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