TOPIC:

OK so ICBCF is done. The €2000 has been paid both physically and the presentaion cheque presented in front of some cameras on Sunday. John is writing an article about it as I type this.

I think we are mostly all agreed that we want it to be a bloody big beer of the double IPA territory.

Might be your average double IPA, but a proper version of one.
Might be a double black IPA.
My own preference would be a cross between a saison and a double IPA. Like a bigger version of this beauty![/url:2h30tyf4]
Don't just say that sounds good, everyone pipe in and when we get some ideas together, we start a poll.

For clarification, each of the 40 members gets 10 litres of beer, or 20x 500ml bottles to be precise. We are brewing a half batch, or 1000 litres. The leftover beer will be sold to a few pubs, about 16 kegs of it.
This will be filtered and force carbed where as we might want to bottle condition ours. That way we can compare.

**If you are not one of the 40, feel free to read but please don't suggest styles as this is for the lucky few only. Get in on the next one <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: --> **

An Imperial DIPA- Something in the realm of Pliny the Elder.

Will Sam be brewing a test batch on his pilot system? I'm all for making a "big" beer but I think that any recipe like that would need to be trialled first.

Double IPA territory sounds perfect!

As for the specs, I'd prefer to keep on the simpler, cleaner side of things - as much as I do like Flying Dog's Wildemann, mucking about with saison yeast can go either way...a few 'hoppy saisons' I've had have given off a really weird plasticky, fairy-liquidy vibe - if that comes through in a 9% beer then we're all fecked.

My vote would be a pale malt DIPA of around 8.5% ABV - a big big brother to Kinsale Pale Ale, using the same malts, and having Citra as the primary noise-maker with added support from other fruit-bombs like Amarillo or Simcoe (although I know TheBeerNut ain't Simcoe's biggest fan!)

Or go the other way and brew a golden session ale of 4.2% with a light citrus character to attract the lager drinkers.

If we're going for a DIPA, I think we should make sure it's significantly different from Kinsale Gold, so some advance consultation with Sam would be necessary before deciding a final recipe.

&amp;quot;irish_goat&amp;quot;:oqjl8rze wrote: Will Sam be brewing a test batch on his pilot system? I'm all for making a "big" beer but I think that any recipe like that would need to be trialled first.[/quote:oqjl8rze]

Well, there's plenty of time. Once we come up with a style and then recipe, we could test it out on a homebrew scale ourselves.

It's not really up to Sam to test it. We bought the right to brew a beer, if it's rubbish, it's our fault. He is taking a risk by doing a half batch though so he might want to test it himself, it's up to him.

Either way way, keeganales has already volunteered to stand on top of the boiler and throw hops in ever few minutes. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->