Erin and I have been on an IPA kick recently and we decided that it was time to try brewing our own. This batch was especially important because the last batch...well let's just say it didn't turn out well. What I was trying to brew was a dunkelweizen, which is a German style of wheat beer that's darker in color than your average wheat beer. What I actually brewed was a sour tasting mess that ended up getting poured down the drain. For those of you who have never had to pour out five gallons of beer before, let's just say that it's a heart breaking experience.
Enough of focusing on the past, let's get to brewing. Today's recipe is an Imperial Pale Ale from Sam Calagione who is the owner of the Dogfish Head Brewery. We start by steeping one pound of Crystal Malt in four gallons of water at 170 degrees.
We remove the malt and allow the pot to come to a boil. Once it boils we add 6.4 pounds of dry light malt extract followed by 1.5 ounces of centennial hops. This is one of my favorite parts about brewing, once the kettle comes to a boil, the smell of malt and hops that fills the house is completely intoxicating.
We let this boil for an hour, adding another ounce of Cascade hops ten minutes before the end of the boil for flavor and another half an ounce of Cascade hops right at the end for aroma. Then all that's left to do is chill the wort (unfermented beer) to room temperature and pitch the yeast.
This recipe is intended to produce a golden colored, floral smelling IPA, with an alcohol content of around 8.5%. Unfortunately it will be another three or four weeks before we actually get to taste the fruits of our labor so the results will have to follow in a separate post.
I think I will have to have Scott read this posting. He has just begun to dabble in the idea of brewing his own beer. We haven't even got to taste the first batch yet.
ReplyDelete~Sara from Omaha (I know Erin from Fellows)