One of the better brews I’ve managed this year, no question. There’s a candy citrus element, so strong that it might veer towards juice. I’m fairly confident that this comes from the fresh hop element-which I completely overdid. No remorse. It is also possible that there is a honey/clover note. It works very nicely. There’s also a touch of chocolate-but the malts are subdued quite a bit- and then it finishes really clean. The hops are all over this beer but without the intense bitterness that dried hops would bring. Beer is super clear, visually as well.
Anyway, it’s awesome so here’s the recipe:
Steeping malts:
1 lb C40
.75 Honey
1 lb Victory
Fermentables:
7 lb LME
1 lb LM dry
Hops:
1.25 oz Summit hops @ 60
5.5/8th oz Crystal hops @ 20
Yeast:
Ale yeast from Hopworks
OG:
1.074
TG:
1.02
Final Gravity:
1.029
ABV of about 7.04%
The beer in the picture is a little bit more effervescent than most of the bottles I open but it’s not an extreme exaggeration. This beer is a touch sweeter than is appropriate for the style but the sweetness comes from a different angle; there’s a green quality to it that I can only presume comes from the Galena (and touches of Willamette) hops that I picked and used that day. They generally say that hop plants won’t produce much in the first year but I got quite a few from the Galena. Maybe the hops don’t produce much in the way of bitterness their first year: I just don’t know enough botany to say. I can tell you that this IPA doesn’t have the strong bitterness qualities that are typically associated with NW IPAs, so it might make a good ‘gateway’ beer. The malts are a little overpowering though, so it might be too sweet for some people.
A pint for Dionysus 