Beer-making Time

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Festa West Coast IPA

It is the season for beer-making. I picked up this Festa brew kit (West Coast IPA) a week ago to try it out, a second time actually, but the first for an IPA. This one is rated 42 on the IBU scale (bitterness units). Most commercial beers that you would buy in a store are quite low on the IBU scale, likely 8-10 IBU or even less. IPAs are traditionally higher in bitterness with 100 being the highest I have seen. Now, I am not sure if there is such a thing as higher than 100 but I would imagine that at 100 IBUs it might be just a little too bitter for most folks taste and perhaps even for me though I like bitter beer. However, I am anxious to try this.
The primary

You cannot brew beer any simpler. With this kit you do not even add water. The yeast is hydrated before putting into the wort. The only other difference is that once you move to the bottling stage they suggest mixing the corn sugar with 2 cups of boiling water before putting it in the secondary prior to bottling. In other kits I simply add the corn sugar to the beer before I bottle. I don't imagine that it will affect the taste at all, just a little differnet. This beer should be ready by Christmas.

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