Beerswap 2007 - Pirate Ale's Brews

Even though I am not a BJCP certified judge, I'm going to give these an overall point rating using the BJCP scale of 1-50, as shown at the bottom of this sheet - just for the hell of it! I'm just wingin' it here with the numbers, so take it with a grain of salt.

Cream Ale

Appearance: Small pffft sound when uncapped. Thin white head which soon dissipated. Low carbonation, which isn’t to style. Moderate straw/gold color. Almost completely clear, which is to style!

Aroma: Light corn-like aroma and little else, which is to style.

Flavor: Light flavor, neither hops nor malt predominates. No complexity, diacetyl or fruitiness. Finishes slightly dry with a perceptible corn taste in finish.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp, smooth mouthfeel. Just right for the style.

Overall Impression: A good, solid CA. Reminds me of the last partial mash cream ale I brewed two years ago!

Rating: 39

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RIPA

Appearance: Small pffft sound when uncapped. Thin white head which soon dissipated. Good carbonation. Nice amber color!

Aroma: Mild hop aroma with malt coming up after. Smells really nice!

Flavor: Wow – really citrusy hop bitterness with a bit of tannins up front. Really wakes you up! Malt finish, but the hops stay with you in the aftertaste. I’m guessing there are a lot of Cascades at work here. Reminds me of some cask conditioned IPAs I’ve had before. I love IPAs, but at first, I wasn’t sure if I would have wanted another of these. But as it warmed and as I continued sipping, I changed my mind!

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel – nice body, true to style.

Overall Impression: A good example, but I’d like to see more hop aroma and a bit less bitterness up front. I know, asking for more hop aroma is tough - I have trouble getting my IPAs to carry their hop aroma for very long. Just seems the aroma decays day by day. I think with a change up in the type or amount of bittering hops and finishing hops or maybe a little different malt addition (may an ounce or two of biscuit malt?) this would really stand out. Definitely a sipping IPA for hop-heads.

Rating: 37

:rockin: :rockin:
Here is the RIPA recipe....It is my PM version of BP's 777.
777 IPA
American IPA


Type: Partial Mash
Date: 6/10/2007
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer:
Boil Size: 5.72 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.50 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 68.42 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
0.50 oz Cascade [5.80 %] (60 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.2 IBU
2.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.00 %] (40 min) Hops 20.4 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.80 %] (10 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 700 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.071 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.071 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.05 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.58 %
Bitterness: 65.2 IBU Calories: 320 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.9 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 3.00 lb
Sparge Water: 5.15 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F

My question: How does it compare to your (Rhoobarb's) version. I read in the 777 thread that you made a batch.

Thanks for the great feedback. The CA carb level is low in the bottles, due to my frustrations with the beer gun....

Pirate Ale said:

...My question: How does it compare to your (Rhoobarb's) version. I read in the 777 thread that you made a batch.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I did and it rocked! It was one nice IPA! I plan to do it again after the first of the year.

My big differences ingredient-wise were that it was all grain. I used no flaked rye (rye malt only), domestic 2-row instead of Maris Otter and I substituted WLP007 yeast. Otherwise, it was Brewpaster's original recipe. I think the use of all-rye malt gave it more rye 'spiciness'. I've used flaked rye in a PM Hop Rod Rye clone and it just wasn't the same.

IIRC, I dry hopped with two ounces of Amarillo, which really gave it a nice hop aroma. Next time, I may up it to 3-4 oz.! I see that your Columbus had a higher AA than mine. Mine were ~12.5%AA, That may have something to do with the up-front bitterness . I didn't get that in mine.

Pirate Ale said:

...Thanks for the great feedback. The CA carb level is low in the bottles, due to my frustrations with the beer gun....

Click to expand...

Ahh, that makes sense. I plan to begin kegging in the next month and I plan to eventually get a Blichmann gun. I understand they have a 'learning curve'.