Recent content by Americal

Ya know, hopping an IPA is a really personal thing. I happen to like the dank of simcoe or chinook dry hopping an IPA, particularly in darker versions. I'd cut the C60 and the chocolate a bit and hit it with about 4-6 oz. blackprinz, you can make a beer black as the inside of your hat with it...

I'm a hop junkie so I'd roll those two additions (30 and 45 min.) into the dry hop, I usually have about 4 oz. of whatever hops I'm using in the dry for my IPA's with doubles you can use even more. Also careful with the honey malt it can easily dominate. I like it and use it in most of my...

520 plus 5.5 gal. White Rajah clone, 5.5 gal. red IPA = 531 gal.

Being in SoCal my problems are the same as yours. By April ambient temp would go to the 80's > no beer 'till October. I was also getting some batches with a nasty phenol level. My solution as I don't have the space in my brewery (read that - garage) for another refrigerator; a 60 qt Coleman...

I've used both. There both pretty attenuative, my feeling was the WLP007 flocc's a little more completely. The WLP090 is pretty fast but I didn't see a lot of difference between it and the Chico strain. The WLP007 was temperature sensitive for me, if I let fermentation get over 72F I started...

I agree with the El Dorado. I just tapped into a single hop APA (house grist bill ) that I did w/Galaxy in Nov. - tropical and fruity. I'm with you, if I didn't have a crap-load of hops already I'd be trying to pick up a lb. of 'em. TOM

I have and they seal. The vacuum is a little iffy but it does work. TOM

No, normally Great Western 2 row. I keep about 100# of 2 row on hand and I like the high diastatic power of the highly converted malt. I also mash with 50% Maris Otter but I'm fiddling with the Munich as a sub for the MO. I've got some pils malt and it just never occurred to me to make an IPA...

Well, Amarillo is a patent hop so acreage limited.

I've been using L10 Munich in my IPS's of recent. It really bulks up the malt backbone without becoming dominant up to about 10%. I've got an IPA with 4% flaked barley in the grist bill and I really like the mouth feel without sweetness, something to keep in mind. There's no crystal in the...

Rats, last week I got a pound of 2013 Amarillo from HD. I guess I'll have to run a batch of APA to try 'em out. I was going to save them 'till I used up my stock of 2012, the foil bags do keep them fresher than my Food Saver bags. Anyone else have any feedback. TOM

Mash @ 150, lose the 6 row and add 2# of Munich.

Like Indi, I'd bump the late/dry hops some. Galaxy is a very fruity hop that for me needs to be the star. I make a Galaxy APA but bitter it with Columbus to about 25 IBU and do a 45 min hop stand with an oz., dry hop with 2 oz. But this is in a O.G. 1.050 beer with an IPA you'll have the...

4607.5 + 17 = 4624.5

I usually rack to a secondary at a week or two when the offgassing slows down. I only do this because I like to rack a fresh wort onto an active yeast cake. I typically run a series of beers, low to high gravity on one batch of yeast. By the time I get to an IIPA those little yeasties are...