Azacca IPA

When I joined the AHA, the enticement to join was that new (or renewed) memberships would receive 4 oz of Azacca hops, and 4 oz of Jarrylo hops.  I really like how the Jarrylo hops turned out in the JM Hall Pale Ale, so getting some more hops just for joining was a good deal.  Also, there are a number of other benefits, like getting discounts, etc.

I had a bit of time today, so I looked around at what I had available and did a brew using the Azacca hops.  I had some of the Northern Brewer Super Structure LME still available, so I added a partial mash, and used only the Azacca hops.

Brew Day: 18 July

Partial Mash
½ lb Belgian Munich malt
½ lb German Pale malt

Start with 2 ½ qt water at 156 deg F.  Mash for 1 hr, then cycle wort through the cooler manually.  Bring 3 qt water in brew kettle to 170 deg F, steep malt bag for ~ 10 min.  Remove grains, add wort (~ 2 qt; total volume 5 qt).  Add malt syrup, and then bring to gentle boil for 60 min.

Boil: 60 min
1.2 lb Northern Brewer Super Structure malt syrup (@ 60 min)

Hops
9 g Azacca (@ 60 min) (AA: 10.3%)
7 g Azacca (@ 30 min)
9 g Azacca (@ 15 min)
12 g Azacca (@ flameout)

Yeast: Safale US-50

At this point, my plan is to leave it in primary fermentation for approx. 10 days, and then do a dry hop in secondary, for at least a week.

Addendum, 20 July: I checked in on the fermenter this morning and there is a steady stream of bubbles flowing through the blowoff tube into the jar (Gatorade bottle).  Things seem to be progressing nicely at this point.

Addendum, 29 July: Racked the beer to secondary, dry hopped with 13 g of Azacca.  When I put the cap on the fermenter and inserted the air lock, it only took a few seconds before I could see that the air lock cap was being elevated by the production of gases from the beer.

Addendum, 11 Aug: Bottled today (2 wks dry hop).  Dissolved 1 oz of table sugar in 1/2 cup of boiling water, put that in a fermenter.  After giving it time to cool down, I racked the IPA into the fermenter, and then let it set for about 15 min.  I then bottled normally.  Ended up with 9 bottles.

Taste Test, 25 Aug: Starts with a big, pillowy head, which persists.  Nice lacing.  Definite flavors of grapefruit and pine.  Very, very good flavor, and definitely an aggressive hop schedule (i.e., equal to about 6 oz for a 5 gal batch).  Definitely a keeper.

Addendum, 2 Sept: Had a tasting with some friends at the end of last week, but didn't have time to add this...my wife came up with the name "So Fly IPA", because this one is just so...fly.  ;-)