Brewday - Making the Half Pounder'

The Half Pounder' Double IPA is probably the most popular beer I've ever made. Featuring a half pound of whole cone hops it fulfills the wildest dreams of any hophead. With popularity however, goes consumption, and my 20 liter supply quickly dwindled to just a few bottles. The time was at hand for a new batch of the Pounder'.

This beer is all about the hops and to emphasize this it employs a brewing technique called continuous hopping. This technique comes from the different minute IPAs (60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute) of the innovative Delaware brewery Dogfish Head. When these beers are made, instead of hops being added to the kettle at set intervals, they are continuously added throughout the entire boil making for a seamless transition between hop bitterness, flavour and aroma. Although labour intensive, the finished product makes it well worthwhile.

These photos should give an idea of what goes into home brewing the Half Pounder'.

The hops, weighed and ready to go

Continuously hopping

This hard work requires refreshment

Straining the hops. Thats a big bag.

Taking a gravity reading (the potential alcohol content)

And finally, adding the yeast.

Geek Info


Method
Mini Mash


Malt
9.5 lbs LME                  68%
4 lbs. 2-row barley       29%
4 oz. 60L crystal malt    2%
4 oz. Munich malt          2%

Hops
Zeus
Amarillo
Simcoe
Centennial

Hop Schedule
Secret...

OG:                  1.073
Target FG:       1.010
Target abv:       8.5%