Out of the Bottle: English IPA

After nearly two months of fermenting, dry hopping and bottle conditioning (not to mention having to pose for pictures while being brewed), my English India Pale Ale is ready to drink. Time to find out if the beer was worth the wait.

I'll say upfront that I have to be in the right mood to drink a 100+ IBU bitter-bomb. That said, I like a hop-forward beer where the hop flavors and aromas dominate the proceedings. To that end, my English IPA has a moderate bittering addition, followed by three heavy flavor and aroma ones. The end result is a modest 50 IBUs of bitterness, but a heavy dose of flavor and aroma. At 1.008, the Final Gravity is quite a bit lower than the 1.016 my Qbrew software predicted (darn technology). As a result, the ABV comes to a hefty 7.4%. The beer pours about as brilliant a pale amber hue as you can get without filtering. It has a dense eggshell head on top that sticks around and leaves decent lacing.

As I wished, the nose is greeted with a healthy dose of fresh floral, fruity and earthy aromas. Black tea, lemongrass, pepper and a bit of orange marmalade are all present. The hop aromas blend nicely into the beer's flavor. Bitterness comes with a strong, but not overpowering black tea and pepper bite. Malts are subdued, but bring grape-nuts and biscuit flavors to the table. The bitterness lingers long after the last sip. The alcohol is well masked, but does add a touch of warmth going down. The carbonation aids the bitterness and is a touch higher than I was shooting for. The rest of the body is slick and oily from the hops.

I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. Perhaps I'd dial back the carbonation a little next time. The rest of the recipe is a keeper.

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