In the Fermentor: And now for something completely different.

I promised that the next one of these articles wouldn't be Belgian, or contain candy sugar. I've kept my promise and present to you an English IPA. If you're following my Kitchen Brewing series, this is the beer that I was making in all those pictures.

This beer has a simple grain bill, but a heavy dose of two of my favorite English hops: Fuggles and Kent Goldings. The finished beer won't be the citrus bomb that is the typical West Coast IPA. This one should turn out earthy, floral and slightly woody. IPAs were made strong and heavily hopped to survive the long journey from Britain to India. With a target ABV of 6.4% and four hop additions, mine covers both bases. Here's the plan for five gallons:

Grains:
12.5 lbs Maris Otter
8 oz Victory

Hops:
2 oz Fuggles: 60 min
0.5 oz Fuggles: 20 min
0.5 oz Kent Goldings: 20 min
0.5 oz Fuggles: 7 min
0.5 oz Kent Goldings: 7 min
0.5 oz Fuggles: Dry Hopping
0.5 oz Kent Goldings: Dry Hopping

Yeast:
Wyeast 1469 - West Yorkshire

Mash Schedule:
Saccharification Rest: 151F for 60min
Mashout: 168F for 10 minutes

Original Gravity:
1.066
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.016

IBU: 50
SRM Color: 11

Fermentation Schedule:
2 Weeks Primary
2 Weeks Secondary
2 Weeks Secondary with Dry Hops
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: $19 per case
Commercial Equivalent: Left Hand 400 lb Monkey: $33
Savings: $14

This is the third beer for this particular batch of West Yorkshire, which really spreads its cost out. It's previous uses were in an English Porter and a Brown Ale. I'm a big West Yorkshire fan. It's supposed to be the same strain used by Samuel Smith, brewers of one of my favorite beers of all time.

As I write this, the beer is still bubbling away in the primary fermenter. I'll report back in a few weeks on how it turns out.

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