1st batch in 25 years!

[sonofred]

Finshed my first batch after 25 years out of the hobby. Jumping back in with both feet. Brewed up a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA clone. The process went surprisingly smoothly. Went with a new 8 gallon kettle and igloo mash tun newly aquired from AIHB.

Mashed in a little hot, shooting for 152 but started at 156 but was able to cool it down to 153 within 5 minutes. No worries. Mashed out at 167 with a batch sparge. Setting the grain bed.

wound up with 6.5 gallons in the kettle at 1.050 SG. Finished up a little over 5 gallons at 1.070.

Chilled down to 70 with immersion chiller then into fermenter and pitched at 67 with two packs of White labs WLP001 California Ale yeast. Was bubbling away happily this morning.
Here's the recipe:
For 5.5 Gallons (20.82 L)
11.0 lb (4.99 kg) U.S. pale two-row malt
1.75 lb (0.79 kg) 10° L Munich malt
0.75 lb (340 g) 75° L crystal malt
0.5 oz (14 g) Nugget pellets, 13% a.a. (60 min)
1.0 oz (28 g) Citra pellets, 12% a.a. (15 min)
1.0 oz (28 g) Mosaic pellets, 12% a.a. (15 min)
1.0 oz (28 g) Citra pellets, 12% a.a. (steep 10 min)
1.0 oz (28 g) Citra pellets, 12% a.a. (dry hop 5 days)
1.0 oz (28 g) Mosaic pellets, 12% a.a. (dry hop 5 days)
Whirlfloc tablet (10 min)
White labs WLP001 California Ale yeast

All told it took about 4 hours from heating the water to pitching the yeast. Not too shabby for my first outing in a loooong time. Will post tasting notes in a couple of weeks.

Questions or comments?

Slainte!

 

[PADave]

Chilled down to 170 with immersion chiller then into fermenter and pitched at 167 with two packs of White labs WLP001 California Ale yeast. Was bubbling away happily this morning.

I'll assume that's supposed to be 70 and 67?

 

[HLSheppard]

I'm not seeing the pics... :-(

Welcome back, though!

 

[unionrdr]

Sounds good, but no-show on the pics! And welcome back after that long hiatus!

 

[CamG]

Nice job... no holding back for sure, just jumped right back in.
Looks like it is going to be a very nice IPA. Nice hop selection.

although Pitching at 167 might be a little hot I am sure you meant 16.7 degrees C ?

Looking forward to the tasting comments.

 

[Erik_Mog]

Welcome back to the fun!

 

[sonofred]

I'll assume that's supposed to be 70 and 67?

Yes of course. Not sure why the pics didn't show. will try another way.

 

[brewbama]

Welcome back sonofred. Look fwd to the photos.

 

[Elkobrewer]

Welcome back. From Elko Nevada

 

[sonofred]

So I am short 1 oz of Citra. Thoughts on using Galaxy and Mosaic for dry hop additions?

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Welcome back. Looks like it's going to be a great brew.

 

[sonofred]

Seems like consensus is no secondary day around here. Is that mainly due to fear of oxygenation?

 

[Yeastieboy]

I secondary only if I am dry hopping or lagering. But that's just my thing. I've never been overly concerned with oxidation unless it's a beer I plan to age for a long time. That said, I'm always careful not to splash beer around like an idiot. But carefully racking to another vessel doesn't concern me. No issues in 6+ years.

PS. Welcome back to the hobby / obsession!

 

[pvpeacock]

Welcome back. I took over 20 years off myself. What a difference. The equipment, the hops, the yeast, the knowledge, the kegs, etc. I look back and feel like we were cave men back then in comparison.

 

[sonofred]

Welcome back. I took over 20 years off myself. What a difference. The equipment, the hops, the yeast, the knowledge, the kegs, etc. I look back and feel like we were cave men back then in comparison.

We were cavemen, but we still managed to brew a lot of tasty beverages. I tell you what though, even moving to all-grain from extract/partial mashes my goodness it seems a lot easier these days. We'll see what my results are, but I don't remember a brew going this smoothly back in the day.

 

[Nico93]

Wow, 25 years is a lot of time!

Good brews!

 

[Photopilot]

Awesome job, welcome back.

I have really enjoyed a locally brewed Mosaic based beer. My vote is Mosaic.

 

[sonofred]

Awesome job, welcome back.

I have really enjoyed a locally brewed Mosaic based beer. My vote is Mosaic.

The recipe called for 1 oz each of Citra and Mosaic, but I only have Mosaic and Galaxy left. So will definitely use the Mosaic but wondering if the Galaxy will be too much.

 

[Photopilot]

The recipe called for 1 oz each of Citra and Mosaic, but I only have Mosaic and Galaxy left. So will definitely use the Mosaic but wondering if the Galaxy will be too much.

Not very familiar with Galaxy but a quick check is says similar to Citra. I enjoyed my experiments with Citra a while back. Can't go wrong with either.

BTW, I just found my old brewing handbook and realized I have brewing for 20 years with some hiatuses. I feel the need to create some special beers for the anniversary.

 

[Callacave]

You can't go wrong with Galaxy. Sometimes I think it's a cheater hop, it's so damn good. Throw it in and enjoy!!

Welcome back!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Mosaic... Mmmm, mmm, good! welcome back to the fun.

 

[sonofred]

Nailed my 1.070 OG and pitched with two packs of California Ale yeast at 67 then let it rise to 70. Went with Mosaic and Galaxy as dry hops. Everything went very smoothly. Gravity got down to 1.020 in a less than three days! Going to let it sit a few more days then cold crash and keg. Tasted pretty good too!

 

[sonofred]

Finished up at 1.016 and tastes great. Nice and juicy and no perceptible off flavors. I'm quite pleased with this batch especially for the first time with this equipment. In the keg now carbonating. I'll post more tasting notes this weekend when it's ready to drink.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468935484.632782.jpg

 

[sonofred]

Next up in the fermentor is a grapefruit variant. Same grain bill as the original, but with different hop schedule (chinook, cascade and amarillo). Plus some grapefruit zest in with the dry hops. That batch went well though I think my kettle boil off rate is too high. Wound up with around 4.5 gallons this time in the fermentor. Need to turn down the heat a little bit.

 

[sonofred]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469199859.594794.jpgthe finished product. Lots of bitterness but not oppressive at all. Underlying malt sweetness helps to balance it out. Not as much Hop aroma from the dry hopping as I would like. All things considered, for a first effort in a long long time I am quite pleased. I give it a solid B+