Northern Brewer Dead Ringer Brew Session

Brew Session Info

6/19/2017
(Include any important notes from brew day until tasting)

Kit comes with 5oz of Centennial hops so, as I'm dry hopping with El Dorado hop hash, I will incorporate a whirpool hop addition using 1.25oz of Centennial meant for dry hop and 0.7oz of Magnum hops left over from a previous brew; whirpool performed by steeping at 180 for 20 mins. Using too much sparge, I'm getting lower efficiency than I should; should be 80% but I'm only hitting about 75%. I will use Brewgr recommended sparge volume next time rather than Palmer's 1/2 gallon per pound of grist. Other than that, brew went as expected if not slow due to addition of 20 minute whirpool hop addition. The Imperial Dy Hop yeast is slow to get going compared to other strains, even though I started it 24 hours prior. 6/21/2017 - primary fermentation is essentially done. The beer didn't foam with the Imperial yeast as much as it usually does with Wyeast or White Labs. Through the airlock, lots of hop smell event still, so I think the whirlpool hop addition makes a big impact. I'm looking forward to dry-hopping with the hop hash, but will wait till 6/30 when I rack to secondary. 6/25/2017 - Racked to secondary today. Gravity reading of 1.020; taste of the beer had decent hoppiness but masked by sweetness. I'm going to give this a full 3 weeks prior to dry hopping, then give 3 or 4 days for that before bottling. Beer was slightly cloudy in primary but has already begun to clear pronouncedly after a few hours in secondary. 7/8/2017 - Added to secondary 0.5oz of El Dorado hop hash soaked in vodka 7/11/2017 - Very strong hop aroma so things are looking good for now. Will be bottling tomorrow. 7/12/2017 - Final gravity of 1.014 for an ABV of 6.2%. Hydrometer taste test was okay, not as much hop presence in aroma or taste as I was expecting.

Water Infusion

Brew Session Specific

12 lb kg
67 °FC
152 °FC
1.33 qt/lbl/kg
60 min.
5 gals liters

Equipment Profile

0.15 gals/lb liters/kg
0.01 gals/lb liters/kg
°FC
0.25 gals liters
0.5 gals liters
1 gals/hour liters/hour
0.2 gals liters

Calculated Totals

8.62 gals liters
4.95 gals liters
4.24 gals liters
164.03 °FC
164.03 °FC
2.44 gals liters
4.38 gals liters
6.70 gals liters

Mash / Boil

Mash

5.3 PH
152 °FC
149 °FC
65 minutes

Boil

1.056 (estimated)
6 gallons liters 6.70 (gallonsliters estimated)
60 minutes minutes (60 minutes estimated)
5.5 gals liters

Gravity Estimates

Based on boiling 6.00 gallonsliters at 1.056 for 60 minutes, this will decrease your wort by 1.00 gallonsliters, bringing your after boil OG to 1.065.

You wanted an OG of 1.066. It looks like it will be under.

Fermentation

5.052 gallons liters 5.00 (gallonsliters estimated)
1.062 (1.066 predicted)
1.014 (1.017 predicted)

Conditioning

7/12/2017
10
Dextrose
4.4 oz g

Tasting Notes (1)

CheeseNips

Tasted on 7/25/2017 by CheeseNips

Notes:

Color is a bit darker than predicted. A little haze before chilling and lots of haze after chill, most likely due to hop haze from the hop hash. Pours with good carbonation, slightly more than a finger. Aroma is somewhat fruity/hoppy, not as much as I would've expected considering the hash. Mouth feel is very soft. Taste is like aroma, somewhat fruity/hoppy, very little bitterness. It is an IPA that I like, though I wouldn't mind more bitterness. Whether it is a Bells Two Hearted clone is anyone's guess as I haven't had that beer in a decade. For my next go round, I want more aromatics and bitterness. I will amp up the hop addition, early and late, should I brew this again.

Recipe Facts

Northern Brewer Dead Ringer
American IPA
  • 5.00 Gallons Liters Batch Size
  • 6.00 Gallons Liters Boil Size
  • 60  min Boil Time
  • 1.066 OG
  • 1.017 FG
  • 69.2 IBU (tinseth) Bitterness
  • 1.05 BG:GU
  • 7.4° SRM Color
  • 75% Efficiency
  • 6.4% ABV Alcohol
  • 224 per 12oz Calories
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