Mark's Centennial IPA Tap Handle
Batch 100
This Friday (with the close of another school year imminent, I’m trying to recover some of the extra days I worked last summer to open a new school campus – use ‘em or lose ‘em), I’ll be brewing my 100th batch of home brewed beer! My, how the time flies. Seems like it was just yesterday and I was waiting for any new information I could get on the progress of the construction of my MoreBeer 1550 BrewSculpture. I even visited the Concord showroom and was taken on a tour of the metal shop. There in a bucket, were the various pieces of of angle iron , tubing and parts that would eventually become my brewery. When the FedEx freight truck finally arrived in June, I couldn’t wait to brew my first batch and in 100 degree plus weather, I brewed a Racer 5 clone. It turned out OK – not great, but OK.
It was at least fifteen batches before I really felt comfortable with my equipment, where I could brew on autopilot and not make stupid mistakes. By batch 30 I was making really good beer and feeling comfortable with replicating recipes and experimenting with what different malts and hops brought to an ale. I started messing around with lagers, first brewing in the winter, taking advantage of environmental chilling to aid the fermentation. By batch 50, I was fermenting both ales and lagers in a temperature controlled fermentation vessel – a thermostatically controlled refrigerator. I brewed a couple amazing ales in this period of time. Somewhere in the next few batches, Sociables became a reality. From there, it was a race to this batch!
I’ve been thinking about this batch of ale – batch number 100 – for quite some time. I has to be an IPA:) It has to use my favorite hops and have a simple malt bill. It needs to be a big, bitter IPA. Here’s what a threw together.
Mark’s Centennial IPA
14-B American IPA
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 5/7/10
Size: 10.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 316.98 kcal per 16.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.071 (1.056 – 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.010 – 1.018)
Color: 9.71 (6.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 7.03% (5.5% – 7.5%)
Bitterness: 71.1 (40.0 – 70.0)
Ingredients:
12.0 lb American 2-row
12.0 lb Maris Otter Pale
1.0 lb 2-Row Carapils Malt
1.0 lb Carastan
1.0 oz Columbus (15.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.5 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
1.0 lb Corn Sugar
1.0 ea Servomyces Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
4.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 4.0 min
4.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 4.0 min
4.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
4.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
2000 mL Starter White Labs WLP041 Pacific Ale
I hope turning 100 feels this good!
Last Friday afternoon, I went to the taps to pull a pint of one of my favorite homebrewed IPAs, my TAFTBD IPA (Teach a Friend to Brew Day), and it spit the keg’s accumulated yeast into my my pint glass. Swearing under my breath, I realized that it was time to break out the brew sculpture and make another batch. This is the ale I’ve brewed the last three years in November to mark the AHA‘s Teach a Friend to Brew Day event. It is a hearty, west coast IPA, with a strong malt backbone, that holds up well to large quantities of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops. This IPA is always well received by hopheads and is a beautiful amber-copper color, with a wonderful nose of citrusy and piny aromas. This isn’t a particularly “hop crisis” friendly brew, using 10 ounces of hops, but I’ve planned well in my 2007 harvest hop purchasing – and a pint of this stuff is mothers milk for hopheads:) The only thing I’m changing up on the recipe from past brews is the use of White Labs Pacific Ale yeast, WLP0041. Normally I use Cal Ale yeast, WLP001, in TAFTBD IPA, but the Pacific Ale yeast brings a little more yeast character to the table. I’ve used it in my IPAs in the past with great results. I’m so glad White Labs has removed this yeast from their seasonal lineup and made it available year-round. Here’s the recipe:
Teach A Friend to Brew IPA
14-B American IPA
Size: 10.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 305.76 per 16.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.069 (1.056 – 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (1.010 – 1.018)
Color: 11.5 (6.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 6.78% (5.5% – 7.5%)
Bitterness: 65.47 (40.0 – 60.0)
Ingredients:
20.0 lbs Pale Malt (2-row)
5.0 lbs Golden Promise
2.0 lbs Victory Malt
1.0 lbs Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.0 lbs Crystal 40L
1.0 oz Columbus (15.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.5 oz Centennial (10.5%) – added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
2 ea Whirlfloc – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.5 oz Centennial (10.5%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.8%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.5 oz Cascade (5.8%) – added during boil, boiled 2.0 min
1.5 oz Centennial (10.5%) – added during boil, boiled 2.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.8%) – added dry to primary fermenter
1.0 oz Centennial (10.5%) – added dry to primary fermenter
1 1600 ml starter White Labs WLP041 Pacific Ale
I made the starter this afternoon when I got home from work, so it really won’t have as much time as I’d like to build up the cell counts. I’ll feed the starter on Saturday and then again on Sunday morning when I fire up the burners on the brew sculpture.
Sadly, this won’t be ready and in prime condition until at least June…
