I(do)PA

I'm getting married in July. The wedding is going to be at a brewery, and for wedding favors, we're giving out 22oz bottles of homebrew (yeah, she's the girl for me!).

I'm brewing a test batch of my I(do)PA today... Here's the recipe (10 gal):

Malt:
22lb American 2-row
2lb Xtal 40L
1lb Victory
0.5lb Light roast
1lb Dextrin Malt


Hops:
2 oz Chinook (12%), 60 minutes
1 oz Fuggles (4.5%), 45 minutes
1 oz Fuggles (4.5%), 30 minutes
2 oz Fuggles (4.5%), end of boil (steeped for 15 min)

Yeast: Wyeast 1968 (London ESB)

Single stage infusion mash, 90 minute boil.

We both usually prefer a hoppier IPA, but since we're handing it out, we're trying to make it accessible to our family and friends from less hop-friendly places

I usually never cry at weddings. But when you're giving out 22 oz. bottles of homebrew... sniff, sniff...

Sounds like a nice recipe. Man, the more I read, the more I am tempted to try all grain.

Sounds like its going to be a british style IPA with that hop selection (and the yeast... oh, and the malt). Probably more acceptible to most uninitiated.

I really like Victory in my IPAs too. Sounds like a good recipe.

Congratulations!

Looks like a tasty British ale. The Fuggles should be tasty. And I agree about the Victory. Such an interesting color in that one. We've been throwing it in a bunch of beers lately.

Best wishes to you and your bride to be

Well, a 10 gallon batch is brewed. I'm thinking of doing the secondary in two seperate carboys. One will be dry-hopped with goldings (we've got some lying around), the other won't be dry-hopped at all. Just to see how much flavor we can sneek into it while keeping it "accessible".

Janx said:

Congratulations!

Looks like a tasty British ale. The Fuggles should be tasty. And I agree about the Victory. Such an interesting color in that one. We've been throwing it in a bunch of beers lately.

Best wishes to you and your bride to be

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What kind of coloring do you get from it? I'm guessing more of an amber hue?

Well, we made 10 gallons of this. We left it in the primary for a week, then racked half of it to a carboy, and the other half got dry-hopped in a corny with an ounce of goldings.
We kegged after 2 weeks in secondary (yesterday). We're going to condition for a couple more weeks, and force carbonate (if needed) then taste to see which one is more "accessible".

I tasted a sample of each while kegging, and all I've got to say is WOW!! They both came out great, but the dry-hopped batch is AMAZING!! I was surprised to tast how well balanced it is already. We'll probably end up making both kinds, for the wedding. But, the dry-hopped may become my every-day drinker.

After bottling, we went to the "Battle of the belt" festival. Around 24 brew pubs each put up a beer to be judged by the crowd. My girlfriend made the comment: "Wow, the wedding beer is better than any of these, and it's not even conditioned yet!"..... gotta love that girl!

Uncle Fat said:

I tasted a sample of each while kegging, and all I've got to say is WOW!! They both came out great, but the dry-hopped batch is AMAZING!! I was surprised to tast how well balanced it is already. We'll probably end up making both kinds, for the wedding. But, the dry-hopped may become my every-day drinker.

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Congrats al around--that the beer turned out and that you are getting married. Sounds like a good woman!

LOL...I just now figured out the name. I(do)PA.....Very original and witty!!!!