Ferocious IPA homewbrew

[Cobrabit]

Figured as I am brewing the Midwest clone of Surly Furious called 'Ferocious' today, I'd take some pictures of my brew day and continue all the way through bottling and first taste. My last brew was Northern Brewers' clone of the same Surly Furious and was my first IPA I made. Really loved it and since NB was out of stock, I decided to give the Midwest version a try. I also picked up their Hex Nut Brown Ale that I'll brew in a couple weeks and both of these will be used in a going away party for our minister and her family in a couple months (my boss who goes to our church is the one that suggested I make a couple for the occasion).

So this thread will discuss my steps along with pictures through he process along with any comparisons I can make between the Midwest and NB versions of this clone. I have not tried the original, so I don't know how they actually compare to it, but nonetheless, it's home brewing discussion....what more could you want?

 

[HammerDown]

Looking forward to it!

 

[Cobrabit]

First off, my notes from the NB Furious:

This was brewed on June 2, 2013 and was the last beer I've made since today and was my 32nd batch I've made so far.

Ingredient list is shown below in the attachment. I do not know what hops made up the dry hop blend, but do know that this brew called for a massive 12.5 oz of hops (5 gallon batch).

I made a 1L starter with the Wyeast British Ale about 36 hours in advance before my brew. Since my wife doesn't allow me to brew at our house, I use my family's trucking company kitchen. I've brewed once with her in the house and she had an allergic reaction to the grains that caused her to require my inhaler, so I typically buy a six pack along with the bottled water and ice I need to brew and spend a few hours at the trucking company.

Per my notes on is brew:

Cleaned and sanitized kettle(only 3 gallons), primary and plastic container used to hold utensils when not in use with StarSan.

Brought 1.5 gallons of bottle water up to 150 degrees and steeped grains for 15 minutes. Temperature fluctuated between 155 and 170. Grains included 0.75 oz of English Medium Crystal, 0.5 oz of Belgian Aromatic, and 0.125 oz of English Roasted Barley

Brought to a boil and added the 6.3 lb of Gold LME

Remaining brew schedule as follows:

1 oz Amarillo (first wort)....kit only called for 0.5 oz, but why not add it all?
2 oz Warrior (60 min)
Added 2 lb of Gold DME (15 min)
Added Super Irish Moss (10 min)
2 oz Amarillo (0 min)


Prepared primary (6.5 gallon bucket) with 10 lb of ice and 2 gallons of bottle water. Poured wort into primary and topped it off to 5 gallons with bottled water while stirring.

Once wort dolled below 70 degrees, I pitched the yeast starter and closed her up. Once back home, I attached a blow off tube to the air lock. SG was 1.067.


After the two weeks in the primary, I racked on top of the 8 oz dry hop blend to my secondary carboy (6 gallon) and let sit for another week.

Bottled on June 24, 2013 using Mr. Beer 16 oz PET bottles. FG was 1.013. Used all 5 oz of the priming sugar from the kit. A few days later I noticed they were starting to swell, so I released some pressure every couple days to keep them from exploding (eventually had a couple let go a few months later).

First taste was about 2 weeks after bottling. Certainly noticed they were definitely over carbed with an extremely heady pour. However, the aroma was fantastic and the taste even more so. Subsequent conditioning allowed for additional mellowing and turned me into a hophead (even though i still had a nice porter/stout over the holidays). I had shied away from IPAs for so long because earlier in my first days of drinking beer, my tastes weren't ready for the bitterness. My first IPA was Sierra Nevada Celebration and while i remember it being okay, I just didn't think it was for me at the time (I was drinking more red/brown ales if I were to step outside of the Miller Lite spectrum back then). With my home brewing, I have really allowed my tastes to experience the whole gambit of beer and ever since this Surly clone, I've been enjoying store bought IPAs whenever I can.


Needless to say, I recommend NB's Furious clone when it's back in stock.

 

[Cobrabit]

NB Furious ingredient list:

 

[HammerDown]

My brother brews and it's a hobby I could lose myself in so easily.

 

[Cobrabit]

Today's brew of Midwest Supplies Ferocious IPA.

At 11:45 am, I began the brew day by eating pizza and downing a couple 16 oz Miller Lites and will proceed to drink at least four more during the brew. I choose Milker Lite because I had $15 the other day and got 15 bottles for $13.99. I normally try to buy a beer similar to what I'm brewing for inspiration, but for $10+ for a 6 pack, I said screw it and decided to start hammering Miller Lite. Therefore, all of today's posts may be ripe with spelling/grammatical errors, so fuck off

On Thursday evening, I got my yeast starter going. Using Wyeast Headwaters Ale, 1300 mL of water and 1 cup of gold DME. Yeast is viable and a nice aroma (some that brew or bake know what I'm talking about). Will swirl the yeast cake before pitching.

 

[Cobrabit]

1 pm: sanitize everything with a mix of StarSan and LD Carlson

 

[Cobrabit]

3 gallon kettle....really need to upgrade. Also, sorry for the one picture posts, I can't seem to upload more than one with my iPad at a time....might have something to do with the Miller Lite ( currently on #5)

 

[Cobrabit]

6.5 gallon primary

 

[Cobrabit]

Ingredient list from Midwest

 

[Cobrabit]

All ingredients except priming sugar and the Super Irish Moss I'll use later shown.

 

[Cobrabit]

Muslin bag filled with the grains

 

[Cobrabit]

1.5 gallons of water brought up to 155 degrees and the grains are added to steep.

 

[Cobrabit]

30 minutes later. Temperature fluctuated again between 155 and 170 ish....really need to invest in a propane burner and 5 gallon kettle, but alas, I do what I can.

 

[Cobrabit]

While grains were steeping, I had the malt extract sitting in hot water to help it flow better.

 

[Cobrabit]

Wort was brought to a boil and removed to add the extract. I also boil a couple cups of water while the grains are steeping to pour into the extract jugs after I've poured most of he extract out. Give them a few swirls to help get all of the extra syrup out. Every little bit of fermentable sugar helps.

 

[Cobrabit]

Once he kettle is put back on the burner and the first bubble appeared, 1 oz of Warrior was added.

 

[Cobrabit]

Now the wait begins, but check on the kettle every few minutes so to hopefully avoid a boil over.

 

[Cobrabit]

Mmmmm....love that smell. However, it's a good thing I always brew on a Saturday. That at least allows another day for the office to air out before work on Monday.

 

[Cobrabit]

After the first 40 minutes, 1 oz of Amarillo and 1 oz of Simcoe were mixed and separated into 5 additions that will be added every five minutes.