Which brings me to my next point.
Our first IPA juked us. This particular IPA was supposed to "condition" (sit in bottles and carbonate) for 2-3 weeks. At the two week mark, we pulled out two bottles and gave them a taste (what can I say, we just couldn't wait any longer). Let's just say, it was very disappointing. The only thing that we could taste was this overwhelming hop juice with no finish. Oh f---. We immediately regretted our decision to brew a second batch with the almost the same ingredients. We started speculating. Was the malt too light? Too many hops? Should we switch to something else? Something easier? The process went through out minds...where could we have failed?
We departed ways after the tasting kinda feeling lame.
A weekend passed. I had to travel to Texas for some family things. When I arrived at Texas my parents wanted to grab some beers so we traveled to the local grocer. Nothing. I had been forewarned though by a friend who is an Oregon transplant currently studying and living in Texas. She warned me that beer in Texas sucked. So, I picked up a 12 pack of Texas micro called Shiner Bock and set about my ways, already missing that consummate PacNW IPA.
When I returned from Texas, I looked in the fridge and the only beer that was cold was some Coors Light (remnants of a house guest I assure you). So I grabbed a few of the IPAs out of the closet and put them in the freezer for a quicker cool.
Maybe I was extra thirsty. Maybe the new Foo Fighter's CD was sending me to Nirvana, or maybe it was the Trader Joe's Ahi Burger that I was eating, but the IPA was FREAKING AWESOME.
So I had two.
Then people started coming home.
Then Jeb stopped by.
Consensus? Our first IPA, and second batch of beer ever made, was delicious. Jeb even decided to bring some home to his father who is allegedly a beer snob too (his review to come?). I am going to attempt to create a profile for this IPA using the Beer Flavor Profile in the Joy of Homebrewing and my own IPA hop-headedness.
1. Appearance:
- Head Retention and Appearance: Head retention is mild. This is largely a matter of preference, but generally desirable.
- Clarity: We used Irish Peet Moss to help with the "haze", but typical of IPAs, especially dirty NW ones, this beer is pretty opaque.
2. Aroma: Smells malty. Of course this would make sense especially because there's 12 pounds of it in there. I believe that I'm mostly smelling hops and they smell herbal with a hint of butterscotch.
3. Taste: This is a full bodied, balanced beer. There is plenty of hop to complement the malt bomb (which I guess is the point). It has a pretty good mouth-feel, although I'm not quite sure that I can speculate on that yet...The aftertaste doesn't linger. It's a really smooth, clean finish which is surprising because it's supposed to be uber hoppy. Carbonation is perfect. Not too bubbly, not too flat. Just enough carbonation to make you feel like you're drinking a real beer! Lastly, drinkability. Ultimately, this beer is drinkable. I really appreciate how this recipe has attempted to clone the Ruination by Stone. It's not a very close clone, but it's a great IPA recipe. We will definitely be using this recipe as a base for our future brews. In fact, it's already the base for our second IPA which is currently in bottles conditioning!
Prost!
Keep tuned. We're brewing another batch (not an IPA) on 4/17/11! Bring on the American Dark Ale!
