Out of the Cold, Into the Bold


Brewpublic’s Marc Demeule and his homebrewing friends had a one of a kind brewing session, in extreme conditions of the Quebec winter.

We decided to brew an extreme IPA with all the leftover hops we had.  For a 50 liter batch, we included 20,8 oz of whole and pellet hops.  We also threw in all of our leftover home grown hops (maybe a half pound of Mt Hood).  With an anticipated 140,9 IBU, according to ProMash, we only expected something that could be drinkable, but extreme too.  If you want the complete recipe, just e-mail me.

The particularity of that brewing session was that we had -10ºC in the garage and the vapour generated created condensation that could contaminate when cooling.  Let’s say that when a functional ventilation system is added to the garage, it will be better.  Insulating the mash tun is also necessary to keep a constant temperature.  The funniest thing was when we realized that we had no water to cool our beer.  Frozen pipes!  Even with a torch, no water from the outdoor access.  It is so nice to live in a Nordic weather country.  A brand new home garden hose bought at the nearest hardwork center saved our batch by hanging from the ceiling to finally chill the beer (and the entire house) for a little while.  Always brew when you’re wife is gone to avoid problems…


The result is a double IPA, 8%.  Amber, good foam holding.  The cereal taste is present, enough to balance the taste for few seconds before you feel and explosion of hops, resinous, herbal taste.  It will never possible to brew that again, but we will appreciate it down to the last drop.

Santé.

marc@brewpublic.com

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