Centennial Madness

James and Monica, of Alexandria's James and Monica fame, came down for the holiday weekend to visit family. So of course, on Saturday James and Chris had to brew something. An India Pale Ale I dubbed "Centennial Madness".

One of my favorite, if not THE favorite, beers is Bell's Two Hearted Ale: an IPA brewed with nothing but Centennial hops. Delicious. Another tasty pair is both of Dogfish Head's 60- and 90-Minute IPA's: continuous hop additions throughout the brew for (appropriately enough) 60 and 90 minutes. So, the inspiration was to combine the two and make up an uber-hoppy IPA.

All Centennials, added in 7 minute increments for an hour. Why 7? Because I had 4 one-ounce packets of Centennials to add throughout the boil, and halving them into 1/2-oz additions left 8 additions. 8 x 7 = 56. Close enough to an hour.

The recipe:

1 lb Crystal 60L malt

2 x 3.3 lb Amber Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
3 lb Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)

1 oz Centennial hops, 9.1% alpha acid, at 0 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 7 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 14 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 21 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 28 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 35 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 42 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 49 minutes
1/2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA at 56 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet at 49 minutes to clarify

1/2 oz heavy toast oak chips added to the primary fermenter

WLP041 Pacific Ale yeast

Then, soon to be added to the secondary fermenter in a week's time, 2 oz Centennial 9.1% AA added to dry hop

Whew. My usual contemplative and zen-like state during the boil was broken up with a barrage of hop additions. In Food Network fashion, ramekins of hops were measured out and sprinkled in at the correct time. This was fine. This brew session required a clear mind to remember to add hops at the proper time. Granted, the Natty Greene's Red Nose Winter Ale (their first bottled seasonal offering) and Victory's Moonglow Weizenbock to keep us warm on a cold North Carolina afternoon muddled some of that clear thinking, but the hop additions went off without a hitch and almost on time every time.

A 6.5 gallon carboy is used for a 5 gallon batch. The extra headspace allows for ample CO2 release and the inveitable rise of frothy krausen once fermentation takes off. The sheer amount of hop particles and particulates that transferred over to the primary fermenter was astounding. Once it all settled, hop sludge almost made it to the 1-gallon mark on the carboy. To compensate, we tried to salvage as much liquid from the brew kettle as we could. Later that night, a healthy krausen did indeed form. The yeasties did their valiant task. Upon inspecting the Fermentation Center (i.e. the downstairs half bath) on Sunday morning, the airlock was full of murky hop liquid and streams of sticky goodness trickled down the carboy and pooled on the floor. Sometimes there are explosions of airlocks off the carboy (see Chocolate-Vanilla Stout). So to prevent another pop-off of the airlock and subsequent mess, I decided to pull off the airlock to clean it out and assure free-flowing openings for the escaping CO2. Once the tip of the airlock broke free of the confines of the carboy, I was greeted with a violently audible WHOOSH! and a healthy spray of liquid. Good thing I wear eyeglasses as my lenses were painted with a hoppy coat of gunk. I didn't mind cleaning up the bathroom that morning because it (and I) smelled just so good.