Mother’s Milk IPA

By Greg B.  With a friend of mine’s PhD graduation this fall, I decided to brew a special beer in honor of the occasion. Her personality is a little bitter at times, but definitely overflowing with energy and sometimes she can be very sweet.  Thinking about the style of beer that best suited her, I could only naturally come to the conclusion that an IPA was in order, one that was a bit heavy on the malty side.  And so, I set out to craft a beer. (note:  I decided to give her the original, and only, recipe for this beer.  So this recipe is for the next, upgraded IPA I’d make, with some changes)

Ingredients:

• 6.6 lbs Light extract (Coopers)
• 3.3 lbs Amber malt extract (Briess, unhopped)
• 2lb munich 0483
• .5lb Carapils 0411
• .75 lb Crystal 80 0409
• 1 lbs Flaked Barley
• 2 oz fuggle (during boil) - freshops
• 1oz Simcoe during boil
• 2 oz cascade 4534 (during boil) - MD homebrew
• 1.4 oz cascade with plus (dry hopped) - American hop plugs
• California Ale yeast WLP 001 - white labs

Ok, so I’d recommend removing the yeast from the fridge about 3-6 hrs before adding it to this wort.  This is gonna be one heck of a sugary mess.  Even start the yeast beforehand if you want, it might be a good idea, though I had no troubles with my California ale yeast on this beer.

Boil all the grains at 140-155F (65C) for 60 minutes in 2 gallons of water (maybe 2.5, if possible).  Yes, all the grains, stirring occasionally to mix of the mixture.  The more you stir it the more water-grain interface you get and the more likely you are to wash out the fermentable sugars.  Remember to use a Sterilized spoon!!  sterilize everything beforehand as always.  strain and remove grain bags from the mash.  At this point, you can begin adding the fuggle and cascade hops little at a time over the next 60min, I did 1oz total combined of the two hops every 15 min.  However, add the 1oz of simcoe hops at the start of the boil.  I really want some bitter hop flavor to balance the residual sugars in this beer.  Stir in all malt extracts being sure to continue stirring and watch the hops don’t cause the wort to boil over.  Maintain the wort around 150-155F for this entire hour as best you can.

This time, I filled my sink with cold water and moved the entire pot to the sink, being careful not to let water spill into my wort.  Watch the temperature closely, for about 2 gallons of hot wort when the temp gets to 110F, you can move it to the iced primary.  Add about 2lbs of ice to the bottom of the primary, then use the strainers the same as the stout to block the hops during the strain.  Slowly pour the wort, letting the liquid strain and leave hops behind (if you are using pellet hops, skip this step.  I do it to remove the whole leaf hops).

Once the hop mixture has finished draining, bring the total volume up to 5 gallons and check the temperature.  When the temperature reads 70-75, you can add the yeast, but first, check the original gravity!  This recipe started out at 1.025 after mashing, 1.073 after all the malts were added.  Pour the yeast into the mixture, then aerate for a minute or two by mixing very heavily with a sterile spoon, preferably metal.  I then added 1oz cascade hop plugs to the wort, sealed it and let it sit at 75 degrees for up to 7 days.  At this time I moved it to the secondary, but I probably should have let it ferment for another 3 days or so.  The gravity was 1.028 by day 8.  Once in the secondary, I added another .5 oz oh hops and let it sit for 7 days until re-racking into a clean secondary, being sure to leave behind as much hops as possible.  The gravity was now at 1.019, so let the beer sit for about a month, as this beer is completely full of stuff that needs to settle out.

I bottled this original recipe of this beer at the start of October when the gravity was at 1.019, using the same priming method as the vanilla oak stout.  The color was a very opaque brown and the smell a sweet, piney aroma.  The non-carbonated beer had a very malty texture to it, which I hope comes out in the beer as that was what I wanted to capture. At this point, I expect it to be about 8% abv or more, and it should be one heck of a beer!  After tasting this beer, I have to say it is one of my favorite beers I’ve ever made, though I think with some of the additions/changes In here I’ve added, it will really be an excellent beer.  It packs a punch though, and is definitely more of a sipping beer than a chugging beer, but it will keep you warm on a cold winters’ night, that’s for sure!