What the world needs now is another beer blog.
Smelled incredible! Had in secondary for 2 months. Put some T-58 in at bottling with 3/4 cup corn sugar. Minus any issues, I feel this will be a dandy.
With an OG of 1.081 and a final of 1.020, ABV = 8.1%
Large malt character to it but smoother smell. Less alcohol smell for some reason.
Northern Brewer Tongue Splitter extract kit. Here is their description:
American pale ales have evolved from a nontraditional offshoot of English pale ales into a style all their own as well as a distinctive celebration of our homegrown beer culture. This kit is similar to our Extra Pale Ale but is more aggressively (some might say insanely) hopped. Engineered to be an alpha-acid delivery vehicle, this kit is sure to please lovers of the humulus lupus and freak out squares.
Tongue Splitter
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI
Target OG: 1.045
Malt 1: 6 lbs Pilsen malt syrup (60 mins)
Adjunct: 1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)
Grain 1: 0.5 lbs Dingemans Caramel Pils
Grain 2: 0.5 lbs Simpsons Caramalt
Hop 1: 0.75 oz Summit (60 min)
Hop 2: 1 oz Glacier (15 min)
Hop 3: 1 oz Cascade (10 min)
Hop 4: 0.5 oz Cascade (2 min)
Hop 5: 0.5 oz Liberty (2 min)
Hop 6: 0.5 oz Cascade (dry hop)
Hop 7: 0.5 oz Liberty (dry hop)
Yeast: Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale Yeast (65°-75°F)
Boiling Schedule:
Collected 3 gallons of water. Steep grains at 125°F for 20 minutes. Bring to a boil. Remove water from heat and mix Malt. Add Fermcap to reduce boil foam. Bring water back to a boil. Add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes, 2 @ 15, 3 @ 10, 4 @ 2, 5 @ 2, 6 and 7 dry hop two weeks prior to bottling. Add Irish Moss with 15 minutes left in the boil.
Notes:
Primary temps were around 62-64. I’ll leave in the primary for about 3 weeks and then take hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. I’ll leave in secondary for about 2 weeks. Bottle with 6 oz of corn sugar. Bottle condition for up to 2 weeks.
My actual OG was 1.041.
Racked the beer to secondary and was given hope from the hydrometer taste test. Very earthy but a bit more characteristic of an IPA. Nothing like the citrusy taste of its American versions. We’ll see how it matures over the next month or so prior to bottling. I’ve been told this beer changes on you the older it gets. Hydrometer reading was still 1.014. This would be about 6.1% abv.
Just checked and with the +0.002 added to the reading it was 1.014 @ around 67-68 degrees. Very dissapointed in the taste. Left an earthy, nasty aftertaste, not at all IPA-like. Hope this one isn’t ruined. This would be about 6.1% abv if finished. Not sure what my next step is. Secondary, bottling or dump it?