I am decidedly not scientific enough about my brewing process. I generally don't get gravity readings because I never remember and have discovered that regardless of the beer, enough of it will get me plowed.
However, the goal here was to create my own recipe for the first time. The Barbican is still in primary so I can't give tasting notes yet. Standby for details.
I'm shooting for smoky hints and if I don't get enough from the smoked malt, I'll add 1 oz oak chips to the dry hop. I'm also shooting for a SoCal styled IPA (big, bitter and tropical flowers–think Ballast Point Sculpin IPA or AleSmith IPA) with notes hinting back to it's India Pale roots.
As it stands today the off-gassing from the carboy smells heavenly. I may order a metric ton of New Zealand hops if this works out. Oh, also a to mistercameron for helping me brew this beast.
Grains (single infusion mash @153 for 60minutes):
9 lbs English 2-row pale
1 lbs 60L Crystal
.75 lbs Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
.75 lbs Carapils
Hops:
New Zealand Motueka (pellets) - 1oz, 60 minutes
New Zealand Southern Cross (pellets) - 1oz @25 minutes, 1 oz @40 minutes
Amarillo Gold (whole) - 1oz dry hopped
Yeast: Cali Ale V @68 degrees. (We've got a nice little Santa Ana kicking right now, so the brew-garage is about 80 degrees. I have the carboy wearing a t-shirt sitting in a tub of cold water about 2 inches deep. According to the thermometer it's keeping it pretty steady at 68)
Racking: I'll be moving it over into a new carboy when the beer is around 80% fermented. I think it will be around 5 days. We'll see. The goal is to get the beer off the yeast and reduce particulates. I'll rack out of secondary and into kegs. (EDIT - No more racking! dcp has shown me the light)
However, the goal here was to create my own recipe for the first time. The Barbican is still in primary so I can't give tasting notes yet. Standby for details.
I'm shooting for smoky hints and if I don't get enough from the smoked malt, I'll add 1 oz oak chips to the dry hop. I'm also shooting for a SoCal styled IPA (big, bitter and tropical flowers–think Ballast Point Sculpin IPA or AleSmith IPA) with notes hinting back to it's India Pale roots.
As it stands today the off-gassing from the carboy smells heavenly. I may order a metric ton of New Zealand hops if this works out. Oh, also a to mistercameron for helping me brew this beast.
Grains (single infusion mash @153 for 60minutes):
9 lbs English 2-row pale
1 lbs 60L Crystal
.75 lbs Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
.75 lbs Carapils
Hops:
New Zealand Motueka (pellets) - 1oz, 60 minutes
New Zealand Southern Cross (pellets) - 1oz @25 minutes, 1 oz @40 minutes
Amarillo Gold (whole) - 1oz dry hopped
Yeast: Cali Ale V @68 degrees. (We've got a nice little Santa Ana kicking right now, so the brew-garage is about 80 degrees. I have the carboy wearing a t-shirt sitting in a tub of cold water about 2 inches deep. According to the thermometer it's keeping it pretty steady at 68)
Racking: I'll be moving it over into a new carboy when the beer is around 80% fermented. I think it will be around 5 days. We'll see. The goal is to get the beer off the yeast and reduce particulates. I'll rack out of secondary and into kegs. (EDIT - No more racking! dcp has shown me the light)