The Teach a Friend to Brew Day IPA is currently chilling (as I am with a Summit IPA:).  The brew session went well once I quit chasing the temperature of the mash.  I always wig out when the mash temp is not where I expect it to be once I mash in – always forgetting that I need to wait for it to stabilize.  Initially it seemed high and I dropped in a couple quarts of cold water to drop it, and then it was way low, necessitating a couple quarts of water from the hot liquor tank.  Maybe I just need to have a pint and chill out with some good tunes when I’m mashing in!

It’s funny how your perspective changes as to the value of a particular brew, with this ale requiring such a large amount of hops.  But in the big picture of things, it is worth it.  I love the big hop front-end of this ale, backed up by the huge malt backbone.  This is truly one of my house ales that needs to be on tap all the time.

TAFTBD IPA has got to be one of the most aromatic boils I do, of all my ales.  Each addition of hops causes a crescendo of aroma that permeates my back yard, as well as the nearby neighborhood.  I just love brewing this ale!  John came over towards the end of the boil and at that point I had a couple ales.  I’ve learned that my brews turn out better (like I don’t forget to add things at the right time:) if I wait to have an ale until late in the boil.  The ice on my pre-chiller is almost gone and the temp is right on track at about 72 degrees.  I’ll be dropping the wort into the carboys in just a few moments.

The only difference to the recipe I posted earlier, is that I added a half pound of corn sugar as I have been doing lately with all my IPAs.  I like how the corn sugar helps dry out the ale a bit.  It also help me hit my projected OG.  The TAFTBD IPA came in at 19 brix, or an original gravity of 1.076.  This should be a quality ale in eight weeks!