Brew #29: India Pale Ale

Today I brewed another Northern Brewer recipe, this one is an India Pale Ale.

This time I tried a few new things. First, I used some software to manage my brew. I purchased the Beer Smith package. Very easy to use, and can even be run under Wine if you don't want to use a Windows machine. The software was especially helpful in doing the multi-stage infusion. It calculated the amount and temperature of water I would need for each step.

This enabled me to do a two stage infusion. The first was at 151 degrees, the second at 165 degrees. I undershot a little, because when I did the first stage, I didn't wait long before taking the temperature. It was 161 F, so I added 2 quarts of cold water. This dropped it considerably, so I'm thinking the temperature was okay after all, but just needed a minute to transfer the heat from the water to the grains.

Beersmith also generates an HTML brew sheet, so I'm going to paste that in here.

#29: Northern Brewer India Pale Ale Brew Type: All Grain Date: 2/3/2007 Style: English IPA Brewer: Mattox Beckman Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer: Boil Volume: 6.00 gal Boil Time: 60 min Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 % Equipment: My Equipment Actual Efficiency: 55.4 % Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0 Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 11.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 92.0 % 1.00 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.0 % 1.00 oz Nugget [13.00%] (60 min) Hops 42.9 IBU 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (30 min) Hops 11.4 IBU 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (1 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 1 Pkgs Thames Valley Ale (Wyeast Labs #1275) Yeast-Ale Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG (1.050-1.075 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG Estimated Final Gravity: 1.016 SG (1.010-1.018 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG Estimated Color: 5.8 SRM (8.0-14.0 SRM) Color [Color] Bitterness: 54.3 IBU (40.0-60.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 3.5 AAU Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.5 % (5.0-7.5 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.1 % Actual Calories: 226 cal/pint Mash Profile Name: Double Infusion, Medium Body Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb Mash Grain Weight: 12.50 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Sparge Water: 1.81 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Name Description Step Temp Step Time Saccrification Add 15.00 qt of water at 169.4 F 153.0 F 60 min Mash Out Add 8.75 qt of water at 205.7 F 170.0 F 10 min Mash Notes Double step infusion - for medium body beers requiring a protein rest. Used primarily in beers high in unmodified grains or adjuncts.