This batch is based on another Northern Brewer kit, the last of the deal that we got for their IPA day sale last year. Of course, I have to kick it up a notch: I don't really want another session beer, so I'm adding more fermentable sugars and hops. For now, I'm calling this one Impromptu Double IPA, and I'm brewing it with leftover yeast (that's White Labs WLP090, San Diego Super Yeast) from Xenia's batch 053.

BeerXML for this recipe, generated by BrewTarget.

Ingredients in this batch

Brought two and a half gallons of water to a boil, steeping the grains during the first 20 minutes of the boil (which took the water to 163℉), then added the sugar and malt extracts. Boiled for 65 minutes, tossing in hops (as noted in ingredient list above) at 65 minutes, 25 minutes, and 12 minutes. Sanitized the immersion chiller during the last 20 minutes of the boil. Conducted a ten-minute hop stand after flame-out.

In the meantime, Xenia bottled batch 053, then racked off as much remaining beer as possible, leaving only the packed yeast cake of WLP090; I poured this yeast cake to a new sanitized brewing bucket without rinsing it, then added two gallons of refrigerated water on top of the yeast. Chilled the water with the immersion chiller, then poured the cooled wort through a strainer. Stirred vigorously for several minutes to aerate, though I wonder at the time of typing up this write-up whether that was enough. Topped off to five gallons with more distilled water, put a lid on the fermenting bucket, and attached a blowoff hose, putting the other end beneath the surface of a bowl of water.

Brew day: 13 March 2017
Original gravity: 1.077 (Note that this is substantially different than what was predicted by BrewTarget)

Yield:

  • 16 x 500 mL beer bottles
  • 1 x 750 mL beer bottles
  • 1 x 1 L beer bottle
  • 8 x 12 oz. beer bottles
  • 1 hydrometer tube's worth of beer

Total: Approx. 431 fl. oz., or 3.4 gal.

Observations

  • 2017-03-14T02:06: There's already carbon dioxide discharge from the bucket.
  • 2017-03-14T19:33: Carbon dioxide discharge from the bucket has already slowed down.
  • 2017-03-17T01:42: Removed the hose and bucket lid to check fermentation; there is clearly a good head of krausen in the bucket. Pulled a sample and took a hydrometer reading: 1.033. Popped in an airlock and filled it; we're getting about 15 bubbles/minute. Fermentation is proceeding fine.
  • 2017-03-26: Racked into a new sanitized bucket. The beer is really dark: is this oxygenation, or is it because it came from a very dark beer without being rinsed?
  • 2017-04-03: Added the dry hops to the fermentation bucket.