Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Autumn IPA & Belgian Wit


Well, I finally got off my arse after almost a month of not brewing and did a few batches. My 36th anniversary IPA turned out so good, I wanted to try another IPA. I researched for a couple of weeks, reading about various forums of base grains and hop schedules for IPA's. I finally settled on the grains and hops. Here's the recipe:

Fermentables:
17 lb. 2-Row
3 lb. Marris Otter (did this just to use it up)
6 lb. Munich
2 lb. Caramel 20
1 lb. Wheat (head retention)

Hops:

2 oz. Simcoe - 60 min.
1 oz. Amarillo - 30 min.
1 oz. Simcoe - 20 min.
1 oz. Amarillo - dry hop
1 oz. Simcoe - dry hop

Yeast:

Wyeast 1028 London Ale
WLP001 - California ale

OG: 1.070
Expected ABV: 7.5% (or higher, not above 8)

- I split this up into two 5 gallon batches. The Wyeast took off within hours. I did not make a starter on either of these. The WLP001, took almost two days to start fermenting. I started freaking out, but just as I did, it took off and is still going strong. They both smell fantastic. I'm going to secondary them both for a week or two and keg one of them just in time for University of Michigan football. :)


Belgian Wit

Fermentables:
6 lb. 2-Row
6 lb. German Wheat

Hops:
1 oz. Kent Goldings - 60 min.

Yeast:
White Labs Belgian Wit

Others:

1 oz. Orange peel
1 oz. Coriander

OG: 1.050

Not much to this one. My sister had an extract version I did last year and flipped over it. This batch is basically for her. It better turn out good! So far it smells excellent. Might take this one right to the keg, and let it settle there for a week or two before tapping. Oh yeah, I had a bit of a boil over or two, because I had to use my turkey fryer to boil this one. I ended up adding some water to top off the 5 gal. mark. I wasn't too concerned about it dropping the ABV some, it was looking to be around 5-6%.. this should be a pretty low gravity, easy drinking beer anyhow.

I'll post some comments on how these turn out!