Brewing the ‘Nookie IPA (Part 2)

Our inaugural IPA stayed in the primary fermenter for two weeks in Jeff’s guest bedroom. Jeff monitored the temperature during that time, which varied between 60 and 65 degrees. After the two weeks, it was time to rack the beer into a glass carboy, generously donated by my coworker Bridget. We will have to name a beer after her one of these days. Racking was extremely easy, since we used an auto siphon.

There was a ton of yeast built up in the primary fermenter after we were done. Some of it made it into the carboy as well. I can now see why it’s important to do a two-stage fermentation.  After the beer was racked, I secured the airlock.

Brewing the ‘Nookie IPA (Part 1)

Rough draft of our first beer label

For our first beer, we decided to brew an IPA using a single hop variety, in this case Chinook.  Of course, we are starting off by using extract kits and Northern Brewer has a great variety of styles to choose from.  Their Chinook IPA kit seemed like a good place to start.  Brewing this particular beer was attractive, since it would give us some insight into the particular flavor of Chinook hops.  Most IPAs use a variety of hops for both their bitterness and aromatic qualities, so once this is done, I hope to be able to isolate exactly what qualities Chinook hops bring to a beer.

Here’s how it all went down:

We assembled at Jeff’s place and put our brand spanking new brewing equipment to the test.  I was kind of nervous about messing this up, so I made it a point to memorize as much of the process as I could, based off of Northern Brewer’s helpful inventory sheet.  After some pregame planning over pizza and beer, we fired up Liles’ turkey fryer burner and got our brew on.  First, we steeped the specialty grains (.75 lb Belgian Caramel Pils, .25 lb Breiss Caramel) in the water while waiting for it to hit 170 degrees.  Then we pulled the grains and waited for the water to come to a nice rolling boil.  We cut the heat, then added 6 lbs Pilsen malt Syrup and 1 lb Pilsen Dry Malt extract.  After bringing the wort back to a boil, we added one ounce of pellet hops, then added another half ounce with 10 minutes left, and another half ounce at burnoff.

Here We Go!

After months (years?) of discussing it, me and my friends Jeff and Liles finally decided to start home brewing about three weeks ago.  All three of us are fans of big beers: “hop grenade” IPAs, midnight black imperial stouts, anything aged in bourbon barrels, funky Belgian ales, you name it.  It was high time for us to get into the art and science of actually making the stuff.  We wanted to hit the ground running and make the same kind of beer we enjoy drinking.  No wimpy amber ales or low ABV session brown ales for this crew.  We would rather fail making a beer we want, rather than succeed at something we will never drink.

Jeff agreed to host the brewing at his house in the Highlands neighborhood in North Denver, since he has a nice big kitchen and a suitable outdoor space for brewing.  He also lives geographically between me and Liles, so it’s convenient for all three parties.

This blog will serve as a record of our efforts and hopefully help us to learn from our successes and, more importantly, our failures.  First up, Nookie IPA!

Can these three guys possibly figure this out? (Photo: M. Walker)