Snowpocalypse Pale Ale

The 17^th annual Slurp and Burp is coming up this March!  The 16^th annual competition was my first time entering a competition and I had such a great time with my wife and friends that I have to do it again.  Plus, this year it is taking place in my hood!  I wanted to brew one of my favorite styles for the event, which is Pale Ale.  

A side note, I will also be entering my Eastern Promise Baltic Porter, Pirate Hooker Stout, Year of the Horse IPA (maybe), Manneken Golden Strong (Tripel, opps!), and possibly the Ye Ole Jabberwocky Barley Wine.

I had everything planned out and the unexpected snow fall did not slow down the progress of this pale.  If you live in Portland, you know that just about everything shuts down with snow fall.  Fortunately, the homebrew shop was still open waiting for a delivery.  I thought about remaking my Whirlpool Wheat, which has a great tropical flavor.  I decided to create something similar, with less wheat and more variety as far as the hop profile.  A whopping 2 more hops!

My Brewing bud Gracie

My hope is that it will be a tropical citrus fruit bomb of a pale.  I first wort hopped with Amarillo.  Amarillo can be used for bittering because of the low cohumulone percentage, although it is often used for aroma purposes.  Cohumulone is one of the three alpha acids found in a hop cone, which are associated with harsh bitterness.  Amarillo has orange characters along with floral notes.  

The second hop I used is Meridian.  I have only used it once in the Year of The Horse IPA.  So, I don't know how it holds up yet, however I am confident it will be good due to the aroma.  According to firstwefeast.com, This Oregon hop was suppose to be a resurrection of an old forgotten hop Columbia, which is similar to Willamette.  What they found was something completely different.  The profile has been described as, sugar-sprinkled lemons and fresh fruit punch.  I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome.  

   

I used Mosaic for the whirlpool and I will dry hop also with Mosaic.  This hop is my favorite!  Tons of tropical notes along with cedar, blueberry, peach, and bubblegum.  Can't wait to taste how they all come together.

Rehydrating Yeast

I have recently been using dry yeast.  It is cheaper and you get more cells than you would with liquid.  It is easy to rehydrate.  To rehydrate boil 1 cup of water per packet of yeast.  Cool the water down to about 95-105 degrees f and pitch in your yeast and stir it up.  Why not just pitch straight into the beer?  Well, you can and it will most likely work, yet you will lose cell count.  John Palmer author of 'How to Brew' explains, "Dry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism. For best results, re-hydrate 2 packets of dry yeast in warm water (95-105°F) and then proof the yeast by adding some sugar to see if they are still alive after de-hydration and storage." 

Cooling down with no wort chiller just snow

It is going off right now, which is a great sign.  When you walk into my fermatarium the smell is something else.  If it taste like it smells right now I will be pleased.  That is all I got for today,  remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!

Cheers,

Year of The Horse IPA

Logo for the IPA

The Chinese New Year is one of my favorite holidays, mainly because it gives me an excuse to eat great Chinese food with my lovely wife!  I felt inspired to create a majestic beer with flavors resembling the day.  Hopefully this ale mimics the beauty and strength of the horse and the culinary gifts from the Far East. 

Citrus is often gifted during the New Year to bring wealth, luck and prosperity.  Keeping that in mind, my hophead went straight to IPA.  Also, due to the season I wanted something strong and decided to imperialize this citrus bomb.  I think this beer will bring luck to anyone who gets to drink this.  All kidding aside, I am very excited about this one.  

I added citrus zest from a Pamelo and an Orange.  I added ginger, because I love the way it compliments citrus and is also used in many Chinese dishes.  Double IPA's often use dextrose to reduce the malt presence, which helps to bring forth the hop flavors.  The sugar also dries out the beer and gives it a light body, which also promotes the hop profile (some people are afraid to use sugar in their beer because it can cause a green apple off flavors, however this usually only happens when the amount of sugar is 10% or more of the malt bill).   I decided not to use corn sugar, but instead I used rice syrup solids to stick with the flavors I associate with New Year.  This will do the same as corn sugar and probably will not add flavor, but I must stick with the theme. 

SOME DETAILS

Malt bill

                15 lbs. of 2 Row

                1 lb of Rice Syrup Solids

                3/4 lb of Crystal 40L

                1/2 lb of Cara Pils

Hop bill

               Horizon 14.5%AA

               Meridian 14.5% AA

               Citra  14.5% AA

               Mosaic 11.5% AA

               Nelson Sauvin 11.4%AA

Yeast

              Safale US 05 (x2)

Mash

              90 mins. @ 150 degrees f

Boil 

              90 mins.

I want to give a shout out to Steven Childs for his help.  Can't wait to share this beer with you lucky folks.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  

新年好!