Balanced malt and bitterness

I'm enthused about the Maris Otter Centennial SMaSH beer.  So excited, I couldn't wait two weeks after bottling to try it.  I cheated and put one one in the refrigerator on day 8.

Plenty of carbonation, nice golden color, smooth with a lingering bitterness.  A nice aroma consisting of malt, fresh apples, kinda grassy, with a little citrus, and some alcohol (which should subside with a little more age).  A smooth beer with earthy tones. 

The white head remained for the full duration, possibly with some assistance from the little etched Dogfish logo on the bottom of the IPA glass.

For those interested in the recipe, check it out here.  Or it can be found on the Recipes Page as well.

I'm excited!

All planning and no brewing today

Ugh... So, the brewing will commence tomorrow morning.  Here is/was the checklist for today.

1. Get grain and hops.  Complete.  This was the east part, especially when we talk about the recipe.

2. Make sure to have enough propane in the tanks.  Here was part of the hold up.  Not wanting to run out or gas, I took the old empty tank to BJ's Warehouse, who can't fill it because it is past 12 years old and needs a re-certification (or something like that).  So, he said, "take it to Home Depot and exchange (The Blue Rhino exchange program) and then next time it is empty, brink it back and we can fill it."  Or at least something like that.  Off to Home Depot I go.

Propane, Water, and Pipeline Porter

3. Get water.  I was planning to invest in one of those 5 gallon water carboys at BJ's, but the place seemed crazy busy in the main inside part of the store.  Perhaps Home Depot will have similarity priced water.  Nope.  Turns out Home Depot pricing is about twice that of BJ's.  Needing water still, I'm off to the grocery store. (They have beer there too.)

4. After fighting local construction traffic on the way home, it was determined time expired for today, without brewing in the darkness late into the evening.

I'm sure that is all very exciting to read about.  The recipe?  Easy.  A Maris Otter and Centennial SMASH, standing for Single Malt and Single Hops.

The Maris Otter is a British base malt, with classic character.  Centennial hops are an American Hop variety, used ofter in Pale Ales and IPAs.  Bell's Two Hearted Ale is a single hop IPA with Centinnial.

The yeast will be the Ringwood Ale yeast that was cultivated and washed from the bottom of the carboy at the end of the last brew (Inklings Ale, British style pale ale).

The idea is to make something simple.  The flavors will be known.

Recipe: for 3.25 gallons final volume

8lbs Maris Otter Malt
.5oz Centennial (60 min)
.25ox Centennial (5 min)
.25oz Centennial (fame out)
Wyeast 1187, Ringwood Ale

OG should be 1.064, with IBUs of 45.5 (12.5% Alpha on the Centennial)