Bullmoose Strong Ale (Name changed to protect the innocent)

I can't recall the details of the original Bullwinkle Amber ale;
I think this version is hoppier than the original but close otherwise.

Brewer:	George with John and Andrew		Email:	nobody@nowhere.man
Beer:	Bullmoose Strong Ale (Name changed to protect the innocent)		Style:	English Old/Strong Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	21 HCU (~12 SRM)		Bitterness:	44 IBU
OG:	1.074		FG:	1.010
Alcohol:	8.3% v/v (6.5% w/w)
Water:	2.5 gal bottled water (r-o) from water & ice store with .5 gal Brita-filtered Scottsdale water,rested a day, shaken well, and 16-20 lb ice from water & ice store (made from r-o water?).
Grain:	1 lb. American 2-row 1 lb. American crystal 40L
Steep:	put light grain in large bag, put in boiler with 2 gal water, bring to 165 degrees add bag of amber grain, bring back to 165, steep 30 min, remove bags & sparge with 1 gal water at 165 to get as much malt sugar as possible.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.124	3 gallons
	6 lb. Light dry malt extract 1 lb. Amber malt extract 1 lb. Light malt extract
	add hops at start, 30,45,60 min (for 60, 30, 15, 0 minute boils). Add Irish moss and gypsum at start. After boil, add ice and water to bring wort to 5 gal @ 70 degrees and original gravity around 1.075.
Hops:	1 oz. Nugget (12% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 45 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 15 min.) 1 oz. Kent Goldings (aroma)
Yeast:	Wyeast Belgian ale yeast; popped and dumped immediately into 70 degree wort. However, this did not seem to start, so we pitched 1/2 packet of red star champagne yeast. At bottling time add 1/2 pack champagne yeast and reserved Krausening wort (see Carbonation section below.)
Log:	the move from primary to secondary was very messy; lots of yeast came over. Initial sp gr 1.072 without krausening which was off scale. I estimate that the adjusted gravity would have been close to 1.080.
Carbonation:	2.0 volumes	Dried Malt Extract: 5.40 oz. for 5 gallons @ 70°F
	Carbonated by Krausening (adding active wort to beer that is being bottled.) Here is the method: Remove 64 0z wort (1 jug) from the main batch before adding ice to main batch. Boil this, seal and save in refrigerator until time for Krausening. After secondary fermentation/titration, warm the reserved wort to 70 degrees; start 1/2 packet champagne yeast in the reserved wort. Pitch this freshly started yeast and wort into the main batchGive it a good stir to aerate, let rest 20 minutes then start bottling. Quick calculations to determine how much Krausening wort is needed: 128 oz malt in 128 x 5 oz water = 1/5 oz malt per oz water; 1/5 oz dme/oz wort * 48 oz is about 10 oz of malt for 5 gallons. This may be a little overkill. Some authorities call for 10% of the wort in a batch to be used for Krausening, that would be 64 oz; this would contain 10% of the malt sugar in the wort, or around 12 oz of malt sugar The regular carbonation calculator calls for 5.4 oz of DME. We are between these two extremes.
Tasting:	a week after bottling we tested; heavily carbonated, not very clear. sp gr 1.012. this brew is very bitter (yum) with an ibu around 50 (I think). It tastes almost as hoppy ad dogfish head 90, which has nearly twice the ibu. Hmmm is ibu like db, where doubling creates the next discernible quanta?

Recipe posted 01/26/10.