I do love my IPAs. The hoppier, smellier, fruitier, the better. I've had pretty good luck with some of them, but this last weekend I brewed another version of Pliny. I'm going to do the two dry hop additions, but I wanted to get the most out of the flameout hops. My boil kettle doesn't have a bulkhead or spigot, so I improvised. I use an IC to chill my wort, and of course I drop it in 30 minutes to end of boil to sanitize. I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the side of the kettle for my hop additions as well. This time, after adding the flameout hops, I clamped the bag to the inside of the chiller (just your run-of-the-mill 25' SS) and stood there swirling it around and around and around for about 12 minutes. Was kinda hoping it would do something, but wasn't real optimistic.
I just took a taste of it (yes three days in, it's sanitary and I like to taste my beers all through the process). OMG. I've never had this beer so flavorful just three days in, and before dry hopping has even started. Of course there's still a lot of yeast in suspension and that taste ain't great, but I can taste the actual beer underneath and I've really done it this time. Next time I might just keep the bag there while I'm chilling to get the most out of the flameout hops.
I just took a taste of it (yes three days in, it's sanitary and I like to taste my beers all through the process). OMG. I've never had this beer so flavorful just three days in, and before dry hopping has even started. Of course there's still a lot of yeast in suspension and that taste ain't great, but I can taste the actual beer underneath and I've really done it this time. Next time I might just keep the bag there while I'm chilling to get the most out of the flameout hops.
