Busy Busy Busy Brew day...

So today, Jake and I set out to brew the "lost IPA" recipe.  The original version of August Hyppo. The version that was so amazing over the years.  The version that I adulterated over time, tweaking this and that,  until it was no longer the same recipe, and not at all the same amazingness.  Today, Jake and I would recapture August Hyppo and begin the process of bringing this recipe back. If you missed the previous post,  I used to brew a magical aIPA.   It really was the best aIPA I ever tasted.   But overtime I messed with it.  With each new version getting further and further from the original awesomeness.   Unfortunately, I didn't save my original recipe.  So I thought I was out of luck.  But the recipe was found in a brewery cleaning of epic proportions.

It is great brewing with a team.  Dividing the labor, and the costs is a great benefit to everyone.  It also means we can brew more often than most.  We are in mid March, the NCAA men's (and women's) basketball tournament is in full swing (ROCK CHALK!), and we have already brewed nine times this year. That gives us a great variety of beers.  If you showed up right now as I am writing this I could offer you anything from a dIPA to an light lager, anything from a Bretanomyces Sour beer to an amazing BSDA.   But sharing also means that you pretty much have to bottle your beer.  And bottling can be a real chore.

Organization is the key to a busy brew/bottling day.  I have a
"Put away" box on the left,  a brew day starter and a "clean box"
on the right.  The clean box has starsan solution in it. Any thing
that needs to stay sanitary goes into the clean bucket

Bottling takes time, so I started early, so early in fact that it was yesterday. Yesterday I loaded the dishwasher with bottles (yes I am a dishwasher sanitation guy)  This morning I unloaded the dishwasher, sprayed starsan into the bottles and put them in crates for bottling.  And then I did that exact process all over again. And then one more time.  Side Note.  If you are not using your dishwasher to sanitize bottles... why not?  It is by far the easiest way to clean and sanitize bottles.   Believe me I have tried them all.   We had 15 gallons to bottle this weekend.   This morning I got up early and got 10 gallons done before Jake arrived.  The Kolsch, the Cream Ale, and the  Belgian Raspberry Blond were all bottled today.  All samples tasted amazing.  But the Belgian blond with raspberries was truly, truly phenomenal.  This beer may make the permanent rotation.   The sample was a little sweet but, that should clear up in bottle conditioning.

Fine Crush = efficiency. 

Improvements were made to the counterbrew kitchen/brewery.   The Cajun Injector Electric Turkey Fryer was Insulated with high temperature ceramic foam, and a new valve was installed.  If you choose to use foam to insulate, make sure it has a week to 10 days to cure.  The insulation dramatically improved the boil,  but really didn't do much to improve mash temperature stability, which really surprised me.  that means I'm losing lots of heat through the top.  I will have to come up with a solution for that.  I may actually use a cooler mash tun in the future.  We're having such good luck with a brew bag in a cooler, that may become the standard for the counterbrew kitchen for all grain batches.  And, I have an extra mash tun so... yeah, think Ill clean it up and get it ready for action.   I think home brewing is changing.  I recently posed about the fact that more and more people are using brew bags as lauter filters.  I certainly have embraced this trend.  But for me the most important things are making great beer and having fun.   A fluctuating mash temperature is not fun for me, so the cooler may be put back in service.   And I have to admit, that using a bag and a mash tun has been more fun for me recently than a bag in the turkey fryer.

scoop the foop, it adds nothing to your beer.

The brew day was uneventful.  We had a good time talking beer, and basketball.   Jake was a college basketball player, so he has some great insights to the game.    We did a protein rest to help ensure break down of the proteins, and boy did we break them down.   The hot break and the cold break were amazing.  We scooped the foop. The easiest way to do this is with a small metal strainer.   The wort was amazingly clear.   We did recirculate our entire wort volume after mash out.  These two simple little steps will give you brilliantly clear beer.    We had to fight boil over constantly with the kettle now insulated.

Jaded Hydra is the very best chiller you can buy. 

Today was our first run with the Jaded Hydra.  Let me just say, that thing is amazing.  We went from 210 to 68 F in 6 Minutes, and we were not recirculating, and we were not at full blast.   Get a hydra, spend the money.  It will save you so much more than it will cost you in water savings alone.   And it is really fun to watch the dial drop.  Literally watch it drop.    I can not endorse this product highly enough.  Yes, it does cost more than other wort chillers.   So what?  If it will save you that much time and money.  It is worth it.  We will be posting a full review with videos on our up coming 10 gallon batch.  I'll say for now, we were out of isomerization temperatures in under 2 minutes.  That is amazing, and if you read the dIPA posts you know that is a key to making great hoppy beers.

At the end of the brew day we pitched US05 and set this bad boy in a dark cool place.  I'm currently reconstructing my fermentation chambers so a cool corner of the basement will have to do.  But with US05 and this ratio of hops to OG, I'm truly not worried about it.   I cant wait to try this beer.  I am hoping it is everything I remember.

The best AIPA I ever had...save your recipes.

If you are an experienced home brewer... you have had the same thrill and frustration that I am about to describe.  If you are a beginner, consider this a warning.   Last year, in April I brewed a magical batch of beer.   It was with out a doubt the finest AIPA I have ever had anywhere.  Every friend who tried it agreed it was sensational.  Most agreed it was among the finest they had ever had too.   Since then I have been chasing that beer.   And if you had tried it you would be chasing it too.  Some how the flavors all came together with out being muddled at all.   Clearly defined pure hop excellence.

The beer in question was a beer based loosely on.... say it with me people.... pliny the elder.   But it wasn't pliny the toddler.  It was higher in ABV a respectable AIPA   And I substituted Warrior in as the bittering hop.  But like a jerk,  I tried to improve it.  To make it more mine.  I added Mosaic one time,  I substituted Nugget for Simcoe another time.  (they are nearly identical by the way)  I tried biscuit malt, aromatic malt,  I even used honey one time.   But none of these batches compared to the original.   Don't get me wrong, they were good beers... I am me after all.  I can brew some good beer.  But they didn't have that special something.

Here is the real problem.  Every time I rebrewed the beer, I got further and further away from the original.  And the recipe on my software became a bit of a "frankenbrew"  It had gotten to the point where I couldn't remember the original recipe.    I had become convinced that I needed to start at the very beginning and just change one thing at a time, brewing batch after batch of 1 gallon recipes until I got it just right.

But an amazing thing happened.   In a brewery cleaning of epic proportions,  I found the recipe.  It was exactly where I put it so i wouldn't lose it.

So this weekend.  Jake and I will be brewing this magical AIPA, which is now called August Hyppo. Clearly labled on my Brewtoad account.  And the only recipe by that name.   So I can't lose it again.   Here it is for you all.  I strongly suggest that you give it a brew.   It is really that good.    This week is a countertop brew in a bag.  With a protein rest, a 60 minute sac rest, a mash out, and a sparge rinse.  Next week the entire team will be back together again and we will be brewing the monster. HOPTONITE dIPA.  When we brew hoptonite we will be doing a no sparge brew.

For the most part I like balanced, and
malty beers.  Not so with this one.
I  like my AIPAs hoppy
The red dot, shows you where this
beer comes in on the scale.

5 Gallon - All Grain
1.047 OG
1.007 FG
60 IBUs
5.2% ABV
4 SRM
Balance index 1.27 (out of balance extra hoppy)
Based on 82% efficiency

6.5 # 2 Row Malt (or Pale ale malt)
.75 # Biscuit Malt
.50 # Carapils Malt
.50 # of Corn Sugar

.88 Warrior at 60  16% AA -  14.08 AAU
.6 Centennial at 10.5%  AA - 6.3 AAU
.6 Columbust at 5 15% AA -  9 AAU
.6 Cascade at 0 7% AA - 4.2 AAU
.4 Cascade 4 day dry hop  7% AA 2.8 AAU
.4 Centennial 4 day dry hop 10.5% AA - 4.2 AAU
.4 Simcoe 4 day dry hop 13%  AA - 5.2 AAU

US-05 1 Package Rehydrated.
yeast nutrient
whirlflock

A picture of the magical beer
without gelatin, you could darn
near watch TV through it!

Mash Schedule:
Strike grains with 3.63 gal of water at 137.7 °F. Rest for 10 then begin a rise to 152 F. Turn off heat when mash is at 150 F. It will still rise to 152-154 F. Mash at 152 °F for 60 min. Mash out with 0.46 gal of water at 212 °F. Vorlauf and lauter 3.14 gal in your first runnings. Add 3.06 gal of sparge water at 168 °F. Vorlauf and lauter 3.06 gal in your second runnings. Your combined runnings should be 6.2 gal.

Fermentation Schedule:
Set Chamber to 62 F.  for 4 days. The heat of fermentation will get the beer to 66 to 68, which is perfect for US 05  Then raise temperature of the chamber to 66 F and allow beer to finish.  The beer is fairly low OG and will be done fermenting with in 10 days.  After 10 days, dry hop.  You will be ready to package this beer after 14 days.  it will be ready to drink around day 21