"CHIPA" Cherry IPA - Barley The Brew Pup's April Recipe

Ah... I love the smell of hops in the morning! Like many craft beer drinkers, I love a nice balanced IPA. There's something to be said about the rich flavors of citrus and pine, with a bitterness bite that reminds your senses that you're alive! To give our IPA a hint of uniqueness, we wanted to use a flavor that would complement the hops, but not overpower them, so we thought… CHERRY! Come along on our brew adventure as we embark on our third Barley's Brew: "CHIPA" Cherry IPA.

The Recipe:

  • 1 can of Mr. Beer Diablo IPA Brewing Extract
  • 2 bags of Mr. Beer BrewMax Pale DME
  • 1 pack of Safale US-05 Yeast
  • 1 Can Red Tart Cherries
  • 1/2 OZ Zythos Pellet Hops
  • 1/2 OZ Falconers Flight Pellet Hops
  • 1 Jar Red Tart Cherry Juice
  • 2 hop sacks

Before we get started, I recommend finding a brewing assistant. An assistant isn't completely necessary for humans, but I hear it makes the process more enjoyable. I like to keep my paws off the hot pots and make this guy do the heavy lifting. I fondly refer to him as the upright, the big guy, or the human. He will pretty much answer to anything. I have him pretty well trained.

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Now that I have the big guy to do the work, I'm going to assemble all the ingredients. I like to take this time and read through the instructions (two or three times doesn't hurt) and make sure I have all the equipment and ingredients I need BEFORE we get started. Well, ok... maybe I can't technically read, but the upright has that part figured out, so he reads and collects everything while I watch. It's a pretty good system that we've worked out!

Image_1   First, I have my brewing assistant place 6 cups of fresh water into a pot, add the two packs of Pale DME Softpack to the cool water and stir until dissolved. This sugary deliciousness spreads like a fine mist, so pour carefully! As you can see, my assistant got overzealous and poured to fast, so I had to squint to keep the DME out of my eyes. Assistants... can't live with em, can't live without em. (But seriously, I can't live without them... they feed me.)

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Next, put the brew pot on the stove and bring the wort up to a boil on medium-high. My assistant had to stir constantly to keep the foam in check, so make sure you keep an eye on it! During this time, prepare the first hop addition by putting 1/2oz Falconers Flight hops in the hop sack. I kept trying to sneak a hop pellet or two, but the big guy says hops are VERY poisonous to pups, so that was a no-go. Hmm… I thought I was the boss around here, but oh well…

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After the wort comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat to low and add the hop sack to the brew pot. We either tie it to the handle or use a metal clip to clip it to a pot edge in order to eliminate scorching the hop sack... but you can do whatever works for you! My lack of opposable thumbs made it difficult to set a timer, so I instructed the big guy to set a timer for 20 minutes. Remember, you want to simmer for 20 minutes, NOT boil.

After the 20 minute simmer, remove and discard the hop sack. We then used his meat hooks (that's what I call his hands) to carefully remove the brew pot from the heat and carefully add the can of Mr. Beer Diablo IPA Brewing Extract. Remember, be sure to soak the can of Brewing Extract in warm water to help it pour. Also, you'll want to open the can from the bottom in order to pour!

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Once the Diablo Brewing Extract is thoroughly mixed into the wort, fill your fermenter with refrigerated tap water up to the 4-quart mark on the back. Then add the wort to the fermenter, top-off with more cold water to bring it to the 8 liter mark, and gently mix with a sanitized brew spoon.

When the wort cooled to between 66-68 degrees Fahrenheit, we took a hydrometer sample (using a sanitized hydrometer sample tube) and pitched our pack of Safale Us-05 yeast.

Special Instruction: After your fermenting beer has undergone "High Fermentation" (one week's time), you will add your can of Red Tart Cherries, jar of Red Tart Cherry Juice, and 1/2 oz of Zythos Pellet Hops to your fermenter. You will add these by placing a sanitized hop sack OVER the opening of the fermenter and adding the cherries, juice, and hops to the sack. Leave the sack in the fermenter for a minimum of 10 days then remove 3 days before bottling.

Image_-5The last (and quite possibly the most important) step in the ENTIRE brewing process - once you have tucked your fermenter away in a cool, dark, dry location, and washed all of your brewing equipment, you need to sit down and crack open a nice cold homebrew. I suggest using a brewing journal where you can jot down any memorable notes from your brew day, as every brew is unique and a great learning experience. Also, while enjoying your homebrew, take a look on MrBeer.Com and start planning your next brew. You have to keep the pipeline flowing!

Image_5  Disclaimer:

  1. Don't give your pups beer…WE DON'T! Everything you see here is staged for entertainment purposes.
  2. Sanitization is very important to us and we recommend following all of Mr.Beer's recommended sanitization process. A much more thorough write up, including sanitization practices, can be found online on the Smoked Stout recipe page.

If you have enjoyed this homebrew write up, please check me out @BarleyTheBrewPup on Instagram. We update daily - follow me to see what the uprights have in store for me next!