Master Exploder: a 12% ABV, 200 IBU IIIPA

My keg of this was the only one drained during my club's turn hosting the hospitality suite at NHC this year, so I think it was pretty popular. That, or people got really drunk on their first sample and came back for more.


Master Exploder, 6 gallon batch size...you will end up with 4.5-5 gallons after dry hopping
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 43.5 %
7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US - BULK (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 30.4 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.3 %
1 lbs Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.3 %
1 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 6 4.3 %
2.25 oz Simcoe 2009/07/02 [13.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 74.0 IBUs
1.72 oz Magnum (2010/06/12) [13.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 8 63.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial - 2009/05/22 [8.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 9 22.3 IBUs
0.70 oz Chinook 2009/12/16 [11.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 10 22.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus 2009/05/22 [14.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 11 21.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial - 2009/05/22 [8.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 4.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus 2009/05/22 [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 13 7.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial - 2009/05/22 [8.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe 2009/07/02 [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus 2009/05/22 [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days Hop 18 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe 2009/07/02 [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days Hop 19 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial - 2009/05/22 [8.00 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days Hop 20 0.0 IBUs
1.50 oz Columbus 2009/05/22 [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 21 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 22 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial - 2009/05/22 [8.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 23 0.0 IBUs
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 17 8.7 % NOTE: Add during fermentation, NOT in the boil!
2.0 pkg SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) [25.00 ml] Yeast 16 -

Mash at 150F for 60 minutes.

This recipe was designed based around the name, which was suggested by a friend. In the process of designing this recipe I managed to use nearly all of my 2009 hops that had been sitting in my freezer. Well, at least the American ones. So if you are confused as to why I have many different hop varieties in here, particularly earlier in the boil, that is one of the reasons.

As written, this recipe should get you to around 1.106 OG with 70% efficiency. I missed by a bit and only ended up with 1.101, but I am happy with the results so I'm not complaining.

My OG going into the fermenter for primary fermentation was 1.086, although it was planned to be 1.091. After letting it ferment for about a week, it had settled down to about 1.016 in the sample. At this point I boiled up the 2 lbs of sugar in roughly 1.5-2 quarts of water and added it to the fermenter after letting it cool.

After another two weeks, the gravity had come down to 1.010 and I racked onto the first round of dry hops, marked as the 14-day additions above. The beer sat on these hops for one week, then I pulled that bag out and swapped in dry hops #2, the 7-day additions above.

After another week this got racked to the keg and started carbonation. It was somewhat drinkable after 2 weeks but still had some hot alcohol character. It really came into its own 2-3 weeks after that.

:rockin:

This recipe is awesome. Why not add the sugar during the boil?

EarthBound said:

This recipe is awesome. Why not add the sugar during the boil?

Click to expand...

I think its better to make the yeast consume the more complex malt sugars before you give them the option of the simple sugars. This will usually give you a more dry beer. 1.010 is awesome for an IPA

For what it's worth, I have another batch of this in the works right now, although I changed the hops a bit since I didn't have any Columbus available on brew day. Dry hops will be the same as before.

Also I am changing the recipe in that I am going to wait an extra month or so before starting the dry hops additions. I feel like there could have been a bit more hoppy aromatics if I had waited last time, since it was fairly alcoholic for the first few weeks after packaging.

This time, I will let the sugar ferment out, wait another 4-6 weeks for the alcohol to die down a bit, and then start the dry hopping.

weirdboy said:

My keg of this was the only one drained during my club's turn hosting the hospitality suite at NHC this year, so I think it was pretty popular. That, or people got really drunk on their first sample and came back for more.

Click to expand...

I'm guilty!

This is a great beer!

I'm not even sure what to think about this recipe. Insanity, I like it!

Of coruse you like it, you sell hops!

OK so as an update on this, I was right on my instinct to wait before doing the dry hops. I waited about 4-5 weeks after fermentation finished up before starting in on the dry hops, and by the time I had this on tap and carbed 3-4 weeks later, it was absolutely fantastic donkey punch of hops, with no fusels at all. Also much smoother, well-rounded bitterness, than say, Maharaja which I consider too harsh.