RECIPE: BANGARANG: Neverland (American Sour Collabo with Falling Sky)

Back in February I was able to watch the Best of Show unfold at a competition I had judged, and also entered.  It was completely humbling and shocking to see my 2.5 year old Gueuze advance to the top 6, top 5, top 4, top 3, top 2, Best of Show.  I still find myself at times wondering if it really happened.  The prize was to brew the beer on a full system at Falling Sky Brewing.  Issue is that they don't do sours, it would take 2+ years for the beer to be done, and I didn't have the exact yeast pitch used for primary as I had cultured it from Blackberries and Peaches almost 3 years ago.

Review: BANGARANG - Thud Butt

I wanted a Hop Bomb that would make you BANGARANG!, and I got one, and I have the lost volume to prove it too.  I underestimated the impact that the dry hops would have on the final volume, as well as the difficulty of getting 5 oz of hops into the Better Bottle, and out again.  The bitterness is low for the style and needs to be adjusted.  I attribute this to using the home grown hops since I was guessing at AA% for the bulk of the hops in this brew.  A little more gypsum wouldn't hurt either.  There is a sweetness that is not malt derived that came from all the hops, it might be best to cut back on the additions next time.  The color is also darker than I wanted.  Other than these few details the beer tastes great.  Super dank and hoppy with big citrus and a supporting malt backbone that finishes dry.  Alcohol is present yet clean.  I will be sad when this beast is gone.

Look: Pours a rich, hazy amber w/ a thick, dense, long lasting beige head that leaves thick lacing throughout. Sparkles.

Aroma:  Smells of big resiny hops, grapefruit peel, citrus, orange zest, dank, tropical fruits, pepper, spicy hops, sweet toffee and light caramel, spicy & floral alcohol, raisins.

Taste:  Taste mirrors the nose.  Dank hops, resin, chocolate, citrus peels, spicy alcohol w/ hints of rose, big hops, passion fruit, spicy hops/pepper, raisins, lightly burnt sugar.  Sweet hops.  No off flavors.  Nos solventy alcohol.

Mouthfeel:  Sweet, creamy, full body, spicy alcohol warms the throat, semi-dry finish, drinkable.  Bitterness comes in the finish and, with the carbonation and low FG cleans the palate, but the bitterness is fairly low for the style, more English IPA then American.

Overall:  Big Hops!  Hops shine in the flavor and aroma, though not in the finish.  Malt plays a great supporting role.  Hops give a heavy resin and sweetness.  Color is a little dark.  With a few adjustments this beer will be all the glory it was supposed to be, but it definitely makes you BANGARANG!

Recipe: Thud Butt - Double IPA -- BANGARANG SERIES

BANGARANG... The term used by the Lost Boys in the movie Hook as a statement of enjoyment, agreement, and delight.  It could be a battle cry or an adjective.  One thing was for sure, if you liked it, it was Bangarang!  Thus starts a new series of recipes, the Bangarang Series, featuring beers that make you wanna Bangarang!  And this beer definitely fits the bill' named after Thud Butt, a big, bold, gentle yet powerful character, the name is an apt fit for a 9.2% ABV, 92 IBU, Double IPA that finishes dry with a noticeable alcohol, yet not solventy, and a huge hop punch.

On to the beer; recently a fellow brewer hooked me up with rhyzomes for my hop yard - 7 varietals (of his nearly 20).  While I was there we were chatting about the types of beers I brew and how the hops will compliment my brewing.  I told him that I'd love to brew IPAs but the cost of hops can just be outrageous which is why I was planting a few big IPA hops (Cascade, Chinook, Blisk).  He was extremely generous and, unprompted, dug into his hop locker and filled a grocery sack with nearly 2# of hops.  Some were the odd varieties that I got to plant so that I can get a feel for their character.  The bulk were Cascades, along with some Zeus as well.  While I was still at his place I brought up Zeus as a bittering hop and he said that it is a great flavor and aroma hop and poured me a sample of a double IPA with Cascade and Zeus.  I was hooked.  And, well, since I had those hops now, and quite a bit at that, I decided to brew one up myself.  I also tossed in some Galaxy as well since I've heard some great things about them and happen to have a few ounces.  I'm targeting a big back bone that still has some maltiness as well as some character, but remains very fermentable, thus dry and drinkable.  I've got some Munich in there for a good maltiness, as well as some Caramalt 10/15L for a light graham cracker note, and some CaraFoam for a little bit of body with the 12% Sugar.   Lots of late hopping for aroma and flavor, and dry hopped to boot, 1# total.

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Stats

5.70 gallon batch

OG 1.084

FG 1.014

ABV 9.2%

IBUs 92

SRM 16

84% Efficiency

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Fermentables

9.5# Pale Malt

3.0# Munich 10L

0.75# Carafoam

0.75# Caramalt 10/15L

0.06# Carafa III (Color)

2.0 # Table Sugar

1/2 tsp Gypsum

3/8 tsp Calcium Chloride

60 min single infusion @ 153*F

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Boil (60 min):

FW 1.00 oz Zeus 15.4 AA%

15 1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

15 1.00 oz Cascade ~ 6.6 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Zeus ~ 16 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Cascade ~ 6.6 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F  1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F 1.00 oz Cascade  ~ 6.6 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F  2.00 oz Zeus  ~ 16 AA%

DH 9 days 2.00 oz Zeus

DH 9 days 1.00 oz Galaxy

DH 9 days 2.00 oz Cascade

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Kettle Additions:

5/8 tsp Gypsum

3/8 tsp Calcium Chloride

1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient

1 tab Whirfloc

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Fermentation:

1056 American Ale - Pint of Slurry from Oakshire

65*F 3 days

68*F 2 days

71*F 7 days

45*F 2 days (to clear)

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Put the FW hops into the kettle directly instead of in a bag and had to fish them out and put them into a hop sack.  I missed a few which caused the pick-up tube to clog after the boil.  My refractometer went on the fritz, and kept jumping around on the reading so I had to crash cool a sample and use the hydrometer.  Ended up overcooling the wort before my post chill hops (was aiming for 150*F and cooled to 130*F).  The hydro sample was super sweet and bitter, smelled and tasted great.  Had to rack via auto-siphon due to clog.  Aerated for ~15-20 minutes, pitched a pint of slurry.  Fermentation was rocking by 5 hours.  Woke up the next morning to find my stopper missing and a thick krausen and sludge around the neck of the carboy... had my first blow-off.  Cleaned it up (before taking a picture of course), sanitized my siphon and a glass gallon jug and transferred 1/2 gallon to increase the head space.  Temp got up to 70*F for a few hours maybe when the temp probe popped loose from the side.   Seems like a lot of issues, but a good brew.

Day 3 took sample, tastes and smells great, down to 1.034, ramped up temp to 68*F to encourage continued ferm as it appears to have slowed.

Day 5 took another sample, down to 1.021.  Ramped up to 71*F to finish strong.

Day 7 took a sample, down to 1.014, remains the same as of day 10.

Day 10 dropped to 45*F until bottling.

Day 12 removed from fridge and shoved (difficultly) full of hops & marbles

Day 14 moved back to ferm fridge at 40*F for cooler/longer DH

Day 21 bottled to 2.3 vols CO2.