Grapefruit Graffiti Great Pale Ale

About a month ago we headed out to Bar Volo to enjoy a glass of a Barrel Aged Sour IPA created by Cameron's. We have always enjoyed a nice IPA and recently we have started to explore the world of sour beers.

It all started when we were in San Francisco this past winter and we visited a great beer bar called Zeitgeist. After chatting with our very knowledgeable bartender we decided to follow his advice and finish the evening with a sour beer. We were blown away with its distinctive taste, and although not something you'd drink pint after pint, it was definitely a style to seek out. In fact, we have inquired about sour beers at some local bars around town.

About a month ago we also noticed a new offering at the LCOB: Panil, a sour beer from Italy. We instantly picked up a bottle with fond memories of the sour we had in SF. Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed with this offering and had this been our only sampling of this style we would have likely given up on sours. Fortunately, memories of the SF beer still lingered and so when we saw the Barrel Aged Sour IPA on offering at Bar Volo, we immediately set out on our quest.

The Barrel Aged Sour IPA did not disappointed. There was a lot going on in the glass that we ordered and all of it was good. However, after about halfway through the glass the taste started to hone in onto something very specific: Grapefruit.

A friend of ours, whose taste in beer we really respect, is always pushing IPAs with a fruit undertone. He has mentioned peach and grapefruit as being excellent flavours of an IPA. With his tastes in mind and our excellent experience with the Barrel Aged Sour IPA, we propose the Grapefruit Graffiti GPA.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Cara Aroma malt
• 6 pounds Briess Amber Dry Malt Extract (DME)
• 20 Liters of Toronto tap water
• 3.5 oz Columbus hop pellets
• 5.5 oz Cascade hop pellets
• 1 oz Irish moss
• 6 grams Morgan's Ale Yeast
• Rind of 1 grapefruit

Directions

1. In a large stock pot bring 13 liters of water up to 70 degrees Celsius.
2. While the water is coming up to temperature crush the Cara Aroma grains using a rolling pin and place it into a hop bag.
3. Steep the hop bag full of crushed Cara Aroma in the stock pot for 30 minutes once it has reached 70 degrees Celsius.
4. After 30 minutes remove the Cara Aroma malt from the pot and raise the temperature to bring the wort to a boil.
5. Once the pot has reached a boil add 0.7 oz Columbus hop and 0.3 oz Cascade hop (in a hop bag).
6. After 30 minutes add 3 pounds of the DME.
7. After 15 minutes add 0.6 oz Columbus hop and 1.4 oz Cascade hop (in a hop bag)
8. After 10 minutes add  0.3 oz Columbus hop and 0.7 oz Cascade hop (in a hop bag). Also add 0.5 oz Irish moss and half of the grapefruit rind.
9. After 5 minutes remove the pot from the heat and place in a cold water bath.
10. Once the wort has reach below 27 degrees Celsius pour the wort into the primary fermenter.
11. Fill the pot with 7 liters of water and bring to a boil.
12. Once it has reached a boil add 0.7 oz Columbus hop and 0.3 oz Cascade hop (in a hop bag).
13. After 30 minutes add 3 pounds of the DME.
14. After 15 minutes add 0.6 oz Columbus hop and 1.4 oz Cascade hop (in a hop bag)
15. After 10 minutes add 0.3 oz Columbus hop and 0.7 Cascade hop (in a hop bag). Also add 0.5 oz Irish moss and the rest of the grapefruit rind.
16. After 5 minutes remove the pot from the head and place in a cold water bath.
17. Once the wort has reach 25 degrees Celsius pour the wort into the fermenter. Mixed all of the wort in the fermenter together vigorously.
18. Take a hydrometer test of the wort in the fermenter.
19. Add the yeast and 0.7 oz Cascade and 0.3 oz Columbus hops (in a hop bag) to dry hop the beer.
20. Seal the fermenter.

Let There Be Hops!

It all started with our trip to California in December of 2011. While touring around The Golden State we paid a visit to a BevMo! and to our beer-loving Canadian eyes for a few moments it felt like we were in heaven. Drinks as far as the eye could see, prices so low that it hurt to look directly at them and THE SELECTION! Mind-blowing!

Their beer selection in particular was quite astounding. We probably spent around 30 mins just looking around at that store until we finally bought something, carefully selected, to bring back with us. These were four bottles of beer, single-hopped and identically brewed except for the type of hop that was used.

These beers were getting us excited and finally we got together with some friends last month and tried them out. It was intended to be a learning experience so we would get an idea of the type of flavor, bitterness and aroma each hops contributes to. We did some learning and a lot of drinking.

With the fresh taste of different hops in our mouth we decided to have another brew day at our urban brewery. Our last few attempts at an IPA had been pretty calculated. We had a single hop that we were working with and each time we would try to narrow down what was missing, make a small change and see the results.

This time we laughed in the face of the Scientific Method and went in very brave and bold direction. This was primarily inspired by our hop-tasting night and the availability of two new hops at the homebrew supply store: Fuggle and Columbus

Ingredients

• 1 pound Caramel 40L malt
• 4 pounds Briess golden light DME
• 2 pounds Briess pilsen light DME
• 1pound Briess amber DME
• 23 liters Toronto tap water
• 3 oz fuggle hop pellets
• 3 oz cascade hop pellets
• 3 oz columbus hop pellets
• 1 oz Irish moss
• 7 grams Cooper's ale yeast.

All our supplies

Directions

1. In a large stock pot bring 15 liters of water to 70 degrees Celsius.





2. While the water is coming up to temperature, measure out the Caramel malt and crush it with a rolling pin. Place the crushed grain into a hop bag and set aside.
3. Add the hop bag with the crushed Caramel into the stock pot once the water has reached 70 degrees Celsius. Let the malt steep in the pot for 30 minutes and watch the temperature to keep it close to 70 degrees.





4. After 30 minutes remove the Caramel and bring the wort to a boil.
5. Once the stock pot has reached a boil add 0.9 oz Columbus hop, 0.45 oz cascade hop and 0.15 oz fuggle hop.
6. After 30 minutes add all of the DME to the stock pot.
7. After 15 minutes add 0.45 oz Columbus hop, 0.60 oz cascade hop and 0.45 oz fuggle hop.
8. After 10 minutes add 0.15 oz Columbus hop, 0.45 oz cascade hop and 0.9 oz fuggle hop. Also add 1 oz Irish moss.





9. After 5 minutes remove the stock pot from the heat and place in an ice water bath to cool down.
10. Once the wort has dropped below 27 degrees Celsius pour it into the fermenter.
11. Add 8 liters of water to the stock pot and bring it to a boil
12. Once the water has reached a boil add 1 oz Columbus hop, 0.45 oz cascade hop and 0.1 oz fuggle hop. Set aside 0.15 oz Columbus hop, 0.45 oz cascade hop and 0.9 oz fuggle hop that will be used for dry-hopping.
13. After 15 minutes add the remaining hops to the boiling water.
14. After 15 minutes remove the stock pot from the heat and place into a cold water bath.
15. Once the water is around 25 degrees Celsius add to the wort in the primary fermenter. Stir together everything together.
16. Take a hydrometer test.
17. Add the hops set aside for dry hopping and yeast. Seal the fermenter.


Notes

• Original gravity: 1.061
• There was some issue with scale so the hop measurements are most likely not accurate.