Hoppin' Parrot IPA

Hoppin' Parrot

Last night we brewed our first IPA dubbed Hoppin' Parrot IPA! This is our first IPA and looks to be a great Beer. Good OG: 1.062 and the color is spot on. With 77IBUs and a speculated 6.8% ABV, this IPA will leave you in Hop Head Heaven. Further, we utilized some of the Star B Ranch hops we hand picked a few months ago (see previous posts). Hopefully this will end up being one of our regular Beers! Marcus did 95% of the brewing on this one so this is really his creation. But being a Hop Head, I am really glad to see the introduction of an IPA to our wares! I felt useless in this brew session because of my swollen, twisted, messed up ankle. I had a difficult time standing on it. Nothing a cold home brew and a Macanudo cigar can't cure! I will post the recipe for this IPA below and will be posting the tasting notes on this beer in about 6 weeks. We have been letting all our beers age out about 1 month minimum by default. This seems to be a good practice. Of course some will age longer but our staples will follow the default protocol. I'm thinking the next batch will be the long awaited Smoked Bacon Brown Ale. Stay tuned for more info. on that soon. With all this brewing we could use a second fermenter! Something to look forward to! In the meantime, Sit back, relax and have a Home Brew! Cheers!

Hoppin' Parrot IPA

Star B Cascade Hops

Tasting Notes: We tapped this beer up on 11/27/11. Our first IPA and it was delicious! With 77IBUs, it was sure to satisfy a Hop head's palate and it did just that! Nice strong bitterness of the Nugget is right there out of the gate! Finishing with a light sweet citrusy hint of grapefruit and a wonderful piney aroma at the end. The Beer ended up a little cloudy but the color is great! A definite winner! We will be brewing this one again in the near future! Pairing this IPA with food is somewhat difficult due to it's stronge hoppiness however, I found that some of the stronger European Cheeses go very well! One of my favorites is Scharfe Maxx, indigenous to Switzerland. A nice tangy, meaty flavor enhanced by the bitterness of the Beer. If you decided to brew a batch of this beer, there are many other cheeses you might find to pair with. For those of you who try this recipe, please let me know your feedback! Cheers!