I’m wrapping up the Sunday evening before NHC with a glass of my first attempt at an “Express Beer” brewed last Sunday. I made an “Sessionish” IPA with Maris Otter, 2-row pale, CaraPils and Honey Malt. Bittered with Simcoe, Citra and Amarillo for the flavor and aroma charges. Pitched starters of 007 and 1098 to the split 10 gallon batch.
Wow, it’s really good. Not crystal clear, but you can tell it will be very soon (no finings). I kegged the 007 batch today with 2 oz of dryhops; 1 Simcoe, .5 Citra, .5 Amarillo) and will be bringing it to NHC for club night. Even without the dryhops it has a balanced bitterness and a light bite and the aroma is good. I can’t wait to test sample the dryhopped version on Wednesday and share with folks at NHC next weekend.
This will be my first NHC and I’m pretty excited. I’ll be pouring for the Oregon Brew Crew from 8:45-9:30 on club night so please do stop by if you can. I’m really looking forward to putting faces to some these avatars I’ve come to know so well.
Anyway, if you’ve been holding off on trying the express approach to brewing or you’ve got an event creeping up faster than you thought you were prepared for. Go forth I say! Drew’s article from the Nov/Dec Zymurgy will tell you all you need to know.
Cheers!
Woo! Glad you were successful and I’ll definitely make sure to give it a shot when I’m there!