24th Brew – Random Hop IPA (RHIPA) – Sept 19 2009

Its brewing time again and this time we have decided to do another IPA variation. We are calling this a RHIPA because we will be gutting the freezer of all the hop leftovers from over the years. Also, we will be putting in a significant amount of home grown hops from the last two seasons. In all this brew will be getting at least 20 ounces of hops, so its bound to be a hop bomb.

For the beer I’m going to use mostly French Pilsner malt and a few pounds of Crystal 20 for color in order to create a great base for the hops. I decided to go with a German Ale yeast (WLP029) so that I can ferment a little colder and give the beer a clean German lager feel and to help accentuate the hops. Using the yeast in this way may require a little more aging due to access sulfur production at lower temperatures, but I think the hop profile should be able to stand an extra week or two of conditioning.

There isn’t anything tricky were doing with the hops. Going to try and target the best place for each hop type, but also add them continuously throughout the boil to ensure a smoothing continuous flavor. Most of the hops are leaf, but with the new false bottom in the boil, there shouldn't be any issues with this. I also plan to use the hopback to impart additional flavor and aroma. What’s listed in the recipe hop wise is only a notional plan. Additional varieties will be added at other times, but the recipe gives the general idea.

Pretty much my whole family will be in town for this one, so I am keeping invites to a limited number. If you didn’t receive an email this time it’s nothing personal, just keeping it low key. Don’t worry, you will be on the list for the next brew.

Ingredients:

22.5 lb French Pilsner
2.5 lb Crystal 15
3.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
2.0 oz HG Nugget (8.0%) - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
1.0 oz Glacier (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
2.0 oz HG Cascade (3.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
1.0 oz HB Centennial (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
1.0 oz HG Cascade (3.5%) - added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
0.85 oz HB Centennial (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz HG Cascade (3.5%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Hallertau (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Glacier (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz HG Willamette (3.0%) - steeped after boil
1.0 oz HG Nugget (8.0%) - steeped after boil
1.0 oz HG Cascade (3.5%) - steeped after boil
1.0 oz HG Centennial (6.0%) - steeped after boil
.5 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
3.0 ea White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch

Schedule:

00:17:57 Dough-In - Liquor: 8.44 gal; Strike: 155.66 °F; Target: 145.0 °F
01:17:57 Beta-amylase Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 145.0 °F
01:25:47 HERMS - Heat: 7.8 min; Target: 155.0 °F
01:55:47 Alpha Amylase Rest - Rest: 30.0 min; Final: 155.0 °F
02:07:31 Mash-Out - Heat: 11.7 min; Target: 170.0 °F
02:52:31 Sparge - Sparge Volume: 12.5 gal; Sparge Temperature: 168.0 °F; Runoff: 13.43 gal