Batch I -- Apollo India Pale Ale

I brewed my first batch of homebrew on Sunday January 2, 2011 after getting all the gear I needed from Amy for Christmas. Brew was done with the assistance of the Matts--Humbard and Geist. Here is the recipe and notes on the process:



01.02.2011 - Brewday. Mashed in at 1.25 quarts/pound of water to reach a mash temperature of 149F. Held there for 90 minutes. Collected a bit under 5 gallons, chilled to 69F, and pitched two vials of WLP001. Placed in chest freezer at 65F. Initial gravity reading is 1.046.

01.04.2011 - Couldn't help myself and took a gravity reading after the blowoff tube hadn't shown much activity. Down to 1.022. Still fairly sweet, but quite bitter with plenty of tropical notes.

01.07.2011 - Took a final gravity reading after no change in activity for over a day and the kraeusen had fallen. Gravity now at 1.010. Beer is significantly less sweet and quite bitter.

01.09.2011 - Early AM temperature was dropped down to 35F to settle sediment. Added 2 ounces each of Citra and Amarillo to the bottom of a sanitized keg purged with CO2. Transferred approximately 4.5 gallons to the keg. Started carbonating at 10psi at 36F to get approximately 2-2.5 volumes of CO2. Smell is pretty strong, though not nearly what I would like it to be--hopefully the dry hops help there. The 100+ theoretical IBUs are very noticeable; it's going to be one extremely-bitter session beer.

01.10.2011 - Went to check on the keg and realized the CO2 tank had kicked at some point during the first 24 hours of carbonation. Switched to a new tank at 8-10psi. Pulled a sample of the beer and it was quite cloudy. Apparently, this is not from the yeast as I chilled a sample for quite some time without any of the haze falling out. I don't think this is chill haze as it was not present earlier. The nose is great--stronger hop aroma than yesterday. The taste, however, is a bit chalky and seems to have changed during the day in the keg. I'm investigating the cause of this but hope it's a normal part of the process and/or will fall out in a few days during carbonation.