Well the experiment was a wild success.  The 11 gallon Hoppy Rye/Munich wort is now split between an IPA and Lager.  The beers, while being very much the same, are entirely different.  The IPA came out tasting clean (San Diego Super Ale yeast), hoppy (from the several ounces of flameout hops and dry-hopping) and malt-forward (from the Munich/Rye malt bill).

The Lager, on the other hand, is so very different.  It's not nearly as 'hoppy' on the nose or flavor.  It has the traditional lager(y) flavor I'm familiar with, and the maltiness of an Oktoberfest.  The dry-hopping doesn't really come through at all, presumably because the hops don't release as many compounds at the lagering temperature.


The results of this were truly fascinating.  I didn't think the beers would be so different.  As Jack reminded me, Brewers make Wort and Yeast make Beer.

In order to make room for the Rye IPA, we'll be bottling some Smoked Kolsch tonight to free up a keg.  The Rye is intensely hopped at flameout using a similar hopping schedule as the infamous Pliny the Elder.  Vinny knows best when it comes to DIPAs.

Additionally, we had a mis-hap over the weekend with a keg of Blonde Ale.  Despite great planning you can't always count-out stupidity when it comes to packing.  I brewed/racked/kegged/chilled/carbed a Blonde Ale for a camping trip, purchased the C02 carb device, and packed plenty of ice to keep us through the weekend.  What I didn't pack was the picnic tap.  The closest brew-shop was well over an hour away so the full keg of Blonde is safely back at Five Mile's HQ in a small apartment in Philadelphia.

More beer for me.

We dry-hopped a Rye IPA last night with Simcoe, Centennial and CTZ.  Had some issues fitting the leaf hops down the neck of the carboy, usually we dry-hop in the keg or a Better Bottle.  All is well though and it smelled fantastic this morning.  We also kegged the Blonde Ale to force carb/chill for a camping trip this weekend.