So to make a long story short, this is my second shot at homebrewing, but my first with beer. The first time was with mead but it never actually fermented (bad yeast?) and after wasting $50 worth of honey I put the hobby down for a few years. When I realized i had no big project for this weekend I decided to give it another go.
I went to Flying Barrel in Frederick MD and picked up the supplies (I had given the old ones away to a friend who has had much more success in exchange for a few bottles of wine). I came out with all the equipment and a True Brew IPA kit. The wort (or is it beer now?) Is bubbling away contentedly under my desk. I've even opened a window to keep the temp down around 70deg. A little chilly for sleeping but the beer seems happy!
So on to my "problem". After reading a few reviews on this site it seems that this beer comes out closer to and english IPA or a brown ale. I'm a huge fan of DFH 60,90,120 minute IPA's so I was a little disappointed. At this point I figure I have a few options:
1. Leave well enough alone and bottle in about 10 days, enjoying whatever comes out, not risking messing up my first batch.
2. Personalize (more my style) the recipe by adding a secondary fermenter into the mix and dry hopping there. Also I would stand to gain more clarity, etc etc from using the secondary at a risk of contamination
Any suggestions out there? If I take the dry hop route give me some ideas for exact procedure/ingredients.
Here is the recipe from the kit (as provided by someone else on the net): True Brew tm
I went to Flying Barrel in Frederick MD and picked up the supplies (I had given the old ones away to a friend who has had much more success in exchange for a few bottles of wine). I came out with all the equipment and a True Brew IPA kit. The wort (or is it beer now?) Is bubbling away contentedly under my desk. I've even opened a window to keep the temp down around 70deg. A little chilly for sleeping but the beer seems happy!
So on to my "problem". After reading a few reviews on this site it seems that this beer comes out closer to and english IPA or a brown ale. I'm a huge fan of DFH 60,90,120 minute IPA's so I was a little disappointed. At this point I figure I have a few options:
1. Leave well enough alone and bottle in about 10 days, enjoying whatever comes out, not risking messing up my first batch.
2. Personalize (more my style) the recipe by adding a secondary fermenter into the mix and dry hopping there. Also I would stand to gain more clarity, etc etc from using the secondary at a risk of contamination
Any suggestions out there? If I take the dry hop route give me some ideas for exact procedure/ingredients.
Here is the recipe from the kit (as provided by someone else on the net): True Brew tm