Hi all,
Its been a while since i posted anything new on the blog. Been working in China and busy at home. On the China front i do enjoy Tsing Tao beer, first time i have seen a commercial beer with no ABV displayed! At home i did manage to get a brew on, a wee 20 gallon batch of a 50 IBU 4.5% Belgian style IPA. Here's the recipe.
Rebate IPA
8 kgs maris Otter
4 kgs Wheat malt
2 kgs Vienna malt
1 kg Munich malt
2 kgs sucrose
10.5 oz Cascade FWH
17.5 oz homegrown First Gold FWH
2 oz Nelsons 90 min steep
3.5 oz Amarillo 90 min steep
3.5 oz Summit 90 min steep
3.5 oz Simcoe 90 min steep
Duvel & Chimay split yeasts
Nothing fancy in the brew day. It all went well and i decided to risk it all by pitching at 30 degrees and maintaining in the mid 20's through the fermentation cycle. I did something similar in my early days of brewing and ended up with insanely phenol laden beer that was of no use to man nor beast.
In this case i have higher expectations, certainly the beer was smelling very nice indeed during bottling, sadly no photos from the brewday but TBH there was nothing you haven't seen before. Instead here are a few photos from China!
After i set the brew to ferment i went galivanting to Turkey and while in MidGala i picked up 2 kilos of small bitter cherries (its a Brussels thing). I have had previous success with cherry wild beers and in this case i drew off 5 imp gallons of the unfermented IPA and ran it on a split of Saison,Brett C, Duvel & Chimay. This is a truly unique split and puts out a beautifully scented beer. On my return with the cherries i destalked and set them to work in the fermented beer
No gravity readings, it is what it is. How Belgian is that? :).
No gravity readings, it is what it is. How Belgian is that? :).
Fermented with cherries freshly introduced
Next day, can you see a slight red tinge?
Today the third day, can you see it now?
I am off to China again in a couple of days. If i can avoid the Tsing Tao i may go and find a spice market and see what's good for us! The wild cherry version of the IPA will be ready in a couple of months i am in anticipation! :)
Bonus shot of my Cascade hop which is doing rather well for itself.
Bramling Cross
