Galaxy and Centennial IPA

This beer is yet another hoppy IPA, its seems that's all I'm doing these days since I have so many hops in the freezer it makes sense.

This time I am hoping the combination of Galaxy with Centennial with give a nice fruitiness from the Galaxy and some spice from the Centennial.

The brew day was pretty normal I did work out a good way to get a fast transfer to my fermentor from the Grainfather.  Once I chilled my wort down the 80 degrees I turned off the pump, threw in the hops and gave it a big stir to get a 'whirlpool' effect going on.  Left it for 20mins then came back to chill it down further.  Once I got it to the temp I wanted I turned off the pump again, got another 'whirlpool' going and left it for 5 mins.  I then started pumping into the fermentor and it seemed the time letting it settle meant that the hops didn't clog up around the pump filter and the flow was super fast while still being clear.

I changed up the yeast this time moving to the Wyeast 1272 hoping that it would add to the fruity character instead of just relying on the hops.  I have found my beers with 1056 to be a bit one dimensional especially when paired with a basic malt bill.

Recipe:

American IPA

OG 1.061

EBC 10.2

IBU 61

ABV 6.3%

FG 1.012

Fermentables:

4.6kg Gladfield Ale Malt (68%)
1.5kg Maris Otter (22%)

450g Torrified Wheat (7%)

200g Rice Hulls (3%)

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale II

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:
Chinook 30g (13.2AA) 36.4IBU @ 60mins
Centennial 30g (9.8AA) 5.4IBU @ 5mins
Galaxy 30g (15.8AA) 12IBU @ Hopstand for 20mins @ 80 degrees

Centennial 30g (9.8AA) 7.4IBU @ Hopstand for 20mins @ 80 degrees

Galaxy 70g (15.8AA) Dry Hop

Centennial 30g (9.8AA) Dry Hop

Fermentation:
Fermented at 20degrees C for 10 days

This beer turned out very hazy and never cleared up.  You can't really tell in the photo (it was the only one I could find) but it was super murky, not sure why.

It was big, bitter and boozy which was what I was after however I don't think the Chinook hops were the right choice to bitter with.

It was a bit of a love and hate affair with this one as I really had to be in the mood to enjoy it since it was so large on both the bitterness and the booze.

To be honest the hazyness wasn't really something that made me want to drink it either.

Overall this one missed the mark and wasn't really what I was going for.  Next time ditch the Chinook and replace with Columbus while also dialing back the 60 minute addition.  I think the Centennial and Galaxy is a combo worth exploring more.

Amarillo and Centennial Pale Ale

This beer was based on a recipe a friend of mine brewed that turned out really good.  It also makes use of all the existing hops that I have in my freezer from the bulk buy that the same friend and I went in on to try and save some money on hops.

There was a couple of differences between the recipes.  My friends beer had Columbus for bittering which I swapped out for Chinook as I had it on hand and I used a different yeast.  The yeast was a mistake for some reason I don't know why, I thought he used Nottingham.  It turned out he used Liberty Bell.  This is the first beer I have brewed in a long time with dry yeast, the reason for this is my friends beers all use dry yeast and to be honest they turn out great.

If this beer turned out like what I tasted on tap at my mates I was going to be happy.  It was a very balanced beer with nice light malt and some good fruit from the hops.

Recipe:

American Pale Ale

OG 1.045

EBC 10.8

IBU 43

ABV 5%

FG 1.006

Fermentables:

3.6kg Maris Otter (75%)

500g Munich I (10%)

500g Flaked Wheat (10%)

200g Gladfield Light Crystal (4%)

Yeast:
Danstar Nottingham

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 90mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:
Chinook 10g (13AA) 13.8IBU @ 60mins
Amarillo 25g (8.8AA) 8.5IBU @ 10mins
Centennial 25g (9.8AA) 9.4IBU @ 10mins

Amarillo 35g (8.8AA) 5.4IBU @ Hopstand for 20mins @ 80 degrees

Centennial 35g (9.8AA) 6.4IBU @ Hopstand for 20mins @ 80 degrees

Amarillo 40g (8.8AA) Dry Hop

Centennial 40g (9.8AA) Dry Hop

Fermentation:
Fermented at 18degrees C for 10 days

Tasting:
20/09/2018
This turned out perfect.  Exactly what I wanted, a nice easy to drink pale ale with nice fruity notes and a clean malt.  It has only been in the keg for a week so far so it should clear up a little bit more.

I love the colour, little big of haze that gives it that juicy look.  Without the haze it would be very light in colour.

I am very surprised as to how good the hop combo is on this one and considering the amount of hops used isn't over the top it has a very nice aroma.  I am thinking the yeast may have a little bit to do with this as it isn't a super clean yeast like Wyeast 1056.  It just goes to show that you don't need to be using Citra and Mosaic to get a nice fruit forward beer.

The malt profile is perfect, its not sweet, its not thin and it doesn't get in the way of the hops.

Needs a little bit more carbonation but given its only been in the keg for a week at 10psi that will come in time.

This is going to be hard not to drink super fast, especially since this is the only beer I currently have on tap.  Luckily I got off my arse and there is another IPA in right now sitting on dry hops.