that was also lacking. You could smell the honey and the aftertaste was better than Stone IPA's aftertaste.
It was very smooth and honestly didn't have any weird off flavors or esters that were in my previous beers. I think this is due to a quick started fermentation and very good aeration. This is definitely something I am going to remake. I can see it being very very good once I get it bottled and carbed. Also, after the dry hopping I see my aroma coming across much better.
Overall, this turned out very well. I think its even better than some of the IPAs I have personally tried. After thinking about it for a while, I would say I would give Crystal 60L a shot and add 2-3 ozs more of honey malt, so it would have a slightly more sweet and malty profile, but ONLY A TAD! In the end I would say this is closest to Stone IPA in flavor and bitterness.
Oh, and finally.. the color turned out nicely. It was a little darker than I hoped for, but it was pretty spot on. I can't wait to get this carbed.
I will be adding this to the recipe database once I get it bottled.
If anyone has any questions please feel free to PM me or respond to this thread. If you are interested in making this recipe, nothing more would be an honor to me and I would be happy to send you a few bottles to try it out, so long as you promise to send some of your homebrew to me as well
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