#21 - TOOIBU IPA

Despite saying that I was done I had little to do yesterday and a bunch of hops left over in the fridge so....

Here's what I came up with. It also basically kicked the rest of the grains. I used distilled water this time to see if the flavor could continue to improve over the spring water. This is basically a hop monster, but am blending hops to see how that changes the flavor profile (hoping for the better).

Recipe below.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/108130/tooibu-ipa

OB 15.2, OG - 1.062

Hold it...

Brew project is currently on hold. Frowny face emoticon.

Reasons:
1. The water here in Pittsburgh seems to be the cause of lots of off flavors. I don't really feel like buying distilled and adding the necessary ions so... That's a big reason.
2. See #1.

The Citra IPA made with the spring water came out pretty good. Review to follow.

Will also finish drinking what I have, review, and post those.

Otherwise, can't wait to move back home.

Chocolate Stout and Citra II Bottled...

The chocolate stout has that background flavor of the Pittsburgh beers. This one was brewed with the new kettle but the usual tap water. Not much chocolate flavor. Will check it after a week in the bottle.

The Citra II is very promising. First brewed with bottled water. Nice hop notes, more importantly no off flavors! Just have to wait a week to see how it turns out now.

Citra Stats:
OB - 16, OG - 1.065
FB - 8, FG - 1.011, ABV - 7%

Yay!?...

Pine IPA Tasting...

Aroma - Some pine notes, bread - 6/12    
Appearance - Big creamy head, slightly on the darker side - 2/3    
Flavor - Background bitterness, light caramel malt notes, not a ton of hop flavor - 10/20
Mouthfeel - Full, smooth - 4/5
Overall - 5/10
Total - 27/50

Thought this one was drinking better early on. Has that same odor / taste that has plagued several of the previous IPAs. Again, it's drinkable, but not what I wanted. Have continued reading and wondering if it's oxidation. Granted I don't purge the secondary with CO2 but I siphon "quietely" and try to get as little as possible in.

Side note: Drank one of the Galaxy IPAs last night, which didn't have it as much. Now I'm really curious to try the new one with the bottled water to see if that takes care of it...

#20 - HNY14 IPA

Another shot at this IPA thing for the new year. Have only used the new pot for the stout, which is still hanging out in secondary; so I can't be sure if that was the problem or not. Will probably bottle that next week and hope to learn more. That being said there weren't much hops in it so may not learn much anyway. In another effort to combat the weird taste that has popped up tonight am going to try bottled water to see if that takes care of things. Could just be crappy Pittsburgh water. This is spring water from Ohio! There's always distilled water but that's just getting crazy.

Going to redo / retry the all Citra IPA. Will be using lots of late additions and dry-hopping. The goal for this one is Citramaxx as made by Market Garden Brewing in Cleveland, OH - A sublime beer that comes out once a year and is gone in days. Recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/94750/hny14-ipa
OB - 16, OG - 1.065, EOG - 1.081
Water - Rest/Infusion/Sparge - 10/10/8

Again OG low due to high volume. Next time going to have to decrease protein rest volume. Hopefully this whole spring water thing works...

Grapefruit Mead Tasting...

Aroma - Honey sweetness, flowers, grapefruit - 10/12    
Appearance - Clear, yellow-orange - 3/3    
Flavor - The fruit and the honey complement each other well, just a hint too bitter - 14/20
Mouthfeel - Effervescent, smooth, moderately full - 4/5
Overall - 8/10
Total - 39/50

Really has some potential. Could tweak the honey choice (leave out the darker one) to make it just a bit sweeter. The color is great, it's nice and dry, and I like the carbonation levels. Need to back off on the grapefruit just a bit to better balance this one out. Happy with a first try...

Pacific IPA Tasting...

Aroma - Not much hop aroma, hint of citrus - 4/12    
Appearance - Beautiful golden orange, creamy head - 3/3    
Flavor - Bitter, dry, bread and pepper notes, almost no hop flavors - 7/20
Mouthfeel - Good carbonation, smooth, moderately full - 4/5
Overall - 4/10
Total - 22/50

Not undrinkable but not that good. Will keep a bottle or two to see if anything changes but not something that I'll pour for awhile. Not even going to finish this one. The yeast is interesting in that it is a little bready, which I don't think that I like in my IPAs. Also don't think that the Pacific Jade helped at all either. Way to go!...