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Siera Nevada Torpedo IPA

After the success of my Double Hopped IPA I thought I’d have another crack at it. This time though, there’s a twist. Two of them in fact.

I was in California in February for work and as usual I have to try every local beer when I go overseas. One of the ones I tried was a Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA – a real mouthful and as I was to find out a couple of them, a very strong beer (at 7.2%).

Now this brew isn’t just an attempt to copy the IPA I had but an attempt to redefine an IPA. It will be darker than an IPA, it will be an India Black Ale (IBA).

Ingredients

• 1 can of Sir Thomas Coopers IPA kit beer mix
• 1 kg of Munton’s amber dry malt extract
• 700 grams of raw sugar
• ~ 150 grams of molasses
• 1 bag of goldings finishing hops

Method

The method was standard for a kit beer. As usual I activated the yeast half an hour before adding it to the wort. Although this time the yeast didn’t show much activity before being added to the mix so I am a little worried about the state of the yeast. Only time will tell. The dry malt extract (DME) clumped up because I added it to the still wet fermenter about twenty minutes before it was mixed in with the sugar and molasses which had been pre boiled with about 1 1/2 litres of water. The finishing hops were made up like a cup of tea thanks to the morgan’s tea bag style hops preparation.

Specific gravity came out at 1054. I suspect that it should be closer to 1056 or 1058 due to the aggressive clumping of the DME. With than in mind the final alcohol percentage if it hits 1012 should be ~ 6.5%. Shy of the target of 7.2% but the result should be a dark, very hoppy and quite alcoholic ale. An India Black Ale (IBA).

For one of my future beers I will attempt a highly alcohol ale, possibly using Safale T58.

Transfer to secondary

A week later the brew is down to an SG of 1010 and still bubbling away merrily. The yeast have not fully settled down yet as the brew is quite cloudy but there’s a nice trub so it seems like a good time to do the transfer.

The amazing part is the colour. It’s the palest India Pale Ale I’ve ever seen. It’s yellow and paler than many blondes. So much for making an India Black Ale.

Bottling

After two weeks in the secondary the beer is about to be bottled. Tasting it gives the impression of a still rather young IPA with lots of citrus aromas and flavours with that bite that you expect of an IPA.  It’s still quite yeasty and cloudy which I expected the secondary fermentation to clear up a bit more. However,  it’s not as bad as before so the transfer off the primary trub has done its job. A second trub, smaller trub has developed which indicates a continued fermentation. My hydrometer was broken in an unfortunate dish washing accident and is yet to be replaced but my guess is the SG has dropped another couple of points to 1008.

This brew is looking like it will embody everything I love about IPA despite not satisfying the aim of the experiment. I can’t wait to taste the finished product.

Learnings

The impression I had from previous brews was the use of raw sugar and molasses would significantly darken the brew but in this case they haven’t. One contributor may have been the over dilution of the wort by filling the fermenter to almost 25 litres rather than the usual 21 litres or so. However, I think the main lesson to be learnt is that raw sugar does not contribute to colour.

The other learning, which I have read about a bit is that sugar – raw or otherwise contributes to a yeasty, slightly sour brew when used in significant quantities. Where I have used it in the past in larger quantities (more than 250grams or so) this seems to have correlated with an increased yeasty taste at least. Exactly what seems to have happened with this brew but I hope can be saved by the transfer to a secondary fermenter.

My first stout and my first brew using grains and chocolate. I’m hoping this will turn out to be a rich, sweet but smokey stout with a lot of chocolate and coffee undertones.

Ingredients

• 1 tin Coopers stout mix
• 200g Dave’s chocolate grain pack
• Morgan’s master dark roasted malt extract 1.5kgs
• 200 grams raw sugar
• 200 grams lactose
• 450 grams molasses
• 60 grams Cadbury’s bournville cocoa
• 4 tablespoons vanilla extract

Method

Brewed in the usual manner but the grains were steeped in a saucepan of freshly boiled water for 30 mins with the lid on. The cocoa, molasses and vanilla were brought to the boil with a litre of water and blended quite nicely. The sugar was simply added at the end as the OG was a little low. I don’t think it made a difference.

The original gravity (OG) came out at 1052 – much lower than I expected given the amount of sugars (including the unfermentable lactose). Final gravity by my guess will be around 1014.

Fermentation

Two days later and it’s bubbling away quite nicely. I will likely leave this brew to mature in the fermenter for about a week after initial signs of fermentation and SG have stabilised as it may need some time to settle. Three days later and it’s 1018. It tastes like a long black with cocoa, vanilla and just a dash of sugar. Beautiful.

One week later and the SG is still 1018. There are a few more “off” and yeasty flavours at this point but I believe these will go away with time so I will leave it another week in the primary then bottle.

Secondary Fermentation

Update: I picked up a brand new fermenter today which I will use for secondary fermentation. Transferring the brew from one to another is as simple as running a tube between them and turning on the tap. So I moved the stout from the primary to the secondary and will most likely leave it there for another one or two weeks as there is now no risk of that yeast cake going bad and attacking the rest of the beer.

What can I do with the spare fermenter but make another brew.

Bottling

A week after transferring to the secondary it was bottling day. The stout tastes just like a cold espresso but somewhat sweeter. Quite nice. I’m going to call it a breakfast beer. Something tells me it will take a while to finish. It’s far from a sessional beer.

Tasting

A week after bottling I made the mistake of cracking open one of the stouts. It was flat, as a pancake, with no head and not even a small fizz when opening the bottle.  Two weeks later and this time it wasn’t a mistake. There was a decent amount of carbonation, not too much mind you. The resulting liquid looks as appealing as a glass of cold coffee but the taste is fantastic. Sweet, chocolaty with some great coffee undertones. The vanilla added before fermentation is now non-existent – some of the brewers on the forums have mentioned this happens as the yeast seem to metabolise it so next time I will add the vanilla either to the secondary or while bottling.

Ingredients

• Muntons nut brown ale kit mix
• 1 kilo muntons amber spray malt
• 400g raw sugar
• 1 bag of fuggles finishing hops

Using the usual method of preparation the mix came out at 1050 OG. Assuming it finishes around 1010 then it should turn out at about 5.6 – 5.7%.

Bottling

The final gravity of this brew turned out to be 1014 after a week in the primary. Alcohol volume should be 5.2%.

30 740 ml bottles were used and after a few weeks it should make a nice drink. My next brew will be a chocolate milk stout using lactose, vanilla extract and cocoa. Stay tuned.

Tasting

I couldn’t help myself and after just a week of bottle conditioning cracked one open. The flavour is very earthy, almost overpoweringly so and there’s a definite hint of nuts in there – like walnuts and hazelnut. The colour is a lot darker than expected and the texture is almost reminiscent of a stout.

A month or so and it may be a beer to be very proud of.

Three weeks later and this beer has to be one of my favourite creations. The nut flavours have mellowed and it is tasting quite similar to White Rabbit Ale – maybe not as sweet and a lot more hoppy but beautiful.

My last brew – an American Ale came out a little too sour. For one of two reasons:

1) Sun exposure – I was actually away in America for a couple of weeks enjoying some of their Ales while this one was waiting to be bottled. Sometime while I was away the towel covering the fermenter fell off and my better half failed to put it back on

2) Too much sugar – I like my ales strong and to make this one strong I used dextrose and about half a kilo of raw sugar. Unfortunately too much sugar in your brew gives it a somewhat tart or sour taste.

So now the weather has cooled down a bit I thought it would be a good time to pick up the brewing again with a new type of ale.

Strong Belgian Ale Ingredients

1 Brewcraft Belgian Ale kit mix
1kg of light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
500g Belgian candi sugar
1 cup (approx 200gms) of raw sugar
T58 Safale yeast

Preparation

Candi sugar and raw sugar were boiled up together while the yeast was started with a couple of teaspoons of sugar. The DME was added to the fermenter and the kit and sugars were then pitched in. The Original Gravity (OG) came out at 1053, which seems rather low but considering DME clumps up and never dissolves fully until the yeast start eating it I’m not too concerned. It probably has an OG closer to 1060.

After a few hours it’s bubbling away like crazy. Usually with my beers it takes a good day.

Brewing

The beer was prepared on a Saturday afternoon and by Tuesday morning the bubbling had all but stopped. The specific gravity at this point was 1012. I’ll leave it another day and see but it looks like it’s ready.

Bottling

After a week the brew ended up at 1010 and should be 6.1% alcohol. Right now it has a very sugary fruity taste with a massive head but it should mellow out to a nice mildly rich ale.

Tasting

This beer is quite strong and has a malty, toffee taste reminiscent of a Belgian Ale but unfortunately it is very yeasty. Highly drinkable but not one I would share with my non-homebrewing friends.

India Pale Ale (IPA) as legend has it was invented because the journey beer took from Britain to the colonies in India was too harsh on regular beers so the amount of hops added to the ale was increased and the recipe changed to increase the alcohol content slightly. This combination helped the beer weather the long trip a lot better and gavethe new style its name – IPA.

Ingredients

• 1 tin Thomas Coopers IPA
• 1 packet yeast (included with  tin above)
• 1 packet of Morgans finishing hops – Goldings variety
• 1 kilo of Munton’s light dry malt
• 1 mug of raw cane sugar

Preparation

Preparation was straightforward for this kit brew but I did take the special step of preparing the yeast properly. Thirty minutes before pitching the wort I added the yeast to a small, warm, pre-boiled mug of water with a few teaspoons of the light dry malt. This was then covered up, left for fifteen minutes and stirred before leaving it another fifteen minutes and added to the wort.

The finishing hops were also prepared thirty minutes before the rest of the ingredients were added to the fermenter.  The hop bag, which is rather like a teabag, was simply steeped in hot boiled water for thirty minutes and covered up.

The content of the tin was then added to the fermenter with two litres of boiling water. The dry malt and raw sugar was then slowly stirred in. The fermenter was filled up to the 23 litre mark with cold tap water. The final steps were to add the hop  bag and the water it was steeped in and pour the now bubbling away yeast into the mix.

After taking a specific gravity reading the original gravity came out to be 1052.

Outcome

The brew began bubbling vigorously but not aggressively within the first twelve hours. After five days it had settled down and I took another reading. Two days later it was ready to bottle with a final gravity of 1009. With this reading it should be 6.1% alcohol. Perfect for a pale ale.

Tasting

Since this beer was looking so good in theory I was keen to try it out and within three days of bottling it I couldn’t resist and cracked open my first. Suffice to say I was not disappointed, although still young and very harsh due to the large amount of hops I could detect the fruitiness of a well brewed ale.

A month on, I’ve almost run out as it’s been a hit. The harshness has all but dissolved away and what we’re left with is a brew that has a very fruity aroma, quite a bite and a slightly malty after taste.

Some say there are two types of homebrew – the one where people ask for more and the type where when offered more people politely decline. This was definitely the former.