Hopacles '08... epic or insane?

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ohiobrewtus

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I'm either insane or I'm a genius (my money is on the former). I normally don't post recipes for review but before I put all these hops into one brew I thought I'd get some feedback form the collective.

Let me state that this beer is meant to be a completely over-the-top novelty beer. I know that this is an insane amount of hops and that's kind of the point.

This recipe is based on Hopacles '07 (reviews here and here), and given the feedback that I received I want to dry this beer out quite a bit so that it's not mistaken for a hopped up barleywine as the previous version finished much too thick and a bit sweet.

The mash temp and length are based upon a Biere de Garde that I did recently. I mashed it at 148 (or 149 - can't remember off the top of my head) for 90 minutes and added 1# of table sugar and 1# of Amber Belgian Candi sugar. It started at 1.080 and finished at 1.006. Obviously the Wyeast 3725 that I used with the Biere de Garde, combined with the fermentation temps that I used on the Biere de Garde were unique in getting that beer down that low. I'm looking to get Hopacles '08 down to about 1.010 - 1.012 so hopefully the combination of the lower mash temp + the 90 minute mash + the 2# of simple sugars will give me the dry finish that I'm looking for.

I also adjusted the recipe to end up with roughly the same theoretical IBU's as last year's recipe (spare me the "100 IBU's are the limit that anyone can taste" arguement please). This may seem odd since last year's only used 13 oz. and this year's will use 21 oz., but based on Hopacles '07 I wanted to get a MUCH stronger nose in this beer, along with much more hop flavor to go along with the smack-you-in-the-face bitterness.

Due to the large volume of hops involved, I adjusted this recipe to result in 6.5 gallons into primary. Hopacles '07 was brewed based on 5.5 galons and only resulted in about 4.5-4.75 gallons in the keg due to absorption by hop pellets. I want to make damn sure that I have 5 gallons to bottle/keg this year. The grainbill and hopbill were adjusted acordingly based on the increased volume.

In case you're wondering - yes, I have all of these hops in stock :D, with about 5 lb. to spare. Finding deals on hops and buying them up has become a bit of a compulsion for me lately. :rockin:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.54 gal
Estimated OG: 1.102 SG
Estimated Color: 12.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 299.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.83 %
5.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 21.74 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 52.1 IBU
3.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (60 min) Hops 91.5 IBU
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 72.6 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) (Mash HopHops 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort HoHops 30.7 IBU
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.5 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.7 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 21 days)Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 21 days) Hops -
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8.70 %
2 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 6.51 gal of water at 165.3 F 150.0 F
 
Thats more hops then I have used in my last 8 batches combined. Jesus man, Going to use this as an insect repellent? lady repellent or are you just making beer that no one but us people whos tongues are dead to most hop flavor will enjoy. Will this be drinkable after what, about 5 months?
 
I may be wrong, but i thought i heard somewhere there is a max to the IBU's that someone can actually taste. So anything over that threshold would be a waste.
 
I think you should cut your 60 minute addition back by a quarter ounce or so, then it would be perfect :)

Seriously, I would love to try one.
 
I vote for insane. I would be up to the challenge of trying it though :mug: By the way, where are you getting simcoe hops? They seem very high priced whenever I have checked.
 
I honestly think you have way too many bittering hops. If you're looking for the hop-nose, then you need to bombard this sucker from 10 minutes on and dry hop with around 8 oz over the course of a couple days. I would think about taking around 4-5 oz of the 60 minute additions and moving them toward the end or saving them to dryhop. I'd also forgo the mash-hop - I've never really tasted anything different about it.

I'd also be tempted to cut back on the specialty malts a ton. 2 lbs crystal? That's not going to help your endeavor to dry it out.

I know you're trying to create your own thing, but think about the Pliny recipes - the Elder is just 2-row and a pinch of crystal. The Younger is all two row, no specialty malts at all. You want to take into consideration of the unfermentable nature of these malts. I think the Munich is a great choice if you're looking for that malty foundation - it will ferment out, but still leave a fantastic base. I think the Meladoinin and Aromatic are also going to be the exact opposite of what you want in terms of hop nose - the more malt up front, the more it's going to cover up the hops.
 
Well, Kyle, you can imagine what I think about this!

I say, "Good plan!". You know that I was probably the most critical of your hopacles- it was good, but I really thought it was a barley wine. Once I read the recipe,, though, I realized that it was an IIPA. (I also think DFH 120 is too much like a BW, too). As far as I'm concerned, more hops in the nose would have really made that beer the best!

I'm not too sure about the aromatic malt- I assume you're going for a malty aroma and taste, to balance the hops? I've been experimenting with aromatic malt myself right now, usually in 4 ounce increments to bring that certain malty something to my pale ales. What do you expect from the aromatic malt?

I love simcoe, amarillo, and cascade together. I think that's a brilliant combo. I'm unsure of all the hops additions at 60 minutes, though. You have columbus, warrior, simcoe, and cascade, with more warrior for FWH and amarillo for MH. I would probably keep the FWH with the warrior, but not add them again at 60 minutes. Why all the different hops at 60? Do you expect a fuller bitterness from the variety? (Just asking here- I'm not experienced enough with all those different bittering hops to be critical- I really want to know).

Edit- while I was typing and thinking pseudochef posted his response. I'm asking what he's asking, only in a more babbling way, I guess.
 
Chef, that's exactly the kind of feedback that I was looking for. This is a hop bomb, but it still needs to at least attempt some balance. The specialty malts certainly contributed to the barleywine traits that Yoop pointed to. I disagree on the mash hop though. I've mash hopped my last few IPA's and the flavor contribution is certainly noticable.

As for the 60 min additions, I was using high aa% hops that I have in inventory to achieve a similar theorectical IBU as last year's version. If I had enough Warrior, that's all I would use. I'll tweak this when I have time and repost.

The cascade at 60 min is an error on my part. There will be no 60 min cascade addition - only dryhop.


Thank you for the great suggestions.
 
The only concern I have is 3 oz of Warrior for bittering. I've always thought Warrior came across a little too harsh when used in large quantities.

I really liked Left Hand's Warrior IPA. I really like Simcoe-Amarillo-heavy IPAs. But I don't know if the two mix well.

Either way, I really like this recipe, I think it looks very promising. If/when you brew it, keep in touch, I'd love to swap a bottle with yer. :)

Edit: Staring at it more and more... I'd cut the Munich by 1 or 2 lbs, and add it back in plain ol' Pale Malt. Same thing P-Chef was sayin' about Pliny. Also I'd do *either* the Melanoidin or the Aromatic, not both. In general, the 08 appears to have far more specialty grain than the 07. I'd thin it up a bit. :)

Edit 2: I know what you mean re: finding + snatching up hops. It's become a compulsion for me, too. Now I have an European and an American shelf in the freezer. Seperate box for each continent, both boxes full with at least 3lbs each. :p

Edit One More: I'd even consider extending the mash to 120 mins. This should encourage GREAT fermentability. :)

Edit Yet Again: BeerSmith recipes bleed together when I try to read them, so I'm gonna repost the hop schedule with some breaks in it, for clarity. That will help me think out the rest of this. And I took out the 60" Cascade like you said.

MASH
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) (Mash Hop)
FIRST WORT
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop)
60 MINUTE
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min)
3.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (60 min)
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min)
15 MINUTE
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
10 MINUTE
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.7 IBU
5 MINUTE
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
DRY HOP
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 21 days)
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 21 days)

-Are your Warriors really two different AA's? That could help your computed IBUs a little, I'm guessing they're all 16.4, not 15.
-Move some of the Simcoe back into the 15 - 0 range? I'd love to see a little more flavor/aroma hopping, Or is that why you're relying on the Dry Hop additions to provide?
-I'd love to see 1/2 Simcoe, 1/2 Amarillo for the Mash Hop addition. It seems like those two get along so, so well! :D
 
Chef, that's exactly the kind of feedback that I was looking for. This is a hop bomb, but it still needs to at least attempt some balance. The specialty malts certainly contributed to the barleywine traits that Yoop pointed to. I disagree on the mash hop though. I've mash hopped my last few IPA's and the flavor contribution is certainly noticable.

As for the 60 min additions, I was using high aa% hops that I have in inventory to achieve a similar theorectical IBU as last year's version. If I had enough Warrior, that's all I would use. I'll tweak this when I have time and repost.

The cascade at 60 min is an error on my part. There will be no 60 min cascade addition - only dryhop.


Thank you for the great suggestions.

Sounds good, I just noticed the Cascade too. Glad you cleared that up. What do you get from the Mash Hop? I did it once in an India Brown, but don't know enough to really know what it puts on the table, so to speak. Thanks for your insight.
 
Sounds good, I just noticed the Cascade too. Glad you cleared that up. What do you get from the Mash Hop? I did it once in an India Brown, but don't know enough to really know what it puts on the table, so to speak. Thanks for your insight.

In the beers that I've mash hopped, I notice a much stronger hop flavor on the back of the tongue. I did my APA with and without, and there was certainly more hop flavor to it. I'm not 100% sold on it yet, but I've been using it a bit more lately to try and confirm what I tasted in the APA.

My Warrior are all 16.4%. BeerSmith has default values for all hops, sometimes I forget to change them. :drunk:

I don't find Warrior to be harsh at all. It's one of my favorite hops. I use it almost exclusively for bittering in any beer that's over 60 IBU.
 
Sorry OB! Been reviewing my notes, it's Chinook that is way too harsh for my taste buds! Warrior is one of my preferred hops! Just got the two mixed up.

I'm excited to see how this winds up! Maybe I'll have to do another IPA to trade you with. My American IPA came out like crap. Still need to figure out what caused that. :/
 
I'm not good enough with designing recipes yet to offer feedback on that end, all I'm going to say is Hell Yeah! brew this badboy, make it a hopmonster from hell.
 
I think it looks incredible.

:off:OhioB, have you ever considered, or have you used, a hopback? I like hoppy brews as well, and have been thinking about kludging something together to give it a shot. A buddy of mine in the biz said most micros use them to obtain that nice hop nose you find in a good IPA.
 
This might also be a good beer to use Niquejim's technique of chilling the wort to 180*F, turning off the chiller, pitching another hop addition, steeping with a lid for 30 minutes, then resuming chilling. I don't know how far it cools in 30 minutes, I might be concerned for possible DMS production, as I'm not sure what he does to circumvent that. Perhaps it just "doesn't get that cool" in the 30 minutes he steeps those hops.
(link: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/fat-owl- pale-ale-55221/ )

What are your thoughts on Centennial, and do you have any? P-Chef's Heathen IIPA was the bomb-dizzle and it used Centennial for all late additions. Don't know if the Cent would clash with the Simcoe and the Amarillo, though.

DAG NABBIT, this recipe is putting me in a hoppy mood!!!! Might have to stop at N-St for a bomber of Bittersweet Lenny's on the way home. :D
 
I like the Munich, I think the crystal is a little much, love the Aromatic but loose the Melanoiden. I'd replace it with Victory and add some Dark Candi Syrup. :ban:
Just kegged something similar but only about 90 IBU's and it's fantastic. I say keep the maltiness up, the crystal down and use sugar to dry it out a little.....:tank:
 
I think it looks incredible.

:off:OhioB, have you ever considered, or have you used, a hopback? I like hoppy brews as well, and have been thinking about kludging something together to give it a shot. A buddy of mine in the biz said most micros use them to obtain that nice hop nose you find in a good IPA.

I've thought about it, but I don't have access to one or even know how I'd make one. I've read mixed reviews of them though. I'll all for occasionally using an obscene amount of hops, but 6+ oz. in a hopback seems like a bit much for the result that you achieve.

I had an IPA at NHC that was served through a hopback and I really didn't notice much in the way of aroma that was above and beyond other IPA's that I've had:

NHC013.jpg


If I remember correctly (which is not an easy thing to do on Club Night at NHC), they had about 10 oz of cascade in there. They said that this randall was previously used by DFH.
 
First let me say I want to try some of this!!!! :D

As for the grains. Why dextrin malt if you want a dry beer? Doesn't it just leave residual sugars with little flavor difference from 2-row.
Same thing with the caramel-10. Seems a little much for beer you want to be dry.

About the hops. I think you need to move some of those to late addition. Sure it may no longer be 300ibus but 150IBUs is still very impressive and I think a ton of late addition hops will have more impact than they would pushing the IBUs from 150 to 300. I would move most or all of the Cascades, Columbus and Simcoe to the last 15min. Especially the Cascades, its not doing much back there at 60min but its a great flavor or aroma hop.

Just my 2 cents. I've never made an IIPA with this much hops so my opinions are worth about what you paid for them. My hoppiest beer used 720g (about 25oz) of wet hops in the boil.

Craig

Oh and your insane but I like that kind of insanity :D
 
Ohiobrewtus,

The more I stare at this, the more I think that the specialty grains could be worrisome. I've plugged your recipe into BeerSmith, and played around with the maltbill a little. You'll notice that the hop schedule is the same, except with the 60" addition of Cascade removed per your instructions.

What do you think about the edits I've made? I've not inserted a mash schedule, but I would just keep yours - 150*F for 90 minutes or 120 minutes or whatever length you determine. I *did* make it a 90 minute boil, though, to establish good hot break before starting the hop schedule. Attached is the BSM file for what I have below.

Looking forward to your thoughts!


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - BeerSmith Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Wiki and Discussion Forum
Recipe: hopacles 08

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.71 gal
Estimated OG: 1.103 SG
Estimated Color: 11.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 303.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 63.83 %
3 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 12.77 %
2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 8.51 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 3.19 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %
4.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 1.06 %
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8.51 %


2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (90 min) (Mash HoHops 8.4 IBU

1.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (90 min) (First Wort HoHops 38.0 IBU

3.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (60 min) Hops 96.9 IBU
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 55.1 IBU
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 76.8 IBU

1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 12.7 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.1 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 7.9 IBU

2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 21 days)Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 21 days) Hops -

Total Grain Weight: 21.50 lb​

Now..... IF I were going to toy around with the hop bill, to capitalize on late additions, but still get 300 IBUs out of it, I would make it something like this:
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 8.4 IBU

2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 64.9 IBU

2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 51.2 IBU
4.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (60 min) Hops 129.2 IBU

2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 25.4 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 14.3 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 7.9 IBU

2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 21 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 21 days) Hops -​

But most importantly, 1) This is your baby! 2) I have VERY little experience with IIIPAs, and 3) I'm sure NO MATTER what recipe you go with, this thing is gonna kick some major a$$!!!!!!! You are da man, and please don't take any of our advice as criticism, just guidance! :D Seriously, this is an inspiring beer, and I think I'm gonna have to start playin around with my IBUs!

View attachment Hopacles08.bsm
 
Build the hop randall. You won't regret it. I plan to make one out of one of those small filter thingies and attach a MFL on each end for my ghetto cobra tap setup. I'll stuff 2-4 oz of leaf hops in a nylon bag where the filter would normally go. The effect is absolutely in your face hop aroma that nothing else can compare to. My beer life changed forever when I had a beer off of one of those. :mug:

I agree with subbing in 1# victory for the aromatic and dropping the melanoidin. I used melanoidin and victory in my 1st cut at a house pale ale. The melanoidin ended up being annoying; the first impression is "candied apples", not quite the effect I wanted in an APA! :) The victory malt is nice and biscuity and should hold up well against the higher hop bitterness of your brew. I needed more IBUs to balance the 1# I used in my pale ale, so I'll have a house IPA by the time I'm done tweaking. ;)
 
in case you're wondering - yes, I have all of these hops in stock :D, with about 5 lb. to spare. Finding deals on hops and buying them up has become a bit of a compulsion for me lately. :rockin:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.54 gal
Estimated OG: 1.102 SG
Estimated Color: 12.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 299.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.83 %
5.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 21.74 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 52.1 IBU
3.00 oz Warrior [16.40 %] (60 min) Hops 91.5 IBU
3.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 72.6 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) (Mash HopHops 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort HoHops 30.7 IBU
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.5 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.7 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 21 days)Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 21 days) Hops -
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8.70 %
2 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 6.51 gal of water at 165.3 F 150.0 F[/QUOTE]



No wonder i cant get any hops
 
I modified the recipe a bit, eliminating the crystal and the Melanoidin, and tweaked the hop bill a bit. I'm up in my server room now, but I'll post the recipe when I get back to my office. I still plan on brewing this soon so that it's ready to drink in December/January.
 
Cool beans, keep us posted! :) I think an SMaSH IPA is next up on my plate - same reason, I want something to enjoy come January.
 
Here is the final version that I plan on brewing Friday, barring any last minute brainstorms. I realized that I'm out of Warrior and I'm running out of time to actually brew Hopacles '08 in '08 so I'll make due with Galena, Columbus and Simcoe for bittering.

I'll try to remember to take some pics while I'm brewing on Friday.

For those of you just tuning in - yes, I know this is a ridiculous amount of hops... that's kinda the point. :rockin:


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - BeerSmith Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Wiki and Discussion Forum
Recipe: Hopacles '08
Brewer: HopHed Brewhaus
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (41.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.98 gal
Estimated OG: 1.093 SG
Estimated Color: 6.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 275.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 72.29 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 14.46 %
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.61 %
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc (add @ 15)
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9.64 % (add @ 15)

Hops:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10%] (Mash Hop) Hops -
2.00 oz Galena [13%] (90 min) (First Wort) 63.3 IBU
4.00 oz Galena [13%] (60 min) 107.7 IBU
3.00 oz Columbus [14%] (60 min) 87.0 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13%] (15 min) 13.4 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10%] (5 min) 4.1 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10%] (Dry Hop 21 days) -
4.00 oz Cascade [5.5%] (Dry Hop 21 days) -
1.50 oz Simcoe [13%] (Dry Hop 21 days) -
3.00 oz Crystal [3.6%] (Dry Hop 21 days) -


2 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 18.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 5.86 gal of water at 170.1 F 150.0 F

Notes:
------
Dry Hop at ale temps, then add gelatin and cold crash at 40F for 21+ days.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Jeezus. 7oz of high-AA bittering hops. Hehehe. I fear that if you taste the hydro sample, you may never taste anything else again. Ever. :p

20.5 oz total. MmmmMmmm. I can't wait to hear the results.
 
My concern is that you're using so many different kinds of hops that it might taste muddled or floral instead of hoppy. I'd be more curious to see what it would be like if you used 22 oz (I think I added that up correctly) of one kind of hop.
 
Jeezus. 7oz of high-AA bittering hops. Hehehe. I fear that if you taste the hydro sample, you may never taste anything else again. Ever. :p

20.5 oz total. MmmmMmmm. I can't wait to hear the results.

I'm sure that my tastebuds will recover. :D

My concern is that you're using so many different kinds of hops that it might taste muddled or floral instead of hoppy. I'd be more curious to see what it would be like if you used 22 oz (I think I added that up correctly) of one kind of hop.

I've done a number of beers with the same hop throughout and they're usually just too plain to me. I like to add a bit of complexity to a beer, especially something like this. With 5 varieties of hops, I don't think that I'm putting too many different ones in there, and I know what they're all going to do. Hopefully it all works out in the end. :D
 
It's true: I can't think of a single hop listed in that hop bill that doesn't "belong". Plus, Amarillo so sofffffft. Mmm.
 
I didn't get any pics taken while I was brewing. I didn't put much priority to it, as most people who know me don't need to see pics of the hop additions to believe that I made it given hy track record of hopiness. :D

All went well... I *love* the smell of a mash with a couple ounces of hops in it. I collected just shy of 6.5 gallons. I'll be transferring it off of the cake this week and racking it to another bucket for secondary. I've found that it's best to dry hop in a bucket when using this amount of hops. Thanks in part to Harv, I believe that the dry hop bill will be as follows:

3 oz Cascade
3 oz Crystal
2 oz Amarillo
1.5 oz Simcoe (1.5 oz because that's all I have left)
 
I racked this to secondary today. I had hoped that the addition of 2# of sucrose would get the TG down. I was expecting somewhere around 1.008 or so. Much to my surprise it was 1.003, and the sample was outstanding.

I didn't take a pic (everyone's seen big piles of hops before anyway :D), but I just dry hopped it with 9.5 oz. 4 oz. Cascade, 3 oz. Crystal, 2 oz. Amarillo and .5 oz Simcoe (I thought I had 1.5 oz, but I must have used an ounce somewhere and forgotten about it).

I did, however, take a pic of what I have in process right now. I think I'm set for a while, plus there's 5 gallons of Baltic Porter not shown that's lagering in the garage. :rockin:

12-19-08003.jpg
 
OMFG!


I bow to your pipeline.. :rockin:

Oh yeah.. and sounds awesome!

The bad thing is that I brew WAY more than I can drink and I only have 2 taps. I'm going to have to bottle most of this, and I despise bottling. I guess that there's worse problems to have though.
 
Holy Crap, 9.5 oz dry hops.

Is there any room for beer?

I brewed an IIPA with 6 oz of whole leaf today. It was a mess. I hope you get at least a 6pack after all this :)
 
Holy Crap, 9.5 oz dry hops.

Is there any room for beer?

I brewed an IIPA with 6 oz of whole leaf today. It was a mess. I hope you get at least a 6pack after all this :)

I ended up with 6.5 gallons into primary at 1.084 and right at 6 gallons today when I racked to secondary and dry hopped. I don't think that I'll have a problem getting 5 gallons when I go to tertiary. I'm actually hoping that I end up with about 5.5 gallons and I'll cold crash it in the garage for a couple of weeks after it's done dry hopping.

I'm still shocked that 2 packs of Notty got me 96.4% attenuation. I wanted to dry it out and all but damn...
 
I bottled this last weekend. Since I'm still having issues with BMBF I figured I'd better just go ahead and bottle this one.

I'm a bit disappointed in the nose. I expected it to be much stronger with as much as I dry hopped with. It came in at about 11% abv, which is right about what I was shooting for. Bitterness overwhelms the palate up front then quickly subsides leading to a dry finish with a mild hotness.

I didn't take any pics, but I was able to get this to clear up really well. I racked to tertiary after the dryhop then left it at 40F for 5 or 6 days before bottling.
 
I am curious to ask if you pitched any more yeast. Its been a while, and at 11%, I am sure the yeast have given it the old college try.
 
No I did not. I'm hoping there are enough viable cells in there to get the job done, but if not I can always resort to carb tabs or get it to keg and force carb it.

I was actually just going to rack it to keg and force carb it because I had the same concern, but right before I did anything with it I popped open one of my Baltic Porters that was right around 10%. The Baltic Porter sat in my garage lagering for a month before I racked off and bottled it. I was skeptical of that brew but it had been in bottles for 3 weeks when I tried it and it's carbing just fine.

Granted that doesn't guarantee that this beer will carbonate correctly, but your question is valid. Hopefully it works out for me. :D
 
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