Frabulia Double Hop IPA

Hi all,

 I had a sudden realisation a couple of days ago, it most certainly looks as if my Apricot Saison is going to take quite some time to settle and clear(shock, horror). As a result i thought it best i fire up the machine and make a FWH IPA ASAP (acronyms's eh, the sign of a weak & addled mind)!

 Without further ado i threw together this little recipe. Its simple goal will be to smack me in the senses with massive amounts of resinous tropical hops and have a slight caramel background while remaining at a nice strength without getting consumers ( me) bladdered (too quickly).

Frabulia Double Hop IPA
10.50 kg Marris Otter
4.00 kg Wheat Malt
1.00 kg Crystal malt
13.40 oz Glacier  (90 min)
3.50 oz Pacific Gem (15 min)
2.00 oz Cascade (15 min)
3.50 oz Simcoe (5 min) 
3.50 oz Simcoe (150 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
3.50 oz Cascade (150 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) 
3.50 oz Amarillo Gold (150 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
3.50 oz Citra (Dry Hop 7 days)  
1.50 oz Pacific Gem (Dry Hop 7 days) 
3.00 items Protafloc tablet
40.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 90.0 min)
3 Pkgs US-05 Yeast-Ale
175 IBU
Approx 4.2%ABV
16.5 gallon batch

 As you can see, the hops are once again taking front of stage in my beer. Nonetheless, they wouldn't get very far without the grain so here's a picture of the supporting cast!

I carried out a 90 minute mash & rest recirculated through the grain bed for 30 minutes and then ran off & sparged into the copper. While this was all going on i brought together the hops for a photo. Many different kinds. Note the resealable tub which has Pacific Gem frozen dry hops from a previous brew.

 

Even in their compressed form 14+oz's of hops looks like a lot. I think the twig is a freebie!

In they went as First Wort Hops.

Cascade & Pacific gem as 15 minute hops.

The wort breaking through the 15 minute hop layer.

Lots and lots of wonderfully aromatic Amarillo & Simcoe Hops.

A huge hop blanket which remains undisturbed and is left to settle at its own rate over the next two and a half hours to bottom.

Very little aromatics were carried off by the steam, the hop blanket did its job rather well.

Overview of wort being recirculated through hop bed via softline while wort chiller does its thing. This took two and a half hours and allowed full transfer of hop oils to the wort.

Drop Shots into the Fermentation Vessel!

Hop bed and lots of bubbles from the hop bed recirulation.

This is the end result of a long hop steep, recirculation through the hop bed and cooldown of wort to drop out the break. This sample sat for a further 24 hours and developed no break material. Hence a crystal clear wort for the yeast to work on.

There must be something wrong with me, i even enjoy the post brew clean-up! Note- this is the first time i have allowed the luxury of a full 2 and a half hour cool,settle,recirculate. One of the signs that this is beneficial to the beer is that there was absolutely no hop aroma in the spent copper hops. I find that in Dry Hops there is a very noticable hop aroma when i remove them from the FV(that's the reason i freeze and use them again as late hops in the next beer). Not so for these copper & flame out Hops, they are odourless. I assume i will taste the difference in the beer when its completed?

I try to focus on one aspect of the brew (and hopefully improve as a brewer) each time i brew. Today was to achieve a clearer wort through increased settling time, cooldown and recirculation. I am very pleased to say that i am happy with the result.

12 hours later the yeast was up and running with a huge head. I have high hopes for this beer as its not a million miles away from my Oceania IPA which was well received by all who tried it. If anything i think the Simcoe will add nicely to the hop kick i so love and improve the package as a whole. I pitched the yeast at 30 degrees to get a fast start and let it fall back to 22 where its being maintained. I am interested in seeing if i can get a slight yeast profile into the beer with a higher ferment temperature. i'll update as i go.

Cheers and thanks for taking the time out to read the blog! For those who are slightly geeky about numbers the blog is now seeing a 30% return rate of readers. I guess i'm getting something right! Hope some of the stuff i write helps you along :)

Hello to Ecuador & Malaysia who are recent readers of the blog!

Boring cost bit

Malt £20

Hops £20

Misc costs incl gas £5

Minimun bottles expected 125

Approx cost is 36p per pint.