CS9 - Happy Monday IPA

[Matt Smith]

Third swap for me, looking forward to it!

Inspiration for this came from one of the Pliny The Elder recipe's that's floating around online, however this one is a little smaller in the standard IPA range. Hope you like it, and very keen to hear suggestions about how I can improve this, perfecting a good West Coast IPA is bloody hard. I know there is a few beers to get through, but this one will be better drunk as soon as ya can before all the hops fade.

Recipe is for a 35L pre boil volume. 90 min boil
1.067 - 1.012, 7.3%
70IBU calculated, but probably a bit more taking all the whirlpool hops into account.

93.2% Gladfield Ale
3.9% Gladfield Munich
1.9% Dark Caramalt
.9% Carapils

4g Summit @ 90 mins, 6 ibu
25g Columbus @ 45 mins, 32 ibu
35g Simcoe @ 30 mins, 32 ibu
90g Simcoe and 35g Centennial @ flame out, steeped for 10 mins before I turned the chiller on

Dry Hop was in 3 additions, and was equal proportions of Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus and Amarillo

40g in primary for 3 days
60g in secondary for a total of 5 days
60g in secondary for the final 3 days

[paul m]

first beer... opened her up- kerrrpowww, major passionfruit aroma. Clear as, carbonation fine might have liked a wee bit more fizz, would help spread the aroma too. A marmalade type bitterness. Really drinkable beer. I'm not an IPA fan either usually. I just read 7.3%!!! really drinkable. Good Job Mate!! i couldn't notice any flaws- Sorry I'm no guru. Did you use US05? did you temp control it? what temp?

[Matt Smith]

Hey Paul thanks for the feedback, glad you like it!

Oh sorry forgot about yeast. Yep, pitched 17 grams of S05, based on mrmalty.com pitching rate calculator. I did use temp control, pitched at 18 and let rise to 19 after 3 days. When it was done fermenting I pushed it up to 21 for dry hopping, diacetyl rest etc.

[DP]

Appearance
Slightly hazy. Yellow/amber in colour. Rich, white creamy head that lingers. Good lacing

Aroma
Fresh citrus hop smell. Good biscuity malt to balance it out. A slight spicy smell as it warms up.

Palate
Good carbonation. Full bodied. Finishes bitter on the back of the throat.

Flavour
Plenty of hop flavour up front. Balanced sweetness. Long-lasting flavour

Overall
This was a really drinkable beer. I finished it off with a Thai curry and it was a perfect match. The curry really highlighted the sweetness. Deceptively drinkable. Well done.

[Stu H]

Just polished this guy off, wow 7%!

Appearance: Slightly cloudy orangey brown,  white head which dissipated quickly (funny how some bottles seem to have better head than others aye?).

Aroma: Stonefruit, tropical fruit concentrate (think freshup cordial), some fresh piney/hoppy notes.

Flavour: Immediately overwhelmed by intensity of hop flavour + bitterness... Some malt flavour in there but mostly HOPS.

Mouthfeel: More zesty and carbonated than the head suggests, massive lingering bitterness.

Overall: Man it's been ages since I've drunk a big IPA like this, what a pleasure! Fresh, strong, aromatic, lovely! Well brewed, didn't notice any fermentation faults or anything. Thanks muchly!

[DP]

Re the head: When I started to pour this I noticed there wasn't much head happening and so I lifted the bottle and poured from a great height and that did the trick nicely!

[Tom C]

Appearance Slightly cloudy golden/amber, Rocky white head diminishing fast

 

Aroma Sweet malt, Everything hops! - floral, citrus, juicy fruit, apricot

 

Flavour Rounded sweet caramel malt, Big whack of bitterness, Long resiny/slightly spicy hop finish

 

Mouthfeel High carbonation cuts through the hops for a clean dry finish

 

Overall Nicely weighted in favour of bitterness, Very more-ish - dangerous for a 7%er!

Appearance Slightly cloudy golden/amber, Rocky white head diminishing fast

 

Aroma Sweet malt, Everything hops! - floral, citrus, juicy fruit, apricot

 

Flavour Rounded sweet caramel malt, Big whack of bitterness, Long resiny/slightly spicy hop finish

 

Mouthfeel High carbonation cuts through the hops for a clean dry finish

 

Overall Nicely weighted in favour of bitterness, Very more-ish - dangerous for a 7%er!

[Dan]

Appearance Fantastic clarity which differs from some of the others), nice lacing on the glass, not much head

 

Aroma big passionfruit, citrus hop on the nose

 

Flavour A long lingering hop flavour and bitterness - but not over the top. Sweet malt under all the hops.

 

Mouthfeel Well balanced - the hops definitely dominated the perty, but didn't overwhelm it.

 

Overall Smashing beer! Very drinkable for a 7%er - dangerous even! Loved it - thanks for sharing.

[Max Giles]

This was my wife's favorite beer so far. She loved it.
It had a hazy golden amber appearance.
It smelled of tropical fruit and had a strong smell of Creaming Sod. Sweet and almost bubblegum like. My particular bottle wasn't all that fizzy but i think that may be my fault as my fridge crapped out and decided to freeze everything in it. It had a strong hop presence and malty undertones that weren't massivly pronounced.
I really enjoyed this beer, and me and the wife both wanted more once we had sunk it. Thanks

[Adam Barnes]

Appearance – Small light head. Very very clear! Nice colour.

Aroma – Subtle fruits initially, with a slight medicine/alcohol aroma. Smells like Sassy Red. Hops coming through well, but seem more ‘noble’ than the citrus that I was expecting from the recipe.

Flavour – Getting aniseed. Good dose of bitterness. Again, good hop flavour with subtle malt backbone.

Mouthfeel – Light body, good carbonation.

Overall – A nice drop, could easily drink more.

[Luke Davey]

Appearance: Golden amber colour, minimal head, that rapidly disappeared.

Nose: A nice distinct hit of passion-fruit. 

Taste: A fruity initial sensation going into a nicely balanced hop and malt  combination. A nice lingering bitterness followed.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation. Nice malt body balanced by the hoppy bitterness.

Overall: A very tasty drop, i really enjoyed the aroma before the first taste. Cheers!

[Tilt]

What a well balanced cleanly presented beer. Crystal clear with a light white head (no surprise there given the amount of dry hop oils floating about) the smells of sweet honey malt and a refined complex hop bill hit me first.  Pineapple, apricot nectar and a hint of volatile alcohol is what I can smell.  A full pale malty flavour and nectar like mouth feel alongside firm smooth bitterness on the side of the tongue balance the sweetness.  A long aromatic finish dominated by fruit punch with some spicy licorice lasts for what seems like minutes.  Nicely put together but dangerous in its drinkability this beer is seamless to me - nice one - another for the 'to brew' list.