Racer 5 Clone

Racer 5 is a great IPA from Bear Republic Brewing down in No Cal. I first had it when visiting my brother-in-law in SF after we watched the Dodgers take down the lowly Giants :) Anyhow, John and Tarah came over to help Emilie and I brew (of course it turned into just John and I).

Brewed again!!!

We had a blast; however, my mash tun failed again:

and I forgot to ad the sugar, something I only realized after I took a hydrometer reading and found out I was 0.02 away from the target. I'm not really sure how it'll affect it, but I'm not worried. Brewing, I've found, isn't an exact science.

Recipe:
11.25 lbs 2-row pale malt
1.66 lbs wheat malt
0.625 lbs crystal 15
0.42 lbs dextrose (added post boil, oh well)
0.21 lbs Carapils malt
0.51 oz chinook at 12%AA (90 mins)
1.74 oz Cascade at 5% AA (60 mins)
0.3 oz Centennial (dry)
0.3 oz Amarillo (dry)
0.2 oz Cascade (dry)
0.2 oz Magnum (dry)
2 White Labs WLP051

5 gallons
OG initial reading without sugar was 1.052. I then added the sugar, so I'm hoping it kicked it up.
FG Supposed to be 1.015...we'll see :)
IBU = 60 (probably will hit that)
ABV = 7.2% (not gonna happen because of the sugar)

2/14/10: Looks like the post boil sugar addition isn't effecting the fermentation. Last night, it started going and it's been going steady. Smells sweet and hoppy (perfect!).

2/18/10: Took a reading...1.022
2/23/10: Reading's at 1.016--good enough. It's really pale, doesn't taste good. The original has a big hop taste, this one fall WAY short. I dry hopped in the fermenter but to pump up the hop taste I dry hopped in the keg as well. I'm gonna let this one carb up all the way before I pass judgment.

2/27/10: Almost totally carbed. The taste is much better, not too close to the original, but not far off. A good beer. I'm happy with it :)

6-15-2011--Brewed it again, better results.