Wow, the world gets in the way. Many plans to brew have been written and scraped since I last posted. Finally, during a trying and troubled weekend (possibly the worst for brewing in months, but I couldn't have known on Saturday morning) I managed to make a holiday ale.

The goals was a well-balanced, caramel, nutty and bitter-sweet beer, sweet but balanced, complex and comforting. A winter ale for the approaching holidays.

The recipe:

• 12 pounds domestic 2-row
• 10 oz. 40L crystal malt
• 6 oz. Special B
• 8 oz. Victory Malt
• 2 oz. chocolate malt
• 1 oz. 8% UK Target pellets, 90 min
• .5 oz. 5% fuggles pellets, 30 min
• .5 oz 5% fuggles pellets, 10 min
• .75 oz. 3.5% czech saaz leaf, 10 min
• Safale S04, English Type Ale Yeast

My original gravity was 1.067. I had to stick my hand in the chilled wort, so I'm not wagering too much that this is really good because I'd say there's about a 25% chance of spoilage. I mashed at 151, bumped it back up to that temperature after 30 minutes, and after 20 or so more minutes, heated it to 161 to finish everything up.

I lost my brewing software and about three years worth of recipes when I forgot to backup before a re-install.

Looks like I'm doing my next beer old-school pen-and-paper style.

The plan is to make a nice pale ale that registers about 5.5% alcohol and a modest .75 BU:GU. So probably 1.054 and 39 IBU. I have no way to calculate color, which is good because worries about color inhibit making choices that focus on flavor and aroma.

Budgetary considerations force me away from Maris Otter malt, which from my LHBS isn't very good anyway (Warminster, not Crisp.) For this reason, I'm going to use a little victory malt to give it a slightly warmer than domestic 2-row feel. I've decided to try a small amount of dark crystal malt, 120 degree, but only 6 oz. I'm not big on full bodied pale ale, so I'm mashing at 151 and using white labs Dry English Ale yeast. My LHBS hasn't really caught up with the hop crisis (i.e., they're still in crisis even if the hop crisis is not) and has poor availability in many varieties. Something I've tried before and really, really liked was a small dose of Chinook for bittering. In large quantities, I find the bitterness of Chinook piney and assertive, but in small quantities, that pine becomes fairly subtle and enjoyable. I'm going to do Willamette and Saaz for the rest of the beer. Here's the total plan:

10 lbs. Briess 2-row domestic malt

1/2 lb. victory malt

6 oz. 120L Briess crystal malt

Mashed at 151 degrees for 45 minutes, then raised to 158 for 15 minutes.

1/4 oz. Chinook 90 min.

1/4 oz. Chinook 60 min.

1/2 oz. Willamette 30 min.

1/4 oz. Saaz 30 min.

1/2 oz. Saaz 15 min

1/2 oz. Willamette 15 min.

White Labs Dry English ale yeast.

That yeast, by the way, is going into the Next Week fourth aniversary IPA.

Wow, it's been ages since I wrote about beer. I'm still brewing.

This is a picture of someone else's beer. I would take a picture of my own, but then I have to bother with my camera, and this is just eye candy anyway.

I accidentally made an imperial IPA yesterday. Not quite accidentally. My intention was to make an IPA with a gravity of 1.075 which is the BJCP brightline between IPA and Double IPA. I boiled off about 3/4 of a gallon more than I expect and consequently I have a beer with a gravity of 1.086. I'm hoping this doesn't compromise the bitterness too much. 

The recipe: 

• 14 lb. Cargil 2-row, 
• 1 lb. Paul's light (10-20L) crystal malt
  
• 1 oz. Simcoe pellets, 13.2 AA, 90 min
• .75 oz. Amarillo leaf, 8.4 AA, 90 min
• .25 oz. some cascade a friend grew, 20 min
• .25 oz. cascade leaf from my LHBS, 7.4 AA, 20 min
• .125 oz. Amarillo leaf as above, 20 min
• .25 oz. cascade leaf as above, 10 min
• .125 oz. armarillo leaf as above 20 min 
• Dry hops, .5 oz. cascade and 1 oz. yet to be determined

Mash at 147 for 45 minutes, then raise to 158 for 15. 90 minute boil. White Labs Dry English Ale yeast.  

Commentary This beer is pretty close to my ideal hoppy strong ale. It should be very well attenuated and so not too heavy, should have just a touch of sweetness and solid malt character to provide a stage for the hops. The metaphor I use for Imperial IPA (and the pale ale family in general) is that malt is the stage upon which the hops perform. Some people like the building metaphor and compare the malt to the foundation. But this metaphor ignores the fact that the hops should be a lively show. Buildings are static. Good IPA is dynamic.

For my next trick, I'm thinking about an americanized strong bitter. I'll use american hops but likely british hopping rates. I'm thinking about a combination of cascade and willamette with three finishing hop additions, like at 30, 20, 10 and then lightly dry hopped, perhaps with 1/4 oz of cascade and 1/2 ounce willamette. I'll bitter with what ever sounds cost effective.