As part of my double brew weekend, I brewed up a double IPA. I always love the slew of Imperial IPAs that come out in late February/Early March, and thought it was about time I added my own to the mix. Plus, my Ryeteous Rye Porter got an infection, so I'm looking for something that I can have on tap in a month or so. Instead of brewing two lagers that would require time, I went with the Doble.
I've brewed my fair share of big IPAs, and I tend to focus more on the hops than the malt, since I tend to like IPAs that aren't too syrupy. I had a lot of whole leaf hops grown by my friend, Zeus and Centennial. I wanted to choose a complimentary hop that would balance the intense citrus and fruitiness of those hops. So I chose Chinhook, a hop I've used in some other beers of mine. I really like the piney/slightly smokey flavors that come from Chinhook and when paired with overly citrusy hops, I think it creates a nice complexity. I've been striving towards adding complexity in my hop profiles, so I'm hoping the desired result comes through.
The other difference with the Doble than previous brews, is that I chose to boil the wort for 90 minutes. I had time to spare, and have never done this. Based on what I've read, it should add some bitterness to the beer.
I was a little disappointed that my OG ended up lower than intended, so I'm thinking that I need to adjust my sparging techniques. I batch sparge, but I wonder if I am rinsing too fast, because my OGs have been lower than expected. That is however, the beauty of partial mashing...I still end up with a decent product, but am not getting as much out of the grains as I should. After two weeks of fermentation, the Doble has finally finished at around 7% abv. So its more "double" in IBUs than ABV. First pull out of the carboy was very tasty and very hoppy so, I'm not too concerned.

Going forward I would like to correct the sparging problem, or figure out another reason why my OGs have been so off.

As for the Doble recipe:
Mash @ 151 for 45 minutes
3 lbs Org 2-Row
8 oz Org Crystal 60
80z Org Crystal 40
1 lb Org Carapils

9.15 Organic Light Malt Extract (@ 20 min)
1 lb Honey (@ 5)

Hops: 1 oz Chinhook @ 90
1 oz Chinhook @ 60
1 oz Leaf Centennial @ 30
1 oz Chinhook @ 15
1 oz Zeus Leaf Hops @ 10
1 oz Centennial @ 5
1 oz Chinhook @ 2
1 oz Zeus Leaf Hops @ 1

2 packs Wyeast American Ale 2

I'm very excited to see how this turns out.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer