Another IPA Brewed with @hawksbillhops

Still working with the new half-barrel brewing system that will eventually become the pilot system for Hawksbill Brewing, the team experimented with an IPA a few weekends back.  This one was on the heels of an English Brown Ale and a Coffee Porter, so with two brews down we were hoping that we would finally have the groove down with the work flow.

Kevin had researched a recipe that would use the kinds of hops we are likely to have available locally - which from the farm at Hawksbill Hop Yards will be Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, Fuggles, and Goldings, and with any luck, maybe some Centennial this year.  As it turned out, there were still two pounds left from last year's Cascades, so we used most of one of them in this brew - they were combined with a share of Fuggles that Kevin had left from his crop.

Equal measures of the two hop varieties in two additions, followed by an aroma addition at flame out that was all Citra pellets - we don't grow that variety so it was the exception to our strategy of using local hops for this.  In the future, if we start pelletizing the Hawksbill Hop Yard crop, we can use some of the Cascade for this purpose.

David tells us that fermentation is nearly complete on this one, and he's already sampled it.  There's a burst of aroma from the pour, and he was pleased at the intensity of the IPA taste afterwards.  Sounds like we are on to something - we'll need a couple of IPAs in the repertoire when the brewery gets up and running.

And it won't be long before I have a chance to sample it as well - I have some work to do in the hop yard this weekend, and I may come around for some refreshments.