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#29:  Old Topper IPA (Traditional American IPA)
  • Based on an India Pale Ale brewed in Rochester, NY in 1906. Old Topper was the flagship brand of the Rochester Brewing Company, which was in operation from 1889 to 1956.
Chris Swingley 
10-Apr-2004

Recipe (for 5 gallons final volume)
11.5 pounds (75%) Dingemans Pilsner Malt
2.0 pounds (13%) Flaked Maize
1.5 pounds (10%) Brown Malt (Pilsner Malt, baked 45 minutes @ 225 F, 30 minutes @ 300 F, 20 minutes @ 350 F)
4.0 ounces (2%) Briess Roast Barley (300L)

1.5 ounces   U.K. Fuggles plug hops, 6.9% AA (first wort hop)
3.0 ounces   U.K. Fuggles plug hops, 6.9% AA (60 minutes)
1.0 ounce   U.S. Willamette whole hops, 4.5% AA (dry hopped in keg)

  • White Labs WLP022 Essex Ale Yeast, pitched at 70°F
  • Starter: 1 gallon starter, built up from tube (tube, 500 ml, gallon)

Water
  • Fairbanks city water
  • 15 quarts mash water treated with:
    • 4.0 grams Gypsum.
  • 25 quarts sparge water treated with:
    • 7.0 grams Gypsum.

Mash
  • 15.0 quarts water @ 164°F, grist ratio of 1.0 quarts:pound @ 150°F (Held 90 minutes)

Sparge
  • 9 quarts water @ 203°F, drain
  • 16 quarts water @ 168°F, drain
  • Stuck mash -- dumped out grains, replaced hose braid with false bottom, sparged as normal.

Boil
  • Boiled 8.0 gallons for 90 minutes to yield 5.5 gallons wort

Fermentation
  • Primary: glass, 11 days, 65°F
  • Secondary: glass, 10 days, 62°F

Packaging
  • Kegged with 80 grams dextrose
  • Conditioned for 8 weeks
  • Ready to drink on 26-Jun-2004

Properties
Starting Gravity: 1.070 Final Gravity: 1.020
Original Extract: 17.1°plato Apparent Extract: 5.08°plato
Real Extract: 7.38°plato
Alcohol: 6.5% by volume (5.1% by weight)
Apparent Attenuation: 70.2% Mash Efficiency: 71%
Bitterness: 76 IBU Color: 17 SRM
BU:SG: 1.09 BV: 2.11

Tasting Notes
  • 1-May-2004 (3 weeks) -- Tasted during packaging. Surprisingly, not much bitterness is evident. It may turn out to be more like a strong bitter or even a mild!
  • 17-Oct-2004 (27 weeks) -- Great hop flavor and aroma. Still a fairly bitter beer, probably a tad out of balance. Nice color and great head retention.
  • 6-Dec-2004 (34 weeks) -- Excellent. Perfect balance between malt and hops. Great beer. Aging for 8 months really does the trick!

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