I brewed an IPA today. I was aiming for an English style, however I think it could end up being too high in alcohol content. If it gets to a final gravity of 1.016, it will be 7.5% ABV!

India Pale Ale was created by a brewer who saw opportunity in all the empty ships returning to India after unloading in England. The beer was brewed to survive this voyage, meaning it had to survive  a range of temperatures, and rolling around in barrels for however long the journey took. You don’t need to be a brewer to know that changing temperature and constant shaking are less than ideal beer storage conditions.

My recipe used Maris Otter Malt as a base (85%), with a bit of Crystal (light/medium) and wheat malt. I used EKG hops only – and I used a lot of them! It should end up being around 50 IBUs. I also did my first mash out, which may have contributed to my increased (brewhouse) efficiency (76%) – this still needs some work.

I added a flickr slideshow below, but pics are in reverse order for some reason. If anyone knows how to fix this, I’d love to know – otherwise just start the the end, and work your way back. If you want to know what an image is, click it and it will show the title and description.

Update: We bottled this yesterday, it finished fermenting at 1.019 SG. That means a final ABV of 6.9%. We tasted a bit of it after we bottled (left over in the fermenter) and I’m not sure about it yet. It has a bit of an alcohol warming effect, but it still tastes like beer. I think it fermented at a bit too high a temperature, so if I did it again, it would be in the fridge with ice. Since it is done now, i think we’ll leave it in bottles for a few months before trying it.