Teach a man to brew...

When people show an interest in beer/brewing, I will sometimes offer to them to join me for a brew session, as I'm always happy to show someone the process and possibly help inspire a like-minded person to this passion of mine.

I (re)met such a guy last week: Dan V, a friend of my sister Chelynn from Zon's (he is now co-owner of VeeVee in Jamaica Plain) at the Gallia Belgica dinner last week at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square. (that has to be the most densely peppered hotlinked sentence in my blog so far...)

My sister mentioned him from her days at Zon's, as someone who had the same level of interest in craft beer as me, so its no real surprise that we happened to be at this beer dinner on the same night. Shortly after the dinner, he saw my blog, and mentioned how'd always been interested in giving homebrewing a shot.

Cool.

He's coming over tonight to brew an american ale that straddles the line style lines between an american pale ale and an IPA. Planning to tear in to the glut of American hops I just received from hopsdirect.com through the latest worts group buy. I'm going to hop burst the hell of this thing with 2 oz of hops at 10 min and another at flameout. She'll also get 2oz of dry hops as well.

I'm not sure if I should up the base grain (using Scottish Golden Promise) to push the expected abv in to the 6% range

...that'll likely be a gametime decision, which usually involve me shrugging my shoulders, saying, 'eh, why not...' and tossing in more grain ...'just in case'.

Going to collect the first 2 quarts of first runnings and caramelize a bit to add a little richness and complexities (on top of the crystal 60) to balance what I expect will be a very hoppy beer.

I smacked a pack of the american workhorse Wyeast 1056 last night, and made a 1 gallon starter. I'll pitch the majority of the yeast tonight, and throw some fresh wort on top of the remaining yeast culture to build stock for my fledgling frozen yeast bank.

IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 10/21/2009
Batch Size: 5.00 gal	Brewer: JC
Boil Size: 5.72 gal	Asst Brewer: Dan V
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 11 lbs Golden Promise (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 91.67 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 % 8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4.17 % 0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops - 0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops - 0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops - 0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.6 IBU 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops - 0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.1 IBU 0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.9 IBU 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.2 IBU 0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (10 min) Hops 8.5 IBU 0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 1 Pkgs US-05 Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.060 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.59 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 51.3 IBU	Calories:
Est Color: 8.6 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body	Total Grain Weight: 12.00 lb
Sparge Water: 1.31 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 15.00 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 10 min Mash Out Add 8.40 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0
Notes
Collect 2 quarts of first runnigs, reduce/caramelizing sugars for 30 minutes, return to boil.