Batch #1 - IPA - Taste test and brewfest results

Its finally time to taste the IPA. Actually, I've tasted it a few times already - but this is the official test.

Before we get to the taste test - here are the results from the Heart of the Valley Oregon Homebrewer's Competition. Suffice it to say, I didn't win.

There were 3 judges - there comments are listed below:

Aroma - average score 5/12

"high bubblegum, no hop coming through, fruity, blueberry", "bubblegum, sweet, alcoholic", "some phenolics in the nose - like bubblegum"

Appearance - average score 2.33/3

"nice color, great head retention, clear", "great color/clarity" , "slightly cloudy, good head retention, copper color"

Flavor - average score 8/20

"decent bitterness, too much fruit, bubblegum estery, slight finishing hops" , "a synthetic/false flavor in front, artificially sweet central flavor, extremely sour finish" , "hop bitterness present, but very light, lightly sweet malt, some phenolics detected"

Mouthfeel - average score 4/5

"great body, very creamy, nice carb level" , "good body , sour unforgettable finish" , "medium light body, some alcohol warming, slightly astringent"

Overall Impression - average score 4.33/10

"not appropriate for style, lacking hop signature" , "this beer reminds me of a Belgian ale. It doesn't seem to fit in this category making the flavors confusing" , "an ok beer but lacking in the hop character needed for and American IPA. Try increasing your late kettle hop additions to improve"

Final score - 24/50

Well, that was a little humbling. Did I create an IPA or bubblegum ale? Time to put it to the only test that matters - me and Josie.

The beer has a really good color and a nice foamy head. It has a strong aroma - but I'm not sure it smells like hops - the smell is more like .... bubblegum. Its got decent bitterness - but not as much as I would like. Its got a thick and creamy mouthfeel...again, not what I was shooting for, but not too bad. If you can get over the fact that the flavors are abnormal for an IPA...the beer is actually pretty decent.

I'm pretty satisfied with this first batch. It wasn't exactly what I was trying to create, but not bad.



I took a bottle to the brewshop for some advice. They thought that I may have used too much sugar when bottling - leaving excess residual sugar in the bottles - which may have led to the bubblegum taste and thick mouth feel. I'm going to try again in a few weeks.

Batch #2 - American Wheat into the bottles

With the help of Mel, I managed to get the wheat beer bottled. I ended up with a case of 12oz bottles and 10 22oz bottles.

The final gravity measured 1.015. I also took a taste ... it was much better than before - but still a bit too sweet.

Batch #2 - American Wheat - Secondary Fermenter

We transferred the American Wheat from the primary to the secondary fermenter today. There was still a decent head of Krauesen on the top - but it looked like it had fallen down a bit and the bubbling has slowed to once every 10 secs or so.

The transfer went smoothly. I took two specific gravity readings. The first one clearly had too much sediment in it and came in at 1.040. The second one was better and came in at 1.020 - which is probably about right. We also tasted the beer and it was actually pretty good. It definetly resmebled a wheat beer and wasn't undrinkably sweet as it was initially.

I'm thinking another week or two in the secondary and then into the bottles.

Batch #2 - 8 Bells American Wheat

Goodbye Shotgun IPA is in the bottles and its time for batch#2 to get started. We've tasted the IPA a couple of times already and it is amazing. Next taste I will take a picture - its got a great head, color and flavor. My only change next time will be to increase the 60 minute hops in order to increase the bitterness. I actually entered the IPA into the Heart of the Valley Oregon Homebrew Competition last week; I'm really interested to see how it stacks up against other IPAs

On to batch #2 - an american wheat. Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby and sadly the second place filly, Eight Belles, suffered a fatal injury. Presumably, her name was derived from the nautical phrase "Eight Bells" - ironically meaning the end of a sailor's watch - pretty good time for a brew, eh. In honor of Eight Belles and Eight Bells, here is our try at an American Wheat. Its based on a partial mash recipe for a hefeweizen from Bader Brewing, but I'm calling it an American Wheat because I'm going to add some hops at the end, not traditional for a hefeweizen.

8 Bells American Wheat

3.75 lbs Unhopped Coopers Wheat Beer Malt Extract
1 lb Light Dry Malt Powder
1 lb Briess Wheat Dry malt powder
1 lb Briess Faked Wheat
1 oz tettnanger hops (60 min)
.25 oz tettnanger hops (15 min)
White Labs American Hefeweizen Yeast

Making the wort

This time I started heating 5 gallons to start with rather than 3. Also, I used Portland's finest tap water instead of bottled water. Once I hit 150 degrees, I started steeping the flaked wheat in a grain bag. After steeping the wheat for about 30 minutes, I removed the bag and brought the water up to a rolling boil. Once at a boil, I added 2 cups of extract and 1 oz of hops and boiled for 60 minutes.



45 minutes into the boil I added another 1/4 oz of hops and I put the wort chiller into the pot to sanitize. The hop addition at this point is not traditional, but I like hops and it seemed like a late hop addition might make this summer beer more refreshing.



After 60 minutes, I added the rest of the extract and the powders. Once mixed, I started to cool it down. It took almost 20 minutes to get the wort down to 78 degrees. After cooling, I poured it into a 6 gallon carboy, took a specific gravity reading, pitched the yeast and put on the airlock.

Thats it. The specific gravity reading was higher than expected at 1.058. The high gravity probably explains why the beer tasted undrinkably sweet when we tasted it. Not sure how this one is going to turn out. I'm also not sure why the gravity was so high (it was supposed to come in at 1.048).

After a week in the primary, I am going to rack this to a secondary fermenter.