Big Brew Day 2013 - Hop Stoopid IPA

Saturday was National Homebrew Day and in celebration we hosted a Big Brew Day event. We brewed two batches, an extract-based Nut Brown Ale and an IPA based on Lagunitas Brewing's Hop Stoopid. As for the Hop Stoopid clone, I'm pretty sure this is the most hops I've used in a single recipe...definitely the most whole hops ever used.

This recipe is based on the Brewing Network's CYBI recipe adjusted for my system efficiency. I also changed the flameout and dry hop additions a bit in order to perform a hop stand. I've never tried doing a hop stand before, but the basic idea is to kill the flame, add your hops and let them steep for an extended period of time (probably minimum of 20-30 minutes) before chilling. When I first read about this technique it surprised me because of my experience with a hop back where the thought is you chill ASAP in order to lock in the hop flavor/aroma. Then I saw some posts on Homebrewtalk where other brewers claimed they made their best ever IPA's when doing hop stands, so I figured I'd give it a try. Here's a link to a BYO Magazine article on the subject.

Below is the recipe as we made it.

11# 10.6 oz Briess Pale Malt
6.4 oz Briess Victory Malt
71g Columbus (90 min)
33g Cascade (12 min)
33g Chinook (12 min)
56g Simcoe (Hop stand)
44g Columbus (Hop stand)
11g Chinook (Hop stand)
1/2 Whirlfloc
1/2 t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
White Labs WLP002 English Ale in a 1.4L starter
56g Simcoe (Dry hop)
44g Columbus (Dry hop)
11g Chinook (Dry hop)

Mash at 152F for 60 min. 90 min boil. Ferment at 65F, raising to 67F over a few days.

Brewing Notes

Brew session went well. Big Brew Days are fun but there's also a lot going on so we had one minor hiccup...I forgot to check the post-boil gravity. I did remember to check the pre-boil gravity; it came in at 1.055, just one point higher than the Brewsmith prediction of 1.054. We used about 40% RO water and 60% filtered tap water.

Update 5/6/2013

This brew smells incredible. So far I'm very happy with the results from the hop stand. I had to remove the lid this morning because the krausen was starting to push up through the airlock. With both batches of beer in my ferm chamber, there isn't enough room for a blow-off tube and another container.

Update 5/18/2013
Dropped in the dry hops today.

Update 5/26/2013
This brew got kegged today. Very fragrant and dropped very clear. Can't wait to give this one a try.