tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49259799089670501802024-02-18T20:35:22.508-05:00The Hop WhispererEric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-15197651782742752782016-04-13T09:00:00.000-04:002016-04-13T09:00:05.721-04:00Vic Secret - Hop Tasting NotesThe final beer from this run was brewed using Vic Secret hops, which is another new cultivar from Australia.<br /><br />The
aroma of this beer was dominated by a big passionfruit note. I also got
mango peel and tangerine notes from it as well. The aroma intensity was
good, but not quite as high as the Enigma and HBC-438 beers from this
group of trials.<br /><br />The flavor of the beer was more of that big
passionfruit that was on the nose, supported by some pine undertones.
The intensity of hop flavor was moderate and let some of the malt
character show through. The bitterness was smooth, with some lingering
resin character through the finish.<br /><br />I am a big fan of Vic Secret.
That passionfruit character is distinct and intense. It makes me think
of Galaxy, but it isn't quite as intense and doesn't have as much of the
stonefruit or citrus I get from Galaxy sometimes. Vic Secret will
definitely have a home in IPA's, but its lower intensity would also let
it work in some other styles that may get overpowered by something like
Galaxy or Citra. The ubiquitous "hoppy American wheat" would be a nice
summer sipper with some Vic Secret in the dry hops. I could also see
this working well with estery English yeasts if you're looking to get
creative. A Landlord-style pale ale with Vic Secret in the whirlpool has
a lot of potential.<br /><br />Although it's not quite as potent as some of
the others (it's not mild by any means, just not crushingly intense), I
think Vic Secret is my favorite of the hops I've used on this run. I recently brewed an IPA featuring Vic Secret as the primary hop, along with some X-17 and Meridian, and I was very happy with the results.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-8590552594304131322016-04-12T09:00:00.000-04:002016-04-12T09:00:10.770-04:00Enigma - Hop Tasting NotesMy next tasting was Enigma. This is a new Australian hop that I got
through Farmhouse Brewing Supply. The pellets clocked in at 18.1% AA.<br /><br />The
nose of the beer had a bright citrus/fruit aroma up front. There was a
lot of complexity in the background, with woodsy, spicy, dank and piny
aromas all present to one extent or another. The aroma was really big
and bright, and had a really familiar "hoppy" character, for lack of
better description. It reminded me of really peak quality Simcoe.<br /><br />The
flavor had big citrus and pine notes, almost giving the impression of
fresh spruce tips. I did pick up some onion - nothing comparable to
Summit, but still over my taste threshold. The bitterness seemed smooth,
with some resin notes that fade out on the finish.<br /><br />The
descriptors I've read for Enigma lean towards red fruit (raspberries,
red currants, etc.), but I'm not getting much of that. What I am getting
still tells me that this is going to be a killer IPA hop, though.
Although I did get a bit of the dreaded onion in the flavor, the bright
hop aroma is too good to pass over. I'm looking forward to brewing an
IPA with this in combination with some other hops in the near future.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-52483627678198490052016-04-11T09:00:00.000-04:002016-04-11T09:00:23.489-04:00HBC 438 (aka "Ron Mexico") - Hop Tasting NotesMy next tasting is HBC 438 (aka "Ron Mexico") from Hopunion, <a href="http://www.alesforals.com/">which also supports the Ales for ALS charity.</a> In contrast to the Armadillo hops,
the HBC hop pellets had a great aroma before they even made it to the
beer. A unique feature of this hop is that it is a cross between a native American hop (<i>Humulus lupulus neomexicanus</i>) and a more traditional variety of European/North American descent.<br /><br />The Ron Mexico beer had a very distinct, aromatic nose. The
main aromas were passionfruit and blackcurrant. There was also some
juniper in the background.<br /><br />On the palate I found that the
blackcurrant character took the lead, chased by passionfruit and citrus.
I picked up just a fleeting hint of dank/onion at the tail end that
gives way to a smooth juniper-resin bitterness on the finish.<br /><br />HBC-438
is going to be a solid IPA hop for sure. It has a substantial oil content
(2.5-3.5 mL/100 g), and a unique flavor profile. This is the first time I've brewed with a hop of <i>neomexicanus</i> heritage, so I don't know if that is where the distinct flavor is coming from, but it definitely sets this hop variety apart as unique. It should be able to
hold its own with other hops in a blend quite well. I look forward to
playing around with this one a bit more.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-74279344995980692312016-04-10T09:52:00.000-04:002016-04-10T09:52:03.818-04:00Armadillo (Experimental) - Hop Tasting NotesThey're a little overdue, but it's time to get around to posting the tasting notes for the rest of my most recent batch of single-hopped beers.<br />
<br />
Next up is the beer I brewed with the experimental hop variety Armadillo. These are leaf
hops from the 2014 harvest from Yakima Valley Hops. To be honest, the
raw hops left a lot to be desired right out of the gate. There wasn't
much aroma to them at all. On its own, that's not necessarily a bad mark
for whole hops. But the pound of hops I got reminded me of the bottom
of a bag of chips. There were few whole cones; it was mostly loose
bracts. There was also very little of the stickiness and springiness that I
often feel in good-quality hop cones.<br /><br />In the beer itself, I
picked up a rather mild hop character in the aroma. There was some
herbal character with notes of citrus and lime. The flavor was even
milder - there were faint citrus notes, some resinous pine and faint
floral notes as well. The bittering character was a clinging resin on
the back of the tongue. It's not as abrasive as something like Chinook
or Columbus, but it's not particularly smooth either.<br /><br />Overall, my
experience with Armadillo is a swing and a miss. I'm sure some of this
may be attributable to the quality of the hops I received, but I don't
see much good use for the hops I have on hand. They could possibly be a
decent bittering hop for an IPA, but that's all I got.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-967999267776886052015-12-15T00:35:00.002-05:002015-12-15T00:35:15.074-05:00X-17 Hops - Tasting NotesThe first hop that I'll be tasting from this batch of trials is X-17. X-17 is an experimental hop cultivar bred by <a href="http://theoregonhophouse.com/index.html">The Oregon Hophouse</a>. The Oregon Hophouse is a certified organic hop farm, and their hop breeding program is targeted at developing pest resistant hop cultivars. I had the pleasure of exchanging a few emails with Pat, who runs the farm where X-17 is under development. Even through a few short emails, it was quite clear to me that Pat is passionate about what they're doing on their farm.<br />
<br />
Downy mildew is a serious concern in the Willamette Valley where Pat's farm is located, and a major barrier for organic crop production in the region. X-17 was bred for its tolerance of downy mildew. Not only does this allow for reduced fungicide use, which is a worthy benefit on its own, but it also allows more options for cover crops to help fix nitrogen in the soil. This type of "big picture" thinking is refreshing, and is the sign of a farmer who truly understands the barriers and benefits of organic farming.<br />
<br />
Developing cultivars that thrive under organic farming practices is certainly a noble goal. I know I struggle with pests and disease just in my small home garden, so I can only imagine how challenging it must be on a commercial scale. But to me the most important feature in any food, organic or not, is flavor. So let's get to my tasting notes.<br />
<br />
The aroma of the beer had a distinct orange and lemon zest aroma. The hop aroma was moderate in strength and did allow some of the toasty Munich malt aromas to peek through as well.<br />
<br />
On the palate, the flavor followed the aroma very closely. Orange and lemon peel were the main flavors I was getting. Again, the hop presence was moderate and allowed the malt to show through as well. Also of note, I didn't pick up any significant pine or dank flavors that many C-hops bring along with their citrus character. Bitterness was crisp, but smooth, leaving a touch of resin on the finish.<br />
<br />
I am really liking the X17. It's probably not bold enough to carry an IPA by itself, but it would certainly work as part of a blend - comparable to hops like Motueka or Mandarina Bavaria. It definitely makes one hell of a pale ale. X-17 also seems like the perfect hop for a wit, or maybe even a White IPA. It will probably be amazing paired with EKGs or other English hops in an ESB. I think it would make a great dry-hopped sour as well. The flavor profile of this hop makes it extremely versatile. To be honest, it's hard to think of a style that X-17 wouldn't be good in.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-62827020786633245942015-10-30T20:38:00.000-04:002015-12-01T20:13:19.934-05:00Hop Tastings - 2015 EditionI've used a bit of well-deserved vacation time to get caught up on some brewing this week. At the top of the list was another round of single-hopped beers to taste-test some new hop varieties. Brewday was today, so we're a month or so away from tasting these bad boys, but here's the list of hops I brewed with to pique your interest:<br />
<br />
Vic Secret - a new hop from Australia<br />
Enigma - another new hop from Australia<br />
Armadillo Experimental - an experimental hop available from <a href="http://yvhops.com/">Yakima Valley Hops</a><br />
HBC 438 (aka "Ron Mexico") - a new hop from <a href="http://www.hopbreeding.com/">HBC </a>(the fine people who brought us Citra, <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/12/mosaic-hops-tasting-notes.html">Mosaic</a>, Equinox, etc.), that is currently only available to homebrewers.<br />
X-17 - a new experimental hop from <a href="http://theoregonhophouse.com/">The Oregon Hophouse</a>, who were kind enough to send me a sample to review. I am really excited about these.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-11994515512523195552015-04-03T10:00:00.000-04:002015-04-03T10:00:05.968-04:00"Hop My Beer" Chinook & Citra Hop Oils - Tasting NotesThe first oils I evaluated from <a href="http://hopmybeer.com/">Hop My Beer</a> were Chinook and Citra. The beer I used to taste-test this was Rye King from <a href="http://www.brutopiabrewery.com/">Brutopia</a>, and excellent local brewpub. It is essentially a Rye Maerzen with a little hop bite (~30 IBU) and
only a touch of noble hop aroma. I figured it would be a pretty good base beer for
sampling hop oils.The recommended dose is 1-2 drops per 12 oz pour. I started with 1 drop
in 6oz, so this is the upper end of the starting range.<br />
<br />
When I opened the bottle of Chinook oil I picked up a
grassy, hop pellet aroma from the oil itself. In the dosed beer I picked up some grassy,
cucumber peel aromas, along with anise and an herbal/spicy/minty note
similar to a Ricola cough drop.<br />
<br />
On the flavor side, there were
some raw hop/resin notes along with some herbal grassiness. The resin
tended to linger a bit which left the impression of a bit more
bitterness (like maybe 5 IBU more). Unlike what I'd expect from Chinook, I didn't get any pine or citrus in
either the flavor or the aroma. <br />
<br />
The Citra oil had the same grassy, raw hop aroma in the bottle. When I
dosed the beer I got more of that raw hop aroma and herbal mint/spice
aromas. I did pick up some sweet tropical fruit in the papaya/guava
family and maybe a hint of Hawaiian Punch. The fruit was faint, however
and had none of the mango/citrus I typically get from Citra.<br />
<br />
The
Citra-dosed beer had a bit more of the raw hop resin flavor than the
Chinook. It made the beer seem a bit more bitter (maybe 8-10 IBU more
perceived bitterness to my palate). Other than that, I got no other hop
character in the flavor - no fruit at all. Adding 1 more drop made no
discernable change. At that point, I added 2 more drops (4 drops total
in a 6oz sample) and there was still no fruit character, only more of
that "raw hop" flavor.<br />
<br />
In the end, the hop oil reminded me more
of the hop character in unfermented wort straight from the brew kettle,
rather than what I get from dry hops. It's not horrible, but I'm not a
big fan. I was hoping for pine and citrus, and just got grassy, raw
hops. It seems like the hop oils that lead to grassy hop character like
myrcene and farnesene are here in spades, but the floral/citrus oils
like linalool, geraniol, and citronellol are either lost or hidden.<br />
<br />
Overall,
I don't think these are bad products, but they don't necessarily
deliver for the trained palate. I am still interested in the iso-alpha
acid extract I got. I will post some tasting notes from the Centennial and Apollo oils once I get around to testing them.<br />
<br />
I'm also wondering if the character is different if these oils are allowed to sit in the beer for a bit before consuming similar to dry hops, or even if used in the whirlpool. There is definitely some further experimentation warranted with these products.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-47768428517381158002015-04-01T10:00:00.000-04:002015-04-01T10:00:01.805-04:00"Hop My Beer" Hop OilsI recently got wind of a new product on the market - "<a href="http://hopmybeer.com/">Hop My Beer</a>" varietal hop oils. These are steam-distilled hop oils that do not contain the bitter or vegetal compounds in hops. These differ from a CO2 hop extract, which also contain alpha acids and are intended to be used in the boil to impart bitterness. Hop oils such as "Hop My Beer" are intended to be used on the cold side to impart aroma, similar to dry hops.<br />
<br />
The Hop My Beer product initially made my spidey senses tingle. I initially came across the product on eBay, and it seemed to be marketed primarily towards beer drinkers rather than homebrewers as a way to doctor commercial beer. I have had poor experiences with similar products in the past. But after an email exchange with them and reading through their website, I got a much better vibe about the company and their products.<br />
<br />
I have seen hop oils like this before, but it is rare to come across varietal-specific oils. The price was right (about $5 for a 10mL bottle, which should be enough to dose 1-2 cases of beer), so I decided to snap up a few to play around with. I ended up up ordering their Apollo, Centennial, Citra and Chinook oils, as well as an iso-AA product which can be used to add bitterness to beer post-boil.<br />
<br />
I will post my tasting notes separately, but I will say that I was impressed with the product packaging when they arrived. Each bottle was sealed and hand-numbered. The bottles have fine dropper tips on them, which make it pretty easy to measure out the oil drop-by drop. The instructions recommend storing the bottles in the fridge as well, which I take as a sign that they have quality and freshness of their product as a top priority.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-40750415488564543222015-03-31T10:00:00.000-04:002015-03-31T10:00:06.746-04:00Kohatu Hops - Tasting NotesLast, but not least, we have Kohatu. I got these pellets from Farmhouse
Brewing Supply as well. These were 2014 crop and were listed at 8.1% AA.
The aroma of the hop pellets really wowed me. There was some complex
tropical fruit, citrus and pine resin.<br />
<br />
The aroma of the beer had
some very nice complexity. I picked up citrus (grapefruit, primarily),
stone fruit, some pine in the background, and some vinous notes.<br />
<br />
The
flavor was resinous with lingering pine. I also got some
lemon/grapefruit citrus notes, but the flavor didn't seem as potent as
the aroma. There was also some stone fruit & tropical notes. The
finish saw the pine resin character linger a bit. Bittering was moderate-to-full and clinging.<br />
<br />
My
impression of Kohatu is somewhere along the lines of
Nelson-meets-Mosaic. The only thing is that the hop character didn't
seem as potent in this beer as I would expect from Nelson or Mosaic. As I mentioned in a previous post, I
did change my recipe a bit for this batch. The increased maltiness this time around may be contributing to the somewhat
muted hop flavor here.<br />
<br />
I do think that Kohatu has a lot of
potential. I think this one is perfectly suited to IPA's.The bittering and flavor are in the ballpark of something like Chinook, while the aroma is much more fruity and complex. I think dry hops are where this hop is going to shine the brightest.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-42138211575263733902015-03-16T10:00:00.000-04:002015-03-30T09:40:46.503-04:00Wai-iti Hops - Tasting NotesNext up is Wai-iti. This NZ hop has been on my wishlist for a while, and
I was finally able to find some through Farmhouse Brewing Supply. The
hops I used were pellets from the 2014 crop, and were listed at only
4.1% AA. The pellets had a potent, oily aroma that seemed to be typical
NZ-style tropical fruit.<br />
<br />
The aroma of the beer had a massive blackcurrant note, paired up with passionfruit in a supporting role.<br />
<br />
The
flavor was very blackcurrant-forward as well. I did get some
lime/lemongrass and passion fruit. There was also a bit of a resinous
quality, but it made me think of concentrated currant/ribes more than
the typical dank/pine resin character you find in hops like Columbus or
Simcoe. As the currant fades out there are floral notes, passion fruit
and some fleeting sweet cinnamon notes as well.<br />
<br />
Bittering was mild-to-moderate and fairly clean.<br />
<br />
I
have a feeling that Wai-iti is going to be quite a polarizing hop. To
me, I perceive "catty" as blackcurrant, and it is a flavor and aroma
that I enjoy. To those who perceive "catty" as tomcat spray, I'd be
willing to bet that this hop will not go over well. I see this being a
hop that is best in a blend. While it does have some fruit undertones,
the currant note is the predominant character by far. I think it would
be nice in an IPA to balance some fruitier hops. It might also be nice
as a dry hop in a sour, and maybe as a flavor addition in a beer that
has some dark fruit character.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-43144097851110159212015-03-14T13:46:00.000-04:002015-03-14T13:46:18.987-04:00Experimental J-Lime Hops - Tasting NotesI'll lead off with the Experimental J-Lime batch. These were whole cone
hops I got from Yakima Valley Hops, weighing in at 6.9% AA. The aroma coming off the raw hops was quite mild. I was struggling to pick up much beyond the typical grassy/herbal aroma typical of raw hops. I will say that this is pretty common in whole cone hops (at least for me), and that doesn't always translate to a mild hop once brewed. This also seemed like it came from the bottom of the bag (lots of loose bracts, not a lot of whole cones), so that may factor into my results as well.<br />
<br />
The
aroma of the beer didn't have a lot of hop punch. I picked up some
citrus and berry notes, along with some stonefruit (which really
reminded me more of a yeast ester than hop oil). I also noted faint
vanilla and earth. I really had to fight to pick out a lot of these
aromas and outside of the citrus and berry, I'm not 100% sold that these
are coming from the hops rather than yeast or malt.<br />
<br />
On the
palate I got a mild, herbal hop note with a bit of tangy citrus. The
finish has some lingering bitterness along with some earth/dirt/mushroom
notes. Bittering seemed moderate and did linger faintly on the finish.<br />
<br />
As
I mentioned in my lead-in, I fermented this one in a HDPE water jug and
I fear that may have stripped a lot of the hop character. My initial
impressions really made me think of some UK hops like Fuggle and
Challenger. If my flavor assessment is accurate, then this may be
interesting in UK-style pale ales. I do have this hop earmarked for a
rebrew some time.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-91715406092417848302015-03-14T13:42:00.003-04:002015-03-14T13:42:50.690-04:00New Round of Hop TastingsThings have been fairly quiet on the brewing front for me for a little while now. I did manage to squeeze in a 3-pack of single-hopped brews recently and I'll be posting my tasting notes in the next few days. This time around I brewed with Wai-iti and Kohatu from New Zealand, as well as an experimental variety known as "Experimental J-Lime".<br />
<br />
I changed up my recipe a little bit compared to my usual mix of Extra Light DME + Munich LME. This time I went with 14 oz of Light DME and 3 oz of Carahell. The CaraHell was steeped for 10 minutes as the kettle came up to temp. I stuck to my usual hopping schedule of 40-45 IBU added as soon as I pulled the grains (calculated as a 20-minute addition). This was followed by 1/4 oz at flameout and 1/2 oz as dry hops.<br />
<br />
Generally speaking, I found that the hop character of these beers was less than my typical trial batch. I don't blame the hops for this; I blame my new recipe. These beers all turned out maltier than usual, and I think that tended to shift the balance away from the hops a bit.<br />
<br />
For full disclosure, I also have one more caveat. I ran out of 1-gallon glass jugs, so the J-lime batch was fermented in a 1-gallon HDPE water jug. I feel like this is important to note because the J-Lime had significantly less hop character than the other beers. I do have some concerns that the HDPE container may have adsorbed some of the hop compounds leading to decreased hop character.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-49970210978412570752014-09-23T11:25:00.002-04:002014-09-23T11:25:55.740-04:00Aurora and Celeia Hop Tasting Notes (Link)Food for the hopheads in the audience: <a href="http://homebrewingfun.blogspot.com/2014/09/aurora-hops-and-celeia-hops.html?showComment=1411484002926#c6437538384862433371">Brain Sparging on Brewing</a> has some tasting notes on a couple of lesser-known Slovenian hop varieties - Aurora and Celeia. It's nice to see some detailed info out there on some of the less-common hop varieties.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-61497168462468780792014-06-10T21:03:00.000-04:002014-06-10T21:05:00.914-04:00Giant Freaking Barleywine - Tasting NotesI finally have my gigantic all-malt barleywine that I posted about <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/03/giant-freaking-barley-wine.html">here</a> and <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/03/giant-freaking-barleywine-brewday.html">here</a> kegged, carbed and ready to bottle. The beer went from 1.142 down to 1.024, which is an astonishing 83% attenuation for a beer this big. My initial tastings prior to carbonation and cold-crashing were best summed up as "hot & harsh". But we're now 3 months in, and I have a proper chilled and carbonated sample to taste.<br />
<br />
Appearance is a deep chestnut-brown with a thin off-white head that has been holding on surprisingly well. The nose is nutty, rich malt with noticeable booziness. There are some fruity esters that are hard to define, but seem to be in the cherry/peach range. Early samples just hit me with a blast of that Yorkshire Square strain ester profile, but that has (thankfully) mellowed significantly.<br />
<br />
On the palate there is some caramel and toffee sweetness. More stonefruit esters are here, but they meld with the sweetness quite well. There's a touch of fig as well. I also get plenty of dark bread crust that is really characteristic of Maris Otter malt. The booze is up front, but surprisingly smooth. There is a balancing hop bitterness, but the malt sweetness definitely takes the lead. Mouthfeel is heavy and slightly viscous, but there is a nice snappy tartness that keeps it from becoming syrupy or cloying. Finish has a long interplay of dark fruit and bread crust.<br />
<br />
I am really excited to lay this one down for a while and see how it ages. It really seems like I nailed the ballpark of Thomas Hardy Ale, which is possibly my all-time favorite beers, and ages well seemingly forever. I think after a few years when some sherry notes start to develop this is going to be insanely good.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-63066718329829670072014-05-22T00:49:00.000-04:002014-05-22T00:53:31.502-04:00House IPA Recipe (Partial Mash)I don't typically brew partial-mash batches, but I just brewed a mini-mash version of my house recipe today to try to save a little time. You may need to adjust or scale for your system. I use 70% efficiency and 3.5 gallons batch size to help account for all the wort lost to hops & dry hops. I'm typically at 80% efficiency on my system.<br />
<br />
Note that I use Brewer's Friend's "No Chill" function to estimate the IBU's for my hop stand. I'm estimating a 90-minute hop stand is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute boil addition for calculating IBU's (this is based on experience with my system). Of course, that means nothing since beers usually max out in the 100 IBU range (this one measured at 98 IBU in a lab test).<br />
<br />
Note: the hop bill is identical to my all-grain version. The only real difference is the fermentables.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/132108/minimash-ipa">Title: MiniMash IPA</a><br />
<br />
Brew Method: Partial Mash<br />
Style Name: American IPA<br />
Boil Time: 60 min<br />
Batch Size: 3.5 gallons (fermentor volume)<br />
Boil Size: 4 gallons<br />
Boil Gravity: 1.052<br />
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)<br />
No Chill: 30 minute extended hop boil time<br />
<br />
STATS:<br />
Original Gravity: 1.059<br />
Final Gravity: 1.013<br />
ABV (standard): 6.08%<br />
IBU (tinseth): 512.97<br />
SRM (morey): 5.67<br />
<br />
FERMENTABLES:<br />
2 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (34.8%)<br />
4 oz - Belgian - Aromatic (4.3%)<br />
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light (52.2%)<br />
0.5 lb - Cane Sugar (8.7%)<br />
<br />
HOPS:<br />
2 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.8, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 121.33<br />
2 oz - Apollo, Type: Pellet, AA: 18, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 147.56<br />
2 oz - Meridian, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.7, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 54.92<br />
2 oz - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.2, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 59.02<br />
2.5 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 130.14<br />
1.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14.8, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
2 oz - Meridian, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.7, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
2 oz - Motueka, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 7.2, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
1 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
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MASH GUIDELINES:<br />
1) Infusion, Temp: 153 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 7 qt, Sacc Rest<br />
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YEAST:<br />
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05<br />
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NOTES:<br />
90 minute hop standEric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-71312724275583879942014-05-22T00:47:00.000-04:002014-05-22T00:52:09.362-04:00House IPA Recipe (All-grain)Here's the all-grain version of my House IPA recipe. This is a 3-gallon BIAB recipe. You may need to adjust or scale for your system. I use 70% efficiency and 3.5 gallons batch size to help account for all the wort lost to hops & dry hops. I'm typically at 80% efficiency on my system.<br />
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Note that I use Brewer's Friend's "No Chill" function to estimate the IBU's for my hop stand. I'm estimating a 90-minute hop stand is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute boil addition for calculating IBU's (this is based on experience with my system). Of course, that means nothing since beers usually max out in the 100 IBU range (this one measured at 98 IBU in a lab test).<br />
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Also note that FG is not 1.019. I'm not sure where the 72% attenuation for US-05 comes from, but I'm usually down around 1.012-1.014 for this beer.<br />
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<a href="http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/56933/house-ipa">Title: House IPA</a><br />
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Brew Method: BIAB<br />
Style Name: American IPA<br />
Boil Time: 60 min<br />
Batch Size: 3.5 gallons (fermentor volume)<br />
Boil Size: 4 gallons<br />
Boil Gravity: 1.058<br />
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)<br />
No Chill: 30 minute extended hop boil time<br />
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STATS:<br />
Original Gravity: 1.066<br />
Final Gravity: 1.019<br />
ABV (standard): 6.27%<br />
IBU (tinseth): 475.51<br />
SRM (morey): 7.62<br />
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FERMENTABLES:<br />
6.5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (72.2%)<br />
2 lb - German - Munich Light (22.2%)<br />
8 oz - American - Victory (5.6%)<br />
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HOPS:<br />
2 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14.8, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 104.49<br />
2 oz - Apollo, Type: Pellet, AA: 18, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 139.79<br />
2 oz - Meridian, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.7, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 52.03<br />
2 oz - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.2, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 55.92<br />
2.5 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 0 min, IBU: 123.29<br />
1.5 oz - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14.8, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
2 oz - Meridian, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.7, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
2 oz - Motueka, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 7.2, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
1 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days<br />
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MASH GUIDELINES:<br />
1) Infusion, Temp: 153 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 18 qt, Sacc Rest<br />
<br />
YEAST:<br />
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05<br />
<br />
NOTES:<br />
90 minute hop standEric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-90988040470745285522014-05-22T00:46:00.003-04:002014-05-22T00:50:23.697-04:00House IPA<div dir="ltr">
It's been a while since I brewed my house IPA recipe, so I'm giving it a go today. Since this blog is called "The Hop Whisperer", it's about time I posted an IPA recipe.</div>
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Before I get to the recipe, let me delve a bit into the philosophy behind it. In the end, I'm really more about ideas than specifics when it comes to recipes. Set your goals first, then you can hash out the specifics on how to get there.</div>
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I've been pushing the limits with my IPA's since I started homebrewing. I've constantly been looking to max out the hop flavor and aroma. I think I finally hit it. The end result is more like drinking hop juice than a typical IPA. It is pretty much the definition of a fruit bomb IPA, yet it isn't enamel-strippingly bitter (despite the 98 IBUs that this was lab-measured to be).</div>
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My grain bill philosophy is simple: don't leave behind any sweetness, but leave a little malt richness to balance the hops. I avoid Crystal malt altogether. I'm not saying that you can't brew a good IPA using judicious amounts of Crystal malt, but that's not my approach. I stick to base malt paired with specialty grains like Munich, Victory, Aromatic, etc. </div>
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So, now for the hops. My big secret is simply to add all my boil hops at flameout and do a long hop stand. I also use a very large amount of hops - about 3 oz/gallon in the boil and about 1.5 oz/gal in dry hops. The hop stand addition in particular is where the massive hop flavor comes from. I've tried a lot of other hopping schedules, but it's the hop stand (which approximates a pro brewer's whirlpool) that really pushes the flavor envelope.</div>
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As far as hop selection, I'm really shooting for a fruit-bomb in this beer. While there are certainly some hop varieties that would work well as single hops in this type of IPA, I find that to be a bit monotone for my tastes. I'm looking for something like sangria, rather than a mango smoothie (I'm looking at you, Citra). In choosing hops, I want each one to bring something specific and different, but they all need to fit the whole picture. Here's a peek inside my thought process for each hop in the blend:</div>
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<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/01/nelson-sauvin-hops-tasting-notes.html">Nelson Sauvin</a>: White grapefruit citrus in the C-hop ballpark, but also has a white wine character that really goes nicely with the sangria theme. Can overpower other hops, so I'm using a bit less in the dry hops</div>
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<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/12/motueka-hops-tasting-notes.html">Motueka</a>: Lime zest and lemongrass. Motueka gets overpowered by oilier hops, so this is really just an accent note despite being used in relatively large amounts.</div>
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<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/02/apollo-hops-hop-tasting-notes.html">Apollo</a>: Navel oranges. Apollo also brings some Columbus-like dankness, so I'm just using it in the boil. </div>
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Citra: Mango, mango, mango. So monotonous on its own, but so awesome when paired with citrusy hops. Super potent in the dry hops, so I use a bit less.</div>
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<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/12/meridian-hops-tasting-notes.html">Meridian</a>: This is my ace. Meridian has a fantastic sweet stonefruit (apricot/pluot/nectarine) flavor and aroma. It really shines here when paired with citrus hops and the mango from Citra.</div>
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Here are links to the posts containing the recipes:<br />
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<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/05/house-ipa-recipe-all-grain.html">All grain (3-gallon BIAB)</a><br />
<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/05/house-ipa-recipe-partial-mash.html">Partial Mash</a></div>
Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-53888911798149124242014-04-22T23:50:00.001-04:002014-04-22T23:50:48.461-04:00Quick linkI just came across a link to <a href="http://www.hopslist.com/">this page.</a> This will certainly be killing quite a bit of time for me in the near future. This is one of the most comprehensive lists of hop varieties I've seen, and it certainly has a considerable amount of detail as well.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-71277082769729521312014-04-10T03:44:00.001-04:002014-04-10T03:44:29.366-04:00Methods to My Madness (Part 1)One of the things I enjoy most about the homebrewing hobby is that there are so many different paths to getting tasty beer. Once you understand the basic brewing process, it's really easy to tweak your process to get the results you're looking for within your own particular set of constraints.<br />
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I brew indoors on my stovetop in a 5-gallon kettle. According to conventional homebrewing wisdom, this would seem to relegate me to partial-boil extract brewing land. Almost everything in homebrewing seems to be geared toward producing 5-gallon batches. And all-grain brewing requires a full-volume boil, so you can't brew 5 gallons unless you can comfortably bring 6 or 7 gallons (or more) to a boil.<br />
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Personally, I drink about 5-6 beers a week, or roughly a case a month. I also like to brew at least once or twice a month. The obvious solution is to brew smaller batches. Brewing 3-gallon batches solves pretty much all my problems. I can manage full-volume boils, which allows me to brew all-grain. I also net about a case at a time, which is perfect for me. If I brew 2 batches a month I get some extra to share, and every 3rd or 4th batch is a big beer to age in the cellar.<br />
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Once you break out of the mindset of "1 batch = 5 gallons", then a lot of doors become open. You can brew batches of any size, allowing you to test new ingredients and recipes at a smaller scale. You can also make the move to all-grain brewing while staying within the confines of a small kitchen. The one downfall is that the vast majority of kits are designed for a 5-gallon batch. So, for smaller batches you will need to be working off a recipe rather than a kit, and you'll need to be able to scale it to your particular batch size.<br />
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I realize that it may seem a bit daunting to work from a recipe rather than purchasing a pre-built kit, especially if you need to make modifications to the recipe. But it's really quite simple, especially if you're using brewing software that supports scaling recipes. I use <a href="http://www.brewersfriend.com/">Brewer's Friend</a>, but most of the brewing calculators have some function that will allow you to scale a recipe up or down simply.<br />
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One thing to keep in mind when scaling a recipe is that everything will change in equal proportions except for one thing - your boiloff rate. You will end up boiling off the same amount of liquid (or a little more) for a smaller batch than you would for a larger one. For example, if you boil off 1 gallon in an hour, you will start with 6 gallons for a 5-gallon batch, and you will start with 4 gallons for a 3-gallon batch. Why do I mention that? Because, depending on how much you scale the recipe down, it could have an impact on your IBU's. The gravity of your boil affects hop utilization. Since a smaller batch starts at a lower gravity than a larger one (i.e., it is more dilute), you may find that your scaled recipe has more IBU's than the original recipe. In most cases the difference will be negligible, but in hoppier beers it may be enough where you might want to decrease your bittering addition a bit.<br />
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My specific process is a sort of a hybrid BIAB (Brew-In-A-Bag) process. I wanted to avoid the need to monitor and adjust the temperature during the mash, so<i> </i>I could just walk away once I mashed-in and return at the end of the mash. My solution is to mash in a 5-gallon beverage cooler that I have lined with my BIAB bag. When the mash is done, I pull the bag and run off into my kettle. While this isn't as simple (or as cheap) as the usual 1-vessel BIAB setup, having a separate mash tun is worth my while.<br />
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In part two I will go into a bit more specifics. I will also walk you through a typical all-grain brewday so that those of you who want to follow along at home can get the feel of things.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-50393573927004412022014-04-04T22:18:00.000-04:002014-04-04T22:18:10.067-04:00Yep, too much hops.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here's another update from tonight's <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-much-belma-does-it-take.html">Belma IPA</a>. I mentioned that the<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/04/too-much-hops_4.html"> hot wort was the consistency of peanut butter</a>. Well, things only went downhill as it cooled. The picture below is of the chilled wort. No, that's not a typo. This lump of green modeling clay is actually the wort in the kettle post-chilling.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_P1goCTllhpWMEaRafNiRGhxXioNSW2jP4wja8LpojbF7c2esP-bXUdWTSlMrJr9inRRPQTrEGB6vjgR0R-RLcLUGnhFBsVhnheMi8J17AUHpcO0ScBAI8SKJF91bqxkQAVoZBTPYPWw/s1600/IMG_20140404_201427548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_P1goCTllhpWMEaRafNiRGhxXioNSW2jP4wja8LpojbF7c2esP-bXUdWTSlMrJr9inRRPQTrEGB6vjgR0R-RLcLUGnhFBsVhnheMi8J17AUHpcO0ScBAI8SKJF91bqxkQAVoZBTPYPWw/s640/IMG_20140404_201427548.jpg" /> </a> </div>
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I was rather surprised at how much liquid I was able to extract from this. The whole mass got dumped into my BIAB bag in a small bucket. I then wrung and squeezed the bejeezus out of the bag, and kept pouring the collected drippin's into a 1-gallon jug. I ended up with over 1/3 gallon of liquid (starting from 0.8 gallons preboil volume). We'll see what happens next...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7Z9gFuSlleDbCIMmJv3V_oQziQXeGSJwOHfugpOvdpCGns6-74c9Bc9wd-FKUbnPr5cEDYj2U9WK3jolNY2VX-2IobiOq46DYXC9ozq4iV9RXIzmgSLK1j0zSlC4OSwwvU0ph89_GrA/s1600/IMG_20140404_202551411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7Z9gFuSlleDbCIMmJv3V_oQziQXeGSJwOHfugpOvdpCGns6-74c9Bc9wd-FKUbnPr5cEDYj2U9WK3jolNY2VX-2IobiOq46DYXC9ozq4iV9RXIzmgSLK1j0zSlC4OSwwvU0ph89_GrA/s1600/IMG_20140404_202551411.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-90757617264415440822014-04-04T17:10:00.001-04:002014-04-04T17:12:16.986-04:00Too much hops?<div dir="ltr">
Update from my<a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-much-belma-does-it-take.html"> Belma IPA experiment</a>. One pound of pellets in 3/4 gallon of wort. Try as I might, there's no way I'm going to get a whirlpool going in this. The consistency is like peanut butter. Wish me luck getting this into the fermenter.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienoMQeqcX57tpmn_NczjFGl_gI3JktyRl7_JUPLDEx7v1J8B6gg3sIFxD1zv7nB4MMBm3nDLdACs-s-gzByAKrt3mo98SXLlCJ3y1tWtW72an7DQWq8FAQ1g-zUl8n6jANUvHu3u2FDs/s1600/IMG_20140404_165330793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienoMQeqcX57tpmn_NczjFGl_gI3JktyRl7_JUPLDEx7v1J8B6gg3sIFxD1zv7nB4MMBm3nDLdACs-s-gzByAKrt3mo98SXLlCJ3y1tWtW72an7DQWq8FAQ1g-zUl8n6jANUvHu3u2FDs/s640/IMG_20140404_165330793.jpg" /> </a> </div>
Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-86366806457750437122014-04-04T10:46:00.001-04:002014-04-04T11:43:32.163-04:00How much Belma does it take...Belma is one of those hop varieties that really confirms for myself that the single-hopped test beers I have been brewing are well worth the time and effort involved. The descriptors you see online list orange, grapefruit, pineapple and strawberry (among other things) as being part of the aroma profile for Belma. If you just read those descriptions, you may end up thinking that this would be a great hop to use in an IPA. In particular, you don't find "strawberry" as a description for many hops. This would definitely be a unique note to impart to a beer via hopping.<br />
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Alas, <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/01/belma-hops-tasting-notes.html">my own experience</a> just doesn't find this to be the case. I really found Belma to be a mild hop, without the big, fruity punch that one might expect given the description. In talking with others on some of the homebrew forums, it seems that I'm not the only one who has been a bit underwhelmed by the hop character of Belma.<br />
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Since I have just under a pound sitting in my freezer, the question becomes: "What the heck do I do with all of this Belma?". I suppose I could use it for bittering, but I have other hops that I prefer for bittering depending on the style of beer. Instead of letting them sit in my freezer forever, or just throwing them away to free up space, the time has come for a bit of experimentation.<br />
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The experiment: Is it possible to take a relatively mild hop and attain IPA-worthy hop character by using a very large amount? You night ask what constitutes a "very large amount". Well, ladies and gentlemen, I don't screw around when it comes to hops. I'm going to brew about 3/4 of a gallon of IPA and use however much Belma I have left (a bit under a pound) in it. I'm going to reserve an ounce and a half for dry hops (so somewhere in the 2oz/gallon rate for dry hops), and the rest is going in for a 1-hour hop stand. This adds up to over a pound per gallon for a total hopping rate.<br />
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My thought process is this. Different hop strains contain different concentrations of hop oils, which is where the flavor and aroma comes from. If Belma does contain the oil profile to give the citrus/melon/strawberry/etc notes that have been reported, but at a low concentration, then you could reasonably conclude that more hops will give you more oils, and at some point you will get enough into your beer to get the flavor/aroma profile you're after. Of course, hops contain a lot more than just oils. There may be a point of diminishing returns, where you start to get a significant amount of off-flavors (grassy, woody, vegetal, etc.) due to the volume of hops needed to get the oil content you want.<br />
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Once the beer is ready, I'll mainly be concerned with two things. The first is the flavors coming from the hop oils that I'm looking for. The second is whether there are any off flavors coming from the sheer volume of hop material required to get these flavors. If I get a desirable hop character, but start getting off flavors, then further experimentation may be warranted to see if you can "dial in" a hopping rate to get the hop character while minimizing off flavors. Brewday should be tonight. Stay tuned.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-67299089434422264462014-03-13T22:53:00.000-04:002014-03-13T22:53:23.003-04:00Giant Freaking Barleywine - BrewdayI thought I'd give a little update in the Barleywine from <a href="http://hopwhisperer.blogspot.com/2014/03/giant-freaking-barley-wine.html">my last post</a>. The brewday itself was one of those stories you hear about on the "Brewing Disasters" shows on the homebrew podcasts (and I may send this one in if I find the time to write up the gory details). But the results were just about what I had hoped for, so it seems like it may end up being worth the frustration.<br />
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I missed low on the temp for my initial mash (156F instead of 160F), so I held it a bit longer to be sure I got the most alpha amylase activity out of it. I pulled the first grain bag after 60 minutes, and squeezed out as much as I could from the bag. I was left with about 3.8 gallons of wort in my cooler at 152F, at a gravity of 1.063.<br />
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I added my second grain bag and the second 8 lbs of Maris Otter. This brought the temp down to 140F. I let it sit for about 15 minutes, then added back 1 quart of boiling water to bring my final rest temp to 145F. I held this temp for an hour. I ended up with a preboil gravity of 1.113. After a 90-minute boil I got about 2.8 gallons of 1.142 wort into my fermenter. I'm pretty happy with this number. Any higher and I'd be concerned whether it would ferment down as low as I wanted it. But if it was much lower, then I could have easily hit that OG with a more standard single-mash using an extended boil.<br />
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Right now we're 8 days into fermentation. The Yorkshire Square yeast is still chugging away. I have it at about 56F right now, and will hold it there until fermentation starts to slow. I have some extra yeast tucked away from an earlier batch in case I need a "rescue" starter, but I think I'm going to hold off until I can get a gravity reading.<br />
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Speaking of gravity readings - the WLP037 is one crazy yeast. It is super flocculant - way more than even WLP002/WY1968. I literally could not get a gravity sample from my thief today because the wort was so chunky.<br />
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More details to come...<br />
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Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-59631707225588933992014-03-01T19:08:00.000-05:002014-03-01T19:08:46.138-05:00Giant Freaking Barley WineI keep starting to write up some posts that go into the specifics of my all-grain setup and procedures, but haven't found the time to finish them up and get them on the blog. I've gotten quite a few questions on this, so I do plan to get into the full, gory detail at some point in the near future. For the time being, let me sum it up simply. I brew 3-gallon batches using a 2-vessel system (kettle and 5-gallon cylindrical cooler), with no sparge. Essentially, I do brew-in-a-bag, but using a separate cooler for a mash tun to help hold my temps so I don't have to police the mash.<br />
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So, how does this tie into the big tease of a post title? I am going to be brewing a big barleywine that will essentially max out my mash tun capacity <i>twice</i>. My particular setup is very well suited to performing this kind of iterated mash. Instead of using a false bottom or bazooka screen, I simply line my cooler with a BIAB bag. This will let me pull out my grains after the initial mash, then add a fresh batch of grain back to the mash water for a second mash using the wort from the first mash as my liquor.<br />
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The goal here is two-fold. The primary goal is to achieve a pre-boil gravity that is well beyond what I could possibly produce on my system from a single mash. The second goal is to maximize fermentability by being able to perform a true reverse-step mash. So what the heck does that mean?<br />
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First, here's a quick refresher on enzymes in the mash. I'll try to keep this at "for Dummies" level. Most all-grain brewers are at least a little familiar with alpha and beta amylase. Beta amylase is most active at lower mash temperatures (140-150F), and tends to produce more simple sugars, which in turn leads to increased fermentability. Alpha amylase is most active at higher mash temperatures (162-167F), and tends to produce more dextrins, which leads to a less fermentable wort.<br />
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But here's where it gets interesting. The action of alpha amylase produces more food for beta amylase to do its thing. Even more interesting is an enzyme that we don't really target in a typical mash: limit dextrinase. Limit dextrinase is able to break down the dextrins that are left over after alpha and beta amylase have done their thing. The problem is that it is active at temperatures lower than even beta amylase (133-140F), and it is gone before alpha amylase even gets started.<br />
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In a typical mash, once you raise the temp above the point where an enzyme gets denatured, you essentially lose that enzyme from that point on. In a single mash, once you raise the mash temp to alpha-amylase's optimum range, you start to lose beta-amylase activity, and limit-dextrinase is already long gone. You can't begin a traditional mash with a high-temp alpha rest, then drop the temp to beta rest range, then drop it again to limit dextrinase range. The enzymes have already been denatured at the initial high mash temp.<br />
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If only there was a way to bring back beta amylase and limit dextrinase after your high mash rest. But wait - there is! Just add more malt. And we finally get back to what I'm trying to do here. Basically, I'm going to do a high temperature mash with 8 pounds of grain in my mash tun. Then I'm going to pull my grain out, and add another 8 pounds back in. This second mash will be held at a low enough temperature where both beta amylase and limit dextrinase will be active. Hopefully, I'll end up with a super-fermentable wort that will enable me to brew a giant beer that can still ferment down to a reasonable FG.<br />
<br />
So without further ado - here's the recipe. I have no clue what my efficiency is going to be, so this is calculated on 60%. But I typically hit 80% or so, even on beers this big. If so, this is going to be a <i>really</i> big beer.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Title: Giant Freaking Barley Wine<br />
<br />
Brew Method: BIAB<br />
Style Name: English Barleywine<br />
Boil Time: 90 min<br />
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)<br />
Boil Size: 3.7 gallons<br />
Boil Gravity: 1.099<br />
Efficiency: 60% (brew house)<br />
<br />
STATS:<br />
Original Gravity: 1.122<br />
Final Gravity: 1.024<br />
ABV (standard): 12.77%<br />
IBU (tinseth): 68.83<br />
SRM (morey): 11.65<br />
<br />
FERMENTABLES:<br />
8 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (50%)<br />
8 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (50%)<br />
<br />
HOPS:<br />
1 oz - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 63.04<br />
1 oz - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.1, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 5.79<br />
<br />
MASH GUIDELINES:<br />
1) Infusion, Temp: 160 F, Time: 45 min, Amount: 16 qt, Mash #1<br />
2) Infusion, Temp: 145 F, Time: 90 min, Amount: 14 qt, Mash #2<br />
<br />
YEAST:<br />
White Labs - Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast WLP037<br />
<br />
TARGET WATER PROFILE:<br />
Profile Name: <br />
Ca2: 85<br />
Mg2: 25<br />
Na: 11<br />
Cl: 78<br />
SO4: 150<br />
HCO3: 0<br />
Water Notes:<br />
2 g Gypsum<br />
4 g Epsom Salt<br />
2.5 g CaCl2<br />
2 mL Lactic Acid<br />
(All added to initial mash water)</blockquote>
Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4925979908967050180.post-60106826779504529852014-02-21T13:34:00.000-05:002014-02-21T13:34:38.578-05:00Not all IBU's are created equalIn recent times there has been a lot of talk about the "quality" of bitterness. The oldest bit of brewing lore to this effect is the claim that hop varieties that contain higher cohumulone give a harsher bitterness to the finished beer. The flip side is that other hop varieties may give a "softer", "smoother" or "neutral" bitterness. More recently, the proponents of first-wort hopping (FWH) claim that it provides a smoother bitterness than a traditional 60-minute addition. (Count me in this group, by the way) The same claim has been made regarding whirlpool or hop-stand additions (well, I know that I claim this at least).<br />
<br />
Just to be clear, the claim here isn't that there is a difference in utilization or IBU's using these methods. The claim is that for a given number of IBU's, certain hopping schemes will provide a harsher or smoother bitterness. For example, a 60-minute boil addition of Chinook is (supposedly) going to give a harsher bitterness than something like a FWH of Liberty, even if they measure the exact same IBU's.<br />
<br />
So this begs the question - what the hell does this mean, and how do you quantify it? Is 20 IBU's of Chinook at 60 min the same as 40 IBU's of Liberty as FWH? 30 IBU's? 50 IBU's? Or is it something else completely? Do we need one measure of IBU's and a separate measure of harshness?<br />
<br />
Some brewers calculate the IBU's from a FWH addition as the equivalent of a 20-minute addition. Others calculate it as 70-80 minutes. The first way tries to account for the "smoothness/harshness" effect on the quality of bitterness, but doesn't factor in the additional utilization from the longer time the hops are in contact with hot wort. The second approach probably approximates the actual measured IBU's better, but doesn't factor in that this bittering may seem smoother. Is one way better than the other? I used to be firmly in the 20-minute addition camp. Now I'm on the fence and leaning towards the 70-80 minute camp, but with a caveat.<br />
<br />
I have recently started to gravitate to the idea that IBUs and "Bittering Quality" are not only two completely separate descriptors, but also that they need to be considered separately. I think that attempts to approximate the affect on the smoothness or harshness of a hopping regimen by adjusting IBU's are missing a big part of the picture. Dialing in a hoppy brew really requires understanding what each addition is doing.<br />
<br />
Let me share an example before I open the floor for discussion. Last year I brewed an IPA using nothing but flameout hops with a 90-minute hop stand, and some dry hops. I used an insane amount of hops (11 oz in my hop stand and 6 oz of dry hops for a 3-gallon batch). I sent the beer out for lab analysis, and it measured at 98 IBU's. But, to my palate, it tasted like about 60 IBU's, with a pretty smooth bitterness (similar to what I'd get from FWH). It tasted like an amped-up APA more than an enamel-stripping IPA. But the first time I drank it with food, something bizarre happened. I could instantly taste all 98 of those IBU's and my palate was completely blown out for dinner (which was a shame - it was a real nice ribeye). This really cemented the whole "IBU's vs harshness" idea for me. The beer somehow managed to hide its bitterness until I forced its hand with food.<br />
<br />
So, what do we do about this dichotomy of bitterness? Damned if I knew. But now that my eyes are opened to this, I'll be paying close attention.Eric Branchaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15107351232072273246noreply@blogger.com0