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2018 Experimental IPA – Upslope Brewing Company

Experimentation is good. I speak from experience.. I wouldn’t have learned half as much as I have since I stated brewing. In the case of the 2018 Experimental IPA from Upslope Brewing Company it doesn’t feel like it worked. The body is too light for my taste. I like something with a little more backbone. The hop profile feels like it wants to be more than it could be. It’s not a horrible IPA. It’s just not for me.


From the Upslope Brewing Company website:

This annual Experimental IPA series showcases our brewing team’s commitment to innovation and the exploration of hops. Our 2018 Experimental IPA features Denali, Azacca, Galaxy, and Vic Secret hops imparting ripe passionfruit, pineapple and orange zest notes with a soft malt finish.

ABV: 8% IBU: 53 SRM: N/A

Malts: N/A
Hops: Denali, Azacca, Galaxy, and Vic Secret
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Citrus, tropical fruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Low to no esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Citrus tropical fruit
    • Medium hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Light finish.

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Music:
Hey
Bensound
https://www.bensound.com/

Clencher DIPA – BuckleDown Brewing

BuckleDown has come up with am interesting combination of hops for their Clencher DIPA. I’ve used Centennial quite a bit in my last few brews. Having not yet brewed with Simcoe, it’s something I’ll be looking to use in the future. The floral and citrus undertones that make up the majority of the flavor in this beer are generated by the centennial hops. It makes for a pleasant compliment and an all around good beer.


From the BuckleDown Brewing website:

Hops are the hero in this powerhouse. Hopped throughout with Simcoe and Centennial, Clencher is loaded with pine and citrus aromas and the body and alcohol to compliment it’s assertive flavors.

ABV: 8.1% IBU: 75 SRM: N/A

Malts: N/A
Hops: Simcoe, and centennial
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine, citrus, tropical rruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Citrus tropical fruit
    • Mild hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Light body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Medium finish.

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Music:
Jazz Frenchy
Bensound
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The Sister – Fremont Brewing – Craft Beer Review

Some times the craft beer industry really confuses me. Take the dank IPA trend for example. What is the real goal? Are brewers trying to create a beer that smells like a frat house on a Sunday morning?


The definition of dank is as follows: disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold. Why would any one want to set damp and musty as a goal for a beer? That just sounds wrong.

From the Fremont Brewing website:

Sister is the most imperious of our Imperial Series and is inspired by our desire to thank Sisters everywhere. Without our Sisters, we would have never learned the finer points of emotional warfare, or the art of huffing and puffing, or snide remarking, how long to carry a grudge, or the true meaning of loyalty when one of us is hurt. This Sister is fittingly bitter and a little sweet but she will always be there for you…Because Sisters Matter. “Never Let An Angry Sister Comb Your Hair.” 

ABV: 8.5% IBU: MYOB SRM: N/A

Malts: 2-row, White Wheat, Vienna
Hops: Calypso, Mosaic, and Ekuanot with Amarillo extract.
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine, citrus
    • No malt aroma
    • Dank esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Pine, citrus, dank
    • Moderate hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Drying body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Medium finish.

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Music:
Pacific Sun
Nicolai Heidlas
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Bringing all of the Hops to the table – Oldtown Standard IPA Brew Day

Purchasing hops in bulk is the only way to go. It’s cheaper in the long run. It come with one downside. You end up with more hops than you can use in the recipe you purchased them for. You can vacuum seal them and store them in the freezer. They don’t’ last forever. The only option is to brew up a big IPA.


I came up with this recipe after looking at several of my older ones. Knowing I wanted something lighter in color I used the Blizzard of Hops recipe as a start.. That gave me pilsner as a base. I liked the Munich from the Zombie Dirt recipe. Having not used Vienna, I wanted to get some of that in there. An IPA needs some crystal malt. I settled on crystal 40. A little research gave me the correct amounts.

The Hop profile is based mostly on the Blizzard of Hops recipe with influence from the Sherman’s Planet recipe.

I picked Burlington Ale Yeast (WLP095) because it was available at my LHBS. Though I would have selected  WLP001 if I had not seen anything else I liked.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 71.9 IBUs 6.4 SRM 1.060 1.017 5.7 %
Actuals 1.059 1.01 6.4 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner - US 11 lbs 78.57
Vienna - US 1.5 lbs 10.71
Crystal 40L - CA 12 oz 5.36
Munich Light - DE 12 oz 5.36

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Idaho Seven 1 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 11
HopShot 0 oz 60 min Boil CO2Extract 8
Chinook 1 oz 20 min Boil Leaf 13
Centennial 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 10.5
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10.5
Chinook 1 oz 0 min Aroma Leaf 13
Idaho Seven 0.5 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 11
Centennial 2 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 10.5
Chinook 2 oz 5 days Dry Hop Leaf 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Baking Soda 1.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.00 tsp 60 min Boil Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.20 Items 15 min Boil Fining
Yeast Nutrient 5.00 tsp 15 min Boil Other

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
White Labs California Ale WLP001 70% 64°F - 69°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 10 days 65°F
Secondary 10 days 65°F
Aging 7 days 65°F

Download

Download this recipe's BeerXML file

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Music:
Concerning Hobbits
Scott Buckley
http://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

Northern Brewer Zombie Dirt – Cloning a Clone for 30% less

When I began my home brewing career in August 2017, one of the first beer recipes I heard about was Zombie Dust from 3 Floyds Brewing Co. Back then I was brewing all extract. To say the least, I was rather intimidated by the thought of brewing an all-grain recipe. I looked at several different clone recipes. Beer-N-BBQ by Larry has one. More beer has a kit they call Soulless. I knew about the Northern Brewer Zombie Dirt kit.

By the end of 2017, I had sworn of of kits. The quality of the ingredients I was receiving was questionable at best. The hops weren’t vacuum sealed. Who knew how long those ingredients had been sitting around. I know most places say the kits are “built to order” but I’m not buying it.

A comment on my Upgrading to Partial Mash video in early January 2017 changed my mind. I had a request by Tetman74 to brew Zombie Dirt. I thought about it for a while and came up with the idea to build the kit by myself using their recipe. I knew I could do it cheaper. I picked up some of the grain from Atlantic Brew Supply when I ordered the triticale for the Sherman’s Planet IPA recipe. The Citra Hops came from Yakima Valley Hops. The rest came from my LHBS.


You can view the recipe for yourself over on the Northern Brewer site here.

Brewing grain substitution chart

Here is the cost breakdown:

2-row: $19.43
Crystal 60: $1.68
Munich: $2.33
Carapils: $0.85
Citra: $12.99
Yeast: $7.75

Total: $45.03

VS.

Zombie Dirt Kit: $61.51, ($69.26 with yeast)

Total Savings: $24.23

Music:
The Waster
Scott Buckley
http://www.scottbuckley.com.au/