Tasting notes: Playoffs Rye IPA

The Playoffs Rye IPA was brewed on December 28 for Jason's birthday BBQ, bottled on January 8. This tasting was on January 23.

OG: 1.062
FG: 1.012
IBU: 65
ABV: 6.6%

Aroma: Pine is the main impression then pineapple, mango, light floral notes, some sweet & creamy malt and a generic fruit aroma that's hard to pin down.
Appearance: Cloudy orange, dense white head that persists.
Flavour: fruity and sweet first up that finishes with some earthy rye flavour, some nice malt and a moderate, balanced (for an IPA) bitterness. A little yeastiness.
Mouthfeel: medium carbonation, probably a bit higher than I'd like it. A little chalky in the finish from the yeast in suspension.

I had high expectations for this beer and beneath the flaws, there's a nice IPA lurking. Unfortunately the cloudiness is a big problem. It harms the appearance firstly which is something I'd like to improve in my beers but much more importantly, it leaves a yeasty flavour and a chalky feeling in my mouth that seriously undermines the whole experience. The only bottles I have of this beer were the ones at the start and end of bottling and I'm not sure if these were particularly cloudy or if the whole batch was like this. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to cold crash the beer to get it reasonably clear. Next time, that's a priority.

The hop aroma and flavour are good but not great. The Columbus is dominant and while I like what it brings to the table, I wanted something more from the combination. This isn't the hop profile I had the first time I brewed it and I suspect it's a matter of seasonal variation.

It does have some things going for it though. The bitterness is well balanced, the malt flavour is great although it could do with some more rye. The hop flavour is pretty good even though it's not quite right. It's a shame that the cloudiness compromised it, this beer should be so much better. If I have the time I'll brew it again for the NBA Playoffs and see if I can get it right then.

Next time: Clear the beer! Gelatine, cold crash, time, whatever. That's the big problem with the beer. I'd also increase the rye to 20%, other than that the colour and malt flavour is great. The hop combination isn't bad, it just doesn't do heaps. I think that's because the Columbus dominated the Citra and Amarillo. Next time I'd probably go for a 1:2:2 or 2:3:3 ratio.

Birthday Brew #3: Playoffs Rye IPA

This is the last of the 7 straight brews for the wedding and birthday! It's been a huge project for me with the planning, preparation during each week, the brewing and bottling. More than that, it's been great sharing the fun of brewing with friends and having their help with the physical side of brewing. I couldn't have done it without them.

The Playoffs Rye IPA had its beginnings in the month before the 2012 NBA playoffs when I realised that I'd need some very American beer to drink while watching basketball. There were some brilliant series along the way with LeBron James and the Miami Heat crushing OKC in the finals. The Playoffs Rye IPA was exactly what I wanted to go along with that. It was by far the best beer I'd brewed to that point and I was crushed when it ran out. I tried to brew it again later in 2012 but due to a couple of ingredient changes that were forced on me it ended up being a big disappointment. This brew is a chance for vindication and will hopefully go nicely with smokey pork ribs and pulled pork.

It's interesting to see how much has changed since I brewed this one the first time. At that stage I was brewing 1/2 size batches on the kitchen stove, I wasn't altering mash pH or water chemistry, I didn't always pitch enough yeast, I didn't have fermentation temperature control or the ability to oxygenate wort. It's great to be able to look back and see the improvements I've been able to make to my process over 18 months or so. The only recipe difference between this version and the first is that I used pilsner malt instead of Golden Promise to keep the malt flavour out of the way of the rye and hops. I debated raising the rye malt percentage to around 20% but in the end I decided to keep it the same as the first time around.

Huw and Will both came around to help me brew this one and it was awesome. They've both been around for several brews and they know the process well enough to be able to manage it on their own and help me to conserve energy. I've reached head brewer status!

Playoffs Rye IPA (21L batch)
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.011 (1.012 measured)
IBU: 65 (estimated)
EBC: 12.1
ABV: 6.7% (6.6% measured)

82% Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner malt
14% Rye malt
4% Caramunich II

20g Columbus @ 60 minutes
30g Columbus @ 0 minutes
30g Citra @ 0 minutes
30g Amarillo @ 0 minutes
40g Columbus @ dry hop
40g Citra @ dry hop
40g Amarillo @ dry hop

Starter of WLP090 with an estimated pitch of 300 billion cells

9g CaSO4, 2g CaCl2, 3g MgSO4 for a sulphate leaning, hop bitterness enhancing brew. Also adjusted the pH with 4ml of lactic acid.

Stepped mash: 62C (45 minutes), 72C (15 minutes) and a 78C mash out

90 seconds of O2 prior to pitching yeast

28/12/13 - Brewed with Huw & Will

05/01/14 - dry hopped with 40g each of Columbus, Citra and Amarillo

08/01/14 - Bottled

Brewday: Playoffs IPA 2.0

It's great to be getting back into the rhythm of brewing. Even though I'm in the middle of a month off drinking alcohol, I'm enjoying producing it and the anticipation for tasting these brews is high. Yesterday I brewed up a slightly modified version of the Playoffs IPA I brewed back in April. I was really happy with how it turned out the first time and I'm excited to get this version into the bottles and drinking.

I bought 1kg bags of Simcoe and Columbus hops a while back so I went a little crazy with the hop additions. Along with a dose of Amarillo they are the stars of the beer. I also reduced the pale malt percentage a little and increased the rye and crystal malts slightly. The beer is fermenting away in the fridge at a happy 18'C and it's making the whole room smell like tropical fruit punch. I'm going to dry hop it in a day or two with 40g each of Simcoe, Columbus and Amarillo.

Big bag o' hops

This was my second go at using my urn and it went better than the first time but I still missed some of my targets. I ended up with more pre-boil liquid than I was aiming for and needed a longer boil to get the gravity near what I planned. Still, I now have 18l of a 1.060 IPA (I was aiming for 1.062) doing its thing in the fermenter so things aren't too bad. Hopefully over the next couple of batches I'll get it dialled in properly.

Now the plan is to build up a starter of my saison yeast (WY 3725) and have that ready to go as soon as the IPA is done. I can't wait to get that yeast cranking in a beer at 27 or 28'C now that I have a temperature controller and see what flavours it gives.

Brewday: Playoffs IPA

I'm not generally organised enough to brew for particular occasions, even brewing things appropriate to the season is more accidental than planned. However, I'm looking for opportunities to brew now that I'm able and the NBA playoffs are fast approaching. My aim was to brew an appropriate beer to drink while watching the Grizzlies and Spurs make deep (hopefully) playoff runs.

The Grizz are the fun team to watch again this postseason

I wanted to brew a beer that's about as subtle as Chris Andersen's tattoos and I have lots of hops that need to be used so the Playoffs IPA was born.

Weighing and crushing grain

I used 2.8kg pale malt, 500g rye and 150g crystal (120 ebc) for the grain of this 11.5l brew. I've been wanting to use rye and I'm hoping it'll contribute a nice spicy character and full mouthfeel. The hops are Amarillo, Citra and Columbus. All big and bold and hopefully they'll play nicely together. Up to this point I've mostly done single hop beers as I'm still very much a beginner and learning about the different varieties and what they contribute to a beer. However, this time I was feeling up for a big hit of American hops so I chucked them all in. Additions at 60 min, 10 min and dry hopping to 70 IBUs with an OG of 1.062.

Raising the temp for mash out

The brew itself was mostly easy enough. Mashed in at 65'C and raised the temp to 75 for mash out. It's now in the fermenter with a dose of US-05 and we should be drinking it sometime in the first week of playoffs. Perfect. I will drink it and imagine I am there.

Playoffs IPA on its way!