Westbeier: 2009

So I didn't take any pictures of this brew, just look at the last brew I posted and it looks the same.

Rich got me interested in Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye IPA about a year ago and I pick up 750ml of this beer frequently. So I decided that I should find the recipe and brew it. Well I recently bought Brew's 150 classic clone recipes special release and there it was shining in the middle of the page. So I wrote down the recipe......

5 gal (all grain)

O.G. 1.072 F.G. 1.017

IBU = 84 SRM = 17 ABV = 7.2%

8.75 lbs 2-row malt

2.5 lbs rye malt

1.25 flaked rye

1.15 lbs Munich malt

.625 lbs wheat malt

.625 lbs Carapils malt

1.75 oz black malt

.75 oz Tomahawk hops 60 min

.43 oz Centennial hops 30 min

1.7 oz Tomahawk hops 0 min

.75 oz Amarillo hops dry

1.0 oz Centennial hops dry

wyeast 1272 or white labs WLP051

(Extract)

replace 2-row malt with 4.25 lbs DME and 1.0 lb 2-row malt

steep grains in 2.25 gal at 152 deg for 45 min

This is what I actually brewed...4/5/09

The flaked rye and Tomahawk hops were unavailable to me so I ignore the rye and replaced Tomahawk with nugget hops. I also didn't measure hops, I just rounded up to the nearest 1 oz.

Steeped under 170 deg for 45 min in 2.25 gal

2.5 lbs rye malt

1.0 lbs 2-row

1.15 lbs Munich malt
.625 lbs wheat malt
.625 lbs Carapils malt
1.75 oz black malt

(ran out of fuel, ran to HD to get another tank)

add 4.25 gal bring to boil

add DME

Begin 90 min boil

2 oz Nugget hops at 60 min

1 oz Centennial hops at 30 min

1 oz Nugget hops at 0 min

Wyeast 1272

O.G. 1.044

4/19/09 transferred to secondary

(taste test....like a rye)

F.G. 1.01

1 oz Amarillo dry hopped

1 oz Centennial dry hopped

I'm definatley looking forward to this beer in a keg. I doubt it will last longer than a month. 2 months would be really pushing it.

So when locating the ball valve, drill between the holes in the bottom of the keg, otherwise the heat from the burners will go straight up and hit the valve / fitting. Also go as low as you can, otherwise your chiller won't sit as low as you'd like it to. On the ball valve, I have a 1/2 NPT pipe nipple that goes through the keg and into a Female union. To seal the hole, I have O-rings and large stainless washers. I checked the oring recently after a few brews and it's taken a set, but still seals. If I find a higher temp o-ring I'll swap them, but they aren't melting at this point.