LBDPA

OK, ladies and germs, I have some big news today. It is not only another brewing day, but this is Coren's first official beer! She has selected a black IPA, which she has dubbed the Little Black Dress Pale Ale.

To say that I'm having a total blast with this particular batch is completely understating the obvious. She bought the Brewer's Best IBA kit, but I spiced up the recipe for her just a bit, in order to make it a bit more interesting. We have 8 ounces of hops going into the actual boil of the beer and 4 more ounces going into dry hopping. Not only that, we also are adding some molasses and some chicory to the mix (I know, right?!).

Well, since we are in the midst of the boil, I am going to end the post here, but I did want to at least let the world know how excited I am about this particular batch, especially due to the inspiration and source. Great job on the recipe Coren!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: When I got a chance to see how this was doing, I came into a world of fermentation. This is crazy fermentation! I am going to be adding the molasses either today or tomorrow, but at this rate, it may have to be sooner. Oh, and to really solidify the image of this particular batch's vigorous fermentation, I had to take the airlock off and use the siphon hose as a blow off vessel with a bucket of water. The water was bubbling so much, the entire room has a lovely hoppy aroma. So excited!



Primary fermentation 18 hours later

Update 2: The molasses is is added, only 2 days after brewing. The yeast starter has totally done what we wanted! The only thing I can say I learned from this batch is that the chicory should have been added with a grain bag, mostly because of how much it gummed up the process of the transfer. I am slightly concerned about it sitting on the chicory for longer durations, but nothing we can do about it now but wait and see. I'm anticipating the fermentation will just about finish by Thursday at the latest with the additional fermentables, so I should be racking to the secondary carboy that night, which means the first of four dry hoppings will take place. I figure every 5 days I'll add some more hops to it to help with the flavor and aroma, which hopefully will combat any extra tartness from the chicory.

Update 3: The fermentation has essentially reached its apex and subsided. I am seeing the color getting darker, which not only is pleasing, but it makes for a rather happy Coren. The krausen you see in the picture has completely dissipated and I'm waiting a few more days for any additional cleansing to take place. Then we will rack it to the 5 gal carboy and begin the 4 oz of dry hopping, with 2 oz per go. I anticipate this being done with this next phase in approximately 2 weeks from today when I rack to the bottles. The hop gods are smiling on this brew!

Update 4: Coren is a very happy girl after this past weekend. Not only was it Labor Day weekend, which meant an extra day to sleep in, but she racked her first beer! We moved it over the to the 5 gal carboy on Saturday and added the first 2 oz for dry hopping (Zythos and Cascade) and I will add the final 2 oz tomorrow night. We will be bottling after I return from Schlafly's Hop in the City festival on 9/15, and then it has another 3 weeks to condition before she gets to taste it. The racking was a really good idea because it was terribly needed with the amount of yeast in this batch, not to mention the extra amount of grains that settled. More updates to come with this one!

Update 5: The dry hopping is done on this bad boy and I couldn't be  happier. The best part is, when Coren smells this, every time she has a huge smile on her face that tells me, we did what she wanted. I am going to be out of town for a bit, but as soon as I get home we will be racking to bottles.

Update 6: The festival in St. Louis was insane (post on that to follow). I am please to announce that LBDPA is officially bottled and conditioning at room temp right now, and will stay there for 3 weeks. We will follow that up with a sampling and transfer the bottles to cold storage for further conditioning. We did an unconditioned taste sample and there is a lot going on in that beer, but I do see it finding its balance as it ages. Time will tell, but at least Coren is happy with her first custom partial mash recipe. Slainte!

Update 7: We tasted this for the first time after 2 weeks in the bottles and I'm cautiously optimistic. The hoppy flavors are so outrageous on this and clearly need time to calm down, which I'm hoping is going to happen after a few more weeks in bottles (2 or 3 more, then 1 week in the fridge). The malty flavors of this beer are present, but masked considerably right now, but they are fighting to show themselves. Now, the body, color, aroma, and head on this are so delightful and amazing, I just want the bitterness to settle down just a bit before I will call this a success.