Chinook Smash

After the failed brew on for Galaxy and Centennial IPA which some of it I put down to my choice of bittering hops being Chinook I wanted to actually see what this hop was about and since I had so much of it I though fuck it, I'll do a single hop beer (actually my first ever single hop beer).

I figured some Maris Otter and I know this doesn't make it a smash but I through in some wheat to go with it.

Hops, well you guessed it Chinook from start to finish.  I used a shitload of hops on this one, mostly in the hop stand and dry hop hoping that I would get a good amount of aroma from this beer to really see what the hops are about.

On the yeast from once again I went with the 1272.

Recipe:

SMASH Pale Ale

OG 1.047

EBC 9.2

IBU 43

ABV 4.9%

FG 1.010

Fermentables:

5kg Maris Otter (79%)
300g Gladfield Wheat Malt (6%)

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale II 1272

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:

Chinook 15g (12.2AA) 19.1 IBU @ 60mins
Chinook 10g (12.2AA) 4.6 IBU @ 10mins
Chinook 10g (12.2AA) 2.5 IBU @ 5mins
Chinook 50g (12.2AA) 17.5 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C

Fermentation:
Fermented at 18 degrees C for the first 5 days then raised up to 20 to finish it off.

Dry Hops:
Chinook 160g (12.2AA) @ Dry Hop

Tasting Notes:
Well this beer sucked.  I don't know what happened to the aroma from the hops, but they weren't there at all.  For 160g dry hop I was disappointed.  I don't know if this was the batch of hops I had or if this is how Chinook is all the time?  In the end I didn't bother finishing the keg as it was so boring and I had another beer I wanted to get in there that might actually have some flavour.

Water

Something that I didn't put too much thought into was the water I used.  I had been using spring water in casks from the supermarket.  I figured it was controlled, the chemical amounts were around the mark and there was no Chlorine in it.  However this was another cost to my brewday (only $10) and it was a pain in the arse having another thing to worry about organizing.

A friend of mine who lives in my area had been using his tap water however filtering it with a carbon filter to remove the chlorine with good success.  His beers were always on point and I figured it was time to try out filtering my own water.

I had a look on the net at our water profile provided from SA Water and punched it into Bru'n Water spread sheet.  It turned out that if I was just going to be brewing basic pales then I didn't really need to do too much.  It seems we are pretty lucky at least where I live in Adelaide and I only need to add a tiny bit of Gypsum (around 3g) to get my Ph on the mark.

For the carbon filter I had a look around and did some reading and with the low chlorine levels in our water I ended up just using one of these from Bunnings.  I know its cheap and shit and surely that means it won't work very well, but its similar to what my friend had been using so I thought fuck it.  It is also super easy to use, just connect it to the hose.  I make sure I run the water through nice and slow as it isn't rated for high flow.

So how has it turned out, well I think it has definitely made a difference.  I think my beers taste much cleaner and crisper, especially my Session IPA's which turned out amazing.

Once I move my tap around to the side of the house I will probably install a proper wall mounted filter where I can push the water through a bit quicker.  But for now it's doing the job!

Simple Pale Ale

Simple Pale Ale

Being on a bit of a roll with the Session IPA's I switch my attention back to a standard pale ale.  Something with a bit more malt and a bit less hops.

I wanted to keep it around the 5% mark so I could at least knock a few back without getting plastered so I built my malt bill around that.

For the malts I decided to give the Coopers Ale malt a whirl since it is local and cheap.  With 80% of the malt being Ale Malt I added in some Gladfield Munch Malt and also decided to give their Supernova Malt a whirl as it is supposed to add color without being too sweet.  There is a good blurb about it here at the Gladfield site.  I chucked in some oats to again try and boost the body and not have it come out too thin.

For the hops I wanted to try added bittering hops through out the boil so I could get the bitterness but not have it come across as being too harsh.  I used Columbus for bittering and boil hops until the hopstand which I used up some Amarillo I had in the freezer.  For dry hopping I went with one of my favorites Galaxy and another favorite Mosaic.

When it came to the yeast, 1272 or go home.

Recipe:

American Pale Ale

OG 1.046

EBC 13.7

IBU 36

ABV 4.7%

FG 1.009

Fermentables:

4.2 Coopers Ale Malt (79%)
500g Gladfield Munich Malt (9%)

300g Gladfield Supanova (6%)

300g Flaked Oats (6%)

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale II 1272

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:

Columbus 5g (16.6AA) 8.8 IBU @ 60mins
Columbus 10g (16.6AA) 13.5 IBU @ 30mins
Columbus 5g (16.6AA) 6.4 IBU @ 10mins
Amarillo 30g (9AA) 7.8 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C

Fermentation:
Fermented at 18 degrees C for the first 5 days then raised up to 20 to finish it off.

Dry Hops:
Galaxy 60g (14.2AA) @ Dry Hop
Mosaic 30g (12.3AA) @ Dry Hop

Tasting:
The color is exactly what I was aiming for, even with just 6% of the Supnova Malt it made quite a difference, I wouldn't have wanted it any darker.

It has a really nice malt profile to it, not too sweet or cloying.  Some of my earlier beers I would use too much crystal and they would end up overly sweet and not enjoyable.  I think I will try removing the Munich next time.

The idea of using the Columbus hops throughout the boil to kind of layer the bitterness seems to have worked.  I think next time on the dry hops I will maybe sub out the Mosaic for with more Galaxy or maybe go with the Simcoe to try and get some pine.  Maybe Cascade?

Overall pretty happy with this one, I've been on a pretty good run lately and seem to have hit the sweet spot with both malt profiles and hop combos.

Session IPA Version II

Session IPA Version II

After the huge success of Session IPA version I there was never going to be long before I brewed it again.  This time there would be no fuck up with the boil hops and I was going to try out a new hop combo.  I knew I wanted to use Citra again but couldn't get any up my local home brew shop.  So I went with a bulk order again splitting it with a friend so we could both get a good amount of Citra and Vic Secret.  I had been keen to get hold of some Vic Secret for a while but had never been able to get it when I wanted so I thought fuck it.

I used the exact same grist again except I couldn't get flaked oats so I just subbed in with some flaked wheat.

On the yeast front I went with my go to yeast Wyeast American Ale II 1272.

Brew day went off without a hitch (unlike last time).

Recipe:

Session IPA

OG 1.038

EBC 5.5

IBU 40

ABV 4%

FG 1.008

Fermentables:

2.4kg Gladfield Pilsner (49%)
1.2kg Gladfield Ale Malt (24%)

700g Flaked Wheat(14%)

400g Carapils (8%)
200g Rice Hulls (4%)

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale II 1272

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:

Columbus 5g (16.6AA) 9.4 IBU @ 60mins
Citra 35g (12.4AA) 26.8 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C
Vic Secret 30g (12.4AA) 13.4 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C

Fermentation:
Fermented at 18 degrees C for the first 5 days then raised up to 20 to finish it off.

Dry Hops:
Citra 40g (12.4AA) @ Dry Hop
Vic Secret 30g (17.7AA) @ Dry Hop

Tasting:
So this time no fuck up with the hops in the boil.  Overall pretty darn good again.  I'm going to have to control myself so I can actually have this one tap for Christmas Day since we are having the family over.

Again not thin in the mouth again I am guessing from the high amount of flaked wheat.  Aroma is nice and fruity again without being over the top.  I think I preferred the aroma from the first batch with the Galaxy in it, but with out a side by side I can't say 100%.

Bitterness is nice its still enough and fades quickly.  I love Columbus for bittering I think its the best option out there, high AA so you don't need a lot and doesn't become harsh in the boil.

Color is again spot of for what I was aiming for, again I used Gelatin to get it clear quickly as I wanted to drink this as fresh as possible.

I am thinking this malt bill will become my standard issue for trying out new hops, either single hops or combination.

So whats next for Version III?  I might go with some Citra/Mosaic/Vic Secret........

Session IPA version I

Session IPA Version I

I have been craving low ABV beers lately that I can just crush.  I guess all those years of high ABV and massive IBU beers have finally taken its toll.  My latest go to beers have been from Mismatch Brewing both their Lager and Session Ale.  Being able to crush a six pack of them in a afternoon without being legless is a huge up side.

For this beer I wanted it around the 4% ABV range and it needed to have almost no malt flavor and to give this beer its flavor it needed to be nice and fruity.  For the malt bill I went with Pilsner, Ale Mat, Flaked Oats and Carapils.  I was hoping the oats would help it from being thin.

On the yeast side I went with my favorite Wyeast 1272, hoping to get some more fruitiness to compliment the Citra and Galaxy that would be used for both boil and dry hop additions.

On the brew day disaster, I added my flameout hops at 60 minutes.........fuck, my subtle and fruity session IPA would now be a bitter mess.  I quickly switched to a 30 minute boil and added some table sugar to get the OG I needed to then get the ABV around 4%..........................fingers crossed.

Recipe:

Session IPA

OG 1.038

EBC 5.5

IBU 40

ABV 4%

FG 1.008

Fermentables:

2.4kg Gladfield Pilsner (49%)
1.2kg Gladfield Ale Malt (24%)

700g Flaked Oats (14%)

400g Carapils (8%)
200g Rice Hulls (4%)

Off the Cuff
200g Table Sugar

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale II 1272

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 30mins

Hops:

Citra 25g (12.4AA) 26.8 IBU @ 30mins
Citra 35g (12.4AA) 13.4 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C

Fermentation:
Fermented at 18 degrees C for the first 5 days then raised up to 20 to finish it off.

Dry Hops:
Galaxy 40g (14.2AA) @ Dry Hop
Citra 40g (12.4AA) @ Dry Hop

Tasting:
What else can I say, this beer barely lasted 2 weeks on the tap, it was on point.

I ended up fining with Gelatin (has become a standard practice for me lately) so its clear as can be, made it hard for my shit phone to actually focus on it.

This beer turned out exactly as I wanted, very light malt flavor but the hops.  They were exactly how I wanted it, really nice and fruity without being over the top.  I would go as far as saying this is probably the best beer I have brewed so far.

Its just dumb luck that this turned out so well after my fuck up with the hops in the boil but I'll take it, can't wait to brew this one again.