Premature Hopulation

[Beer-lord]

Got this one for Sunday's brew day. Been back and forth with hops. I have some I want to get rid of and others (Nugget-never used this before). I actually wanted to make it an even lower gravity but you can't have a name like this and it not have some balance. I think I'll stick with this. Got the starter of 001 (washed from April) going and prolly won't cold crash. I'd feel better getting it on it's way down.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Premature Hopulation
Brewer: Paul
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.65 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.45 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 6.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 13.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 100.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 82.4 %
1 lbs Wheat, White (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 2 7.8 %
12.0 oz Crystal 150, 2-Row, (Great Western) (150 Grain 3 5.9 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.9 %
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 22.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 40.6 IBUs
1.20 oz EXP 1210 [6.40 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 14.5 IBUs
1.20 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 8 -
1.20 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 17.7 IBUs
1.20 oz EXP 1210 [6.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 4.8 IBUs
1.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.1 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 12 -
1.20 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 13 -
1.25 oz EXP 1210 [6.40 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Palisade [7.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 34.33 qt of water at 160.8 F 152.1 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

[BlackDuck]

Looks like a hell of a recipe. Lot's of different stuff in there. I have one question though....how in the hell are you going to get .20 of a whirlfloc tablet??

[Beer-lord]

Not sure how Beersmith grabbed that. 1 tablet is all I use.

I was concerned with 8 oz of Honey Malt but at only 4%, I think I'm good. Just tested the Deep Ellum in the keg (for only 3 days) and I'm liking it and that had Honey Malt in it.

How'd the hunting go?

[BlackDuck]

Yea....at only 4% of the grain bill, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Didn't see a thing today. The wind was blowin around 20 MPH most of the day. The wind is supposed to be a little lighter tomorrow, we'll see.

[Kealia]

Dare I say it....? Try not to get any on your face.

[Beer-lord]

You almost made me spit out my beer when I read that!
Don't worry, I'll be careful. No hop shots allowed.

[Beer-lord]

This one's done. Made a few bonehead errors that really won't affect anything. Just too relaxed today. But, I was shooting for 1.058 and again the refractomer showed 1.060 and the hydrometer shows 1.062 so since I'll use it for the FG, I'll stick with it. Filled up the Ale Pale so I have a blow off tube the first few ddays.

6 more gallons in the pipeline. The evil twin helped again which makes the boring parts of a brewday better. And he works for his beer!

[Beer-lord]

Woo-hoo, I came out right where I wanted....1.014. Beersmith had it at 1.058 OG and 1.013 FG and I was 1.061 OG and 1.014 FG with 6.1% ABV.
The test jar did taste good, maybe not as bitter (supposed to be 100 IBU's) as I was looking for but I've never used Nugget as a bittering hop before and I have some White Wheat in here as well. It's basically a large test batch. But, rarely is the test jar taste even close to the final taste.
And, no evidence of fusels.

[Inkleg]

WOOHOO! That's great news Paul. Glad you hit your numbers and no off taste.

[BlackDuck]

That's great...isn't it a great feeling when it comes out like it's supposed to?

[Beer-lord]

Yea, it seems good so far. Now I'm stuck with drinking it.
Actually, I was on a roll this time last year and then, exactly what I thought might happen, did. Good luck turned a bit sour and I had to take a good look at things. Thanks to some great ideas from the Borg and lots of reading and patience, it seems I'm working my way back.

And then I have to go an try something like Coconut IPA tomorrow! I do seem to like poking myself in the eyes a lot.

FYI, this site is very helpful for figuring out ABV as well as attenuation. I obviously got 76% in this beer which I think is pretty darn good.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

[Beer-lord]

I've had to dry hop the keg to get more aroma out of this. I was surprised how just so-so the aroma was. Dry hopping the keg has made the aroma shine a bit.

Never used Nugget before and I have a very slight, bubblegum flavor. It's actually not a bad thing and I kind of like it. I've read that hefe's can give off that flavor but I think it's the Nugget hops and maybe the EXP1210 hops I used that give it this slight flavor. Its not something I'm very proud of but it's certainly drinkable. I still have lots of Nugget so I'll need to read up more on the best way to use this hop though I would think sparingly would be my first guess. I think it will likely improve with age but I need to stop being so experimental and stick with what I know though it certainly is fun playing around with grains and hops.

One last thing, I'm not going to use more than 4-6 oz of Honey Malt in beers anymore. Just not a huge fan of it though the Deep Ellum did benefit from it.