Back in the early '80s, there was a "Bloom County" cartoon that included a poem that struck me, and I read it during English class as a high school senior. The poem goes like this:
"I wouldn't mind if I did find a blue whale in my soup
Nor would I mind a porcupine inside a chicken coop
Yes, life is fine when things combine
Like ham in beef chow mien
But, Lord, this time I think I mind
They put acid in my rain"
Yeah, I know...it kind of started out whimsical and then went dark there at the end, but it reminds me of combining things that one might not ordinarily mix. Also, something I learned in the Marine Corps, while on the rifle range, is "bold dope changes"...basically, if you're going to make a change, make it a big one! So, I thought I'd do a sour IPA, with a different yeast, and add the mandarin juice I had left over from the tangerine wheat.
Brew Day: 10 Sept 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min) #1:
1 lb DME
4 oz table sugar
During this process, DO NOT HOP THE WORT! Once the wort is cooled, place (2) GoodBelly Straight Shots into a sanitized fermenter, and rack the cooled wort on top of them. Place any left over wort into a sanitized container and refrigerate. Place the fermenter on a warming plate.
Boil (20 min) #2 (13 Sept):
Boil wort for 20 min to kill the bugs, and add hops at this point. Once the boil is done, pitch the yeast and place the fermenter back on the warming plate.
Hops:
14 g U1/108 Experimental (FWH)
14 g Huell Melon + 14 g Azacca (10 min whirlpool)
Yeast: Omega HotHead
Once I'd cooled the wort and pitched the yeast, I placed the fermenter back on the warming plate.
Addendum, 23 Sept: Dry hopped today, using 14 g Huell Melon; racked beer onto hops and 12 oz of tangerine juice.
Addendum, 26 Sept: Bottled; 6 bottles, 3 re-purposed soda bottles.
Showing posts with label IPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPA. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Fruit-forward IPA
I'm a fan of fruit-forward IPAs, and recently ran across the Omega Horindahl Kveik yeast. Given the description, I thought I'd give it a shot, so I set the yeast out ahead of time to warm up to room temperature, shaking it repeatedly. I also set the warming plate up ahead of time so that it would be up to temperature for when I placed the fermenter on it.
Brew Day: 3 Sept 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Galaxy (FWH)
1 oz Julius (10 min whirlpool)
14 g Galaxy (dry hop)
Yeast: Omega Hornidal Kveik
Following the boil, I cooled the wort, pitched the yeast and placed the fermenter on a warming plate, wrapped in a towel.
Addendum, 4 Sept: Checked on the beer this morning, it appears that fermentation really took off overnight!
Addendum, 15 Sept: Placed in secondary; I'm traveling, and won't be able to do anything with the beer until later in the week. As such, I racked it to secondary, and I'll dry hop it when I return.
Addendum, 23 Sept: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 26 Sept: Bottled; 8 bottles, 1 re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 14 Oct: Opened the soda bottle tonight. Beer is a golden straw color, pours with a full head of medium bubbles that slowly dissipates. Citrus in the nose. Medium body, the beer has a big, sweet fruit-forward flavor with more than a bit of citrus. Big flavor, with little, if any, bitterness.
Brew Day: 3 Sept 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Galaxy (FWH)
1 oz Julius (10 min whirlpool)
14 g Galaxy (dry hop)
Yeast: Omega Hornidal Kveik
Following the boil, I cooled the wort, pitched the yeast and placed the fermenter on a warming plate, wrapped in a towel.
Addendum, 4 Sept: Checked on the beer this morning, it appears that fermentation really took off overnight!
Addendum, 15 Sept: Placed in secondary; I'm traveling, and won't be able to do anything with the beer until later in the week. As such, I racked it to secondary, and I'll dry hop it when I return.
Addendum, 23 Sept: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 26 Sept: Bottled; 8 bottles, 1 re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 14 Oct: Opened the soda bottle tonight. Beer is a golden straw color, pours with a full head of medium bubbles that slowly dissipates. Citrus in the nose. Medium body, the beer has a big, sweet fruit-forward flavor with more than a bit of citrus. Big flavor, with little, if any, bitterness.
Monday, July 15, 2019
Watermelon Sour IPA
I enjoy a nice sour IPA with watermelon juice added to the beer. What can I say? Not long ago, I sanitized a storage container and saved off some fresh juice from some watermelon we had...the horses seem to enjoy it as much as we do. I froze the juice to kill any bugs in it...
Brew Day: 12 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Add the wort to a sanitized fermenter, racking it on to 2 Good Belly Straight Shots, then place the fermenter on a warming plate for ~72 hrs. Preserve any additional wort in sanitized containers to be added back during the second boil.
Boil #2 (20 min): 15 Jul
Hops:
14 g Huell Melon (FWH)
1 oz Mosaic (@ 20 min, 10 min rest)
14 g Huell Melon (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 28 Jul: Dry hopped, and added 12 oz watermelon juice (frozen, raised to room temp via water bath)
Addendum, 1 Aug: Bottled tonight, got 7 good bottles and two re-purposed soda bottles.
Brew Day: 12 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Add the wort to a sanitized fermenter, racking it on to 2 Good Belly Straight Shots, then place the fermenter on a warming plate for ~72 hrs. Preserve any additional wort in sanitized containers to be added back during the second boil.
Boil #2 (20 min): 15 Jul
Hops:
14 g Huell Melon (FWH)
1 oz Mosaic (@ 20 min, 10 min rest)
14 g Huell Melon (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 28 Jul: Dry hopped, and added 12 oz watermelon juice (frozen, raised to room temp via water bath)
Addendum, 1 Aug: Bottled tonight, got 7 good bottles and two re-purposed soda bottles.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Julius IPA
I recently read about some hops out of Minnesota, from Mighty Axe, and really liked the flavor profile for the one called "Julius". It turns out that I could get these from Northern Brewer, so I placed an order and it showed up yesterday afternoon. So, during the high heat and humidity of central Virginia, brewing a fruit-forward NE-style IPA is a good way to spend an early afternoon.
Brew Day: 13 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Julius hops (FWH)
1 oz Julius hops (10 min whirlpool @ flameout)
14 g Julius hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 14 Jul: These pellet hops create a great deal of "debris". What I mean by that is that when I add the FWH addition, I just dump the hops into the kettle. After transferring to the fermenter, flakes of the hops rose to the neck of the fermenter, and were pushed into the blow-off tube. It looks like some pressure built up behind the debris, as it was pushed throughout the tube.
This is definitely something to keep in mind in the future. The whirlpool addition is added in a hop bag, as is the dry hop.
Addendum, 24 Jul: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 28 Jul: Bottled; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Brew Day: 13 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Julius hops (FWH)
1 oz Julius hops (10 min whirlpool @ flameout)
14 g Julius hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 14 Jul: These pellet hops create a great deal of "debris". What I mean by that is that when I add the FWH addition, I just dump the hops into the kettle. After transferring to the fermenter, flakes of the hops rose to the neck of the fermenter, and were pushed into the blow-off tube. It looks like some pressure built up behind the debris, as it was pushed throughout the tube.
This is definitely something to keep in mind in the future. The whirlpool addition is added in a hop bag, as is the dry hop.
Addendum, 24 Jul: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 28 Jul: Bottled; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Something New - Voss Kveik
I enjoy a juicy fruit-forward IPA, and the NE style suits me quite nicely. While doing some research recently, I ran across a mention of a "Nordic" yeast, specifically "kviek". As I read on, I got more and more interested in trying this yeast. I did some more research and found some offerings from different providers, including Omega and White Labs. When I got to my local homebrew supply store, they had Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik right there on the shelf. I was looking for hefeweizen yeast, so I picked out the Omega, and White Labs WLP300.
The aroma profile for the Voss sounds very interesting; the write-up at the Omega site says that it ferments equally well across a wide temperature range, but anecdotes online (here, and here) suggest going with a higher temperature to keep off flavors such as sulfur down. I have a warming plate for making sours, so that should work just fine.
It also seems that this yeast finishes up pretty quickly, so my plan is brew the wort and pitch the yeast, and then put the fermenter on a warming plate for just more than two days before dry hopping the beer.
Brew Day: 7 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 10 June: Took the beer off of the warming plate and dry hopped with 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 15 June: Bottled today; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 30 June: Tried the re-purposed soda bottle tonight. I could tell that it was wildly over-carbonated when I put it into the fridge; it was hard as a rock, and the bottle had expanded a bit. This was borne out when I opened the bottle...I just sat it in the sink and let the foam come pouring out the top. I did pour most of it into a glass and was able to drink some. The flavor is heavy on the citrus, with just a little bit of sharpness. With the exception of the carbonation issue, it's a very flavorful beer. I'm hoping that the sour will be a bit less carbonated, as sours tend to be.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Opened a bottle last night, the beer is very much over-carbonated, but much easier to manage from the bottle. I opened it over the sink in case there were any issues, and with the bottle I didn't have a steady stream of foam pouring out of the bottle. The flavor isn't the issue; the next time I brew using this yeast, I need to treat it the same way as other yeasts, and I can even leave it on the warming plate past 2 or 3 days; either way, it needs more that just a few days.
The aroma profile for the Voss sounds very interesting; the write-up at the Omega site says that it ferments equally well across a wide temperature range, but anecdotes online (here, and here) suggest going with a higher temperature to keep off flavors such as sulfur down. I have a warming plate for making sours, so that should work just fine.
It also seems that this yeast finishes up pretty quickly, so my plan is brew the wort and pitch the yeast, and then put the fermenter on a warming plate for just more than two days before dry hopping the beer.
Brew Day: 7 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 10 June: Took the beer off of the warming plate and dry hopped with 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 15 June: Bottled today; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 30 June: Tried the re-purposed soda bottle tonight. I could tell that it was wildly over-carbonated when I put it into the fridge; it was hard as a rock, and the bottle had expanded a bit. This was borne out when I opened the bottle...I just sat it in the sink and let the foam come pouring out the top. I did pour most of it into a glass and was able to drink some. The flavor is heavy on the citrus, with just a little bit of sharpness. With the exception of the carbonation issue, it's a very flavorful beer. I'm hoping that the sour will be a bit less carbonated, as sours tend to be.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Opened a bottle last night, the beer is very much over-carbonated, but much easier to manage from the bottle. I opened it over the sink in case there were any issues, and with the bottle I didn't have a steady stream of foam pouring out of the bottle. The flavor isn't the issue; the next time I brew using this yeast, I need to treat it the same way as other yeasts, and I can even leave it on the warming plate past 2 or 3 days; either way, it needs more that just a few days.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Leftover IPA
This year, I wanted to try something different. I do small, 1 gal batches, and many times, I have a some hopped wort left at the bottom of the brew kettle after I'm done transferring most of it to a fermenter and pitching the yeast. So what I'm doing is saving this hopped wort (depending upon the recipe, it may not be hopped...) in a sanitized growler, and once I have enough saved up, either add it to a beer (rather than doing a partial mash) or, if I save up a full gallon, then use that as the basis for a "leftover" beer.
At this point, I have about a full gallon of hopped wort left over from several brews (here, here, here, and here). All of the previous brews have used some (if not all) experimental hops and were brewed to be NE-style IPAs. I thought that this would be a great way to start, and the great thing is that I don't really need to add anything to this brew; all of the previous brews had been hopped via FWH, as well as having a steep at flameout. The most I need to do with this brew is boil it again, pitch the yeast, and do a dry hop.
The great thing is that I get to be creative about the beers I brew, save the leftovers from the boil, and be creative all over again, all the while being able to drink some great beer that I made. ;-)
Brew Day: 12 Feb 2019
Boil (20 min):
*Nothing added, just boiled for 20 min.
Hops: all of the hops used in the beer to this point are what was used in the original brew for each individual beer; so, a lot of experimental hops. I will likely dry hop the beer once it's had some time to ferment, but at this point, there will be no new additions of hops.
Yeast: BE-134 (in keeping with the idea of brewing with what I had left over...)
Addendum, 24 Feb: Dry hopped on 14g of Citra hops
Addendum, 28 Feb: Bottled; got 9 good ones out of it.
At this point, I have about a full gallon of hopped wort left over from several brews (here, here, here, and here). All of the previous brews have used some (if not all) experimental hops and were brewed to be NE-style IPAs. I thought that this would be a great way to start, and the great thing is that I don't really need to add anything to this brew; all of the previous brews had been hopped via FWH, as well as having a steep at flameout. The most I need to do with this brew is boil it again, pitch the yeast, and do a dry hop.
The great thing is that I get to be creative about the beers I brew, save the leftovers from the boil, and be creative all over again, all the while being able to drink some great beer that I made. ;-)
Brew Day: 12 Feb 2019
Boil (20 min):
*Nothing added, just boiled for 20 min.
Hops: all of the hops used in the beer to this point are what was used in the original brew for each individual beer; so, a lot of experimental hops. I will likely dry hop the beer once it's had some time to ferment, but at this point, there will be no new additions of hops.
Yeast: BE-134 (in keeping with the idea of brewing with what I had left over...)
Addendum, 24 Feb: Dry hopped on 14g of Citra hops
Addendum, 28 Feb: Bottled; got 9 good ones out of it.
XJA/436 IPA
I found another experimental hop at NorthernBrewer, this one called XJA/436. As with the other experimental hops, I wanted to try this one in a NE-style IPA first, and then try it in combination with other similar hops. This hop is said to impart berries...blueberries, gooseberries...so I wonder what it would be like with a little Brewer's Gold and Mosaic. We'll have to see how this one turns out, and then maybe continue with the experimentation.Brew Day: 12 Feb 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g XJA/436 hops (FWH)
1 oz (28 g) XJA/436 hops (10 min steep @ flameout)
14 g XJA/436 hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 24 Feb: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 28 Feb: Bottled, got 9 good ones out of it.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Melon and U1/108
I wanted to try something a little different, and get it fermenting. I had a bit of the U1/108 experimental hops left over, and decided to try it alongside Huell Melon hops, which I've used in the past and really like. The Melon hops can reveal flavors of melon and strawberries, so we'll how that does alongside the experimental hops.
Brew Day: 25 Jan 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2 row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - FWH
14 g Huell Melon + 14 g U1/108 - flame-out, 10 min steep
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - dry hop
Yeast: US-05
After filling the fermenter and pitching the yeast, the hopped wort left in the brew kettle was poured into the growler that I'd used to store what was left over from a previous brew. That one was all U1/108 hops, so we'll see what comes of the final product when I collect enough leftovers to do boil a beer.
Addendum, 5 Feb: Dry-hopped.
Addenum, 10 Feb: Bottled today on 1 oz table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles out of it.
Brew Day: 25 Jan 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2 row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - FWH
14 g Huell Melon + 14 g U1/108 - flame-out, 10 min steep
7 g Huell Melon + 7 g U1/108 - dry hop
Yeast: US-05
After filling the fermenter and pitching the yeast, the hopped wort left in the brew kettle was poured into the growler that I'd used to store what was left over from a previous brew. That one was all U1/108 hops, so we'll see what comes of the final product when I collect enough leftovers to do boil a beer.
Addendum, 5 Feb: Dry-hopped.
Addenum, 10 Feb: Bottled today on 1 oz table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles out of it.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Something Else New
While researching new and experimental hops a while back, I ran across one called U1/108, which seemed quite interesting. This dual-purpose hop from South Africa is described as imparting aromas of "lychee, mango, guava, citrus, lemongrass, stone fruit, coconut". Okay, good enough for me! Being a huge fan of fruit-forward NE style IPAs, I had to try this one.
One note of caution, however. I ordered three 1 oz bags of this hops from the supplier, and two of the bags had opened in transit, so the shipping envelope arrived with a lot of loose hop pellets and debris inside the bag. To their credit, the supplier immediately comp'd me two new bags, but once those arrived, one of them was similarly opened. What I mean is that the seal at the lower part of the bag had separated; the bag hadn't ruptured, but it appeared that it had separated along where the two sides of the bag were heat-sealed together. This was an entirely new type of packaging, something that I hadn't seen before. I opted to not get a second reshipment, and the supplier comp'd me a gift card that was multiples of the value of the hops.
Brew Day: 13 Jan 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g U1/108 (FWH)
1 oz U1/108 (flameout)
14 g U1/108 (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
After transferring the wort to a fermenter and pitching the yeast, I had about two cups of hopped wort left over, a good bit of hop sludge. I put that into a sanitized growler, and I'll keep collecting this as I brew various beers, until I get enough together to boil and pitch yeast into.
Addendum, 22 Jan: Dry hopped tonight.
Addendum, 27 Jan: Bottled today on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles and one re-purposed 8.5 oz bottle out of it.
One note of caution, however. I ordered three 1 oz bags of this hops from the supplier, and two of the bags had opened in transit, so the shipping envelope arrived with a lot of loose hop pellets and debris inside the bag. To their credit, the supplier immediately comp'd me two new bags, but once those arrived, one of them was similarly opened. What I mean is that the seal at the lower part of the bag had separated; the bag hadn't ruptured, but it appeared that it had separated along where the two sides of the bag were heat-sealed together. This was an entirely new type of packaging, something that I hadn't seen before. I opted to not get a second reshipment, and the supplier comp'd me a gift card that was multiples of the value of the hops.
Brew Day: 13 Jan 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g U1/108 (FWH)
1 oz U1/108 (flameout)
14 g U1/108 (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
After transferring the wort to a fermenter and pitching the yeast, I had about two cups of hopped wort left over, a good bit of hop sludge. I put that into a sanitized growler, and I'll keep collecting this as I brew various beers, until I get enough together to boil and pitch yeast into.
Addendum, 22 Jan: Dry hopped tonight.
Addendum, 27 Jan: Bottled today on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles and one re-purposed 8.5 oz bottle out of it.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Something New
I was doing some research recently, looking for new hops, and ran across N1/69 Experimental Hops at NorthernBrewer. The description states that the hop varietal "imparts great pineapple, citrus, and melon flavors, along with some Juicy Fruit and Kool-Aid notes". Who can say "no" to that!?! I ordered 2 oz for my typical hop schedule, and immediately began planning what I hope to be a very fruit-forward NE-style IPA.
Brew Day: 11 Dec 2018
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g N1/69 (FWH)
1 oz N1/69 (flameout)
14 g N1/69 (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
After I pitched the yeast into the fermenter, I had a bit more hopped wort left over than I usually do, so I sanitized an Adroit Theory bomber and put about a quart of the mix into the fridge. I'll use this for an upcoming IPA, it should make for some interesting flavors.
Addendum, 21 Dec: Dry hopped on 14 g of N1/69 hops.
Addendum, 27 Dec: Bottled tonight on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c of boiling water. Got 8 good bottles, as well as 2 8.5 oz re-purposed soda bottles, and 1 partial fill.
Brew Day: 11 Dec 2018
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g N1/69 (FWH)
1 oz N1/69 (flameout)
14 g N1/69 (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
After I pitched the yeast into the fermenter, I had a bit more hopped wort left over than I usually do, so I sanitized an Adroit Theory bomber and put about a quart of the mix into the fridge. I'll use this for an upcoming IPA, it should make for some interesting flavors.
Addendum, 21 Dec: Dry hopped on 14 g of N1/69 hops.
Addendum, 27 Dec: Bottled tonight on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c of boiling water. Got 8 good bottles, as well as 2 8.5 oz re-purposed soda bottles, and 1 partial fill.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Another NE IPA
I'm a fan on fruit-forward IPAs (see what Jake says about "NE IPAs" here...), and not having been able to find one commercially, I figured it was time to make another one that I'll likely enjoy after Christmas. I have some cashmere hops left (I'm going to use some to dry hop a Belgian), so I'm going to do first wort hopping, a massive Mosaic-Citra-Cashmere hop "bomb", and dry hop. The dry hop is going to be around the size (total number of grams) I usually use, because much more and I won't be able to get the hop bag out of the fermenter! ;-)
Brew Day: 2 Dec 2018
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
FWH - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops
Flame-out - 19 g Mosaic, 19 g Citra, 36 g Cashmere hops
Dry hop - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 13 Dec: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 17 Dec: Bottled today; got 7 good bottles, one full re-purposed soda bottle, and one soda bottle partial fill (about half).
Brew Day: 2 Dec 2018
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
FWH - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops
Flame-out - 19 g Mosaic, 19 g Citra, 36 g Cashmere hops
Dry hop - 4 g each Mosaic, Citra, Cashmere hops
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 13 Dec: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 17 Dec: Bottled today; got 7 good bottles, one full re-purposed soda bottle, and one soda bottle partial fill (about half).
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sour Cashmere IPA
With the cashmere hops I have available, I wanted to try a side-by-side comparison of an IPA against a sour IPA. So, same recipe, same everything, the only difference is this one was soured via my usual process.
Brew Day #1: 26 Sept 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Brew Day #2: 29 Sept 2018
Boil (20 min):
Hops:
14 g Cashmere hops (FWH)
21 g Cashmere hops (@flameout, 20 min)
21 g Cashmere hops (10 min after @flameout, 10 min)
14 g Cashmere hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 8 Oct: Dry hopped
Addendum, 11 Oct: Bottled on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles.
Addendum, 26 Oct: Opened a chilled bottle tonight. The sour was very pronounced, so much so that the flavors I found in the cashmere IPA were overwhelmed. The beer was well carbonated but none of the other characteristics were present; minimal head, no lacing, etc. Very much an example of a sour beer. Same body as the IPA, and just as enjoyable beer to drink.
Brew Day #1: 26 Sept 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Brew Day #2: 29 Sept 2018
Boil (20 min):
Hops:
14 g Cashmere hops (FWH)
21 g Cashmere hops (@flameout, 20 min)
21 g Cashmere hops (10 min after @flameout, 10 min)
14 g Cashmere hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 8 Oct: Dry hopped
Addendum, 11 Oct: Bottled on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 9 good bottles.
Addendum, 26 Oct: Opened a chilled bottle tonight. The sour was very pronounced, so much so that the flavors I found in the cashmere IPA were overwhelmed. The beer was well carbonated but none of the other characteristics were present; minimal head, no lacing, etc. Very much an example of a sour beer. Same body as the IPA, and just as enjoyable beer to drink.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Cashmere IPA
I received an ad from an online home brew supply store, and it mentioned having a blonde ale available made with Cashmere hops. I did some research on this one, and found sites like DraftMag that had descriptions of what this hop has to offer, and immediately thought to myself that I would LOVE to try this in an IPA, as well as a sour IPA. The description at BSG has some very interesting notes...I'd really like to see how 'secondary notes of coconut' smells and tastes.
I did a search on Amazon and found an 8oz bag of the hops that would set me back less than purchasing 4oz from the online store, and they showed up the other day. I can't wait to try them out in a beer, and to get a good whiff of the hops themselves.
One description suggests that this hop would do really well alongside Mosaic, and based on my recent experience, I couldn't agree more.
Brew Day: 27 Sept 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Cashmere hops (FWH)
21 g Cashmere hops (@flameout, 20 min)
21 g Cashmere hops (10 min after @flameout, 10 min)
14 g Cashmere hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 7 Oct: Dry hopped on 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 11 Oct: Bottled on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one partially filled re-purposed Dr Pepper bottle.
Addendum, 26 Oct: Opened the re-purpose soda bottle tonight. Beer poured with a golden brown color, good carbonation and a moderate, pillowy white head. Consistent lacing throughout the glass, similar to a Bell's Two-Hearted. Nothing specific jumped out in the aroma, but the palette was different; there was sweetness followed by a creamy mouth-feel reminiscent of coconut. Very enjoyable IPA; body is a bit heavier than I'd want for a summertime beer, but overall, a very good drinking experience.
I did a search on Amazon and found an 8oz bag of the hops that would set me back less than purchasing 4oz from the online store, and they showed up the other day. I can't wait to try them out in a beer, and to get a good whiff of the hops themselves.
One description suggests that this hop would do really well alongside Mosaic, and based on my recent experience, I couldn't agree more.
Brew Day: 27 Sept 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Cashmere hops (FWH)
21 g Cashmere hops (@flameout, 20 min)
21 g Cashmere hops (10 min after @flameout, 10 min)
14 g Cashmere hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 7 Oct: Dry hopped on 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 11 Oct: Bottled on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 8 good bottles and one partially filled re-purposed Dr Pepper bottle.
Addendum, 26 Oct: Opened the re-purpose soda bottle tonight. Beer poured with a golden brown color, good carbonation and a moderate, pillowy white head. Consistent lacing throughout the glass, similar to a Bell's Two-Hearted. Nothing specific jumped out in the aroma, but the palette was different; there was sweetness followed by a creamy mouth-feel reminiscent of coconut. Very enjoyable IPA; body is a bit heavier than I'd want for a summertime beer, but overall, a very good drinking experience.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Wai-iti IPA
Not long ago, I was at my local home brew supply shop and found some Zythos hops for an IPA. I was interested in some hops that would impart fruit, specifically pineapple, and had gone to the shop looking for Denali hops. While I was there, Arthur latched on to my thoughts regarding a hop variety that would provide something akin to pineapple (or another sweet fruit), and came up another hop variety called Wai-iti. I liked the description enough to go ahead and get some on the spot, and I finally found the time to put together an IPA.
Wai-iti Hops:
Band of BrewTuber's review
MoreBeer description
Hopslist description
Brew Day: 28 Jul 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Wai-iti hops (FWH)
14 g Wai-iti hops (20 min steep, @ flameout)
21 g Wai-iti hops (10 min steep, 10 min after flameout)
14 g Wai-iti hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
I followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 7 Aug: Dry-hopped the beer today; got some very fruity aromas during the transfer on to the hops, and the beer was hazy.
Addendum, 9 Aug: Bottled tonight, on 1 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 6 good bottles and two 22 oz flip top bottles.
Tasting Notes, 10 Sept: Opened a bottle tonight that I'd filled all the way up to the top; usually when filling bottles, there's some room left when I remove the racking crane, but with this bottle, I'd let some of the remaining beer trickle into the bottle, filling it up all the way. As such, there was no head space in the bottle, and the beer was well carbonated. The beer poured with a pillowy, white head, and the beer itself was a golden color. There's a definite aroma of sweet fruits in the nose, as well as on the palette. There was definitely a dearth of any bitterness at all, and no pine resin (as with the Zythos IPA). This is a very juicy IPA, although I'm not getting a definite impression of any one particular fruit (pineapple, mango, guava, etc.). Very good, very drinkable beer.
I had an opportunity to enjoy the Tangerine Technique Pale Ale at Kindred Spirit Brewing this past weekend, and the Wai-iti IPA has a bit more body, and a bit more flavor, as well.
As I was enjoying this beer, I noticed some definite lacing going on along the glass; not as much as, say, a Bell's Two Hearted, but very definite lacing.
Good gravy, but I do enjoy a juicy IPA! Why go bitter if you don't have to?
Wai-iti Hops:
Band of BrewTuber's review
MoreBeer description
Hopslist description
Brew Day: 28 Jul 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Wai-iti hops (FWH)
14 g Wai-iti hops (20 min steep, @ flameout)
21 g Wai-iti hops (10 min steep, 10 min after flameout)
14 g Wai-iti hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
I followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 7 Aug: Dry-hopped the beer today; got some very fruity aromas during the transfer on to the hops, and the beer was hazy.
Addendum, 9 Aug: Bottled tonight, on 1 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c boiling water. Got 6 good bottles and two 22 oz flip top bottles.
Tasting Notes, 10 Sept: Opened a bottle tonight that I'd filled all the way up to the top; usually when filling bottles, there's some room left when I remove the racking crane, but with this bottle, I'd let some of the remaining beer trickle into the bottle, filling it up all the way. As such, there was no head space in the bottle, and the beer was well carbonated. The beer poured with a pillowy, white head, and the beer itself was a golden color. There's a definite aroma of sweet fruits in the nose, as well as on the palette. There was definitely a dearth of any bitterness at all, and no pine resin (as with the Zythos IPA). This is a very juicy IPA, although I'm not getting a definite impression of any one particular fruit (pineapple, mango, guava, etc.). Very good, very drinkable beer.
I had an opportunity to enjoy the Tangerine Technique Pale Ale at Kindred Spirit Brewing this past weekend, and the Wai-iti IPA has a bit more body, and a bit more flavor, as well.
As I was enjoying this beer, I noticed some definite lacing going on along the glass; not as much as, say, a Bell's Two Hearted, but very definite lacing.
Good gravy, but I do enjoy a juicy IPA! Why go bitter if you don't have to?
Monday, May 21, 2018
MAC Sour
I really like hopped sours or sour IPAs, and as such, I'm going to try something a bit different, in that I'm going to try a combination of hops. Most of my previous hopped sours have been really good, the most notable of which was the Huell Melon-hopped sour.
This time, I'm going to use a combination of the following hops:
Mosaic (AA: 10.8%)
Azacca (AA: 9.8%)
Citra (AA: 13.2%)
I'm sure you can see where the "MAC" comes from. Something I'm going to do with this brew is create an IPA without the sour, and try it side-by-side. So, I'll make the following recipe again, albeit without the souring.
Brew Day: 21 May 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich 1
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Once wort has cooled to 80 deg F, pitch on to (2) Good Belly Straight Shots, then set fermenter on warming plate for 48 - 72 hrs.
Boil #2 (20 min): 24 May 2018
Boil for 20 min to kill the bugs, hop and pitch the yeast. First whirlpool pitch of hops sits for 20 min, second sits for 10 min, then place kettle in ice bath to cool to 80 deg F, to prep for pitching the yeast.
Hops:
4 g of each of the hops (FWH)
8 g of each of the hops (20 min whirlpool)
8 g of each of the hops (10 min whirlpool)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 1)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 2)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 7 Jun: Dry hop #1
Addendum, 10 Jun: Dry hop #2
Addendum, 16 Jun: Bottled today, on 2 1/2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water; got 6 regular bottles, a 22 oz flip top bottle, and a repurposed Dr. Pepper bottle out of it.
Addendum, 2 Jul: First taste of this beer tonight, and WOW, is it good! The very first thing I noticed was the aroma...I got some sweet fruit aroma with just a hint of citrus. The first taste was amazing! The body was nice, not too heavy, but good. Definite fruity sweetness with a mild tartness on the finish. There is very little bitterness, if any at all. Very enjoyable beer!
This time, I'm going to use a combination of the following hops:
Mosaic (AA: 10.8%)
Azacca (AA: 9.8%)
Citra (AA: 13.2%)
I'm sure you can see where the "MAC" comes from. Something I'm going to do with this brew is create an IPA without the sour, and try it side-by-side. So, I'll make the following recipe again, albeit without the souring.
Brew Day: 21 May 2018
Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich 1
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Once wort has cooled to 80 deg F, pitch on to (2) Good Belly Straight Shots, then set fermenter on warming plate for 48 - 72 hrs.
Boil #2 (20 min): 24 May 2018
Boil for 20 min to kill the bugs, hop and pitch the yeast. First whirlpool pitch of hops sits for 20 min, second sits for 10 min, then place kettle in ice bath to cool to 80 deg F, to prep for pitching the yeast.
Hops:
4 g of each of the hops (FWH)
8 g of each of the hops (20 min whirlpool)
8 g of each of the hops (10 min whirlpool)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 1)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 2)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 7 Jun: Dry hop #1
Addendum, 10 Jun: Dry hop #2
Addendum, 16 Jun: Bottled today, on 2 1/2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water; got 6 regular bottles, a 22 oz flip top bottle, and a repurposed Dr. Pepper bottle out of it.
Addendum, 2 Jul: First taste of this beer tonight, and WOW, is it good! The very first thing I noticed was the aroma...I got some sweet fruit aroma with just a hint of citrus. The first taste was amazing! The body was nice, not too heavy, but good. Definite fruity sweetness with a mild tartness on the finish. There is very little bitterness, if any at all. Very enjoyable beer!
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Sour Summer IPA
I picked up some Summer hops a bit ago, and after the success I had with sour IPA hopped with Huell Melon hops (for the strawberry essence), I wanted to try the Summer hops. This hop is described as having aromas of stone fruit and tropical fruit, with other descriptions mentioning apricot and melon. I thought that would be a very nice aroma profile to go along with a light-bodied sour beer.
Brew Day: 10 Apr 2018
Partial Mash:
1 lb Vienna malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 80 deg F, and fill a fermenter on top of 2 Good Belly Straight Shots. Place the fermenter on a heat plate, wrapped in a towel, for 3 days.
Boil #2 (20 min): 13 Apr 2018
Hops:
7 g Summer (AA: 5.8%, @ 20 min)
21 g Summer (@ 0 min)
Yeast: BE-134
Boil and pitching of yeast, followed my usual processes.
Addendum, 14 Apr: Checked in the beer this morning, because I'm superstitious that way. Anything brewed on Friday the 13th needs constant supervision. Actually, that isn't true...I was returning some of my cleaned equipment to the shelf, and caught a some-what hoppy whiff coming from the fermentation area. In last night's brew, I hadn't placed the late hop addition in a hop bag; rather, I'd added it directly to the boil, at flameout, and as such, there was a good bit of hop material in the kettle after I chilled the wort and began racking the wort into the fermenter. There was a good bit of fermentation activity overnight, but not a lot of the wort had been pushed down the blow-off tube into the bottle. There was, however, some hop material in the tube and bottle, as well as a very interesting, fruity aroma with a bit of hoppiness.
Addendum, 19 Apr: Replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock.
Addendum, 30 Apr: Racked on to 14 g of Summer hops for dry hop #1.
Addendum, 4 May: Dry hop #2, 14 g of Summer hops.
Addendum, 7 May: Bottled today, got 8 good bottles.
Addendum, 20 May: Tried one bottle tonight after chilling. Mild tartness, full body, fruity, juicy flavor. Definitely a delicious hopped sour; going to let this age just a bit more, maybe another week, before trying another one.
Addendum, 20 Jun: Had another one of these last night, very good! There was a slight tarty-sharpness to it, and also a sweetness at the same time. I believe that some of the characteristics imparted by the yeast (as opposed to the US-05 that I usually use for these beers) subdued the sour aspect of the beer, but not to an overwhelming level. I definitely liked the effect imparted by the hops, as well.
Brew Day: 10 Apr 2018
Partial Mash:
1 lb Vienna malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 80 deg F, and fill a fermenter on top of 2 Good Belly Straight Shots. Place the fermenter on a heat plate, wrapped in a towel, for 3 days.
Boil #2 (20 min): 13 Apr 2018
Hops:
7 g Summer (AA: 5.8%, @ 20 min)
21 g Summer (@ 0 min)
Yeast: BE-134
Boil and pitching of yeast, followed my usual processes.
Addendum, 14 Apr: Checked in the beer this morning, because I'm superstitious that way. Anything brewed on Friday the 13th needs constant supervision. Actually, that isn't true...I was returning some of my cleaned equipment to the shelf, and caught a some-what hoppy whiff coming from the fermentation area. In last night's brew, I hadn't placed the late hop addition in a hop bag; rather, I'd added it directly to the boil, at flameout, and as such, there was a good bit of hop material in the kettle after I chilled the wort and began racking the wort into the fermenter. There was a good bit of fermentation activity overnight, but not a lot of the wort had been pushed down the blow-off tube into the bottle. There was, however, some hop material in the tube and bottle, as well as a very interesting, fruity aroma with a bit of hoppiness.
Addendum, 19 Apr: Replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock.
Addendum, 30 Apr: Racked on to 14 g of Summer hops for dry hop #1.
Addendum, 4 May: Dry hop #2, 14 g of Summer hops.
Addendum, 7 May: Bottled today, got 8 good bottles.
Addendum, 20 May: Tried one bottle tonight after chilling. Mild tartness, full body, fruity, juicy flavor. Definitely a delicious hopped sour; going to let this age just a bit more, maybe another week, before trying another one.
Addendum, 20 Jun: Had another one of these last night, very good! There was a slight tarty-sharpness to it, and also a sweetness at the same time. I believe that some of the characteristics imparted by the yeast (as opposed to the US-05 that I usually use for these beers) subdued the sour aspect of the beer, but not to an overwhelming level. I definitely liked the effect imparted by the hops, as well.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Brewer's Gold IPA
It's been a while since I've used Brewer's Gold hops, and the first time I tried them, the IPA turned out REALLY well. The hop is said to impart berry and dark currant flavors and I really got a lot of berry from that first batch. This time around, I'm going to take the opportunity to see if I can get a good combination of malts to get more of a red color in the malt, something I'm testing out for future brews.
This is another brew day where we had a good bit of snow, enough that I was able to use snow right off of my deck for the ice bath for cooling the wort.
Brew Day: 17 Jan 2018
Partial Mash:
1 lb 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
2 oz Caramunich
14 g chocolate malt
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 oz Brewer's Gold (FWH)
1 oz Brewer's Gold (@ flame out, 10 min whirlpool)
The hops are BrewCraft US Brewer's Gold, Alpha: 10.5%, Beta: 5.1%
Yeast: US-05
Followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 26 Jan: Dry hopped, on 14 oz of Brewer's Gold hops.
Addendum, 29 Jan: Bottled tonight; got 6 regular bottles, 2 re-purposed soda bottles, and 1 partial fill on a soda bottle.
This is another brew day where we had a good bit of snow, enough that I was able to use snow right off of my deck for the ice bath for cooling the wort.
Brew Day: 17 Jan 2018
Partial Mash:
1 lb 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
2 oz Caramunich
14 g chocolate malt
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 oz Brewer's Gold (FWH)
1 oz Brewer's Gold (@ flame out, 10 min whirlpool)
The hops are BrewCraft US Brewer's Gold, Alpha: 10.5%, Beta: 5.1%
Yeast: US-05
Followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 26 Jan: Dry hopped, on 14 oz of Brewer's Gold hops.
Addendum, 29 Jan: Bottled tonight; got 6 regular bottles, 2 re-purposed soda bottles, and 1 partial fill on a soda bottle.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Another Summer IPA
My first summer IPA turned out really well, so well, in fact that I wanted to enjoy another round. This one went over really well with my daughter, some friends, and my lovely wife, who does NOT have a palate for IPAs. However, these IPAs are not like commercial West Coast IPAs, with respect to bitterness...these are very fruit-forward IPAs, relying only on the hops for the fruitiness.
Brew Day: 26 Nov 2016
Partial Mash:
8 oz Franco-Belges Vienna malt
8 oz Gambrinus Honey malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
14 g Summer Hops (FWH)
1 oz Summer Hops (10 min hop stand)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 6 Dec: Dry hopped with 14 g Summer hops.
Addendum, 9 Dec: Bottled with 3/4 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. Got 10 bottles.
Addendum, 2 Jan: I've had a couple of these beers by now, and I wanted to add some tasting notes. My goal in using the Gambrinus Honey malt was to add some malty sweetness to the beer, but that didn't quite work out the way I had hoped; the maltiness overwhelmed the flavor of the hops. Also, the carbonation was a bit low...the head was almost non-existent unless I up-ended the bottle into the glass.
Brew Day: 26 Nov 2016
Partial Mash:
8 oz Franco-Belges Vienna malt
8 oz Gambrinus Honey malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
14 g Summer Hops (FWH)
1 oz Summer Hops (10 min hop stand)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 6 Dec: Dry hopped with 14 g Summer hops.
Addendum, 9 Dec: Bottled with 3/4 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. Got 10 bottles.
Addendum, 2 Jan: I've had a couple of these beers by now, and I wanted to add some tasting notes. My goal in using the Gambrinus Honey malt was to add some malty sweetness to the beer, but that didn't quite work out the way I had hoped; the maltiness overwhelmed the flavor of the hops. Also, the carbonation was a bit low...the head was almost non-existent unless I up-ended the bottle into the glass.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Summer Hops IPA
Jillian down at Jay's Brewing home brew supply recently got a stock of Summer hops in, and set 2 oz aside for me, for which I am greatly appreciative. She'd done some research (BeerMumbo says "apricot and melon profile") and landed upon this hop in particular, and I'm really looking forward to trying this in a fruit-forward IPA.
Something that's a bit different in the way I'm using hops is the hop schedule. I'm not trying to get an overpoweringly bitter beer, as much as I'm trying to coax aroma and flavor out of the hops. For example, Old Busthead Brewing recently posted to Facebook regarding an "ExtraExtra Ordinary Double Dry-hopped Double IPA in honor of our 2nd Anniversary." The DIPA has 2 dry hops, as well as two hot hop additions (kettle, whirlpool), and comes out at 2 IBU. I can't even begin to imagine how the Simcoe and Citra hops taste in the beer!
I'll be very interested to see how this one turns out.
Brew Day: 19 July 2016
Partial Mash:
1 lb Pilsen Malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (60 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hop Schedule:
14 g Summer hops (FWH)
1 oz Summer hops (flameout, steep)
Yeast: Safale US-05, 1/2 tube Clarity Firm
*I followed all of my usual procedures for partial mashing, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast.
Addendum, 31 July; Dry hopped early this morning, with 14 g Summer hops.
Addendum, 8 Aug: Bottled tonight, with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. I got 9 good bottles out of it. Everything was cleaned up and put away quickly. I'm looking forward to trying this one around the end of Aug.
Addendum, 24 Aug: Tried my first one of these tonight. Wow. The beer poured with a nice white, pillowy head, and there was a good bit of lacing throughout. The beer was clear and straw colored, and the first sip was full of sweet fruit flavor, without the harsh, cloying bitterness usually associated with IPAs. I really enjoyed this beer, and I'm definitely going to continue using the hopping schedule.
Addendum, 1 Nov: I recently found out that my daughter has taken a liking to IPAs, so I invited her over to the house last night to try one of these IPAs, have some dinner, and help pass out candy. She said that she really liked the IPA and that it tasted "fruity". I thought that was pretty good because (a) it was what I was shooting for, and (b) I hadn't told her anything about what to expect from the beer.
Something that's a bit different in the way I'm using hops is the hop schedule. I'm not trying to get an overpoweringly bitter beer, as much as I'm trying to coax aroma and flavor out of the hops. For example, Old Busthead Brewing recently posted to Facebook regarding an "ExtraExtra Ordinary Double Dry-hopped Double IPA in honor of our 2nd Anniversary." The DIPA has 2 dry hops, as well as two hot hop additions (kettle, whirlpool), and comes out at 2 IBU. I can't even begin to imagine how the Simcoe and Citra hops taste in the beer!
I'll be very interested to see how this one turns out.
Brew Day: 19 July 2016
Partial Mash:
1 lb Pilsen Malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
Boil (60 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hop Schedule:
14 g Summer hops (FWH)
1 oz Summer hops (flameout, steep)
Yeast: Safale US-05, 1/2 tube Clarity Firm
*I followed all of my usual procedures for partial mashing, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast.
Addendum, 31 July; Dry hopped early this morning, with 14 g Summer hops.
Addendum, 8 Aug: Bottled tonight, with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. I got 9 good bottles out of it. Everything was cleaned up and put away quickly. I'm looking forward to trying this one around the end of Aug.
Addendum, 24 Aug: Tried my first one of these tonight. Wow. The beer poured with a nice white, pillowy head, and there was a good bit of lacing throughout. The beer was clear and straw colored, and the first sip was full of sweet fruit flavor, without the harsh, cloying bitterness usually associated with IPAs. I really enjoyed this beer, and I'm definitely going to continue using the hopping schedule.
Addendum, 1 Nov: I recently found out that my daughter has taken a liking to IPAs, so I invited her over to the house last night to try one of these IPAs, have some dinner, and help pass out candy. She said that she really liked the IPA and that it tasted "fruity". I thought that was pretty good because (a) it was what I was shooting for, and (b) I hadn't told her anything about what to expect from the beer.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
LemonDrop Hops
I've been working on a collaboration brew with Mr Rufus Brewing, and as part of that, I'm starting off a test brew using LemonDrop hops, which I was able to get from NikoBrew. As part of this brew, and because my partner recommended it, I wanted to try something new...first wort hopping (FWH; articles are listed below). The consensus seems to be that this works best for low alpha acid hops, and that one should use 1/3 of your total hops for the boil in the FWH.
It will be interesting to compare the final product to the Stone Brewing Delicious IPA, which apparently uses Nugget (bittering), Calypso, LemonDrop, and El Dorado hops. I tried one recently, and it's very good. Also, the beer itself is crystal clear, and the box says that it's crafted to be gluten reduced; sounds to me as if they added some Clarity Firm or something similar to their process.
Oh, that reminds me, my Calypso IPA will be ready in another week!
The malt bill I'm using for the brew is:
65% Pils (20.8 oz)
30% Vienna (9.6 oz)
5% flaked wheat (1.6 oz)
Since I'm doing a partial mash, 20 oz of Pils is covered by the 1lb of Pilsen DME I'll be using. That leaves 9.6 oz of Vienna malt (or 10 oz to round it out and cover the remaining 0.8 oz of Pils), and about 1.5 oz of flaked wheat. I have been using CaraPils for head retention, so it'll be interesting to see how the flaked wheat turns out. Who knows, I may like it and change things up.
I'm sure you noticed the addition of flaked wheat to the malt bill; that was something new to me, as well. What Mr Rufus shared with me is that this will add to foam stability, due to the protein added by the wheat.
Brew Day: 23 Jan 2016
Partial Mash:
10 oz Vienna malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
I used my usual partial mash process; bring 2 qt of water to 156 deg F, pour it into a 1 gal cooler, and add the grains in a muslin bag. Let sit for about an hour. Prior to the end of the hour, bring 4 qt of water to 170 deg F in the brew kettle; at one hour, drain the grain bag and move it from the cooler to the kettle, and let it steep for 10 min. Then drain and remove the grain bag (I know some chickens and horses who'll enjoy that), and add the wort.
Boil (60 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
Hops:
5 g LemonDrop Hops (FWH)
7 g LemonDrop Hops (15 min)
7 g LemonDrop Hops (0 min, 10 min steep)
2 dry hops, each with 7 g of hops, each for 3 days
Yeast: DanStar Belle Saison
At the end of the boil and steep, I placed the kettle in an ice bath in the sink until it got to 80 deg F. I then transferred it to the fermenter, aerating and pitching the yeast in my usual manner.
Addendum, 24 Jan: About 12 hrs after pitching the yeast, the beer is furiously bubbling away! This is a vastly different color of beer than what I've normally brewed, and it's going to be very interesting to try this one when it's done.
Addendum, 2 Feb: Dry hop #1 was on 30 Jan, dry hop #2 was today. I'll bottle on Thu afternoon.
Addendum, 4 Feb: Bottled today, with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. I got 8 full bottles and one partial. The beer smelled wonderful while I was bottling; I can not wait to try it!
There was something else I wanted to add to this post, that has to do with the airlock. I know that you can't watch the airlock and use it as a determination of fermentation action, but I wanted to make a note of an observation in case it has an impact on the final product. I did the first dry hop while the beer was still actively fermenting...this is a choice I made based on some reading I'd done regarding IPAs; one of the tips was to add the first dry hop during active fermentation. I did so, and as expected, the airlock cap was floating a good bit, but I attributed that to the sanitizer foam dissipating, as about a day later, the cap was resting flat on the airlock post.
Now, when I sanitize the muslin bag for dry hopping, I cover the bag in water and boil it in the microwave. Sometimes I'll do this more than once, to ensure that any residual stuff if boiled out. Then, after draining the water off after the last boil, I'll cover the bag in a small amount of sanitizer solution until I'm ready to use it. As such, I'm pretty sure that the bag is sanitized.
Anyway, after adding the second dry hop, in a clean fermenter, I noticed that the airlock cap was floating; actually, it was riding pretty high. Again, I've done enough reading to know that this is not an indicator of fermentation, but I wanted to note this observation here because (a) it's different, and (b) I wanted to be able to refer back to my notes if something about this beer came out different. Like I said above, the beer smelled fantastic while bottling, so I don't anticipate any problems.
Addendum, 16 Feb: Wow. That's all I've got to say...wow. Or, rather...WOW!
Last night, I'd gone into the tub where I keep my bottled beers (in case of an explosion) and pulled out the partial fill of this beer and put it in the fridge. I wanted to try one, but was prepared for it to not be "ready".
As you can see from the recipe above, this beer was a little lighter body than some of the beers I've been brewing. The pour as a nice lemon yellow color with a mild head. The picture to the left was taken after the beer had been in glass for a few minutes. There was some mild, non-persistent lacing. The initial aroma was floral, as was the initial taste on the palate. However, a lemony-citrus flavor immediately pushed through. It wasn't bitter like grapefruit, nor was it sweet, like oranges; it gives the impression of drinking a tart lemonade. What was really fascinating about this was that the lemon tartness persisted on the palate, but not as a dank aftertaste. There were a couple of times where, minutes after taking a sip, I was smacking my lips because I could still taste the tartness.
My wife really enjoyed this one...a lot. I'm definitely keeping this recipe as it is, not only to make future batches, but to also make the raspberry lemonade saison. I'm guessing that the eventual addition of raspberries is going to add a bit of tartness and a mild sweetness to this beer, but it will be fun to taste, nonetheless.
Addendum, 15 Mar: Last week, I had planned to be near Jay's Brewing, and in a previous conversation with Jill, I'd told her that if the lemondrop saison turned out really well, I'd bring one by; if it didn't turn out too well, I'd bring them all by! Anyway, I dropped off one of the beers for her to try, and this morning, this is the response I got:
OMG, Harlan. I loved that Lemon drop hops! I was pleasantly surprised by the actual lemon flavor I got from it! Needless to say, the beer was phenomenal! Thanks again:) -Jill
Well, there you go. Thanks, Jill, for the wonderful feedback!
Addendum, 6 Jul: I had a couple of these left over, and decided to our one after putting in a couple of hours of yard work. Wow! The beer poured nice and clear, with a dense, pillowy head that thinned quickly. The beer had a wonderful flavor to it; the IPA bitterness had dissipated and the flavors from the saison yeast really came through. Very, very good!
Some articles on first wort hopping
BeerSmith
HowToBrew
BYO
Beer and Brewing
It will be interesting to compare the final product to the Stone Brewing Delicious IPA, which apparently uses Nugget (bittering), Calypso, LemonDrop, and El Dorado hops. I tried one recently, and it's very good. Also, the beer itself is crystal clear, and the box says that it's crafted to be gluten reduced; sounds to me as if they added some Clarity Firm or something similar to their process.
Oh, that reminds me, my Calypso IPA will be ready in another week!
The malt bill I'm using for the brew is:
65% Pils (20.8 oz)
30% Vienna (9.6 oz)
5% flaked wheat (1.6 oz)
Since I'm doing a partial mash, 20 oz of Pils is covered by the 1lb of Pilsen DME I'll be using. That leaves 9.6 oz of Vienna malt (or 10 oz to round it out and cover the remaining 0.8 oz of Pils), and about 1.5 oz of flaked wheat. I have been using CaraPils for head retention, so it'll be interesting to see how the flaked wheat turns out. Who knows, I may like it and change things up.
I'm sure you noticed the addition of flaked wheat to the malt bill; that was something new to me, as well. What Mr Rufus shared with me is that this will add to foam stability, due to the protein added by the wheat.
Brew Day: 23 Jan 2016
Partial Mash:
10 oz Vienna malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat
I used my usual partial mash process; bring 2 qt of water to 156 deg F, pour it into a 1 gal cooler, and add the grains in a muslin bag. Let sit for about an hour. Prior to the end of the hour, bring 4 qt of water to 170 deg F in the brew kettle; at one hour, drain the grain bag and move it from the cooler to the kettle, and let it steep for 10 min. Then drain and remove the grain bag (I know some chickens and horses who'll enjoy that), and add the wort.
Boil (60 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
Hops:
5 g LemonDrop Hops (FWH)
7 g LemonDrop Hops (15 min)
7 g LemonDrop Hops (0 min, 10 min steep)
2 dry hops, each with 7 g of hops, each for 3 days
Yeast: DanStar Belle Saison
At the end of the boil and steep, I placed the kettle in an ice bath in the sink until it got to 80 deg F. I then transferred it to the fermenter, aerating and pitching the yeast in my usual manner.
 |
| < 12 hrs after pitching yeast |
Addendum, 2 Feb: Dry hop #1 was on 30 Jan, dry hop #2 was today. I'll bottle on Thu afternoon.
Addendum, 4 Feb: Bottled today, with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water. I got 8 full bottles and one partial. The beer smelled wonderful while I was bottling; I can not wait to try it!
There was something else I wanted to add to this post, that has to do with the airlock. I know that you can't watch the airlock and use it as a determination of fermentation action, but I wanted to make a note of an observation in case it has an impact on the final product. I did the first dry hop while the beer was still actively fermenting...this is a choice I made based on some reading I'd done regarding IPAs; one of the tips was to add the first dry hop during active fermentation. I did so, and as expected, the airlock cap was floating a good bit, but I attributed that to the sanitizer foam dissipating, as about a day later, the cap was resting flat on the airlock post.
Now, when I sanitize the muslin bag for dry hopping, I cover the bag in water and boil it in the microwave. Sometimes I'll do this more than once, to ensure that any residual stuff if boiled out. Then, after draining the water off after the last boil, I'll cover the bag in a small amount of sanitizer solution until I'm ready to use it. As such, I'm pretty sure that the bag is sanitized.
Anyway, after adding the second dry hop, in a clean fermenter, I noticed that the airlock cap was floating; actually, it was riding pretty high. Again, I've done enough reading to know that this is not an indicator of fermentation, but I wanted to note this observation here because (a) it's different, and (b) I wanted to be able to refer back to my notes if something about this beer came out different. Like I said above, the beer smelled fantastic while bottling, so I don't anticipate any problems.
Addendum, 16 Feb: Wow. That's all I've got to say...wow. Or, rather...WOW! Last night, I'd gone into the tub where I keep my bottled beers (in case of an explosion) and pulled out the partial fill of this beer and put it in the fridge. I wanted to try one, but was prepared for it to not be "ready".
As you can see from the recipe above, this beer was a little lighter body than some of the beers I've been brewing. The pour as a nice lemon yellow color with a mild head. The picture to the left was taken after the beer had been in glass for a few minutes. There was some mild, non-persistent lacing. The initial aroma was floral, as was the initial taste on the palate. However, a lemony-citrus flavor immediately pushed through. It wasn't bitter like grapefruit, nor was it sweet, like oranges; it gives the impression of drinking a tart lemonade. What was really fascinating about this was that the lemon tartness persisted on the palate, but not as a dank aftertaste. There were a couple of times where, minutes after taking a sip, I was smacking my lips because I could still taste the tartness.
My wife really enjoyed this one...a lot. I'm definitely keeping this recipe as it is, not only to make future batches, but to also make the raspberry lemonade saison. I'm guessing that the eventual addition of raspberries is going to add a bit of tartness and a mild sweetness to this beer, but it will be fun to taste, nonetheless.
Addendum, 15 Mar: Last week, I had planned to be near Jay's Brewing, and in a previous conversation with Jill, I'd told her that if the lemondrop saison turned out really well, I'd bring one by; if it didn't turn out too well, I'd bring them all by! Anyway, I dropped off one of the beers for her to try, and this morning, this is the response I got:
OMG, Harlan. I loved that Lemon drop hops! I was pleasantly surprised by the actual lemon flavor I got from it! Needless to say, the beer was phenomenal! Thanks again:) -Jill
Well, there you go. Thanks, Jill, for the wonderful feedback!
Addendum, 6 Jul: I had a couple of these left over, and decided to our one after putting in a couple of hours of yard work. Wow! The beer poured nice and clear, with a dense, pillowy head that thinned quickly. The beer had a wonderful flavor to it; the IPA bitterness had dissipated and the flavors from the saison yeast really came through. Very, very good!
Some articles on first wort hopping
BeerSmith
HowToBrew
BYO
Beer and Brewing
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)