Coming Soon: Taihei IPA

太平洋！

What time is it?

No, it's not Adventure Time.  It's brew time!  We've just moved to Hawaii, and I'm preparing my very first brew in a new environment.  There are several new factors that I need to consider here.  First and probably most important, I no longer have a basement.  I also don't have the funds to acquire expensive cooling equipment, a special brewing fridge/freezer, etc.  I've commandeered the storage room under the stairwell, and temps seem to generally stay around 70-74F in there, meaning I'll need to focus on brewing beers that can ferment well in that temperature range without developing off-flavors.  Second, I'm not going to have some of the same ingredient availability as I had in Maryland, including my favorite hop style, Falconer's Flight.  So this first brew, I'll be testing out a couple new varieties of hops.

The latest beer, which I expect to brew this weekend, will showcase hops from around the Pacific Ocean:  Australian Galaxy for bittering, New Zealand's Wakatu for aroma, and I was happy to find my other fave, the Japanese Sorachi Ace (which I'll be using for aroma this recipe).  The major uniting theme in these hops is citrus zest, with some fruity notes.  Of note, this will also be my first all-grain brew.  I've even purchased a 5-gallon kettle for the occasion.  Since the hops all come from various Pacific islands, I've named it Taihei IPA, based on the Japanese word for "Pacific Ocean": 太平洋　(たいへいよー / taiheiyo-; "Taihei" is just "Pacific").

  One neat thing about Hawaii is I was able to quickly find two facebook groups dedicated to brewing locally.  Several experts have already weighed in on the recipe, helping me adjust it and understand the mashing process.  If you keep up with my beers, you may remember I did a partial mash for What's This? Christmas Ale -- the bulk was pilsner liquid malt extract (LME), but I added some chocolate malt.  In that case, I only needed enough water to mash the pound or so of grain I used, and was able to add extra water to the boil later (this is called a condensed wort).  LME is cool like that.  But with all-grain, you have to add all the water at once, or it doesn't come out right.  With this in mind, because I only have a 5 gallon kettle (anything bigger won't fit well on my stove), I'm sticking to 2-gallon batches until I get the hang of brewing in Hawaii.  Much cheaper, and less of a pain if I screw them up ;).

Anyway, here's the recipe.  Bear in mind, the numbers are estimated at this time, based on calculations from Brewer's Friend.  You should be able to view the BF version here.

TAIHEI IPA
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 2 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 2.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.066
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.083
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV (standard): 8.77%
IBU (tinseth): 99.76
SRM (morey): 9.34
FERMENTABLES:
5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (83.3%)
1 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 20L (16.7%)
HOPS:
0.5 oz - Australian Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.2, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 62.54
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 22.66
0.5 oz - NZ Wakatu, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 10
0.25 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.55
YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: Yes
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 81%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 54 - 77 F
Fermentation Temp: 72 F
Pitch Rate: 0.5 (M cells / ml / deg P)

Will probably add 1oz Sorachi Ace and 1oz Wakatu dry hop 4 days before bottling, depending on what the sample tastes like.

Here's hoping it all turns out right!