Noc-a-homa I.P.A.

Target O.G. = 1.060 O.G. = 1.060!
Target IBU = 50 IBU = 52.6

This is the first beer I am making with the help of Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. Never before have I set a target original gravity and IBU. We will see how close I get. I am also making this with on East Kent Goldings for hops since I bought a pound of them on ebay. I expect this beer to be gold / amber; a step or two darker than the Gold Glove Leapday Ale. I am still reading the chapter on color.

Malt Bill:
85% (11.5 lbs) Marris Otter Two Row (x 36 Potential Gravity) = 414
11% (1.5 lbs) Crystal Malt 10L or 20L (x 34 Potential Gravity) = 51
4% (8 oz) CaraPils (x 34 Potential Gravity) = 17


I have been averaging efficiency at 72% ( GHR, Bitter, and Golden). I am going to shoot for 75%.

Target total potential gravity = 482 of which 360 (6 gallons x 60) is 74.68%.

The Hops:
Bittering Hops = 1 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) -- 90 minutes
Flavoring = 1 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) -- 30 minutes
Aroma = 1 0z East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) -- 15 minutes
Aroma = 1 0z East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) -- end
---
Dry Hop = 1 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) -- dry hop in secondary

The above additions equal an estimated IBU of 52.6, which is higher than the 50 I targeted, but the hops I am using are a little old, so this may even out.

Mashing:

13.5 pounds of grain x 1.3 quarts = 4.39 gallons. I am going to heat it to 165 hoping for a mash around 155. I have boiling water in the tun now hoping to minimize heat loss.

By my calculations, I will need about 3.3 gallons of sparge water to run off 6 gallons. This will be 170 degrees.

Fifteen minutes in: Temperature is at 156 degrees, so heating the tun up and covering it with blankets seemed to help. I am going to let this do its thing and not fuck with it to read temps for a while.

One Hour, Fifteen minutes in: I checked the temp and read it as 150.

One Hour, Twenty-two minutes in: I added about one pint of boiling water and shut the lid.

Running Off -- Wort looks paler than I expected.

Boiling -- Was boiling . . . 90 minutes.

As you might have seen above, I hit my target gravity on the nose -- 1.060. I did not expect that to happen. What can I say?

Notes:

3.23.08 -- Transfered to secondary and dry hopped with 1 oz EKG (5.5% AA).

4.20.08 -- Kegged. Final Gravity = 1.021. ABV = 5.1%. Sample in the hydrometer tube did not taste overly hoppy. We'll see.

5.11.08 -- I am very pleased with the Noc-a-homa. I intended this to be a milder IPA, not something more typical of an American Pale Ale. The English hops and the target IBU makes this beer mild, yet hoppy. It is, however a bit overcarbonated since I jacked the gas up and then forgot.

6.0.08 -- Noc-a-homa has cleared up very nicely, though it still is a bit overcarbonated. I have found this to happen in beers I have dry-hopped. With the abundance of EKG in my freezer, I will certainly make this again, though I may increase the IBUs just a tad. I do not want to make this taste like an APA (which would be hard without any C hops), I just would like to make the EKG a little more pronounced.