Wow, has it really been this long since I posted here? While I haven’t been writing, I have been brewing non-stop this spring. Most of my energy was devoted to getting beer ready for our annual Memorial Day party at the lake. For those of you not from Indiana, the Indy 500 brings in family and friends from as far away as California and Texas and makes a pretty good reason to have a 4 day party.
Besides a batch of Bitchin Blonde, I received a request from my friend Eric Jones that I make him a 5 gallon batch of “something hopy” which I took as a challenge to create an Imperial IPA. While I wanted to add both a large variety and amount of hops, I didn’t want it to be so bitter that it would slap you in your face and leave you crying for your mama.
Originally I was shooting for 120 IBU’s, like Harpoon's Leviathan IPA, but ended up with a respectable 104. I actually think this makes it a more enjoyable beer while still having enough hop bite to call it an IPA. Taste testings resulted in positive reviews and with Mr. Jones’ approval, the keg only lasted the weekend. I did however hold back enough to bottle enough to enter in the Indiana State Fair this year.
As for the name? It is a tribute to the legendary Cajun alligator hunter Troy Landry. Troy attaches his traps to trees above the water. If a gator is big enough to move the tree when Troy approaches it, he yells out “It’s a tree shaker!” Just watch an episode of Swamp People on the History Channel and you’ll get the picture.
Six varieties of hops equaling 5 ounces total or 1 ounce per gallon. Brew schedule is as follows:
5 lbs - Light Dry Malt
6 oz - Crystal
2 oz - Aromatic Malt
4 oz - Carapils
6 oz - Wheat Malt
6 oz - Munich
.5 oz – Centenial Hops (9.1% Alpha Acids) - 45 min boil
.5 oz – Citra Hops (13.4% Alpha Acids) - 45 min boil
.5 oz – Simcoe Hops (13% Alpha Acids) - 30 min boil
.5 oz - Citra Hops (13.4% Alpha Acids) - 30 min boil
.5 oz – Warrior Hops (15.8% Alpha Acids) - 15 min boil
.5 oz – Citra Hops (13.4% Alpha Acids) - 15 min boil
1 oz - Cascade (5% Alpha Acids) - 5 min boil
1 oz - Amarillo
Wyeast 1098 – British Ale
Brewed on: 5/14/2011
Primary Fermented for 8 days at 700 F.
Kegged on: 5/22/2011
Tapped on: 5/27/2011
OG: 1.05
FG: 1.005
ABV = 5.98%
IBU = 104.4
SRM:
