Amarillo IPA

Well, after a week off I brewed another single-hop IPA on Saturday, this time using whole Amarillo hops.

The Recipe:

9 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz Victory malt
8 oz Cara-Pils

18 AAU (47g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 60
6 AAU (16g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 20
6 AAU (16g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 10
6 AAU (16g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 5
6 AAU (16g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 0 (flame-out)

Whirlfloc tablet @ 15

Wyeast 1272 - American Ale II

Mashed at 149° for an hour using about 12.5 quarts of water. Batch-sparged using 175-185° water and collected 6.5 gallons for the boil.

O.G.: 1.051
Est. IBU: 79.3

Brewing was mostly uneventful, except that I forgot to smack my Wyeast Activator pack the typical 3 or so hours before pitching. Instead, I smacked it about 5 minutes before pitching. Still, fermentation seemed to begin relatively quickly and is humming along nicely now.

I also kegged #39, Two Bails Cream Ale, and saved its yeast cake for future use. It appears to be the palest-colored beer I've made yet, and actually tastes pretty good (if a little grainy). It might make an interesting base for a hoppier pale-ale type brew in the future.