Trois vs Cal Ale IPA Tasting

One of the flagship beers for the brewery will be a 7% ABV IPA.  I'm looking for loads of hop expression and a firm, but not overpowering bitterness.  This batch of IPA was split between White Labs Cal Ale and "Brett" Trios.  Of course, there is a lot of stir around the inter-webs about the fact that it is indeed not Brett.  But it still acts like Brett and throws flavors like Brett primary with big tropical fruit esters.  I did this to begin the process of not only getting house recipes, but also getting a house yeast strain.  The difference between these two beers is almost night and day.  The Trios continued to act on the dry hops morphing them around in the keg (producing CO2 as well).  I am not sure where the huge melon component in the Cal Ale version came from since there are no melony hops in the mix, but it is a huge turn off to me, even though judges really liked it and it got an Honorable Mention.  The Trios through some phenols as well that detracted from the overall flavor.  Good start to recipe and yeast formulation, but definitely not there yet.

Release the Panic (Trios IPA):

Aroma:
Tropics burst off the nose, pineapple and mango.  Behind the big esters are citrus rinds and hints of resin.  Mild alcohol peeks out behind the powerful aroma.  There is a touch of phenols, some peach, with mild grassy and melon notes.  No where near as much grass and melon as the Cal Ale.

Appearance:
Pours a super clear golden orange under a dense off-white head with tiny bubbles.  Fades to a thick cap and leaves lots of spotty lace all the way down the glass.

Flavor:
Hop oils coat the tongue, heavy notes of citrus and pine.  Spicy notes could be peppery phenols or from the hops.  Pineapple esters and sweet malt notes make it almost candy like.  Bitter finish, less so than the Cal Ale version.

Mouthfeel:
Body is a quite thin and watery, especially for the level of cara-pils in this recipe.  Semi-dry finish.  Bitter and oily.  Medium carbonation.

Feed the Machine (Cal Ale IPA):

Aroma:
Huge melon and vegetal note leaps from the glass.  It is odd, this is the same exact aroma, just sometimes it is a lot of vegetable and the next it is melon.  Hints of sweetness, candy like, followed by mild herbal notes and citrus rinds.

Appearance:
Pours a super clear golden orange under a dense off-white head... sound familiar?  The head on this beer stays around longer and thicker than the Trios version.  Head is moussey.  Leaves lots of lace.

Flavor:
Tastes like hop candy and cantaloupe (I hate cantaloupe), resin, and pine.  Vegetative notes and medium citrus pith.  Honey like malts.  Medium high bitterness.

Mouthfeel:
Medium body with a fairly dry and bitter finish.  Crisp.  Body is much more in line with an IPA than the Trios version.


Overall Comparison of Both:
The Trios version is very enjoyable in the nose and flavor, lots of tropics and hop notes lends an enjoyable complexity.  The phenols and thin body detract from the overall wonder of this beer.  For the Cal Ale version the body is spot on as is the cleanness of the fermentation, but the super melon notes are too much.  The odd thing is that there are no melony hops in the mix, and it only came in on the dry hops.  Speaking of dry hops, part of the reason the melons don't come through on the Trios version might be due to the fact that this yeast was still active in the keg during the warm dry-hopping (it started carbonating on its own).  It was exciting to do this little experiment.  I need to work on the body and fermentation parameters, but definitely going with Brett (yes I know that Trios is not Brett, which is why the next batch will have actual Brett as the sole yeast).  Neither of these beers will become the Flagship IPA for the brewery, but it gets me one step closer.

RECIPES: #76 Feed The Machine (IPA) & #77 Release the Panic (100% Brett IPA)

7 oz Whirlpool Hops for 10 gallons

Thus it begins.  The process I swore I would never do.  Rebrewing a recipe with tweeks.  I have day dreamed of owning my own brewery someday, and have declared that I would never have house beers, the same recipe brewed over and over again.  But then the day dreams are seeming to become more serious.  I recently felt led to step out of ministry, that youth ministry is not where the Lord is calling me.  In the midst of this, I have been wondering where my calling may actually be.  My pastors have stated that they are excited to see where the Lord uses me in the future, and they all hope it is in brewing.  Then my wife buys me Starting Your Own Brewery, 2nd Edition for Christmas (a super expensive book), seems like she is behind the idea.  In light of all this - the possibility of actually owning a brewery - the thought of having solidified recipes, house beers, repeatable, excellent, it all comes rushing in.  Regardless of whether I actually have year round house beers or not, I need a solid recipe to give potential investors, something repeatable and unique, something I can brew on a big boy system and know if I did it right or not.  Thus it begins.  Rebrewing a recipe with tweeks.  

REVIEW: 1st Place: Tropic Thunder (100% Brett Trois APA)

This is my second attempt at a low abv, session IPA with 100% Brett fermentation.  The first wasn't that good, and I ended up dumping the last gallon or so of the keg.  This one turned out much better.  But of course, even when using Brett as a primary strain, it is still a wild yeast and can do some things you weren't looking for.  The evolution of this beer in only a matter of weeks is far different than a normal Sacc fermented beer.  When it was judged a few weeks ago at a BJCP comp it exploded out of the glass and was awarded 1st place against 14 other American Pale Ales.  At the Best of Show table a judge caught a medicinal note in the finish that knocked it out.  When I told everyone after the judging was over that it was a Brett beer, no one knew.  Of course, there was no funk in that beer, just the medicinal finish.  Since then the beer is starting to show some funk in the nose alongside the fruit, and the esters have started to fade a little as well.

Aroma:  9/12

Big burst of North West hops and esters hit first.  Hard to discern where each aroma comes form, is it the Brett or the hops.  Starts with pineapple and mango, gives way to pine drops, and some grapefruit pith, floral hop notes, and a touch of the funk.  There is a little sweatiness in there, not sure if that is some Brett funk or Amarillo as I have gotten it from this hop before.  Beyond this are some plum skins, rosy alcohol, and gooseberry, all layered over a toasty malt backbone.

Appearance:  2/3

Pours into my IPA glass a hazy burnt orange under 2+ fingers of thick and rocky tannish head with small, tight bubbles.  The head drops to a thick ring that lasts the whole way down, constantly re-energized by the glass design.  Leaves spotty lace down the glass, should be better with all the hops in there.

Taste:  15/20

Taste starts off with a low level of funk which starts to show the nature of the Brett.  This gives way to juiciness, over-ripe peach, and sweat (hello Amarillo).  There is some yummy pine cone in there from the Simcoe, mango, and floral hop notes (mild geranium).  Hop oils coat the tongue.  A touch of dankness hits before you get the toasty malt.  Medicinal note in the finish, as well as a soft but noticeable bitterness.

Mouthfeel:  3/5

Body is light on the tongue thanks to Brett not producing glycol in beers (and breaking it down in beers where it is present).  Spritzy carbonation tingles all around the mouth (keg keeps overcarbing, even at low 40s the Brett is continuing to attenuate the beer more).  Dry finish gives way to a lingering bitterness and phenolic note.

Overall:  7/10

Wonderful blend of big hops, bold fruity esters, and mild funk.  The beer is fading from its former glory upon judging though.  Starting to move towards funk and away from fruit, and the medicinal note is distracting from what would be a great end.  Still a very enjoyable, quenching, juicy, hoppy, fruity, refreshing session beer.  You just want another pint.  Need to find a way to make this beer again without the phenolic and funk creeping in so quick.  Might back off on the Carafa a tad too and lighten it up a touch, but not much.  Brett doesn't flocc well at all so it remains muddy, an lighter color could help with this.

36/50

RECIPE: 1st Place APA #64 Tropic Thunder (Vienna, Amarillo, Simcoe, Brett Trios APA)

When I put together my recipe for my Vienna Lager I had to split the mash up for something else.  I thought about it and toasty malts, 1.048 OG, sounds like a great canvas for an American Pale.  Add to this that I wanted a Pale to enter into the Sasquatch homebrew comp, and I had already blown my keg of IPA with the Black IPA headed to the same demise, I needed a hop bomb.  Stephen had done a lot of work to clean up an infected pitch of Conan I had, and I had planned to use it to ferment this batch.  Low and behold I didn't ask for it soon enough and didn't have time to get it built up in time.  I thought about using the pitch of 1469 I still had from the IPA, since it has a lot of peach notes too, but decided against it.  I made that decision because I had 6 strains of Brett built up for the Saison, and have heard very good results from others about Brett Trois and hoppy beers.  I had only done one other Brett and Hops beer and didn't care for some my hop choices.  I really wanted to do one again, so why not now.