Batch #3-13: India Pale Ale

Summary:

I ended up brewing this batch almost 6 weeks after its intended brewing date.  Partially due to how busy I have been, and partially due to the weirdest string of failures with yeast starters.  It took 4 tries to get a yeast starter that worked.  The other three either did not take, or were incredibly weak as if they were dead.  In the final yeast starter, I added about 2 ounces of molasses that I had in my fridge to give the yeast a boost.  That drew a reaction from the yeast (yea!).  We’ll see how it impacts the taste of the wort.

This will probably be my last batch of beer brewed in Florida before I relocate.  So I am naming it Tranzyt India Pale Ale.  Since India Pale Ale was designed to be a beer which would stay fresh over a long transit time (3-4 months on a ship sailing from Britain to India), the name seems to fit.

Mon: April 22 @ 6:30PM — The brewing session was very smooth.  My only mistake was adding the 1oz of finishing hops 10 minutes before the end of the boil, instead of at the end of the boil.  It will probably reduce the flowery aroma a bit, but it’s an IPA–so that may not be noticable.

This is standard fermenting in a plastic bucket with wick cooling.

Tue: April 23 @ 8:00 AM — The yeast is off to a good start.  Bubbling is near constant in the airlock.

Sat: April 27 @ 6:00 PM — The fermentation went very well, and the wort was fermented by late Friday (1 minute between bubbles). Bottling produced 48x 12oz crown cap, 1x 20oz crown cap, 2x 20x snap tops, and 3x 12oz snap tops.  The wort is less flowery than previous versions, due to the early addition of aroma hops at the end of the boil, as mentioned above.  Yet the wort is smooth and there is a nice balance between the malts and the hops.  I am looking forward to when this batch has completed conditioning.

Sun: May 12 @ 8:00 PM — The first bottle indicates a very successful batch.   Nice carbonation, and a well-balanced hop and malt balance.  I am very pleased with this batch.