Belgian IPA MII

The first beer I brewed using my new setup was also my first attempt at creating something similar to Stone's Cali-Belgique.   Though, instead of doing an IPA with Belgian yeast, I basically did a Tripel that was hopped like an IPA.   I did use all European-style hops (Mt. Hood, US Fuggles, US Saaz), to try and keep it in that less-aggressively-hopped realm.   It turned out to be really tasty, and something about that particular combination of hops produced an Orange-Juice-like flavor, which was pretty neat.

Today's brew is going in a little different direction.     I've got the T-58/3787 left over from the Cherry Stout, and I'm going to go with American hops this time around, to get more fruit flavors.   I'm using a few pounds of honey to dry it out and maybe provide some floral flavors, and I'm going to give it about an ounce of oak chips for it to sit on during primary fermentation.   I did the honey and oak thing in my first beer of the year, and it wound up making a really tasty, drinkable beverage.

So, yet again, my efficiency was horribly low.    All I know to do at this point is to either adjust the copper manifold somehow or to go back to the stainless mesh.   Luckily, I had some malt extract on hand, so I wound up adding a good bit of that to the boil kettle.   I even did a 90 minute mash.   I really don't have any obvious culprit for what the problem is, though, so I may just try going back to the mesh on the next beer and see if that fixes things.   Then I'll at least know whether it's an equipment problem or a technique problem.   Another culprit may be the gap on my grain mill...   I should check that.

Belgian IPA MII

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.83
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 3
Anticipated OG: 1.081
Anticipated SRM: 7.1
Anticipated IBU: 76.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 40%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain
53.9% -- 8 lbs. French Pilsen Malt
3.4% -- 0.50 lbs. Aromatic Malt
3.4% -- 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L
19.1% -- 2.83 lbs  Munton's Extra Light DME (Due to efficiency problems)

Sugar
20.2% -- 3.00 lbs. Tennessee Mountain Wildflower Honey

Hops
0.50 oz. Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) First Wort
0.50 oz. Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) First Wort
0.75 oz. Magnum (Pellet, 12.10% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) @ 15 min.
1.00 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) @ 10 min.
1.00 oz Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) @ 5 min.
1.00 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) @ 0 min.
1.50 oz Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) Dry
1.50 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) Dry

Yeast
Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity
Fermentis Safbrew T-58
(repitched slurry)

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
1.5 teaspoons gypsum

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 90 min. @ 151F
Batch Sparge:  15 min. @ 166F

Notes

• Brewed on Monday, May 30, 2011
• Actual OG was 1.070 after everything was said and done.   A good reason to keep DME around.   That was around the gravity that I was originally aiming for.
• Added 1oz oak chips soaked in 1 cup of water for a couple of hours and then heated to boiling in a microwave to fermentor immediately prior to racking from the kettle.
• Chilled to 64F and pitched.
• ~48 hour lag time.  I'm not sure if that was because of the temperature, the honey, or both.
• Temperature rose by itself up to 70F, and after a day and a half, I covered it and set the temperature controller to 70F.
• Temperature then levelled off at 72F, and it was held there for 7 days.
• Flavor is currently "Tropical fruit bubblegum"   which isn't a bad thing in my opinion.
• The bubblegum has diminished significantly.   Racked to secondary and dry hopped with 1.5oz Amarillo and 1.5oz Centennial on June 20, 2011