The last few days have been chock-full of IPAs for me. For those who aren't familiar with the style, India Pale Ale (or IPA) was originally developed in Britain to survive the long voyage via sea to India. Hops, which act as a natural preservative of sorts, were added generously to the beer to prolong its life and ensure it was still drinkable when arriving in India. The style has evolved in the U.S. to be uber-hoppy, with some beers falling into the Double or Imperial IPA category. In general, a standard IPA should have a firm malt base to support the high hop bitterness, and although emphasis is on hop flavor and aroma, the beer should be fairly well balanced.
My IPA extravaganza started on Sunday when I brewed a 5 gallon batch of a Rye IPA. I used about 3 lbs of rye malt to lend a slightly spicy note to the beer and increase the complexity of the overall flavor profile. This was my first time brewing with rye, and one thing I was not prepared for was the fact that rye malt has not husks. Malted barley comes in the husk, which acts as a natural filter bed when lautering the mash. When brewing with wheat, which I have done before, you generally add rice hulls to compensate for the wheat's lack of a husk. I did not realize that rye was also huskless. What all this means, is that lautering was especially slow and difficult. I just barely got enough wort out of the mash tun for my 5 gallon batch. In hindsight, I should've used some rice hulls or added more water for a thinner mash. In the end though, everything worked out fine...I relaxed, didn't worry, and had a homebrew! After my lautering issues, everything went fine--I gratefully avoided a boil over this time. I used about 3.5 oz of hops (Mt. Hood and Columbus), and fermentation was vigorous less than 12 hours after pitching the yeast.
Continuing on the IPA theme, I went to ChurchKey in DC last night for their Mikkeller Single Hop IPA Bonanza. Mikkeller is a Danish brewery that produces some really extraordinary beers. One of the cooler things they've done is their Single Hop project. They brewed 10 different IPAs all using the same exact malt bill and a single hop. Each beer uses a different hop as to showcase the hop's true flavor and aroma. ChurchKey managed to get all 10 IPAs on tap at the same time. AWESOME. J.T. and I went and had 4 oz samples of each in two 5-beer flights. The beers were:
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CENTENNIAL IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CASCADE IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP AMARILLO IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP NELSON SAUVIN IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP EAST KENT GOLDING IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP TOMAHAWK IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP NUGGET IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP WARRIOR IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CHINOOK IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP SIMCOE IPA
This event was really incredible; rarely do you get a chance to taste and compare individual hops. The most interesting for me were the Nelson Sauvin and Chinook. Although I've used Chinook in my own brewing before, I was blown away by the flavor profile when used alone. The hop had an inherent smokiness to it; it tasted almost as if smoked malt was used in the beer, though none was. The Nelson Sauvin, which I never even heard of before, is a hop from New Zealand with bold fruitiness and floral characteristics that was reminiscent of white wine (Sauvin == Sauvignon Blanc). I'm gonna have to get my hands on some Nelson Sauvin to use in an IPA; I'm thinking of doing a single-hop brew with it in fact.
That's about it for today. I'll be going to a tasting event on Thursday evening, so I'll have another update on Friday probably. This coming weekend I'll be brewing again (an Imperial Brown Ale this time), and then I'll have three beers fermenting at once--the ultimate trifecta! Till next time, cheers!
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