Summer IPA Tasting

Now that I've got the first fall seasonal beer brewed, I suppose it is past time to post some tasting notes for the IPA I brewed a back at the start of summer.

Firefly IPA

Appearance - Slightly hazy, orange-yellow with a thick, foamy white head.

Aroma - Fresh grapefruit and ripe melon. 100% hops. The Amarillo, Cascade, Citra and Motueka hops really work well together. The Motueka hops bring some non-citrusy fruitiness that adds another dimension to the aroma.

Flavor - Firm bitterness that lingers just long enough. "Grapefruit juice" definitely comes to mind. Nice dry, clean finish. Just enough malt to prevent the hops to becoming overly harsh. There's a slight hint of sulfur in there too, which I imagine is derived from the hops - it is just barely noticeable and does not detract from the flavor.

Mouthfeel - high carbonation, dry and slightly prickly on the tongue - perfect for a hot day.

Overall - I am very, very pleased with this beer, especially given it was my first-ever IPA attempt. I drank this almost daily there for a while. For my tastes this IPA had an excellent balance between being nice and hoppy withouth being overly bitter. I suppose it would fall on the "lower" side of the IPA scale, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Summer IPA

Summer is officially here! And what better way to celebrate than to brew my first ever IPA...amazingly, as I looked back over my brew log I realized I've just never gotten around to brewing one. I had all these hops in my freezer and now seemed like the perfect time - especially since the relatively cool weather so far has kept my cellar in the low 60's, my preferred ambient temperature for fermenting ales.

Of course, I had to throw my own spin on this brew, using a British and German base malts and a British yeast strain. Although I want to showcase fruity/citrusy hops, I also thought a nice malt complexity would be good and I was thinking that the esters from the yeast will add to the overall fruitiness of the beer. Basically, I was trying to create layers of flavor, while still having a quaffable summer beer. I only added a touch of a light-colored crystal malt to keep the color pale and the overall sweetness low. I ended up mashing between 151-152°F. Hopefully my grist and mash schedule it doesn't produce something too "chewy" and/or muddled . My plan is to give it about ten days before I dry hop for another four (right in the primary fermenter), so that I can bottle it after two weeks. I'd like to be able to drink this beer while it the hops are fresh.

Firefly IPA
brewed on 6/20/13

Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 3.75 gal
Estimated Color: 6.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 70.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.013
ABV: 6.2%

Grist
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter - 77.6 %
1 lbs Pilsner Malt - 11.9 %
8.0 oz Munich I - 6.0 %
4.0 oz Carahell - 3.0 %
2.0 oz Acidulated Malt - 1.5 % (for mash pH)

Hops
10 g Magnum [13.10 %] - 60.0 min
14 g Cascade [6.10 %] - 15.0 min
14 g Citra [12.30 %] - 15.0 min
14 g Amarillo [9.30 %] - 5.0 min
14 g Cascade [6.10 %] - 5.0 min
14 g Amarillo [9.30 %] - flameout
14 g Citra [12.30 %] - flameout
14 g Motueka [7.10 %] - flameout
28 g Amarillo [9.30 %] - dry hop (4 days)
14 g Motueka [7.10 %] - dry hop(4 days)

Yeast
Burton Ale (White Labs #WLP023)

Mash Schedule
Single Infusion, 152°F, batch sparge