Brewers Best -Imperial Pale Ale...suggestions

My buddy & I brewed our 1st beer together about 4 weeks ago (Sam Calagione's A-Z Brown Ale, from his book extreme brewing). For our 2nd choice we wanted to do something that was more to our liking (IIPA) . When I went to my LHBS, I told the dude what we were after & he talked me into getting a kit, something that neither of us wanted to do because: 1. we're adventurous, & 2. We didn't want the same beer that the guy up the street has. But after talking with the guy, & reading everything that can go wrong with calculations, it just seemed like a good idea to me. And it'll get us more acquainted with the brewing process. I did however pick up some oakmore while i was there yesterday, just to give it some kind of originality.

After I got it home I did a little googling & found that a bunch of people loved the way it tasted, but it "could be hoppier". So I went there today & picked up a secondary (5gal BB carboy), & 2oz of Cascade pellets (for dry hopping). I also asked about doing a full boil instead of a partial boil like the directions say to do. He said that would be even better hop utilization if i did a full boil.

That being said, we're planning on brewing in a couple days. Does anyone have experience with this kit? Do you have any suggestions? I'll try & update with whats going on. Thanks!

Use a blow off tube!

For the secondary? Why?...I have a 6.5gal primary

I just brewed this exact kit. I also dry hopped except I used 2 oz of Columbus.

It was smelling really good before I bottled it this past Sunday.

I only have a 5 gallon pot so my boil was approximately 3.5 gallons. You can certainly do a full boil and use all the hops they give you. It will be a little more bitter but hey its an Imperial Pale Ale. You probably bought it because you are like me and love hoppy beers. Also if you want to scale back on the bitterness but keep some of those hoppy aromas/flavors, you could save .5 - 1 oz of the bittering hops for a late addition.

I say go full boil if your heart desires!

My bad, I picked up Centennial to dry hop with

I fermented in a 6.5 gallon bucket and had no problems at all with blowoff. Just make sure you are topping off water to 5 gallons, no more!

Mine blew off in the primary and it was NOT fun!

Fermenting at a lower temp range (about 65 degrees F if you can get it that low) could prevent the krausen from getting so big that it clogs your airlock.

I've found the higher temps you ferment at, the bigger your krausen will be. Also lower ferment temps prevent alot of off flavors.

That's all the advice I have really. I can't wait to try this brew!

Well that is good to know. I have a room in my house that's last in the baseboard heat loop & I've been fermenting in there cause it's in the mid 60s. And if it starts getting too warm in there, I can move it in the basement cause it's not heated down there. Thanks guys for the tips, any more would be greatly appreciated.

Have the kit in the bottle for about two weeks...an good beer...a bit more time and it should very enjoyable...yep, a little hoppier would be good. I think Centennial will be fine with this. No problem in the primary, but was in basement around 65 degrees. I brewed by directions so I know where I'm starting at when I adjust to taste. I have fun doing my recipes, but a kit simplifies things when I just feel like brewing.

After I bought the kit, came home & googled it I found out its supposed to be close to stones arrogant bastard ale. And just out of sheer coincidence I picked up Oakmore. So if this goes well it'll be Oaked arrogant bastard ale. Thing is, I can't find anyone who uses this stuff for beer. it came recommended by the guy @ the store for quick oak flavoring. He said unless I was going to age it, the oak cubes wouldn't give too much flavor. It looks like sawdust, & might go by the alias oak powder. Any feedback on the oakmore would be greatly appreciated.

Sawdust? I know nothing of oakmore but I'm now skeptical.

The kit itself though is amazing. Great beer and I'm sure you'll be happy with the centennials. I second the recommendation for a blowoff tube. I don't recall how vigorous that fermentation was but no one ever said darn, I should'NT have used a blowoff tube.

even with a 6.5gal carboy?

Ok I have two contributions...

I brewed this kit and loved it. I followed the directions that came with it and boy is it good. I don't think I would dry hop as it was perfect the way it was (and believe me im a hop head) it doesn't taste exaactly like arrogant bastard but its close.

I am also a wine maker and have used the saw dust stuff on my reds. It settles down to the bottom over time and you rack off of it like dry hopping. Its done during primary fermentation angive a subtle oak flavor. But unfortunately I've never used it with beer

Just to follow up for people passing by. The primary fermentation had come to an end & I had hit my FG reading. I think it may have sped up a little because I had some temperature fluctuation this week. I dumped 2 oz of centennial hops in the bottom of the secondary, then racked it all into there. I took a taste from the hydrometer vial, & man did it taste good! It still has an occasional bubble here & there. I hope I didn't over-do it with the dry hopping. I read mixed reviews about the amount of hops that came with the kit. I'll update in a couple weeks or so.

The occasional bubbles are probably due to some CO2 coming out of solution from racking and providing nucleation sites with the dry hops. The dry hops will mainly impart aroma, and centennial is among my favorites!

I would allow this to dry hop 7 days, then check SG again. If it's the same as it was at racking, you're good to bottle. If it has dropped, check again in 3 days and bottle when SG is stable.

I've found that the dry hop aroma can fade fairly quickly. If you think it is too much (it won't be) it will mellow during the bottle conditioning. I have had great aroma at bottling with 1-1.5 oz, only to find that it is much lower after conditioning.

Please post back on the Oakmore contribution. I have used toasted cubes, but never the powder. Powder should have more surface area, so greater oak flavor.

Thanks that's pretty reassuring to hear. it went in the secondary on thursday, I plan on checking the SG this thurs. & probably bottling on fri-sat.

I didn't put the oakmore in this brew. I still can't find solid evidence of someone actually putting this stuff in their beer. It sounds like its more for wine. The idea was that it creates more surface area for the beer to be in contact with. I'm not gonna use it till i hear of someone that successfully brewed with it.

I brewed Brewers Best Imperial Pale Ale and had it 2 weeks in prim and 2 weeks in sec and I love it. To me, it is very hoppy but that is my own preferences. But if you read:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/brewers-best-imperial-pale-ale-low-og-help-219493/
This kind of helped. I realized I am going to stop worrying about OG and just do it.

DieterVonBrauhaus said:

I brewed Brewers Best Imperial Pale Ale and had it 2 weeks in prim and 2 weeks in sec and I love it. To me, it is very hoppy but that is my own preferences. But if you read:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/brewers-best-imperial-pale-ale-low-og-help-219493/
This kind of helped. I realized I am going to stop worrying about OG and just do it.

Click to expand...

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I did a full boil with 5 gal of spring water. Aerated it a little before & after pitching the yeast (with the mixer you hook to a drill) And my OG came out to 1.080. I kept it in the primary for 7 days before putting it into the secondary. And at that time the reading was 1.016.

Just another update. I didn't know what the outcome would be from the 2 oz of dryhops in the secondary, so i took it out after 7 days. The next day i brewed a belgian wit, & I invited 2 friends that hadn't ever had a homebrew before, & my brew buddy that didn't have the pleasure of tasting it while i was bottling it over. We split 1 bottle up between the 4 of us & it tasted incredible! Everyone loved it. I can't wait till it's done in the bottle. It doesn't stand a chance!