It Takes 2 to Mango (Mango Double IPA)

My new mango obsession along with an upcoming trip to the Savannah CraftBrew Festival recently inspired me to brew a Mango Double IPA.  This morning I finally got the finished product into bottles and shipped off to  the homebrewers contest at the festival. I will let you know the results when the come in. I tasted a bit before I sent it off and I am very happy with the results so far (beer changes flavor a bit as it ages so hopefully it will still be awesome when the judges taste it). There are an INSANE amount of hops in this beer! I am a hop head though, so the more hops the better for me. The mango is pretty mellow and comes out more in the smell than in the taste. You can also taste the citrus hints from some of the speciality hops I used. Overall, its not too sweet and not to mango-y. I am even more excited than usual about this beer because this is the first beer I brewed all by myself (Ron was working late) and it is the first beer I will ever have professionally judged. Hopefully its a winner! 

Ingredients

Steep

·         7 gallons of water (the recipe calls for 6 but this is a 90 minute boil and you are adding fruit so I threw in an extra gallon)

·         1 lb cracked crystal 15-20 Lovibond malt (15 minutes)

Cracked malt

·         10 lbs light dry malt extract (90 minutes)

Dry malt and some of the hops

·         1 oz. Magnum hops (90 minutes)

·         1 ½ oz. Columbus hops (90 minutes)

·         1 ½ oz. Columbus hops (30 minutes)

·         1 tsp. Irish Moss (15 minutes)

·         3 ½ oz. Columbus hops (end of boil)

·         1 ½ oz. Willamette hops (end of boil)

Fermentation

·         Yeast – Wyeast American Ale Yeast


Yeast Slap Pack



·         ½ oz. Columbus hops (Day 6)

·         ½ oz. Amarillo hops (Day 6)

·         ½ oz. Chinook hops (Day 6)

·         ¾ oz Chinook hops (Day 10)

·         8 fresh mangoes peeled and pureed in blender (Day 10)

Directions (and the dates I did everything)
8/1/11

Heat water to 150˚F.  Put crystal malt in a mesh bag and steep for 15 minutes. 

Our new propane burner

Grains in the bag for steeping

Steeping the grains

Remove the mesh bag and bring to boil. Once boiling turn off heat and add light dry malt extract and the 90 minute hops. Return to boil. Continue adding ingredients at times specified and turn off heat.  


Have a homebrew! With a 90 minute boil time you have to have something to do.

A Pint of Rapture IPA

Swirl contents of pot to create a whirlpool. Cool the wort (I use a counter flow wort chiller) and rack to fermenting bucket (I suggest a bucket rather than a carboy because it is easier to clean with all these hops and the fruit). Pitch the yeast into cooled wort. 

DANG! That's a fancy set-up. HA

8/7/11
Add ½ oz. Columbus hops, ½ oz. Amarillo hops, ½ oz. Chinook hops. 

More Hops

8/10/11
Move beer to secondary. Add 3/4  oz. Chinook hops.  Peel and puree mangoes and add the puree. I got so wrapped up in peeling and pureeing mangoes that I forgot to move the beer to the secondary. I dumped my mango puree right into the primary. Ugggg! A mini melt down ensued. I was pretty sure I screwed everything up but then I remembered the first rule of homebrewing - relax and have a homebrew. Upon some reflection over a glass of Rapture IPA I remembered that brewing is very similar to cooking. Screw the rules and just have fun with it.


8/20/11
From the bucket to the keg! Since I forgot to move the beer to a secondary we had a pretty goopy mess on our hands. I used a reusable coffee filter in the funnel to filter out most of the mangohopgoo (that's the scientific term). Set the CO2 to about 10psi and let the carbonation begin.


For bottling you will need to add priming sugar and wait about 2 weeks.


8/23/11
Today was the last day to send my beer in to the comp. I used a new method to bottle the beer that I have never tried. First I 'burped' the keg of any CO2 and then hooked up the picnic tap. To the end of the tap I added on another hose with a bottle filler attached to the end and then filled up my two bottles to send in. It got a little foamy but I managed to get the bottles filled, capped, bubble wrapped and off to UPS. The rest will be enjoyed straight from the tap.

Scientific Stuff
(these are my approx. readings. I don't claim to be precise or even that concerned with getting these spot on)

Original Gravity Reading – 1.084 (Holy Hell!)

Final Gravity - 1.014

Final ABV - 9%

Recipe adapted from Hopfather Double IPA, Russian River Brewing Company. Available in Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast's Guide to Craft Beer at Home, Sam Calagione.