Craft Beer week and first 5 gallon batch

So this was the first significant celebration of American Craft Beer week (the market grows a tremendous amount each year), unfortunately I get half pay here in a bit, so I had to take it easy.

The only new beer I had was Back Wood Brewery's (from La Porte, IN) Hop Star IPA. It was an excellent IPA, bordering on a double, but this is where it failed. Stuck halfway between a single and a double IPA this beer has too much hops to be balanced by the meager malts, but without the ABV to make it truly worth it. Once again, a big IPA that fails to balance itself.

Peoples has a new Lemongrass version of their Farmer's Daughter Wheat beer. I always thought that the FD wheat was a clean slate upon which to build an amazing summer beer. The Lemongrass version (actually version 2) is a gigantic step in the right direction. It takes a blank sheet and adds in a bit of the flavor of sunshine. The lemongrass adds a bit of a citrus-y flavor, and significant body to the beer.

As a finale to the week, I just finished brewing my first 5 gallon batch. The kit was the Midwest brewing Hop Scare IPA. The ingredients consisted of 6 lbs (1/2 gal) Gold Liquid Malt extract (LME), 2 lbs of light dry malt extract (DME), and 1 lbs of caravienne malt specialty grains. The hop bill consists of 1 oz Yakima (14.1% A.A.), 1 oz Amarillo (7.2%) and 2 oz cascade (5%). Brew consisted of a 60 min boil with the Amarillo added at 30 and 45 mins, and the cascade added at 55 mins.

Initial flavor of the wort is delicious, with the original gravity at 1.048 I'm looking at a 5.2-5.8% beer. I don't think I got the most out of the caravienne malt, but this was the only hiccup in the whole brew.

-James