Medusa IPA

Source: BSGCraftBrewing.com

Not long after I first started brewing small batches, I received 1 oz of Medusa hops and tried my hand at an IPA.  Unfortunately, the fermenter cap cracked pretty badly, and it was several days before I found it, so I lost that batch. I've recently been able to get access to some more of these hops, and I'm going to give it another shot, using the same hop schedule that I've been using for my more recent IPAs.

My daughter recently tried my Summer IPA, and based on her feedback (as well as my own empirical testing), the hop schedule seems to work pretty well; I thought I'd stick with it for this one, as well.

Brew Day: 2 Nov

Partial Mash:
11.5 oz 2-row malt, crushed
1.5 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
19 oz Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops:
14 g Medusa hops (FWH)
10 min hop stand with 1 oz Medusa hops

*Cool wort, pitch yeast via normal process

Yeast: Safale US-05 + 1/2 vial Clarity Firm

Addendum, 14 Nov: Dry hop: 14 g Medusa hops

Addendum, 17 Nov: Bottled today; got 9 good 12 oz bottles and 1 partial fill that's like 90%

Addendum, 2 Dec: Tried the first Medusa IPA tonight.  From the picture to the right, you can see it has a straw yellow color, and is a bit more carbonated than it needs to be...I'm going to be backing down on the priming sugar, to about 0.6 oz, rather than a full ounce.  After a few minutes of sitting it settle down pretty nicely.

Started off with a bit of sweet fruit in the nose, as well as on the palate.  My wife tried it and when I said that to me, it had a hint of pineapple, she agreed.  Not bitter at all, with a flavor reminiscent of melon.

As I progressed drinking the beer, the head continued to settle down and there was some light lacing on the glass.  Looking through the glass, the head had large bubbles, but in the middle of the glass, the head resembled more of a latte foam.