It seems I panicked too early. Hip Check IPA is nicely carbed up now. Through two experiments with the Nelson Sauvin hop, I have realised that it is not my favorite hop to use. Its way too full-on a flavor. It totally takes all the glory of the chinook and centennial hops. They are way in the back and the NS is all up in your grill. Too much so.

Slew Foot IPA will get its dry hop tonight I think. 30gms Chinook, 30gms Centennial, 30gms Southern Cross. 3 and a bit ozs worth of hops.... hahhahahaha

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O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

I also struggle with waiting long enough for carb. Had some buddies over to watch the game and did a tasting of all the brews I had on file:

• Osito Volante Mexican Lager (4.5%) - Simple, a little more robust than Corona, but same idea.
• Mount Crumpit Cascadian Dark Ale (6.5%) - lots of C-type hops here, and has matured incredibly well. This beer was "pretty good" before, but 5 months after bottling this is just a great brew.
• Hops on Pops IPA (7%) - this is just a crazy symphony of very broad hop flavours. Lots of fruit, pine, citrus, earth all over the nose and palate. The last bottle.
• Easy Living Blonde Ale (4%) - all centennial hops, and while this was a bit disappointing 3 weeks after bottling, at 3 months it is a wonderful brew. The hops taste like candy, not kidding. The guys were huge fans.
• Reflecting Pool Pale Ale (5%) - there's too much hop bitterness, especially on the finish, in this one. It's softening as it matures, but I think it might just have too much to go... not enough alcohol to back up the bitter. A little harsh, so I'm keen to rebrew to get it right.
• Fresh Squeezed IPA (8%) - 10 days after bottling, still cloudy and not finished carbing. It was flatish. Early review? Jaw on the floor. Solid, bitter IPA with citrus flavours everywhere. Like wow. Nose, flavour, finish, everything - lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange. This is a fantastic brew. Using Wyeast American Ale II at low temperature took the citrus to another level. Add in Summit, Amarillo, and Sorachi Ace hops and you've just got a citrus bomb. Can't wait for this baby to settle down with age.

Nelson Sauvin is a powerful hop... I think it's gotta be used with major care, and would overwhelm most. I like it paired with Williamette, but it's really a heavy hitter.

I'm getting sick of waiting for beer to carb... I think a keg system to force carbonation followed by a long wand for bottling is in my future...

When's your next brew day, AW? Mine's not going to be until early April, when a Newcastle-like brown ale is on the docket. IPA-Other-IPA-Other rotation seems to be working well.

__________________

My next brew day could be this weekend if I get my act together and free up the fermenter. Haven't devised a recipe yet. Might try a pilsner type this time.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Man, those all sound awesome.

Have you tried Parallel 49's Lord of the Hops yet? Wow! Hoppalicious.

I'm in Seattle tonight and off to Long Beach tomorrow. Hit up one of my favourite Seattle shops for $110 plus in goods. Managed to find 2 more 6ers of Lagunitas Sucks....what a perfect brew.

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12 -Team Yahoo, Points Pool, Keeper (Since 1995): G(1), A(1), PPG(1), SHG(1) GWG(1), W(2), SHO(3). Protect 13 each season.

C (4): Crosby, Roy, Stepan, O'Reilly
LW (4): Benn, Pacioretty, Umberger, Burrows
RW (4): Perry, Iginla, Atkinson, S. Gagner
F (1): Little
D (4): Boyle, Schultz, Keith, OEL
G (1): Schneider

Bench: (RW) Kassian (LW) Hagelin (D) Karlsson, Wiercioch (G) Hiller

Well, I'm pretty pleased with myself with my last brew. I think its my best one yet and I am going to try and repeat it on my next brew in a couple weeks. Fanfriggintastic. I do wish that it packed a little more punch than 5.6%, but it tastes great. The good thing is that I bottled 32x 750ml of the bastards! hahaha It should keep me going for a while. I still have more of the past 4 beers I've brewed as well so its always a choice when I go to the pantry. The answer to the question has been the same when going down there recently tho. Slew Foot IPA s'il te plaît.

http://hopville.com/recipe/1683495

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O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

I'm gonna have a brew day this weekend. Unconfirmed as I haven't "told" the missus yet. I'll pick up the ingredients tomorrow morning on the way back from soccer with the boy. This is what is up....

Toe Drag IIPA (mini mash)
26L batch. 1.076OG, 1.019FG estimated. 110 IBUs. 7.6%abv

3kg - Black Rock extra light LME
3kg - Pilsner malt
0.5 - 20L Crystal
0.5 - Victory
0.5 - Corn syrup
0.2 - CaraPils

60m - 50g Pacific Gem
10m - 30g Cascade
10m - 30g Centennial
10m - 30g Chinook
F.O. - 30g Cascade
F.O. - 30g Centennial
F.O. - 30g Chinook
D.H. - 30g Cascade
D.H. - 30g Centennial
D.H. - 30g Chinook

Safale US-05
10g calcium sulfate
10g yeast nutrient

HOLLA!

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O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

I picked up the gear at the LHBS today. Something happened tho... They had a new shipment of hops. Hops which dont get down here too often and when they do, they sell out immediately. So this is what happened...

Chinook -> sub in Simcoe
Centennial -> sub in Citra
Cascade -> sub in Amarillo

I'll still bitter with the Pacific Gem. Should be interesting. Its an expensive brew tho. Those hops are in high demand and the price reflects it. Each 750ml bottle now costs me $2.90.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Oh man, you'll love those tweaks to the hop bill. You just added a whole whack of tropical fruit and broader citrus flavours -- believe me dude, you'll love it. You might consider leaving centennial in there because I think it marries with the others really well.

Got a pound of whole citra hops. Wheee!

Last weekend? Summit (bittering) + citra (flavour + aroma) pale ale.

This weekend? Citra blonde ale (gotta be ready for summer!) - no bittering hops, just steady additions from the 15 minute mark onwards.

My Fresh Squeezed IPA still isn't all that well carbed... I guess Wyeast American Ale II doesn't have that much oomph left once the beer gets into the 8.5% range. Apparently it's not uncommon.

Next raise I get at work will be blown entirely on a kegging + CO2 + beergun system. No more bottle priming for me... gonna be all forced carb from there on out.

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Try turning the bottles upside down for a couple days, then turn them back over again. It may rouse the yeast a bit.

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O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Brew day.... almost done.

Last beer I did a "no chill" method. Worked fine and it is low stress. I dont have a wort chiller, so just leaving it outside to chill works just fine for me. Its been out there for about 4 hours now and its down to about 23-24 degress. Fine enough to pitch, but I'll wait until just before I go to bed. I'll leave it out overnight and by tomorrow morning, it'll be down to about 15-16. Hopefully not less.

I made a change on the fly today. I added my 50g of green bullet as a first wort hop instead of 60 mins. My last batch was pretty friggin bitter, so I'll try this and see what it does. Haven't done it before, so I'm interested.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux