Results 1 from Mr.Beer IPA experiment

original gravity for the hopped IPA was 1.033, which is just a touch higher, just from the hopping.

The stock IPA cleared up almost immediately in the keg, so I transferred it to the fridge and poured myself a pint (work really really sucked today). It's surprisingly good for how young it is, and it will be getting better as long as I allow it too. It's really not that hoppy, but definitely does have a drier finish than the stouts I have been making. It has that weird Mr. Beer kick at the end, which is getting on my nerves a bit.

The hopped IPA started fermenting quite aggressively, with significant amounts of foam in the fermenter and lots of fumes in the closet. I sampled the wort and it's got a lot of promise. The centennial hops definitely hit home at the end of the taste.

I'm definitely going to bump up to 5 gal batches soon.

-James

The Mr. Beer IPA experiment

No new consumed beers to mention, just been cycling through the old standbys.

So, the Uber stout experiment taught me about using grains and adjuncts, leaving the only tool left to learn being using actual hops. Best way to test the results of hopping is with an IPA, which doubles as my favorite variety.

Part one of the experiment was to brew a stock Mr. Beer IPA kit. The stock kits are stupidly easy for me now. In fact, I was basically on autopilot. Original gravity was 1.031. I kegged it today at 1.007, resulting in a final ABV of around 4%. I used the house yeast, which was a bad idea. They were very sluggish the entire fermentation, probably not helped by the fact that the furnace was never running (the fermenter is in the utility room). Flavor is damned good though, which is kinda the whole point of the experiment.

Part two is on the burner now. I am boiling 1/4 oz of Centennial hops for 45 mins, then dry hopping during fermentation with the remaining 1/4 oz. The smell in the kitchen is amazing.

I'm very pleased that things are going so smoothly. So pleased, in fact, that I think it is definitely time to start building a 5 gallon setup. Midwest has some affordable kits with quality materials and lots of add-ons available.

The downside of back to back brews is that I'll have to bottle the dry-hopped IPA...or drink very quickly.

I'll post with the gravity results when available.

-James

Little delayed

I meant to post this on Tuesday.

Another Chumleys midwest beer night adventure. Their new Tuesday bartender is actually cuter than the last one.

I decided to finally try a beer that I tend to avoid for purely personal reasons. Leine's Summer Shandy.

I avoid this beer for many reasons.

1.) any midwest craft brew drinker who doesn't drink Oberon for the summer is worthless.

2.) If I'm going to mix lemonade with my beer, I'll buy Warsteiner and make a Radler (german equivalent to shandy).

3.) Leine tends to produce good, but overpriced beers.

Well, turns out I was right on all of these. The Leine Summer Shandy is an excellent copy of a Warsteiner-sprite Radler. Slightly higher abv, but is that the point? There's no way I'd pay close to $8 for a 6-pk when Oberon is $9. And, Oberon is an overall more interesting beer, in my opinion.

Now, in the Chicago area the Leine shandy has a huge following, basically because Bells has been absent in Illinois for ages, and there're still only easing back into the market they were so rudely kicked out of. If Oberon was not an option, I'd have to say that my summer beer selection would alternate between Sam Adams summer ale and this Shandy.

-J