Joe & I, inspired by Bryan’s plans to make a Quad IPA, decided to push the envelope ourselves and make an "India Pale Barleywine".
We supplemented 30 pounds of grain with 13 pounds of dry malt extract to get a starting gravity of 1.110. (Should end up with about 12% alcohol by volume.) We had 16 ounces of whole hops and 6 ounces of pellet hops in the kettle, for an estimated (and likely meaningless) bitterness of 150+ IBU.
It was a nasty day - just above freezing with sleet and rain all day long. Joe (politely) asked his wife, Marsha, to get a tarp or something to keep us relatively dry while brewing under his deck. She found a cheap canopy which made it a much less miserable brewing session (didn’t warm us up any, of course…) Thanks Marsha!
Once we hooked up Joe’s pump (for the first time), we started the sparge and I ran back home to get a carboy. (Can’t remember everything - too bad I forgot a critical component…)
Here, Joe is stirring in the DME…
We needed inspiration in such an extreme endeavor, of course. From Chico, CA, Butte Creek Brewing Company’s Revolution X (10th Anniversary) Organic Imperial IPA seemed just the ticket - especially with its motto, "Go Big or Go Home"
The first hop addition (at 90 minutes) was the only bittering addition. Six ounces of Chinook hops at 12.8% AA.
The wind started to cause problems with the propane burner, so I improvised a bit and came up with a wind barrier. Not pretty, but effective…
While chilling out during the boil, Joe & Marsha had an early dinner (I was foolishly expecting to be home in time to eat with my family). Joe talked me into trying a bit of the wild boar that Marsha had cooked. All I can say is "fantastic!". They had cured it in brine for two days (changing the water once) and then let it sit in the fridge, seasoned, for another day before slow cooking it. Wow!
Extreme brewing means that you can’t measure your hops out in wimpy little bowls. You need buckets…
The second hop addition was six ounces of Galena hops (13.6% AA) at 35 minutes for flavor.
We continued seeking inspiration with Southern Tier Brewing Company’s (upstate New York) Unearthly Imperial IPA.
Perhaps the big beers contributed to our forgetfulness, but we were at the very end of the brew (after adding the last two hop additions - six ounces of Cascades at 10 minutes and four ounces of Amarillo at 5 minutes) when we realized that we hadn’t sanitized the pump and plate chiller. Oops.
Once we got that done, the wort had sat at near boiling for a few minutes longer than I would’ve preferred. Unfortunately, it got worse…
We were trying to recirculate the wort through the chiller, rather than just go into the carboys. Why? I was hoping to clear up some of the pellet hop splooge by establishing a whole hop filter bed. Well, enough splooge got through that the chiller clogged. So, with the wort still at around 150 degrees F, we had to unhook the pump and chiller, run high pressure water through it to de-clog it and then recirculate sanitizer for a bit.
Surprisingly enough, we ended up with less wort than expected AND a lower gravity. Sigh.
Joe and I each ended up with about 4.5 gallons in the fermenter with a gravity of 1.110 or thereabout (I don’t have the "score sheet" with me). We were targeting 1.120 and 5.5 gallons each. BIG difference! Well, as I always say, "It’s still beer!"
Not wanting to waste all of the beery goodness trapped in the hops, I tossed about three gallons of water into the kettle with the leftover hops and boiled for ten or twenty minutes. I ended up getting about three gallons of 1.040 wort into another fermenter. Bonus beer! Of course, it is COMPLETELY unbalanced - mouth puckeringly bitter without the big malt backbone to offset the bitterness. I’m sure I’ll get very few takers when I serve this one…
While cleaning up, we celebrated and commiserated with some other interesting beers. From Pennsylvania, Weyerbacher Brewing Company’s Double Simcoe IPA; from Belgium, Corsendonk’s Abbey Pale Ale; and also from Pennsylvania, Tröegs Brewing Company’s Nugget Nectar. (Well, I had a Nugget Nectar - Joe had a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA…)
Joe and Marsha insisted that I eat something before I left. (Just because I skipped food all day long…)
I ended up getting home quite late. If I had only been courteous enough to give Kel a call at some point to let her know I would be late, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a bit of cold shoulder when I got home…
I need to work on my consideration of others…
Anyway, the fermentation closet (and half the basement) smells freaking wonderful. Pure hop heaven.
It’ll be interesting to see how low our combo yeast (Nottingham dry & a starter of WLP099 High Gravity yeast) can take it…
I’m not sure when I’ll dry hop it. Maybe just before I keg it (probably in a year or so)…
Next week Joe and I will tackle a much less challenging brew, a Classic American Pilsner…
Now, that is extreme.
Good luck on yer CAP. You using grits, cornmeal, or flaked maize?
Cheers!
CyberDave
Comment by CyberDave — 27 February 07 @ 1:48 pm
Wow!! Buckets of hops!! You guys also drank some good beers. I have been wanting to try that Weyerbacher beer, was it good?
Comment by Bryan S. — 27 February 07 @ 2:44 pm