Sneaky Extra Brewday: Galaxy Wet Hopped IPA

Most of the gang

Yesterday we had the first meeting of our new home brew club, Hobart Brewers. There were 24 people present and several more who couldn't make it but are planning on coming along in the future. That's a pretty good start! We had a fun evening planning, talking about some fun stuff we'll be able to do as a club and enjoying a few beers. It seems like we're all pretty much wanting the same kinds of things out of the club - enthusing with other brewers, learning more about the craft and evaluating beer. I can't wait for the next meeting.

On top of that, at the end of the meeting we had a 20kg bag of fresh picked Galaxy hops to divvy up thanks to Owen Johnston and Hop Products Australia. The smell in the room was incredible and standing around stuffing bags with hops was a fun way to finish things off. We live in a great place to have a home brew club!

Duncan with his head in the bag while John
waits to see if he passes out in the hop fumes

I managed to come away with the leftovers after everyone had their fill and ended up with somewhere around 3kg of fresh hops. Today's task was to brewed a beer to make use of as much of that 3kg as I could.

After the meeting I didn't have enough energy to brew an all grain batch so I went with a simple extract recipe similar to Huw's Magical Mystery IPA. The whole brewday was a bit of a free kick as I had no real plans and a pile of Galaxy to play with. It's the first time in my brewing adventures where not wasting hops meant using as many as possible! If only every day was like this.

Since I had way more hops than I could use I decided to avoid adding them to the boil completely and gain all the bitterness I wanted from a flame out addition. From what I've read wet hops are worth 1/5 of the same weight of dried hops so assuming the alpha acids would be similar to last year's 13.9%, I aimed to add enough at flame out to get into the 60-65 IBU range. I normally calculate a 20-25 minute hop stand as a 10 minute addition so with a 25 minute hop stand I figured 750g of Galaxy (equivalent to 150g of dried) would be worth roughly 60-65 IBU. After the 25 minute stand I chilled for a couple of minutes to get the temperature of the wort down to 80C and added more hops. It was going to be a matching 750g but when I was shovelling the hops into the box I thought 'why stop there?' and brought it up to 1.5kg of hops. I'm not going to be dry hopping this one as the remaining hops will have deteriorated too much by then so I figure over the top is the way to go with the hop stand.

It's hard to stop smiling when you're pouring
1.5kg of hops into a 20L batch of beer

It was a relaxing brew that didn't require much energy or attention beyond inhaling deep breaths of fruity, dank hop goodness and grinning stupidly. It was so much fun to be extravagant and over the top with the hopping. My kitchen smelled heaps like Sierra Nevada's Southern Harvest turned up to 11. If the end product is in that ballpark I'll be very happy.

I don't have any room in my fermentation fridges so this one got packed up in the car and driven to my brother's place where it'll have an entire chest freezer in which to luxuriate. Extra fermentation space, that's what brothers are for.

Hopefully we'll get to sample a bunch of the fresh Galaxy creations in the next club meeting. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else does with their hops!


Galaxy Fresh Hop IPA (20L extract batch)

Jiggling the chiller to get all the hops into
the wort.

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.012
IBU: 60-65 (estimated)
EBC: 17 (estimated)
ABV: 6.9%


Recipe
89.5% Light dried malt extract
5.5% NFH Crackerjack biscuit malt
5% Dextrose

750g Fresh Galaxy hops @ 0 minutes (30 minute steep)
1.5kg fresh Galaxy hops added @ < 80C (50 minute steep)

US-05


Method
Boil:

• 60 minute boil
• 1/2 tab of whirlfloc @ 10 minutes
• 750g Galaxy @ 0 minutes, steeped for 30 minutes




It's not very clear but all those little specks
 are bits of lupulin emerging from the cones

• 1.5kg Galaxy @ < 80C, steeped for 50 minutes

Fermentation:

• Oxygenated for 90 seconds
• Pitched 21g of US-05
• Started fermentation @ 18C

20/03/14 - Brewed

Tasting: Dave's IPA (aka Huw's Magical Mystery IPA)

Huw's been a regular brewing assistant over the last 4 months or so. Without him, I would never have been able to get the wedding and birthday beers done. After all his brewing experience over the last few months he's kicked off on his own and brewed his first solo beer, an extract and specialty grains IPA.

Aroma: Pine, lychee, passionfruit and pineapple.
Appearance: Pale gold, good, sticky white head and a decent amount of haze that seems to be partly from yeast and I'm guessing some from the dry hopping.
Flavour: The hop assault hits first, fruit and pine and some spicy hop business. That's followed by a restrained light cracker flavour from the malt and finishing with a bitterness that lets you know you're drinking an IPA. Not much sweetness, it's nice and crisp. The flavours work very nicely together.
Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel on the light side, carbonation not too effervescent, the absence of most of the malt makes it feel lighter even though the actual FG is 1.015.

Wow! What a first effort! It took me ages to brew a beer this good and Huw's managed it on his first go. He's managed to brew it well, ferment it cleanly and has produced a crisp, drinkable IPA with a range of flavours that cohere nicely. I'd never have guessed it's an extract brew if I didn't already know.

It's good to see Ella and Galaxy working nicely in combination. One of my goals this year was to get to know our locally grown hops better and this is a good start. There's some of the characteristic Galaxy passionfruit and a slight dankness but it's not overwhelming Ella at all. There's a pine quality which is the dominant part of the the aroma

As an IPA it's pretty much just what I like. The malt is taking a back seat and the hops are doing their job well. It doesn't have that hop sweetness that can be a problem for some fruity IPAs, it just finishes crisply with a nice bitterness. It's not what many people would describe as balanced but the balance is just what I like in an IPA.

Next time: There isn't much to be picky about with this beer. I guess working on the clarity would be one thing. If I was going to change anything I'd probably increase the dry hop rate to the same as the flame out addition to give the aroma a little more pop.


For reference, the recipe:

Huw's Magical Mystery IPA (23L batch)
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.011 (1.015 measured)
IBU: 54
EBC: 9
ABV: 6.7% (6.1% measured)

90% light dried malt extract
4% NFH Crackerjack (biscuit malt)
6% corn sugar

23 IBU of Aramis @ 60 min (any clean bittering hop is fine)
2.1g/L of Galaxy @ flame out (16 IBUs with a 20 minute hop stand)
2.1g/L of Ella @ flame out (15 IBUs with a 20 minute hop stand)
1.3g/L of Galaxy @ dry hop
1.3g/L of Ella @ dry hop

US-05 yeast

Brewday: JFK Berliner Weisse

After mash out, I covered the surface with
gladwrap to keep oxygen out

My first all grain brew was a berliner weisse. It was light, wheaty and sour and I didn't like it much at first. It took me several bottles before I got the taste for it but then I came to crave it. I've never had a commercial berliner so I have nothing to compare it to but I've enjoyed the ones I've made and it's come to be a yearly brew for me. In fact, it's the only brew that I've consistently brewed at a seasonally appropriate time over the last few years.

My process has evolved each time I've brewed it but each time I've gone with souring the wort. It makes for a good sourness and a beer that's ready to drink within 3 weeks. It's probably not the most complex sourness but I'm ok with that, the wheat and pils malt along with the sourness make it plenty interesting enough as well as light and refreshing.

I've soured the wort in an esky for 2 days, gone with a 15 minute boil before chilling and fermenting, I've used temperature control so I soured the wort at 38C in my urn and then pasteurised it at 70C for 30 minutes before chilling and fermenting, no boil. This time I'm sticking with the temp controlled souring and pasteurisation but no boil. This time though I'll add brettanomyces to some bottles for a bit of added complexity as it ages. I'm also toying with the idea of dry hopping 1/2 of it with Aramis and possibly something like ginger and lemongrass.

The great thing about this beer is that the brewing is spread over a few days so I could do the whole thing on my own. It's nice to have the freedom to brew by myself midweek.

It sat at around 40C for 46 hours. I used the
temp controller to maintain the heat.

JFK Berliner Weisse (20L batch)
OG: 1.032
FG: 1.006
IBU: N/A
EBC: 4.1
ABV: 3.4%

Recipe
60% Best Malz Wheat
40% Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner

20g Aramis @ pasteurisation

US-05 yeast


Process
Mash:
Stepped mash: 68C (40 minutes), 72C (15 minutes) and a 78C mash out.

I added 2g CaSO4, 5g CaCl2 and 2g MgSO4 to the mash along with 3.5ml of lactic acid for pH correction.

Transferred to a better bottle after
pasteurising and chilling.

Souring:
After the mash out I hooked up my STC-1000 and left it to cool to 40C, around 7 hours. Once it was down to 42C I chucked in a handful of grain and laid gladwrap on the surface of the wort.

There was visible activity by the time I woke up the next day and the aroma was the same as the other times I've brewed berliners.


Pasteurisation:
After Added the hops and heated to 70C and held there for 20 minutes. Then cooled.


Fermentation:
Pitched a packet of US-05 and fermented at 18C


07/01/14 - brewed

09/01/14 - pasteurised & pitched yeast

Blonde Ale and brewing for a wedding

In January one of my friends from school will be getting married and he's asked me to provide the beer for the reception. It's a fun project to plan and obsess over but it also comes with some pressure to brew for a range of people I don't know and who aren't necessarily into craft beer. I've written and rewritten the list of 5 or so beers that I'll brew and it will probably get some more revision before January. Still, at this point I'm planning:

• Bohemian Pilsner
• Dusseldorf Altbier (Simon's recipe, one of my favourite beers)
• Hefeweizen with Vienna malt
• Blonde Ale or American Pale Ale
• Belgian Pale or Saison

The dates for brewing are mapped out, the Pilsner is set for October 6th so it's got plenty of time to lager. I may get excited and brew an extra beer or two. Maybe an IPA or something a little more unusual. A Berliner Weisse might be a fun beer on a hot Summer day.

I brewed the Blonde Ale on the same day as the Pale Ale and they're competing for a spot in January. A Blonde/Golden/Summer ale is not the kind of beer I would usually bother brewing for myself. There are just too many others I'm more interested in. I'm sure there are well done versions but generally they seem to be a fairly bland entry level craft beer. The sort of beer that 'craft' breweries backed by big corporations have as their flagship beer.

The kind of thing I'm talking about

Anyway, enough raging against the machine. The recipe is very simple. Pils malt with a touch of wheat. I'm shooting for simple, fairly dry with a little fruity hop flavour and aroma. I overshot my gravity but that's not the end of the world. If I had more time/space in the fermentation fridge & freezer, I'd have gone with a Kolsch yeast or even the California Lager yeast for a super clean and malt friendly finish. If I end up choosing to go with the Blonde Ale, that's what I'll probably do and brew it side by side with the Alt.

Blonde Ale
OG: 1.050 (I was shooting for 1.047)
FG: 1.010
IBU: 8.4 (calculated, although I'd guess the reality would be more like 15-20)
ABV: 5.3%
EBC: 5

92% Best Malz pilsner malt
8% Best Malz wheat malt

20g Citra @ 10 min
30g Citra @ 0 min

US-05

Highly fermentable stepped mash: 62C/68C/72C/78C for 30min/30min/15min/10min

Added 1g CaSO4, 6g CaCl2 and 3g MgSO4 to get calcium and magnesium to a minimum level and enhance perception of the malt.

Brewday: Pale Ale & Blonde Ale

Another two beers brewed on Sunday. I'm trying to make up for lost time.

My first ever craft beer, July 2004

First up is an American Pale Ale. For my money, American Pales are one of the harder styles to perfect. Not because they require such a high level of technical skill but because just about everyone brews one. They're common. Boring. Too often they taste as if the brewer's paying their bills rather than sharing something they believe is genuinely worthy of being shared.

So even though I'm just brewing for myself and friends, I'm in search of a Pale Ale that isn't just another Pale. As I go, I'm slowly building a list of preferences and ideas to divine the shape of the platonic Pale Ale. The big thing is that I like it to be fairly dry. It needs to be light enough to be drinkable and to my taste, crystal malt is often the enemy of the drinkable Pale. It shouldn't taste sweet. It shouldn't smell like caramel. I like to shoot for a FG of 1.010. That contributes to the perception of a firm bitterness. With aroma, I want the hops to be both generous and cohesive. It's easy for a brewer to get excited and add multiple aroma hops but the result can often be competing rather than complimentary aromas.

The gold standard

So with that in mind, I brewed the first version of the recipe below earlier this year. It received very positive comments from everyone but at 6.4% abv and 45-50 IBUs it was pushing the style limits. That isn't really a problem for me but I'm planning on brewing this beer for a mate's wedding reception so I thought I'd try a version that was a little more accessible. Last time I used CaraAmber as the specialty malt but this time I've got some biscuit malt from a guy in Launceston who's begun malting and roasting barley. This is my first go with his malt and I'm looking forward to the results. When I weighed out the biscuit malt I had a little taste and it reminded me of Sao crackers. I don't know if they still exist but it took me back to being a kid and having a couple after school with vegemite or cheese. I love how aromas and flavours can do that. I've gone for Cascade hops because they're still amazing after all these years and I wanted to dial in the base recipe before I turn my attentions to trying to combine 2 or 3 hops into one delicious package.

Two Wrongs Pale Ale 2.0 (19L batch)
OG: 1.053 (measured)
FG: 1.010
IBU: ~36 (the 0 min addition probably makes it at least 40)
ABV: 5.5%
EBC: 10

95% Golden Promise Malt
5% Bill's Biscuit Malt

10g Cascade @ 90 min
25g Cascade @ 30 min
15g Cascade @ 20 min
15g Cascade @ 15 min
15g Cascade @ 10 min
15g Cascade @ 5 min
40g Cascade @ 0 min
100g Cascade @ dry hop

US-05 yeast

I raised the calcium, magnesium and sulphate levels to enhance perceptions of the hops.

Mashed with my standard schedule for making a highly fermentable wort: 62C/68C/72C/78C for 30min/30min/15min/10min.

I also brewed a Blonde Ale on Sunday but I can't type much more now so I'll add that info to another post.

Double Brewday: Saison and Export Stout

Some more brewing today. Thanks to merging my brewing equipment with my brother's, we can easily do two batches at once when fermentation space permits. It's a bit late to get getting going but I'm hoping to get a few different beers ready for a brewing competition. There's no brewing club in Tasmania so I'll be entering the ACT one. Of course I'd like to do well but getting good written feedback will be useful either way.

I'm looking forward to the Saison because I've stepped up a starter from the dregs of a bottle of Saison Dupont. The fermentation will kick off at 22C and I'll step it up to the mid 30s over the course of the week. Can't wait to see what comes of this one.

The Stout is more or less the same recipe as I've brewed twice before. I've gone for flaked barley this time instead of rye and I used Aramis hops instead of the Northern Brewer and Fuggles I've used in the past. I've upped the gravity a little. It's a recipe I know fairly well and I'd like to continue to work on it with different varieties of yeast.

The Tripel I brewed last week has been tasting delicious out of the fermenter. I've added sugar in two stages and it should be ready to bottle in a day or two.

A quiet drink, a great view and a sour I brewed last year

Saison (23L batch)
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.008
ABV: 6.4%
IBU: 27
Colour: 9 EBC

97.5% Belgian Pilsner
2.5% Caramunich II

25g Aramis @ 90 min
25g Saaz @ 20 min


Export Stout (19L batch)
OG: 1.068
FG: 1.013
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: 55
Colour: 83 EBC

83% Maris Otter
8% Flaked Barley
5% Roast Barley
2% Chocolate Malt
2% Black Malt

66g Aramis @ 90 min
15g US-05

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.

Export Stout 2.0

I like Stouts but they certainly aren't my favourite style. Somehow though I seem to end up brewing them more often than anything else. This one is a second attempt at the ANZAC Day Export Stout that I was pretty pleased with and comes with the added pleasure of being intended for a gathering with some friends I studied with.

Last time around the mash temperatures were a bit high, the efficiency was a bit lower than I expected and the yeast didn't attenuate as well as it should have due to cold temperatures. Together they made the beer lower alcohol that I intended (5.9% abv instead of 7%) and left it a bit sweeter and thicker bodied than I wanted. That said, it was freaking delicious so I was keen to give it another go with some tweaks.

This time I lowered the mash temps which should take care of the residual sweetness and help attenuation. There's rolled rye in the grist which should take care of the body. I also have a proper fermentation chamber and that should give the yeast a hand too. In addition to all this, I finally got the 40l urn I bought back in March up and running so I enlarged the recipe to brew a 20l batch. I was hoping that the size of the urn would help me get better efficiency and reach the 1.070 OG I was shooting for. It didn't work though, I only ended up with 1.062 so I'm going to have to do some more work to get efficiency up.

The Spaceship complete with camping mat insulation

The recipe is nearly the same as last time, just scaled up and with Northern Brewer used solely as the bittering hop. If the tweaks turn out well, this is going to be perfect for some good times catching up with mates I haven't seen for a while. That along with an IPA and a Saison if I have the time should make for a nice selection.

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!