One of those "use what I have left" brew days

[IowaHomeBrewer]

A while ago I bought a bunch of grain and hops. The explanation to the wife back in October was that "i won't have to buy anything until July". Well I'm down to the remnants of what is left and she is holding me to the not buying anything until July.

I'm left with a recipe that is supposed to be an IPA, but it won't end up fruity like most of my ipas. I really have no idea how this will turn out.

10 gallon batch
11 lbs 2 row
3 lbs Crystal 20
5 lbs Honey malt
2 lbs table sugar

Mash at 150
Mash out at 168 for 10 minutes
Yellow bitter water profile

2 oz columbus for FWH (last of what I have left)
3 oz Sterling - 20 minute addition
3 oz Crystal - 20 minute addition
2 oz Ahtanum - 20 minute addition

Vermont Ale yeast strain - on the 16th generation of usage. I tested the beer from the starter, still has that peach taste and no off flavors.

Very curious to see how this one turns out. The hops are all pretty old, they have been opened from the vacuum sealed pouch and put into zip lock bags and in the fridge.

Hope it turns out at least OK, because I have a lot to drink of it.

 

[Yooper]

Did you already brew it? If you did, it's too late but that's WAY too much crystal malt and honey malt, and it may not be drinkable at all.

The hops are fine.

 

[Double_D]

Oh man, this should have been a "check my recipe first thread".

 

[mongoose33]

Imagine the learning that will take place here!

 

[Double_D]

Imagine the learning that will take place here!

This will be a good brewing mishap to laugh about one day.

 

[IowaHomeBrewer]

Yea I figured it would probably be pretty sweet with a high ending FG, but we'll see.

It was all pretty old ingredients anyways. So if it fails, no big deal.

 

[Aristotelian]

You could try hitting it with brett if it doesn't attenuate. I think the "kitchen sink" approach would go well with a brett beer. Call it a Farmhouse IPA. That would be a lot of beer to dump (or worse, drink) if it's not good.

 

[schematix]

Look at it this way, at least you'll really know the flavor contributed by honey malt!

Your mash pH is going to be a little off too. This is definitely amber.

 

[IowaHomeBrewer]

Well it is chilling right now. I'll take a taste when i take a gravity reading. I am heading out of town for work tomorrow morning, so by the time i get home it will be time for another reading.

 

[Jimbodaman]

Did you mean 0.3 lb crystal and 0.5lb honey malt? That would be a very sweet, and possibly delicious recipe. 3 and 5 lbs of those are about 10 times too much. Cheers happy brewing

 

[erick0619]

Just curious why the 2 lbs of table sugar won't help with the meltiness won't it dry it out a good bit?

 

[mhermetz]

hah! I'm really curious how this turns out.

 

[IowaHomeBrewer]

Ok Primary fermentation is almost done. Gravity when I first threw it in the fermenter was 1.058. The reading today was 1.018. Last two days I let the temperature rise up to 70 degrees in the chamber to get there.

Beersmith seems to think it can get down to 1.01, but with that amount of Crystal/Honey I just don't understand how that is possible. I'm going to let it sit for a few more days and take another reading. I will probably not be making another starter and pitching more yeast to see if I can get it down.

I'm drinking the sample right now, and honestly it is pretty tasty. The cara crystal and honey malt really seem to sweeten it up, but it isn't overpowered.

The sterling/crystal hops are pretty subtle, kind of floral and a little bit spicy. Beersmith says this is 95.9 IBU, but I find Beersmith dramatically overstates the IBU every time. Also the hops were pretty old and weren't vacuum sealed, so that is also probably why the hops don't really seem all that bitter. I think the hop profile is just right.

There is a distinct carmel flavor that I really enjoy.

Definitely not a dumper. I will probably throw half in a keg and bottle the other half and let it age for a while. I don't think it really falls into any real beer style, but if I had to label it something I'd call it an Amber.

I'm inclined to think that everyone lives and dies by the "never more than 5% of your grain bill as crystal" because that's what someone wrote a long time ago.

 

[foam_top]

A high attenuating yeast might help out. In any case, can't be worst than Tommyknocker Maple Nut. As the name implies, that stuff is like drinking maple syrup.

 

[TastyAdventure]

I think the high IBUS (95 is crazy high for 58 gravity points!!) will really help balance out the high crystal malt %

 

[dpatrickv]

I'm inclined to think that everyone lives and dies by the "never more than 5% of your grain bill as crystal" because that's what someone wrote a long time ago.

Ive read that and thought nothing of it.

Then i've made and had beers(IPAs specifically) with a higher amount of crystal and went....

Yep. Too much.

I completely despise a bunch of crystal in IPAs. I still have probably 20lbs of C60 thats going on 3 years old as I used to use it but havent put it in much the last 2 years or so.