IPA Failure & Success

It's been a busy couple of months working long hours and trying to get outside more with the arrival of spring here in Maine...finally!  Since my last post, I have bottled, aged and consumed the Palilalia IPA.  This brew has a deep copper color, a strong nose, a good solid head and has aged into a solid ale. 

After aging in my basement for 4 weeks, I put a bottle in the refrigerator for the weekend.  I opened, poured and tasted.  My excitement quickly turned to disappointment.  It had an off taste, and a long bitter finish.  Something wasn't right and now I have 5 gallons of the stuff.  What went wrong with my third batch of brew? 

Well, I decided not to react too quickly.  I'd give it a couple more weeks in the cellar and perhaps that would help mellow thing out.

A week or so later, it dawned on me that when I was washing the first  bottle out there were some particles stuck on the bottom.  In fact, I had to rigorously shake water to clean it out fully.  Maybe the bottle was contaminated!?!  Ah ha!  Let's get another bottle of this stuff in the refrigerator! 

Bottle #2... same dark copper color, aroma and head.  Looks and smells the same.  But alas, it tastes better!  In fact, it's pretty good!  Hmmm...  maybe all it not lost!  Well, in fact we have enjoyed 4-5 bottles of the Palilalia IPA and it's a darn good ale!  I really seemed to need the extra time 2-3 weeks in the cellar.

Final gravity was 1.012 and then I dropped my hydrometer and broke it :-(

Gypsum

I've been pondering the addition of gypsum in the IPA recipe.  What is gypsum and why is it an important ingredient in this IPA?

Gypsum is also known as Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4), a common brewing "salt".  It is a mineral that is quarried, and apparently was commonly mined in the districts around of Paris - hence the term "plaster of paris".  Gypsum is deposited from lake and sea water, as well as from hot springs and volcanic vapors - a deep earth mineral.

Who knew the uses of gypsum?  It spans the gamut of foods, water treatment, soil amendment, and binder for things like cement and clay.  And of course, gypsum is a key addition to gypsum board, or more commonly dry wall. In beer making, it is typically added to the mashing or boiling process.  Gypsum cripes!!

Charlie Papazian has a good write-up in his book.  In summary, the calcium (Ca) aids in the clarification of the wort and also helps to remove some of the tannins found in the husks of the grains.  Apparently if these are not removed, the beer can be hazy and well as have an "off" flavor.

The sulfates (SO4) add a dry, crispness to the beer.  Probably since this is an IPA, and that they tend to be drier, gypsum is added.  Papazian warns that over mineralization can really ruin a beer.  The type of brewing that I'm doing right now, where I'm leveraging malt extracts, I probably don't have to worry about adding minerals as it's probably already done in the malting process.  However since I'm doing partial grain steeping, some consideration must be for the tannin proteins that can be imparted.

I'll continue to follow recipes and add what they call for.  Here in Portland, we are lucky to have high quality city water from Sebago Lake.  It is a well-balanced water, neither too hard nor too soft.

On Wednesday night, I transferred the beer from my primary fermenter (a.k.a. my white bucket) to the secondary fermenter the carboy.  The foam, or kraussen, on the top was thick and viscous, while the brew itself had a heavy bread and hop aroma.  The hop sediment was quite significant as well.  It continues to ferment away in the carboy, and will probably do so for another week or so.

I also took a hydrometer reading, registering 1.022 gravity.  The initial gravity prior to "pitching the yeast" was 1.042.   Final gravity is supposed to be 1.014 - 1.018.  I need to learn more about gravity readings with a hydrometer, and what they specifically mean.  Perhaps my next post.

Stay tuned.  Bottling in a week or so!  The timing is good, since I'm down to my last two 22 oz. Bad Ass Mo Fo's (which I'm probably giving away to friends).  My last friends to try the BA Mo Fo had RAVE reviews!!

Spent Grain Wheat Bread

Spent Grain Wheat Bread

Since I've been making beer, Maureen has thought about making bread with the spent grains.  After some research, she settled on a recipe.  This morning she took the crystal malt and roasted barley spent grains from last night and made an awesome bread!!  Check it out in more detail at Lick the Batter.

This bread has a medium crust and an excellent crumb.  And you know what, it kinda tastes like beer.

Palilalia India Pale Ale

With the coming of spring, I decided it was time to dust off the brewing equipment again. My last brew, affectionately dubbed Bad Ass Mo Fo, served us well through the winter months. While I've been wanting to build the equipment for all-grain brewing, I just couldn't wait for me to "get it in gear" to figure all this out. The birds are singing, the sun is warmer -- it's time for something new, something fresh, something to wake us up from Maine's long winter!

While historically I haven't been a heavily hopped-beer lover, recently I've begun to appreciate their boldness. After all, I do love bold flavors. Perhaps I should reclaim the adage of "there's no such thing as strong coffee, only weak people", and apply this to beer. Too, my neighbor John has turned me onto a couple excellent IPA's including Red Racer out of British Colombia and Maine's newest craft brew Stowaway IPA from the Baxter Brewing Co. What sealed my fate was enjoying a Big Twitch IPA from the Marshall Brewing Co., Belfast ME.

I turned to the grandfather of homebrewing, Charlie Papazian and the Complete Joy of Homebrewing, for ideas. I was intrigued by the Palilalia IPA, perhaps because I still can't pronounce the damn name or perhaps for the fact that he describes it as "not quite as dry as a traditional IPA but has plenty of character. The toasted malted barley lends a copper color and malty aroma". He doesn't include oak chips in the list of ingredients, but in the narrative he describes tossing in a handful of steamed oak chips during the fermentation, since IPA is often aged this way. Huh, didn't know that, which is why it's great to brew yourself. You get to really know what goes into the character of beer. Next time, I'll try the oak chips.

Crystal malt & roasted barley

Ingredients for 5 Gallons:
5 1/2 lbs. of amber malt extract
1 lb. crystal malt
1/2 lb. toasted barley (my store has 40 or 60, I chose 60 - not sure what that means other than it will be a little darker)
2 tsp gypsum
2 oz Northern Brewer hops (boiling)
3/4 oz Cascade hops (finishing)
Ale yeast
3/4 c corn sugar

Grain bag

I had my local store crack the crystal malt and toasted barley. Placing in a mesh sack, these went into 1 1/2 gallons of cold water, then heated to 160-degrees to steep for 30 mins. I've started reading about the processes whereby enzymes convert proteins and starches into fermentable and non-fermentable sugars, and the effect of temperature, time, pH, etc. All very fascinating, and all I'm sure coming into play at this juncture of the process. I have a lot to learn.

Amber malt extract

After pulling out the grains, in went the malt extract, the gypsum and the boiling hops for 60 minutes of boiling. For the last minute of the boil, in went the finishing hops. I have to say, the house smelled quite amazing! The spent grains were cooled and set aside for Maureen's newest project - Spent Grain Wheat Bread - coming soon to Lick the Batter (if it turns out successful).

Guess I'm was a little out of practice since my last brewing project was on Halloween 2010. I struggled to have all my equipment properly sanitized at the right moment, racing to have the primary fermenter, strainer, et al at the ready. I certainly haven't used this much hops in past brewing projects as the strainer became somewhat clogged requiring me to stir the wort (oh wait, my spoon isn't sanitized!) through the strainer. Topping off the wort with additional cold water to the 5 gallon mark, down in the basement went the fermenter. The wort was at about 85-degrees, and took a couple hours to get to the sweet spot for "pitching the yeast", or 68- to 75-degrees. I pitched at 75-degrees. I snapped the cover on the fermenter, pushed in the air lock and proceeded to push the little black o-ring right through and into the bottom of the wort. Oy!  After a few unsuccessful attempts to spoon it out, I resorted to black electrical tape to form a seal on the air lock.

It will be amazing if this brew doesn't become contaminated with all my sanitation snafu's.

After roughly 12 hours, there are few visible signs of active fermentation. I'm worried, but need to give it a full 24-36 hours. Keep your fingers cross with me!

This will ferment for up to 2 weeks. Papazian suggests that "because Palilalia's strength and high hop rate, this ale is best aged 3 to 4 weeks in the bottle before drinking". Cripes! Hope I can wait! I suppose that's when spring here in Maine may FINALLY arrive.