The Epworth Brewer wrote:... If you are considering trying this recipe I would recommend you don't barrel it. Most of us who have tried Dead Pony Club will have done so in bottle or can, and I would say it's a drink that suits bottles rather than cask. If you go for cask you will certainly recognize the distinctive DPC aroma. But maybe it loses that little something on draught. Just my rambling thoughts. Looking forward to what Peebee has to say on it. ...
The Epworth Brewer wrote:King Keg. I'm not a fan of bottles, so any issues with this brew are down to the brewer not the brew. I think the dry hops might work just as well during primary, and bottling it would be better also. ...
Sampled mine last night, but a force carbed bottle of pretty cloudy stuff recovered from the fermenter after kegging. Promising; compared to the Brewdog description...
Our California style West Coast IPA has light toffee and caramel notes layered on biscuit malt, ...
Complete nonsense anyway. It is bone dry (well it would be at FG 1.003), and it might not have needed the pale ale water treatment: I see a trend of people using more chloride rich water (cut back on sulphate) for APA.
... supporting a huge, fresh citrus aroma, with lemongrass, lime zest, grapefruit peel, alongside some tropical notes, courtesy of some heavy-hitting US hops.
Pretty accurate, though can't say I get the lime. But predominantly it tastes of... well... hops! It's why I like these New World beers, they remind me of my early days as a hop-picker.
You recommend bottles rather than "cask". But I think Corny kegs (any steel keg) can provide a bottle-like product (my DPC clone should be carbing up to 2.3 volumes now - pretty fizzy). But your experience with a King Keg is interesting: I got rid of my King Kegs because I was convinced the were dulling (eliminating) the hop flavour in my beer, I thought the plastic was absorbing the flavours. Those beers were not (nothing like) as "hop forward" as some of these APAs I'm brewing now, so they did not recover.
To repeat this recipe (or something like it) I've ordered two more hop spiders (290x70). As each holds 70-80g hops (pellet or leaf, 100g at a pinch) I shouldn't have to rely on free-floating hops again (which were a disaster). I'll also move to pelleted hops as I was concerned about the amount of oxygen whole hops carried into the beer. Bought a load of marbles to weigh them with so they don't just float on their sides. Spiders this size will fit (2 or 3) into Corny kegs too, so I can dry hop in the keg, cool and remove hops, and then re-establish the pressure again. My next planned brew is a Nanny State clone which will never get in the fermenter so the option to dry hop in kegs will be put to test very soon.
