Saturday, January 8, 2011

Beginner's IPA (Batch 1: Listermann's American IPA)


I had all but written my first batch off, but WOW it came back beautifully.

I thought the yeast had completely quit eating the sugars, but apparently I just hadn't let it age long enough. Now there is a beautiful amber color, and sweet aroma, and a really nice flavor (there is a hint of grapes which is interesting). It's not very bitter and I don't know what the alcohol is (but it doesn't seem to be kicking my ass or anything so probably 4-5%. It's smooth, crisp, and clean; the flavor could use a bit more complexity and I would like higher alcohol content as well. I'm also picking up a flavor that I don't like... there's a plastic-y flavor going on. Now I've had Listermann's IPA and I noticed that quality in their beer as well. I don't think it's from anything I did, but I think it must be a hop or some other ingredient that produces that flavor. Anyway, I'd like to avoid it obviously so I may try new ingredients when I do an IPA again.

Oh, the reason I had given up on this batch was because the thermometer messed up (okay, I messed up...). Yeah, the plastic holder was still covering the actual thermometer so we were boiling at temps way higher than we were supposed to. Oh well, lessons learned all around. THIS IS A BLAST!

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