Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Homebrewing - Fruity IPA?

I thinks it's about time to talk about homebrewing!  I have had a few beers with Simcoe and Citra hops and have loved them!  So I had to give it a try myself.  Well it turns out everyone can make a good one, but me.  I have had this beer on tap since before Thanksgiving.  I just can't seem to drink it much.  It was supposed to be a Simcoe/Citra IPA and this was the second attempt at it.  Both tries have turned out fruity and somehow a little like a wheat, even though there is no wheat in it. 

The first batch I only used Simcoe and Citra hops.  Simcoe for bittering and using both for mid-addition and aroma.  I decided that Simcoe can be a bit harsh as a bittering hop so the second batch I used Northern brewer to bitter and Simcoe and Citra for the mid and aroma.  There is just something off.  I don't know if it is the recipe or the process.  My process is brew-in-a-bag with a full volume mash, no sparge.  Great color and nose but fruit juice aftertaste.

I personally attribute the weird sour/fruity aftertaste to not enough bitterness but I also wonder if it could be from not sparging.  Something i'm getting or not getting from the grain.  Early last year I brewed a single hop Falconer's Flight APA that also had a fruity characteristic.  Makes me wonder about my recipe design because Falconer's Flight should have pretty different characteristic to Simcoe and Citra.  I'm not going to give up though.  With more tweaking, there will be an amazing IPA in my future.

Simcoe/Citra IPA
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Batch Size: 5.143 gal
Boil Size: 6.200 gal
Boil Time: 0.000 s
Efficiency: 75%%
OG: 1.069
FG: 1.017
ABV: 6.7%%
Bitterness: 51.0 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 11 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
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                       Name  Type    Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
       Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 11.000 lb    Yes   No  79%%   2 L
 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L Grain 12.000 oz    Yes   No  74%%  40 L
               Victory Malt Grain 12.000 oz    Yes   No  73%%  25 L
         Cara-Pils/Dextrine Grain  5.000 oz    Yes   No  72%%   2 L
            Caramunich Malt Grain  7.000 oz     No   No  72%%  56 L
Total grain: 13.250 lb

Hops
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            Name  Alpha   Amount  Use       Time   Form  IBU
           Citra 13.9%% 0.500 oz Boil  5.000 min Pellet  4.3
          Simcoe 13.0%% 0.500 oz Boil  5.000 min Pellet  4.1
          Simcoe 13.0%% 0.500 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 15.7
           Citra 12.0%% 0.500 oz Boil    0.000 s Pellet  0.0
 Northern Brewer  8.6%% 1.000 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 27.0

Yeast
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        Name Type Form    Amount   Stage
 Safale S-05  Ale  Dry 2.232 tsp Primary

2 comments:

  1. What temperature did you ferment this at? With a neutral yeast like that I would guess it fermented a bit too warm like around 70 and up to produce esters akin to fruit. I also biab and dont get this problem with my process. My loose guess is temps. The recipe sounds great though. I will have to brew this up and let you know how it turns out.

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    1. This batch was fermented in a temperature controlled fridge at, what should have been, 65F. This was not the first batch to have the fruity off flavor so I am wondering if the temperature controller was off and they were fermenting too high. I no longer use the fridge and just ferment in a cool closet, and I have not had a problem. I would love to know if you brew this recipe how it turns out!! Cheers!

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