Brewed Slowly Update: American IPA

big beers are better than regular beers (especially when they're homebrewed and bottled in tallboy RedStripes)

I know I’ve slacked a little on updating the progress of the first Brewed Slowly entry and how the beer has turned out.  I started trying them about a week and a half ago to see how far the carbonation was coming. I know you’re dying to know.

belated pic of the beer going into the secondary with 0.5 oz of Chinook hops

Well, now they’re carbonated to my liking, a little softer than your Budweiser or High Life, but sharper than, say, a Guiness. I’ll admit that I’m pretty pleased with the taste. This was the first beer I’ve dry-hopped, and the process really does make a difference. My wife says it reminds her of Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale, which I’d say is a good thing, although I think it tastes a little less citrusy than Sierra Nevada. While the alcohol and hop content isn’t exactly comparable to this example, the beer reminds me a little of Dogfishhead’s 90 minute IPA. (I don’t think I am, but I may be projecting what I want it to taste like onto the beer itself. If you’ve tried the 90 min. IPA, you’ll understand, I think. If you haven’t tried this beer, holy shit, do. You can’t get it in Mississippi (it comes in around 8-9% alcohol) but when you’re next in a state with reasonable alcohol laws, pick up a four-pack.) The considerable hop taste is still balanced with the slightly sweet malt taste. Next time, I’m thinking of dry-hopping it again in the bottling bucket on its way to the bottles. We’ll see. All in all, success–it’s beer.

p.s. For those of you interested in beer and/or the process of making it, check out Starkville Homebrew, put together by another local fighter for the cause. If our fine state of Mississippi won’t let us buy all the beers we should be able to, we’ll just have to make it our own damn selves.

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