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 # 70: BANGARANG: Rufio 2.0 (1st Place Imperial Red IPA)

The rain is here, actually it is dumping buckets full everywhere.  The weather report says that there is possible flooding, and strong South winds that could down power lines and take out trees.  It gets dark by 6pm, and it stays dark until after I am already at work in the morning.  The temps are dropping as quickly as the leaves on the trees.  Fall is officially here.  And so is my Imperial Red IPA.  I love having this beer around at this time of year, malty, hoppy, dank, alcoholic, warming, comforting.  Needs a couple tweeks and we should have a house recipe.

Look:

Pours a clear deep red bordering on brown with definite ruby highlights under a 2+ finger thick khaki head that lasts forever.  Bubbles are tight and small, leaving a thick lacing all the way down the glass, alcohol legs sweep along the path of the sip.

Aroma:

A huge burst of resin and pine leap from the glass before it even gets to your nose, and gives way to a generic bag-o-hop-pellets kick from the dry hops.  Citrus pith, mild coffee grounds, sweet breads, toffee, fruit cake, tangerines, and spicy hops.  As it warms there is a faint floral soap note.

Taste:

Citrus rind washes all over the tongue at first sip, pith, resin, hop oils coat the entirety of the mouth, pine cones, and dank hops.  Below the initial burst of hops is a firm malt backbone, toffee, dark fruits, sweet malts, burnt sugar finish.  Spicy hops blend with the smooth but warming alcohol.  The finish is roasty, slightly ashy, and bitter, a pithy note lingers.  Touch of lactic sourness when really cold, I added 9ml of Lactic Acid to the sparge instead of 0.9ml, and it shows.

Mouthfeel:

Medium body gives way to a dry and bitter finish.  The alcohol, dextrins, and carbonation leave a good body keeping it from becoming thin.  Medium carbonation helps deliver the hops and wash the palate clean.  Lingering bitterness and alcohol warmth.

Overall:

The blend of hops and malts are pretty spot on for this beer.  The color is a tad dark, and the roastiness is too present in both aroma and flavor, need to dial the Black Patent back a hair.  Definitely need to avoid adding too much LA to the sparge water, detracts from a wonderful beer.  As always, my bitterness needs to get a crank up a notch or two.  Overall I am really pleased with the beer aside from the minor flaws, the worst of which is brewer error as opposed to recipe.

This beer took 1st place in the Imperial IPA category at the McKenzie Cider & Craft Beer Festival - Homebrew Competition

RECIPE #70: BANGARANG: Rufio 2.0 (1st place Imperial Red IPA)

I just love having a big, bold, dank, pithy, piney, red, hop bomb around a couple times a year.  Especially in the Fall when the darkness starts creeping in sooner and sooner, the nights are cooling off, the garden is waning, the trees are changing colors, the hops are fresh.  I usually don't like much, if any, crystal malts in my hoppy beers, and have even avoided it completely at times.  For my Imperial Red IPA I do like some burnt sugar in there, just not raisins and plums.  Of course you have to have the right hops to play nicely over a red, malty, base with a touch of burnt sugars and toffee, and a big alcohol presence.  I have done 2 beers along these lines in the past, the first iteration of Rufio was over a base of Vienna and Munich with Chinook, Simcoe, and CTZ.  The second Imperial Red IPA I did last fall used flaked barley, crystal rye, and Kiln Amber for a malty and aromatic base to support the Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and CTZ hops.  For this version (a return to Rufio), I used a base close to Pliny the Elder with an extra layer of Crystal using an addition of British Dark Crystal for burnt sugar and color along with the Carastan for honey and light toffee notes, as well as Black Malt for the color and dry roast finish.  I really enjoyed the way the 4 C hops played up the dank and pith last Fall over the more berry / tropical fruit forward notes on the first Rufio, so I went with this combo again.

Review: Identity Crisis (Black IPA)

For 3 of my 4 Spring-time brewing seasons now, I have made a Black IPA  After last year's I had to do one again this year..  I like them low on roast and high on hops, especially with a big resin and pine component with lots of fruit layered in.  Chinook and Simcoe work great and a nice addition of Mosaic plays well in there too.  I have tossed Blisk into a 2L of my APA without any hop presence and it was great, so I thought it would work wonderful in this IPA and boy was I right.  Tropical, reisn, pine, and I believe it to be the touch of Maui Onion I am picking up as it warms.

Look:

Pours a beautiful dark brown/black with a huge, dense khaki head that stays forever, leaving thick lace rings all the way down the glass.  Super clear with dark ruby/brown highlights.

Aroma:

Massive blast of hops jump out of the glass, big citrus burst, grapefruit peel, followed by lychee fruit, pine needles, floral notes, resin, dank, peach, and blueberry.  So many layers, lots of fruits and wood.  Maui onion.

Flavor:

Hints of chocolate, followed by blueberry, pine, toasty malt, nutty yeast, grapefruit pith, tangerines, and mangoes.  There is a finishing note that is off, not bad or infected off, just off.  Kind of flabby finish, not crisp and clean.  A little sweaty.  Bitterness in the finish that I would like to see more of, not as strong as I'd like which seems to be the difficulty I have with IPAs.

Mouthfeel:

Medium/light body, medium carbonation, semi-dry finish, balanced bitterness (needs more).  Wondering if the flabby finish is a pH issue.

Overall:

Huge hop explosion out of the glass, complex hop notes, lots of fruits, pine, resiny hops, touch of sweet onion.  Flavor and feel are great, only issues are the lower bitterness and flabby finish flavor.  Need to get that bitterness cranked up.  I have wondered for a few batches now whether I might need to adjust the pH down a couple nothces in the finish.  If I add a drop of Lactic acid to the glass the finish is less flabby, but still not as crisp.  Possibly needs even more sulfate and magnesium?

RECIPES: #57 Hop Hedonist (IPA) & #58 Identity Crisis (Black IPA)

No matter how hard I try to get away from it, I can't escape that reality that I am a Hop Head.  The aromatics of tropical fruits, pine, citrus rinds, resins, they are just so alluring.  With a pulling bitterness in the finish and a mild malt backing to support the hops, an IPA is truly a thing of beauty.  Yes, there are many out there who hate bitter beer, but maybe it is because I am from the North West, I gotta have them hops.  And it had been too long with out them.  I blew my keg of Autumn IPA a month ago and have been fiending for the hops ever since.  I bought some Dale's Pale Ale, Hopothermia, and Palate Wrecker and it just isn't cutting it.  Finally I got a chance to brew up 2 IPAs.  

REVIEW: Feed the Machine (Autumn IPA)

Autumn hit and almost instantaneously my taste buds shifted quickly away from light, fruity, crisp, refreshing, to big, bold, dark, dank, full bodied, malty, bitter, hoppy, warming.  Couple that with all the freshly dried and packaged hops from this year's harvest, and my mind began to churn up an idea.  I wanted a beer that screamed AUTUMN.  Biscuits, warm malt, body, lightly chewy, sweetish, sweet breads, spicy, all to hold up a big resinous, piney, pithy hop profile - no tropical fruits or melons, something much bigger and heavier.  I concocted the recipe, and brewed it up, double dry hopping, and serving quick from the keg.  I must say, I think I hit it spot on.  Many of the guys in the club tried it at our meeting and really liked it, positive feedback all around, and the president said keep the recipe and re-do that beer.  I plan on it, especially in the Spring for the annual (and local) Sasquatch Brew Fest (which I placed in 3 categories last year).  This beer would make a great Glen Beer (special tribute beer to Glen Hay Falconer [where Falconer's Flight get their name] big, malty, dark, and absurdly hoppy).

LOOK:

Pours a fairly clear (for a double Dry Hopped beer) deep red with a super sticky thick khaki head.  Leaves really nice lace and a thick foam ring with each sip.  Some legs evident as well from the alcohol.  Head fades down to a thick whispy cap

AROMA:

It's like shoving your nose in a bag of hops, are walking into the hop room at a brewery.  Big dank hop resin, pine needles, grapefruit pith, spicy, touch of berries.  Background cocoa, bread dough, sweet malts, and alcohol.

FLAVOR:

First rush is hop oils coating the tongue, giving way to biscuits, resin, more pine.  Fruity, berries, spicy hop notes, sweet malt palate.  Bready.  Not as crisp as I'd like, kind of a "heavy" taste to it.  Alcohol is there, but very hidden.

MOUTHFEEL:

Medium to Med-Full body, combo of semi-dry, and alcohol, sweet, with a big bitterness cleansing the palate.  Balanced bitterness and malt with alcohol.  Warming alcohol in the back.

OVERALL:

Very nice Imperial Red IPA.  Balanced, bitter, alcohol, malty, lots of hops everywhere.  Too drinkable.  Hit spot on for the flavors I was shooting for.  The heaviness in the finish is kind of flabby, need to retool for this aspect.  Not sure if this is brewing salt related, or malt related.  Possibly cut back on the flaked barley, or cut it out next time?  Possible pH of finished beer issue, might try adding a touch of acid to a glass to see if that helps before tweeking the malts.

RECIPE: Feed the Machine (AutumnIPA)

Autumn, that time of year when the leaves change color, the sun hides behind the clouds, the darkness arrives earlier and stays around later than before, and a chill sets in throughout the day.  That time of year when the light, crisp, fruity lager, or Witbier just aint cutting it anymore.  That time of year when you are looking for something richer, maltier, bolder, packed with warm malts, resiny and piney hops, and flavors of Fall.  Couple this with the fresh harvest of hops that are begging to be used, and it is time for an Autumn IPA.  

Recipe: Slap Yo Momma - Wet Hop White IPA

After picking my decent, but not overly abundant hop harvest this year, I called up Oakshire Brewing since last year they didn't actually harvest their hops for there own beers.  After getting the green light to pick their hops, I raided there Chinook and Cascades.  I also got a few bines of Centennial as well.  As my wife (who so graciously went and sat in the sun entrenched in a mound of Cascade bines and helped my pick while prego) and I looked at the vast amount of hops that I had, and how difficult it would be to dry them all, she realized that I would really need to brew a few more Wet Hop beers.  Graciously she said to me, "Why don't you brew some fresh hop beers?"  I replied, "I'd love to, but that means I'd have to brew tomorrow, and also Saturday twice."  To which she responded, "Okay."  Thus the wheels began turning.  I had already pumped out a recipe for my Red Ale and had the malts milled.  What else did I want to do?  White IPA!  I had wanted to brew one for some time, and I had lots of citrus fruit hops in the Cascade and Centennial, as well as the grapefruit component of the Chinooks, hit that with the pine, and some spicing and a Belgian Yeast.

Stats:

5.0 gallons

1.064 OG

1.007 Fg

7.5% ABV

48 IBUs

4 SRM

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Fermentables:

7.0#  GW Pale Malt

5.0#  Flaked Wheat

1.0#  White Wheat Malt

0.75#  Flaked Wheat
0.5# Cane Sugar

0.25# Rice Hulls

60 Minutes @ 150*F

70% Extract Efficiency

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45 Minute Boil:

60 mins - 1.0 oz Cascade pellets 8.4AA%

WP @ 150 20 mins - 6.0oz Chinook (Wet) 

WP @ 150 20 mins - 8.0oz Cascade (Wet) 

WP @ 150 20 mins - 3.5oz Centennial (Wet) 

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Fermentation:

WY 3726 Farmhouse Ale - 2L Starter

Aerated 20 minutes

6 gallon glass carboy

3 days @ 73-75

11 days @ 75+ 

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Additional:

Gypsum 5/8 t (mash), 3/8 t (boil)

Calcium Chloride 1/2 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)

Coriander 0.3oz - 5 mins
Orange Peel 0.3oz - 5 mins

Yeast Nutrient (15 mins)

Efficiency tanked hard for some unknown reason.  Added sugar to boost OG and drop FG - I like my dry beers DRY anyways, and it will get me closer to the ABV I wanted.  Not sure what is causing this drop in extract efficeincy.  Pitched yeast from 1L starter (used to wake the yeast up) and also added some of the sleeping yeast from the mason jar in the fridge to ensure that I had a good amount of yeast, but still low enough to produce the esters and phenols I want.