Two IPAs, Pliny style

Pliny The Elder Clone - 5 Gallons

May 15, 2011

An all grain kit from Morebeer. Biggest modifications I see from the Internet versions are the substitution of Cascade instead of Warrior hops and, Magnum for lesser alpha hops. Warrior is hard to get so I assume the Morebeer is selling what they got in stock. Since this is kegged I’m not using the priming dextrose that came with the kit. This recipe uses hops in five ways. Mash, bitter, aroma, flame out and dry hop.

Malted Grains

LBS   Name
13      GR304 Malt - Rahr 2-Row
0.5     Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
1.0     Carapils
1.0     Dextrose (Corn sugar)

Hops

Name Oz AA% Pellet / Whole

Cascade     2       7.5      W
Magnum     2      14.1      P
Simcoe       3      12.2      P
Columbus   4      14.4      P
Centennial   3      9.2        P

Yeast - WLP001 White Labs Yeast (California Ale)

Name    Oz      Time              Pellet / Whole
Cascade 2        60 (mash)      W
Magnum 2        90 (boil)         P
Simcoe   1        45                  P
Columbus 1      30                  P
Coil                  20
Dextrose           10
Tablet.               5
Centennial 2      Flame out       P
Simcoe 1           Flame out      P

Dry Hop (in secondary carboy)

Columbus 3        7 days           P
Centennial 1        7 days          P
Simcoe      1        7 days         P



Did not filter the water
Add Grains and Dextrose to initial H2O

Add Cascade hops

Description     Amount     Time Temp
H2O               5 gals         60   149F (kettle temp was 165F)
H2O                3 gals        10   170F
H2O                3 gals        10   170F


Creates a wort of about 9.5 gallons, creates 6 gallons


Note: Initial mash changes taste of beer (148-152F) less malty, (154-158F) more malty
Note: Recirculate wort using bucket until it is clear, did this only on last mash

Boil

• Bring wort to rolling boil for 20 mins 
• Start hop schedule (90 mins) 
• Cool and transfer to Carboy add yeast, poured from a height to aerate wort

OG 1.072-76 0.0 did not take (Based on 70% Mash Efficiency)
FG 1.15
IBU 198-202 0.0
ABV 8% Target
ABV (R) 8% 7% (May 30)
SRM 6

Comments

May 15 - Did this brew in the garage due to rain. There are a few new techniques used here. 1) mash hops, 2) flame out hops and 3) total boil time 110 mins. This allows me to mash out with a total of 11 gallons for a higher grain extract efficiency 4) original mash temp was 149F versus 156F. This should make for the drier beer. I think the combo of dry and hoppy should be excellent. Placed in fridge set to 67F. I plans to have it ferment for a total of 10 to 14 day. Dry hop will happen during last 7 days.

May 17 - Fermenting nice and slowly. Still has ¼ inch head (white)

May 16 - Nice White head about one quarter inch thick. 66F in fridge.

May 18 - Continued white (crusty) head 1 inch thick. Recommended fermentation is 68F but doing this at 66F slows things down a bit which I think is less messy (potential foam volcano) and yeast off flavours are avoided. This is my first ale fermented totally in the fridge. (Ditto May 19th)

May 21 - Added Dry hops

May 23 - Fermentation still active with ¾ inch foam on top. (8 days)

May 25 - Fermentation is slow (bubble every 24 secs)

May 30 - Move to to keg with sediment. Lowered fridge temp to 44F, added CO2 15 psi

June 1 - First drink. Highly aromatic with a nice light body. great mouth feel. Next time keep hop particulate out of the keg. This beer is a winner.

Pliny The Hoser

Inspired by Pliny the Elder - 2013

My Recipe            Original Recipe
NA Target             OG: 1.088
NA Target             FG: 1.012
Estimate 8%           Target ABV 10.5%
15lbs 2-Row         20 lbs 2-Row
1lb Carafoam        1 lb Carapils
12 oz Crystal 40    12 oz Crystal 40

Note: Use the first 6 gallons for this wort is collected for this recipe. I ran out of 2-Row so this is going to result in a lower ABV.

   Mash 148F                                                 Mash 148F

Boil

70 mins Magnum hops 2oz                          60 mins Magnum hops 2oz
20 Columbus hops 2oz, whilflox, coil           20 Columbus hops 2oz, whilflox, coil
FO Simcoe, Centenial, Amarillo 2 oz each   FO Simcoe, Centenial, Amarillo 2 oz each

Note: The only difference here is that I should get a slightly more bitter beer with the 70 minutes.


Clone Recipe (close to it)

• Dry Hop (65F+)
• Dry Hop 1: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial 
• Dry Hop 2: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial 2 days later
• Dry Hop 3: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus then 2 days later
• Dry Hop 4: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus then 3 days later, 7 days later keg

My Dry Hop Schedule

• Dry Hop (65F+)
• Dry Hop 2: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial 

This simplified dry hop schedule is based on what I consider the biggest bang for the buck. Not having a conical fermenter and also believing that loose hops (not in a bag) yield better results has me making this a one shot dry hop process.


Yeast: US-05

Fermented in primary for 14 days then transferred to dry hop for 1 week. Then transferred to keg.

Comments

This turned out to be a nice hoppy high ABV IPA. For all the hops I put into this I feel I could have done better. It lacked the crispness of an IPA. Bitterness was spot on. Loose hops made this a hazy beer during secondary. Aroma was a mellow hoppy bit citrusy smell. Taste was full body but to crisp. Next time think about 45, 30 and 10 mins addition of hops in boil and dry hopping per original recipe.