Back in the Saddle

Its been a busy and crazy month, with the birth of my son and a trip to Pittsburgh for a family emergency. Thankfully things look like they are going to turn out well with my wife's family situation, but I do not recommend flying last minute with a 3 week old and a 2 year old. Because of the craziness of figuring out how to handle a newborn and a toddler, I've been craving some brewing time. It's always a nice release for me, and isn't that what hobbies are for? Last week my wife's good friend stopped by for a couple hours to hang out with the kids, and I was able to brew! I brewed up another batch of the I.A.P.A. since I enjoyed this pale ale so much and after splitting half the batch with Jefe, whom I brewed with, I had already run through my supply.
Last year I was all about brewing Belgian Ales, and was happy that some recipes like Bangy Tangy, El Jefe and Burning Beard are definitely going to be permanent fixtures in the rotation.
Lately, I've been all about the hops. I have been trying to better my skills in brewing pale ales and IPAs and was very happy with the turn out of aforementioned IAPA and also the Bearded Fury. So I've decided to brew up another IPA, and I'm going to split the batch, conditioning half on mangoes because of the amazing Mango Mama IPA I had at Town Hall brewery this winter. I can still taste that amazing beer and have wanted to brew a Mango IPA ever since.
I've decided to return to extract brewing for the next couple of batches I brew to save time. I have been brewing partial mash batches for almost two years, but right now the extra hour and a half or so I could save by skipping the mash will allow me to brew more often. I for one have never been under the belief that one brewing technique was better than another since I've had good and bad brews made from every method, so I'm not worried about quality.
As for this IPA, I'm brewing up an all organic IPA, using 4 ounces of American Summit Hops I got from Seven Bridges. I put in a large order of organic hops this spring, and look forward to using these high alpha hops, that are supposed to be similar in flavor and aromas to hops like Simcoe and Cascade. It will be the first single hop beer I've made, so I'm curious of the result.

On another note, I traded some beer with Brian at Untamed Beer. I look forward to trying out some of his homebrew and some Southern beers he sent along. I will get to those reviews and I look forward to his thoughts on the Midwest and Bearded Brewing offerings I sent in exchange.
More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer