Begin Brewing!

The finished beer Long-time readers and friends will be familiar with the fact that I am not that fond of the IPA style in general.  I get far more enjoyment from the flavors inherent in specialty malts and yeast, as we find in Belgian style beers.  That said, I do occasionally drink one of the more flavorful IPAs like Rhinegeist Truth.  A number of friends and family members enjoy so-called Milkshake IPAs, and I've enjoyed some (and less, others) over the last few years.  Having spent a couple of years in Brazil and getting to experience the flavor of passion fruit first hand, I thought that might make a particularly interesting milkshake IPA. I reviewed a few successful and popular Milkshake IPA recipes and settled on a grain bill that mixed barley, oats, and wheat to achieve the signature hazy thickness.  A high mash temperature should ensure some sweetness, with a bit of lactose to back that up.  Lots of passion fruit puree and the use of Southern...

At the BrewDog Annual General Mayhem (AGM) event in Columbus this year, I had the opportunity to meet the brewers from Scofflaw Brewing in Atlanta. I enjoyed all of their beers I tried, but one that stuck with me was their "Basement IPA", due to its sweetness and intense fruit flavors. The Scofflaw representatives said they brewed a sweet IPA because the market in Atlanta seemed to prefer it, as it was reminiscent of sweet tea. I reached out to ask if they'd share their recipe, but got no response. I decided to take a shot at cloning it myself, just for fun. From their web site , I knew that it contained 2-row Pale Malt, Acidulated Malt, and Carafoam Malt. It is hopped with Chinook and Citra hops. It's a 7.5% ABV beer with a reported 40 IBUs. Given that the bitterness in Basement isn't particularly intense or harsh, I suspect it's late-hopped more like a New England IPA than a traditional West Coast IPA. For that reason, I'm not starting my hops addition...

Truth on the left, clone on the right Some time ago I came across a post online where someone set out to clone the Rhinegeist Truth beer. They got feedback from a brewmaster at Rhinegeist about how they formulate the beer and hops additions.  Using their feedback, I created the recipe below.  Although I'm not an IPA fan, several people I know are, and it's nice to have something to offer them when they visit.  It's also appropriate to say that on those rare occasions where I do  order an IPA in a bar or restaurant (often because it's all they offer, sadly), Rhinegeist Truth is one of the few I'll intentionally order. The Ingredients 9 pounds, 3 ounces Pale Ale Malt 2 pounds, 11 ounces Golden Promise Malt 11 ounces Vienna Malt 9 ounces Flaked Rye 5 ounces Carared Malt 0.65 ounces of Bravo hops @ 16.2% AA - 60 minutes 0.35 ounces of Simcoe hops @ 13.6% AA - 20 minutes 0.70 ounces of Centennial hops @ 10.4% AA - 20 minutes 0.45 oz. Simcoe...

Disclaimer: While searching for a good IPA recipe, I discovered the following on a forum online. I am not claiming authorship of the recipe below. If the forum post I read is factual, and I have no reason to think it isn't, this recipe includes input from one of the Rhinegeist brewmasters. That means it probably can produce a beer very close to the original. I plan to brew it at some point to see how it turns out. For now, I'm just documenting and sharing the recipe here. Update 06/11/2017:  I've actually tweaked the recipe for my equipment and brewed a batch, following as much of the brewmaster's guidance as possible.   You can see the results here . Ingredients 8.5 pounds of Rahr Pale Malt (67.3%) 2.75 pounds of Golden Promise Malt (19.5%) 12 ounces of Briess Vienna Malt (5.3%) 10 ounces of Carared Malt (4.4%) 8 ounces of Flaked Rye (3.5%) 0.65 ounces of Bravo hops pellets @ 15.0% AA (60 minutes) 0.71 ounces of Centennial hops pellets @ 10% AA (20 mi...