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.