First of all, I need to correct myself from yesterday. I brew beer for my Dad for Father’s Day, not his birthday, which is usually the same week. Every year since I moved out, I have my parents over for dinner on their birthdays. Mother’s Day is always hard, but since I started brewing, Father’s Day is a great excuse to make some beer.
The first year that this was the case, I made Bitter Old Man. It was my first time using a turkey frier instead of the stove top to boil my wort and as a result, the first time I was able to do a full volume boil for a five gallon batch. It was also my first attempt at an IPA. As a new homebrewer, I of course decided to make it an Imperial IPA. I also totally underestimated how many hops were necessary for this style of beer. Instead of loading up late hops, I added a lot of bittering hops and steeped a very nice, though too complexly malty for an IPA, mix of steeping grains.
As a result, I got a very good strong ale with a bracing bitterness, complex malt flavor and mild tropical fruit hop flavor and aroma. I enjoyed the beer and so did my Dad, but it is not really accurate to call it an IPA. It was too dry to be a barley wine, but it was definitely a strong ale of some kind. I’m not sure how to classify it, but I’ve been thinking a lot about brewing it, or something with a similar malt bill, with Pilsner Malt in place of the extract, for a long time.
The recipe is below. I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something strong but easy to drink over the hot Summer. If you want to make an extract Double IPA, though, I’d get rid of two of the specialty grains (which ones depend on your preference) and add at least four ounces of hops late in the boil, after the additions already in place and then dry hops with another two or three ounces.
Bitter Old Man
Style: 14C. Imperial IPA
Brew Date: May, 2012
Serve Date: June, 2012
ABV: 8.8%
IBUs: 80 IBUs
Fermentables:
.5 lb Biscuit Malt
.5 lb Victory Malt
.5 lb Crystal 10L
3 lb Light DME
7 lb Light LME
Hops:
1 oz Magnum @90 min
.5 oz Nugget @45 min
.5 oz Amarillo @ 30 min
.5 oz Nugget @ 15 min
.5 oz Amarillo @5 min
Yeast:
Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
Non-Existent Brewing 
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