Batch #43: Historical IPA

A slight variation on Mike Dixon's variation on a historical IPA recipe circa 1837. My twist was boosting the malt level with a little Amber malt.

This was also the first indoor batch in a while, and the inaugural batch for my new toy, the Therminator. It rocks! With 2 gpm cooling water (kitchen sink), I chilled the wort as fast as it would drain from the kettle, taking a mere five minutes. It was also the first time I had used pumps indoors. Heating the wort in the kettle during the sparge reduced the time to boil dramatically.

It was also my second attempt to step up yeast from a slant. I made two starters, one for this batch, and the other for bottling a barleywine. The bottling starter developed a very distinct acetic infection, but the starter for this batch seemed fine. The acetic scare was the main reason for brewing this instead of another bitter, since 10 ounces of Fuggles should keep the acetobacter in line :-)

Recipe

Grain Bill

Hops

Yeast

2 quart starter of Essex ale yeast, from slant.

Mash

Single infusion, 100 minutes at 154F, with mash-out.

Vitals

Timeline

Brew day: November 21, 2004 Transferred to secondary/keg with a couple handfuls of fuggles (1-2 oz) December 1st, 2004. S.G. 1.030, still actively fermenting. Tastes much better than the house smelled :-)

Bottled December 20th, S.G. approximately 1.022 including priming sugar (2/3 cup corn sugar). Tasted like a complete fermentation. 50 12-oz bottles, including the hanger (pic forthcoming).

Tasting notes

1/03/2005

Popped the first bottle today. Chilled in the normal food fridge for a little over an hour, and is quite cold. Seems mostly carbonated, enough for a good "Pfft!" and to kick up a decent head. Head doesn't last too well, either due to alcohol content or probably a dirty glass. Rich amber in color with a spicy, lightly herbal aroma. Very full earthy flavor, with notes of toasted crackers, and refreshing tart fruit which is washed away by a dry, puckeringly bitter finish. Overall impressive hop flavor, though aroma is somewhat milder by comparison. Well balanced between malt and hops (i.e. I can actually taste malt). A very drinkable beer for 1.078 -- glad I bottled it :-)

2/1/2005

Gold Medal, 2005 Upper Mississipi Mash-out, out of 26 entries. Score of 34/50. Most judges noted too little (!) hop bitterness, and not enough hop aroma. One found some oxidation flavors, but I'm thinking at this point that's a combination of the Amber malt and Essex ale yeast. The rather deep nuttiness of this combination could be mistaken for oxidation. I hope so, since I'm planning to keep this around for a while. IPAs judged 1/28/2005.

I think the next crack at this will be with Goldings, base malt only, and a fruitier yeast (probably WLP023 Burton ale).

8/11/2005

Believe it or not, I still have most of a case of this stuff after all these months. It has actually improved with age, getting generally drier, so the amber malt isn't quite as offensive. This also has brought out the hop character more, rectifying one of the few deficiencies of the younger beer.

The aroma is woody (oak?), toasty, herbal, and slightly spicy. A lightly nutty flavor gives way to a crisp, fruity finish with a lingering mild resiny hop flavor. Carbonation is a bit too high, muting the malt character somewhat. When carbonation dissipates, the flavor gains some toasty, light caramel notes.

Entered in the 2005 MN State fair contest. Fingers crossed.

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