West of Eden IPA

Time for a true IPA! This time I'm aiming for a high gravity beer that has lots of body and flavor. I love Cascade hops, it gives this very nice citrusy / piney flavor without being overwhelming. So this beer will have ONLY Cascade! 

BREW DATE: 1/22/2017

BOTTLING DATE: 03/19/2017 transferred to secondary after 3 weeks, then 5 weeks conditioning on the secondary.

GRAIN BILL: 13.5lbs total + 2lbs DME

-2lbs Rahr Red Wheat Malt

-3lbs Weyermann Vienna Malt

-7lbs Briess Pale Ale Malt

-1.5lbs 6-row Jarvis Malt (what was left from my 2016 backyard harvest)

-2lbs Briess Sparkling Amber DME

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 160F, no mash-out. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz Cascade

-30min 1oz Cascade

-5min 2oz Cascade

Dry hopped after 1 week fermentation with 1oz Cascade

OG: 20.5 brix for 13.5l wort filled up to 22l => alcohol content should come out at 6.9%.

YEAST: Wyeast American Ale 1056

TASTE NOTES: Came out great! One of the best Pale Ales I ever made, except it is still not a true IPA. Those usually have stronger hops, but in hindsight I'm not at all worried about it. Still tastes great!

West of Eden Porter

Winter time is here! I always think Porter is the ideal winter beer. You're looking for a smooth and velvety, ink dark brew, with great malt notes and a thick and dense head that will give you a great foam mustache. Awesome in front of a fire place! The key is to balance hops and malt so that none dominates the other but rather play in perfect harmony. A real winter warmer also need to have some punch to it, looking for an alcohol content of 6% or more. I added some Malt extract to spike the gravity a bit, unfortunately with my equipment I don't seem to be able to extract all the sugars when going above 9lbs of grain. 

BREW DATE: 12/10/2016

BOTTLING DATE: 01/08/2017 after 1 week in the secondary fermenter

GRAIN BILL: 13lbs total

-6lbs Rahr 2-row Malt

-2lbs Jarvis 6-row Malt

-3lbs Weyermann Dark Munich Malt

-1lb Caramel 60L Malt

-1lb Chocolate 110L Malt

-1lb Briess Amber 10L DME

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 155F, Mash-out 10 min at 170F. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz German Hallertauer Mittelfrueh

-30min 1oz German Tettnang

OG: 19.5 brix for 12l wort filled up to 20l => alcohol content should come out at 6.4%.

YEAST: Wyeast Ringwood Ale

TASTE NOTES: Awesome! This one came out great with loads of flavors, toffee, malt, caramel, mocha and just very slight noble bitterness as expected from the hops addition.