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Colorado Strong IPA

Brewed: 01/23/2022   Kegged: 02/06/2022

ColoradoStrongIPA.jpgSo, in May of 2020, as a way to raise funds to help Colorado breweries survive the Covid-19 Shelter-in-Place and Safer-at-Home directives, Left Hand Brewing came up with the Colorado Strong Fund.

Many Colorado breweries brewed their own versions of a recipe called "Colorado Strong Pale Ale". A certain percentage of the proceeds were donated to the fund.

I signed up to get the recipe and brewed a version of my own.

I also bought and drank many pints and/or crowlers of many Colorado Strong beers.

In late 2021, I noticed that many breweries were brewing a new version of Colorado Strong. The 2021 version was an IPA.

It doesn't seem to have generated as much "buzz" as the 2020 version, but still, I thought I had to participate.

I wasn't able to find the shared recipe for 2021, so I came up with my own version.

I did use Colorado malts from Root Shoot brewing as a way to tie the recipe back to Colorado local.

I was busy brewing other things, so it wasn't until early 2022 that I brewed this beer.

The IPA turned out fantastic. Wonderful malt base with a beautiful golden-amber color. The hop flavor and aroma was about perfect. Great beer.



For more about this beer, and the commercial Colorado Strongs ... check out Sheppy's Blog: Colorado Strong



Colorado Strong IPA --- Batch 1

Style American IPA Batch Size 5.50 gal
Type All Grain Boil Size   6.60 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency   67.00   Boil Time   60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity 1.063 SG Estimated FG 1.012 SG
Recipe Bitterness 60.9 IBUs (Rager) Alcohol by Volume 6.8 %
BU : GU   0.962        
Recipe Color 6.8 SRM
Color
   
Measured OG:   1.061    Measured FG:   1.011 
ADF:   81    Measured ABV:   6.6 

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
8.15 gal Denver, Colorado Water 1 - -
11.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent 2 - -
10 lbs Root Shoot Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 69.6 % 0.78 gal
4 lbs Root Shoot Vienna Malt (6.0 SRM) Grain 4 27.8 % 0.31 gal
6.0 oz Root Shoot Cara Ruby (28.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.6 % 0.03 gal
0.500 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 30.8 IBUs -
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 - -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 8 - -
0.500 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 6.2 IBUs -
1.500 oz Citra [13.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 13.1 IBUs -
1.500 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [11.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 10.9 IBUs -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 12 - -
1.500 oz Citra [13.20 %] - 0.0 Days Before Bottling for 5.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs -
1.500 oz Mosaic (HBC 369) [11.00 %] - 0.0 Days Before Bottling for 5.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs -

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 32.61 qt of water at 157.5 F 150.0 F 45 min
Heat Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min 156.0 F 20 min


If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=114,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=250,Cl=23,HCO3=104
Mash and boil as instructed.
Chill as close to 60 degrees as possible
3 days into fermentation, add half the dry hops.
Keg adding the rest of the dry hops.
Drink and enjoy.

Brewing Record

Brew Date:   Strike Temp:  
Mash Temps:  
Pre-boil OG   (1.058 SG)   Pre-boil Vol   (6.60 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency   Pitch Temp    
Fermentation            
Day 1: 
Day ... 
Day ... 

 
Brewing Notes:
01/22/2022 esheppy
Bought ingredients. Brew day (probably tomorrow).
01/24/2022 esheppy
Brewed yesterday. Was low on the OG, so I added about .375 lbs of table sugar to increase it. Chilled into the low 50's. Today, there are signs of fermentation and have the temp control set to 62. Tilt says. 1.053 at 62 degrees.
01/25/2022 esheppy
Tilt says 1.035 at 66. Air lock is extremely active. I'll probably turn off temperature control by the end of today.
01/26/2022 esheppy
Turned off temperature control early in the day. Added (about) half the dry hops around 1:30. Tilt at 1.022 and 67. Lots of Kraussen still at the top when the hops were added. Probably should have waited on the dry hops a couple days. Oh well.
01/28/2022 esheppy
Tilt says 1.008 at 66 degrees. Still bubbling, but slowed down considerably. Air lock still smelling pretty hoppy 😋
02/01/2022 esheppy
Tilt says 1.005 at 65. Took a little sample. Nice gold color. Still pretty hazy. Awesome hop flavor and aroma. Not very bitter. Think I'm really going to love this beer.
02/06/2022 esheppy
Kegged today. FG at 1.011, making this a 6.6% ABV beer. A little lower than designed, but close enough for me. Wonderful gold amber color. Great hop flavor and aroma. I am going to really love this beer.
02/13/2022 esheppy
Love the hop flavor and the malt base. The carbonation is pretty good now. A bit hazy, but not ugly. Wonderful amber / gold color. Took the picture for this page.
04/05/2022 esheppy
Pretty much clear now. Still a real nice hop flavor. I don't think this keg will last much longer.
04/09/2022 esheppy
Killed the keg watching the Pios in the national championship. Wonderful beer. Hop flavor stayed awesome over the 2 months the beer lasted.
Comments:
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