LowTech IPA v2

LowTech IPA v1

For a style that I love so much, it's really surprising how little I brew it.  This recipe has been inspired by Avery's Recipes for Homebrewers.  I've intentionally kept the OG on the low end of the IPA style so the beer will finish drier.  I plan to use a big pitch of 2nd generation WLP007, 80% attenuation is likely.  I like my IPA's bitter, hoppy and dry.  Subbing in some Rye malt for a twist, otherwise I'd use Wheat malt.  I am going to try skipping the secondary and dry hopping directly in the serving keg.

LowTech IPA v2

OG 1.059/ IBU ~70/ SRM ~3.5/ ~41L

90.0% Pils Malt
05.0% Gambrinus Vienna Malt
05.0% Weyermann Rye Malt

10.15 AAU (.7oz) of Columbus @ 60 minutes
10.15 AAU (.7oz) of Columbus @ 30 minutes
25.40 AAU (2oz) of Chinook @ 12 minutes
21.80 AAU (2oz) of Centennial @ 12 minutes
13.60 AAU (2oz) of Cascade @ 12 minutes
Dry hop 1 oz (ea) Chinook/Centennial/Cascade for each 19L keg

WLP007

Brewed Apr 28th

Mashed in at 143F (mistake, too low),  boiled  water and infused to raise mash temperature to 146F (attempt to correct).  Mashed for 60 minutes before collecting 46L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc added at 5 min remaining in boil.   I forgot to sanitize the pump so I ended up extending the boil time by 5 minutes.  Gravity measured higher than anticipated, 1.063, may have collected slightly less than I had hoped for.  Chilled to ~72F.  Collected ~36-38L into two fermenters.  Pitched 8 fl oz of thick yeast slurry into each fermenter.  This is the second  pitch on this yeast.  

1.5 tsp Gypsum, 1.5 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 210g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.48.  1 tsp Gypsum added to the boil.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 74, Mg 10, Na 18, Cl 50, SO4  157

Update Apr 29th

Both pails have significant Krausen.

Update May 8th

Airlock activity has completely stopped.  Awaiting availability of a keg.  Will dry hop directly in the keg this time.  No secondary.

Update May 13th 

FG 1.015.  Both fermenters racked to keg.  Dry hops added.  Pressure set to 38psi.

Update May 15th 

Pressure dropped to 12psi.   Bagged dry hops caught in the Bev tube on both kegs.  Beer is very turbid... something's wrong.

Update May 21st 

Well, first failed batch in a while .  Couple things went wrong, first and foremost, dry hopping in the keg with bagged pellets was a big mistake.  I ended up racking out of the keg into another (losing 1/2 the batch in the process).  In the future I will certainly stick to my secondary or primary dry hopping.

Secondly, I didn't get near the attenuation I was hopping for, the balance towards bitter, isn't where I want it to be.  Too malty sweet for a good IPA.   Back to the drawing board on this one, likely won't even do tasting notes as I've likely oxidized the beer pretty bad with on the racking and tickering.