Leftover IPA

This year, I wanted to try something different.  I do small, 1 gal batches, and many times, I have a some hopped wort left at the bottom of the brew kettle after I'm done transferring most of it to a fermenter and pitching the yeast.  So what I'm doing is saving this hopped wort (depending upon the recipe, it may not be hopped...) in a sanitized growler, and once I have enough saved up, either add it to a beer (rather than doing a partial mash) or, if I save up a full gallon, then use that as the basis for a "leftover" beer.

At this point, I have about a full gallon of hopped wort left over from several brews (here, here, here, and here).  All of the previous brews have used some (if not all) experimental hops and were brewed to be NE-style IPAs.  I thought that this would be a great way to start, and the great thing is that I don't really need to add anything to this brew; all of the previous brews had been hopped via FWH, as well as having a steep at flameout.  The most I need to do with this brew is boil it again, pitch the yeast, and do a dry hop.

The great thing is that I get to be creative about the beers I brew, save the leftovers from the boil, and be creative all over again, all the while being able to drink some great beer that I made.  ;-)

Brew Day: 12 Feb 2019

Boil (20 min):
*Nothing added, just boiled for 20 min.

Hops: all of the hops used in the beer to this point are what was used in the original brew for each individual beer; so, a lot of experimental hops.  I will likely dry hop the beer once it's had some time to ferment, but at this point, there will be no new additions of hops.

Yeast: BE-134 (in keeping with the idea of brewing with what I had left over...)

Addendum, 24 Feb: Dry hopped on 14g of Citra hops

Addendum, 28 Feb: Bottled; got 9 good ones out of it.

XJA/436 IPA

I found another experimental hop at NorthernBrewer, this one called XJA/436.  As with the other experimental hops, I wanted to try this one in a NE-style IPA first, and then try it in combination with other similar hops.  This hop is said to impart berries...blueberries, gooseberries...so I wonder what it would be like with a little Brewer's Gold and Mosaic.  We'll have to see how this one turns out, and then maybe continue with the experimentation.

Brew Day: 12 Feb 2019

Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat

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

Hops:
14 g XJA/436 hops (FWH)
1 oz (28 g) XJA/436 hops (10 min steep @ flameout)
14 g XJA/436 hops (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

Addendum, 24 Feb: Dry hopped.

Addendum, 28 Feb: Bottled, got 9 good ones out of it.

Ginger Belgian

My wife enjoyed the ginger saison, and she enjoys the hopped Belgians, so I thought I'd try a ginger Belgian.

Brew Day: 26 Jan 2019

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
6 oz table sugar

Hops: 14 g Styrian Goldings (@ 0 min)

Addition: 1 oz fresh, thin-sliced ginger, in a hop bag (@ 10 min)

Yeast: BE-134

Addendum, 5 Feb: Moved to secondary.

Addendum, 6 Mar: Bottled; got 9 good bottles out of it.

Addendum, 23 Mar: Tried one of these last night; Terri's reaction was that this is THE BEST one I've done so far!  I don't usually pick up banana in hefeweizens; that's something Terri gets, but we both got aroma of banana from this one (yes, I know...it's not a hefe), and I got a little bit of sweetness in the flavor, as well.  The sweetness was just a bit more than subtle, strong enough to overwhelm most of what would have come through from the ginger.  I did pick up a little of the ginger on the back, but Terri's reaction was the key!

Melon and U1/108

I wanted to try something a little different, and get it fermenting.  I had a bit of the U1/108 experimental hops left over, and decided to try it alongside Huell Melon hops, which I've used in the past and really like.  The Melon hops can reveal flavors of melon and strawberries, so we'll how that does alongside the experimental hops.

Brew Day: 25 Jan 2019

Partial Mash:
8 oz 2 row
2 oz flaked wheat

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

Hops:
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - FWH
14 g Huell Melon + 14 g U1/108 - flame-out, 10 min steep
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - dry hop

Yeast: US-05

After filling the fermenter and pitching the yeast, the hopped wort left in the brew kettle was poured into the growler that I'd used to store what was left over from a previous brew.  That one was all U1/108 hops, so we'll see what comes of the final product when I collect enough leftovers to do boil a beer.

Addendum, 5 Feb: Dry-hopped.

Addenum, 10 Feb: Bottled today on 1 oz table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles out of it.

Something Else New

While researching new and experimental hops a while back, I ran across one called U1/108, which seemed quite interesting.  This dual-purpose hop from South Africa is described as imparting aromas of "lychee, mango, guava, citrus, lemongrass, stone fruit, coconut".  Okay, good enough for me! Being a huge fan of fruit-forward NE style IPAs, I had to try this one.

One note of caution, however.  I ordered three 1 oz bags of this hops from the supplier, and two of the bags had opened in transit, so the shipping envelope arrived with a lot of loose hop pellets and debris inside the bag.  To their credit, the supplier immediately comp'd me two new bags, but once those arrived, one of them was similarly opened.  What I mean is that the seal at the lower part of the bag had separated; the bag hadn't ruptured, but it appeared that it had separated along where the two sides of the bag were heat-sealed together.  This was an entirely new type of packaging, something that I hadn't seen before.  I opted to not get a second reshipment, and the supplier comp'd me a gift card that was multiples of the value of the hops.

Brew Day: 13 Jan 2019

Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat

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

Hops:
14 g U1/108 (FWH)
1 oz U1/108  (flameout)
14 g U1/108  (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

After transferring the wort to a fermenter and pitching the yeast, I had about two cups of hopped wort left over, a good bit of hop sludge.  I put that into a sanitized growler, and I'll keep collecting this as I brew various beers, until I get enough together to boil and pitch yeast into.

Addendum, 22 Jan: Dry hopped tonight.

Addendum, 27 Jan: Bottled today on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles and one re-purposed 8.5 oz bottle out of it.

Fun IPA

I had about a quart of hopped wort left over from the N1/69 IPA that I brewed, and I didn't want it to go to waste.  I had put it into a sanitized bomber and it's been in the fridge, just waiting to be used. I have some Mosaic, Medusa, and Citra hops still available, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to use up some ingredients and make a "fun" IPA.  This is like making a left-over casserole for dinner, using up what you've got sitting around to make room for new stuff.

This may end up being a new "thing" for 2019...saving what's left in the brew kettle after the fermenter if full and the yeast has been pitched.  I do end up with different amounts left; if I'm brewing a NE-style IPA, I tend to add a little more water initially because some tends to boil off, as well as be absorbed by the hopping that occurs at flameout.

When I brew a sour, I usually have at least one (maybe two) Gatorade bottle of wort left over after I rack the wort on to the StraightShots.  I save that wort, and add it back to the brew kettle for the second boil; again, some boils off, some gets absorbed by the hops if I'm brewing an IPA, etc.  Even then, I may still have a small amount of wort left over.  What I will be doing in 2019 is collect these left-overs until I get to a point where I have enough left-overs to make an interesting brew.

Brew Day: 6 Jan 2019

Boil (20 min):
 4 c. previously hopped wort
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops:
*whatever N1/69 hops is in the previously-hopped wort
7 g German Huell Melon + 7 g Brewer's Gold      - FWH
14 g German Huell Melon + 14 g Brewer's Gold  - 10 min steep, flameout
7 g German Huell Melon + 7 g Brewer's Gold      - dry hop

Yeast: US-05

Addendum, 20 Jan: Dry hopped beer this morning.

Addendum, 22 Jan: Bottled tonight, on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water.  Got 8 good bottles and one full re-purposed Mountain Dew bottle.

Something New

I was doing some research recently, looking for new hops, and ran across N1/69 Experimental Hops at NorthernBrewer. The description states that the hop varietal "imparts great pineapple, citrus, and melon flavors, along with some Juicy Fruit and Kool-Aid notes".  Who can say "no" to that!?!  I ordered 2 oz for my typical hop schedule, and immediately began planning what I hope to be a very fruit-forward NE-style IPA.

Brew Day: 11 Dec 2018

Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat

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

Hops:
14 g N1/69 (FWH)
1 oz N1/69 (flameout)
14 g N1/69 (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

After I pitched the yeast into the fermenter, I had a bit more hopped wort left over than I usually do, so I sanitized an Adroit Theory bomber and put about a quart of the mix into the fridge.  I'll use this for an upcoming IPA, it should make for some interesting flavors.

Addendum, 21 Dec: Dry hopped on 14 g of N1/69 hops.

Addendum, 27 Dec: Bottled tonight on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c of boiling water.  Got 8 good bottles, as well as 2 8.5 oz re-purposed soda bottles, and 1 partial fill.

Another NE IPA

I'm a fan on fruit-forward IPAs (see what Jake says about "NE IPAs" here...), and not having been able to find one commercially, I figured it was time to make another one that I'll likely enjoy after Christmas.  I have some cashmere hops left (I'm going to use some to dry hop a Belgian), so I'm going to do first wort hopping, a massive Mosaic-Citra-Cashmere hop "bomb", and dry hop.  The dry hop is going to be around the size (total number of grams) I usually use, because much more and I won't be able to get the hop bag out of the fermenter!  ;-)

Brew Day: 2 Dec 2018

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

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

Hops:
FWH - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops
Flame-out - 19 g Mosaic, 19 g Citra, 36 g Cashmere hops
Dry hop - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops

Yeast: US-05

Addendum, 13 Dec: Dry hopped.

Addendum, 17 Dec: Bottled today; got 7 good bottles, one full re-purposed soda bottle, and one soda bottle partial fill (about half).

Sour Beer

I have some Good Belly Straight Shots left over, and while I don't have a specific plan for a beer, I thought I'd at least start by brewing the sour batch up.

Brew Day: 30 Nov 2018

Partial Mash:
6 oz Special B
3 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
6 oz table sugar

Once the boil is complete, chill the wort in an ice bath, and add the wort to a sanitized fermenter with (2) Good Belly Straight Shots; place on a warming plate (wrapped in a towel) for 48-72 hrs.

Boil #2 (20 min): 3 Dec 2018
20 min boil to kill the bugs.

By the time I got to the second boil, I'd decided to do another "barrel aged" sour ale.  As such, later this week, I'll prepare the oak chips in a manner similar to the way I did so previously.  This one is likely going to be a barrel-aged brown or red sour (BABS, BARS) ale.

Hops: 14 g Styrian Golding hops

Yeast: BE-134

Addendum, 9 Dec: Boiled 1.2 oz of oak chips in water for 5 min, then placed them in a sanitized tupperware container.  Covered the oak chips in Woodford Reserve (90.4 proof); it took 2 small bottles, 100 ml.

Addendum, 17 Dec: Racked the beer on to oak chips placed in a hop bag.  I saved the Woodford off for inclusion in baked beans.

Addendum, 21 Dec: Racked to secondary.

Addendum, 12 Jan: Bottled on 1 oz table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles out of it.

Dry hopped Belgian

For my last Belgian, I decided completely on a whim to dry hop it with Cashmere hops.  It turned out that my wife really liked the flavor, and so while I still have some of these hops, I'm going to do this one again, albeit intentionally.

Brew Day: 26 Nov 2018

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
6 oz table sugar

Hops:
14 g German Hersbrucker (FWH)
14 g Cashmere hops (dry hop)

Yeast: BE-134

*I followed all of my normal procedures.

Addendum, 8 Dec: Dry hopped today; 14 g Cashmere hops.

Addendum, 15 Dec: Transferred the beer to secondary.

Addendum, 12 Jan: Bottled on 1 oz of table sugar, dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water.  Got 8 good bottles out of it.