Holy @#$% Pliny the Bastid is amazing

[Skacorica]

So, about a month ago I made Pliny the bastid, with just a bit of alteration since I wanted to make it into a triple IPA and I just want to say, I just did my first dry hop addition and oh my God it is good already.

I affectionately refer to it as Pliny the stronger bastid. Here is what my stronger version came out like... I was a bit hop limited to what I had on hand, plus what LHBS had in stock. I switched out 2 row for maris otter just because I happened to have it on hand, and I think its delicious.


Brewer: Jesse
Beer: Pliny the Stonger Bastid Style: India Pale Ale
Type: All grain Size: 5.5 gallons
Color:
9 HCU (~7 SRM)
Bitterness: 305 IBU

OG: 1.090 FG: 1.014
Alcohol: 9.9% v/v (7.7% w/w)
Grain:
16 lb. Maris Otter
1 lb. American crystal 20L
1.5 lb. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)

Mash: 68% efficiency
Boil: minutes SG 1.076 6.5 gallons
1 lb. Corn sugar

Hops:
2 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 90 min.)
2 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 90 min.)
2 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 90 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 45 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 45 min.)
1 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 45 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 15 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 15 min.)
1 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 15 min.)
2 oz. Cascade (aroma)
2 oz. Simcoe (aroma)

Yeast
-----
Cali Ale (Safale-05)

Notes
I changed the drop hop schedule a bit; 2 dry hop additions, 1 4 weeks after, and I will do one more in 2 weeks, of 1 ounces EACH of cascade and simcoe.

Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company Owner/Brewmaster) is a genius.

I know its a fairly large deviation but its still in the spirit of, and its much better than anything Ive come up with on my own

 

[Jzak09]

I'm a AG noobie and curious to know your Mash and Sparge Volumes as I have limited room with my current equipment. I just acquired a crap ton of hops and looking to do a huge IPA.

 

[Skacorica]

I'm a AG noobie and curious to know your Mash and Sparge Volumes as I have limited room with my current equipment. I just acquired a crap ton of hops and looking to do a huge IPA.

I have a 54 Qt igloo cooler for a mash tun, and to be honest it wasnt very scientific, I filled it up to the brim to mash, then sparged.

I would estimate I put in 7 gallons for mashing, mashed at about 154, then sparged with another 3-4. I ended up with about 7 gallons that I boiled down to 5.5. Dont underestimate how much grain soaks up, it soaks up a ton (and sucks a ton of heat too!).

 

[gtpro]

4oz of high AA hops and 2oz of med-AA hops for 90 minutes, thats unreal. I guess the extra maltiness balances some of that out.

 

[DavidSteel]

What temp did you mash at? 154?

 

[KayaBrew]

I think 19 oz of hops is over the top. And I love IPAs. Anyways, my question is, didn't you have to adjust your pre-boil volume to account for all those hops (because they soak up a lot of liquid)? I seems like between the boil-off and the hops, you'd have to start with 8.5 or 9 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the end.

 

[Skacorica]

4oz of high AA hops and 2oz of med-AA hops for 90 minutes, thats unreal. I guess the extra maltiness balances some of that out.

Yeah, despite fermenting down fairly far, it is still very sweet tasting. Its very balanced, bitter, but not overly. I also suspect that the medium AA hops were essentially "spent" after a while. Not to mention its not as if the beer can actually get to 300 IBU

 

[Skacorica]

I think 19 oz of hops is over the top. And I love IPAs. Anyways, my question is, didn't you have to adjust your pre-boil volume to account for all those hops (because they soak up a lot of liquid)? I seems like between the boil-off and the hops, you'd have to start with 8.5 or 9 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the end.

Its more a matter of what I had on hand, I have a @#$% load of cascade/centennial on hand. The Chinook I had to buy.

As far as the soaking up wort, I went back and looked at my brew notes from that day (it was sort of a crazy day, I tried to do it on Valentines day - oops) and actually I did sparge with my full 5 gallons of sparge water, so I probably had closer to 7.5 gallons in the boil originally, and, heres a biggy: I actually boiled down to 5 and ended up adding half a gallon of water after the boil. So, not quite as extreme as you suggest, but definitely soaked up a lot (particularly because I mostly had leaf hops).

 

[MrInternet]

Looks like fun, but how on earth would the Cascades at 90 and 45 even come through? Would anyone even notice if they were left out?

 

[Skacorica]

What temp did you mash at? 154?

David, yes, 154. I have a digital thermo built into my mash tun as well as a metal rod style one I use to double check. Both indicated 154, though I lost a degree or two down to 152 by the end of mashing

 

[Skacorica]

Looks like fun, but how on earth would the Cascades at 90 and 45 even come through? Would anyone even notice if they were left out?

Most likely not. In fact, I would argue that anything beyond 30, all you are really getting is bitterness.

Once again, it was the availability of cascade and centennial. My uncle owns an organic farm in LaPorte and hes got a mass of wild cascade and centennial, which seem to grow well in CO.

 

[broadbill]

Looks like fun, but how on earth would the Cascades at 90 and 45 even come through? Would anyone even notice if they were left out?

I'm guessing you wouldn't notice that you left them out. 100 IBU is the max bitterness you can get, so at 305 you are just throwing hops into the pot for show. I'm glad it came out tasty, but in the future you could considering adding the making those additions flavoring or aroma or dry-hopping instead of bittering.

 

[Skacorica]

I'm guessing you wouldn't notice that you left them out. 100 IBU is the max bitterness you can get, so at 305 you are just throwing hops into the pot for show. I'm glad it came out tasty, but in the future you could considering adding the making those additions flavoring or aroma or dry-hopping instead of bittering.

Probably, was fun though And to be fair, the real Pliny does roughly the same as I did - just a bit less

 

[remilard]

The real pliny only has hop extract prior to 45.