F1-03-01-13: Hawkes Hill White IPA

Label inspiration: the street on which I now live...

  

It's been a while since I had brewed beer and when I saw this new recipe on the Mr. Beer website, I thought I would give it a try. I love Belgian white beers and my favorite type of beer is an IPA- sounds like a match made in heaven, huh?
 

From the Mr. Beer website:

White IPA - 2013 Spring Seasonal

NET WEIGHT 3.75 POUNDS (1.7 KILOGRAMS)
This recipe will produce 2 gallons of beer in approximately 2 weeks.

This White IPA is a flavorsome modification of a traditional IPA. An exciting fusion of complex citrus and melon hop flavors characteristics to an American IPA, balanced with coriander, orange peel, lemon and the velvety characters of wheat malt typical of a Belgian Witbier. Pale in color with a tightly packed white head, spicy notes and crisp finish.

REFILL INCLUDES:
1 Can Limited Edition White IPA HME
1 Packet T-58 Safbrew Ale Yeast
1 Spice Bag
1 Packet No-Rinse Cleanser

ABV: 6.5%   SRM: 5   IBU: 60

Brewed the beer on May 10, 2013. I thought I did well with the sanitation this time, but we’ll see. I didn’t turn on my AC at this point. I checked the temperature of the keg several times and it was a little higher than 75 degrees, which I know will affect the beer.
 

Bottled the beer on Jun 4, 2013. I used regular sugar at this point for the bottle priming. The beer tasted too sweet, which probably means that its not good. It looks like the temperature in the dining room was the issue. 

I’m not sure when I first tasted the beer, but it was probably 2-3 weeks after I bottled it…maybe June 24^th or 25^th. It was pretty gross—too cidery and sweet. 

I have tried a few over a period of weeks and it got a little better but not enough to sit down and have a whole one. I am considering throwing it out because my next beer (Blauer Mond) is on-deck for bottling. We’ll see. Just another “beer bust”!

Tried one again on September 1, 2013. Still too sweet/cidery. I read recently about using too much sugar to prime the bottled beer. Perhaps I put too much in…I’ll measure it all out the next time.

OVERALL SCORE: 1 out of 10. Yet another disaster. Maybe I am using too much sugar during the priming process. As with many of my other "busts", it could've been temperature.