re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

That looks pretty solid. If I commit to brewing, I don't want to have to rebuy equipment, so that looks promising. Sounds like I need to keep reading up to learn more. What's a mash tun for?

ETA spoke to a friend of mine who brews and needs help getting it fired back up. We are going to brew together in a couple weeks. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to try it out without a big investment. Plus my wife will be more receptive to me spending $300 on beer stuff if I've done it before and can make something drinkable.

Got delayed on kegging my "accidental session" stout until last night. I tested the gravity one last time before transferring to the keg, and it was down to 1.015! Now I can just call it a stout! Guess that last yeast addition just needed to ferment about a week longer... Its a beer miracle!... A beeracle!

Brewing a NEIPA this weekend. The recipe is my base recipe for this style, but i'm having trouble with the hop bill. I currently have 1/2 lb. of Sabra, Medusa, and Zappa neomexicanus hops. I also have 1/2 lb. of Citra and Azacca. Typically, my NEIPA consists of Galaxy, Citra, and Azacca, but they were out of Galaxy so i figured i'd try the new hops on the block.

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Sabro™ brand HBC 438 is the newest release from the Hop Breeding Company. Sabro is an aroma hop that is notable for its complexity of fruity and citrus flavors. It imparts distinct tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas, with hints of cedar, mint, and cream. Sabro’s pedigree is the result of a unique cross pollination of a female neomexicanus hop. With a robust brewing performance, Sabro proves to be a strongly expressive hop that translates its flavor incredibly well into beer.

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One of the newest hops on the scene, Medusa™ is unlike anything you’ve encountered before. Native to Colorado and New Mexico, humulus lupulus neomexicanus is an entirely different species from its European cousin, humuls lupulus lupulus. Grown exclusively by CLS Farms in Yakima WA, where 8 different varieties of neo-mexicanus are being developed. Crazy Mountain Brewing Company and Sierra Nevada have played with this hop so far, with fantastic results. Consumers are raving about these beers; Medusa™ at work. Medusa™ delivers strong flavor and aroma characteristics of intense guava, melon, apricot and citrus fruit. Along with these highly desirable aroma and flavor characteristics, it comes in with low alpha levels. Excellent as an aroma hop in IPA’s, Pale Ales and anything that is looking for strong aromatics. Probably one of the most striking features of this hops is it’s multi-headed cone; it adds to the allure and story of Medusa™, truly a unique hop that is sure to become the talk of the industry.

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Grown exclusively by CLS Farms,Zappa™ is a 100%neomexicanus aroma hop from the mountains of New Mexico. Evolving independently, Zappa™, has developed its own rebellious aroma and unique flavor characteristics. Aroma: Passionfruit, mint, spice, tropical fruits, and fruity pebbles. Genetic origins: ZappaTM is a native, NorthAmerican, Humuluslupulus var. neomexicanus, recovered from the wild in New Mexico

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What would be your suggestion with working with these Neomexicanus hops? I've never used them before so i'm unsure of how they are perceived. I've done some reading up and Sabra appears to be a homerun type hop, with it's high alpha acid content, but medusa and zappa are lower AA's and i get mixed reviews from them. My current hop bill for the NEIPA is as follows:

Note: I have a general rule of no more than 3 types of hops in an NEIPA to avoid muddling of flavors, however i wanted to incorporate all of the neomexicanus hops in the beer, but also include a reliable hop for the backbone (citra). Also, i'm thinking of omitting the zappa and upping the citra. Got the feeling the zappa would get lost here. I'm also open to the idea of adding Azacca and reducing the other amounts.
I also try to keep the total hop bill below 1 lb., and am experimenting on what the sweet spot generally is on oz/addition. I'm also open for suggestions for keg hopping, but i've tried that before and didn't find it added anything.

Hops are in ounces

Total Hops = 14.5 oz.

Whirlpool Hops @ 170 (4.5 total oz)
Sabra - 1.75
Citra - 1.25
Medusa - 1
Zappa - .5

Biotransformation hops @ 2/3 days into fermentation (4.25 oz)
Sabra - 1.5
Citra - 1.25
Medusa - 1
Zappa - .5

Dry Hops - Post fermentation for 3-4 days (5.75 oz)
Sabra - 2
Citra - 1.75
Medusa - 1.5
Zappa - .5

Just brewed a straight Sabro NEIPA last weekend.

I want to feel out these neomexicanus hops separately so I can actually define their respective profiles.

That being said, the Sabro is the most intense candy peach ring aroma that I’ve ever smelled. Like EXACTLY.

It’s AA content lead me to believe it’s be An EXCELLENT sub for Citra/Galaxy.

If you’re committed to doing multiple hops with it, I’d tend towards mixing just a single one of the Citra/Galaxy so you don’t lose too much of what’s Sabro is adding.

Also, I’m hoping that’s 10 gal because that’s a frick ton of hops.

If you’re looking for a guide for hopping, the WeldWerks JuicyBits recipe you can find all over the place is really a great baseline.

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The Estimator

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Thanks. Think I’ll use azacca instead of citra and omit the Zappa. I’ll also check out that recipe. I use roughly the same total qty of hops doing my galaxy/azacca/citra ipa and I’m happy with it, but I do feel there is a law of diminishing returns here and have been looking for some more examples.

ETA: I saw the WeldWerks clone. Too many hot side hops. I do about 30 ibu worth of boil hops.

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By first hour, you mean your first pour?

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Yep, my bad

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That’s hazy af. Looks a bit light, too.

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It is both of those things. I'm assuming the haziness is coming from yeast at the bottom of the keg? I didn't filter it nearly as well as I should have. Was trying to draw too much from the fermenter. I left the last 1/4 of that pour alone for about an hour and it settled out a ton. I'm thinking that will get better with time as more of the yeast is drawn from the keg, right?

Its definitely light too. I had a feeling it would be. I missed my original gravity by a good bit, and just decided to roll with it... It tastes okay, but not where I want it to be. It has almost like a brown color as opposed to a black.

Oh yeah, it’ll definitely settle out sitting around 35-40°.

It will also still taste great even if you’re not quite where you wanted to be on cocoa/coffee/roastiness and abv.

You use London Ale for the yeast?

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because 17 oz on a 5 gallon batch equates to over 6.5#/bbl on a commercial scale...

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My original recipe was 14.5, and i reduced it down a little to 13/14. But yeah, I try to shoot for under 1 lb. hops for a 5 gallon batch.

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. I’m sure yours is amazing, but I think you could downsize the total hops by at least 10-15% and not see too much difference, maybe more.

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It's good, but not great. I think most of my issues have been regarding oxygen pickup. I didn't learn until a few weeks ago, how to really purge your CO2 tanks. I never took the time to understand. I simply thought purging was pushing a bunch of CO2 in teh keg before transfer, then putting about 30 psi for a day, then dropping to the carb amounts you desire. Thought never crossed my mind that there is still oxygen in that keg, and it needs to get out. Secondly, i don't do O2 free transfers. I use a sterile siphon starter, but i just drop the tube into the lid opening. This time around, i'll be getting another liquid disconnect and transferring through the liquid out tube.

But yeah, i agree that i'm sure there are some wasted hops somewhere. More doesn't necessarily = better.

On a related note, i messaged Mike Tonsmiere of the Mad Fermentationist blog, and author of a few homebrew books, and now co-owner of sapwood cellars brewery regarding this, his response was...

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One thing that I like about NEIPAs is that there are man different interpretation of what the ideal version is. For example, I like more bitterness in mine, so I tend to go for larger whirlpool additions without pre-chilling. At Sapwood, we've largely moved away from mid-fermentation dry hopping as it didn't seem to be providing much bang for our hop-buck. We still use it in some beers, especially where we want a softer more integrated hop aroma.

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Kind of interesting that they have gone away from biotrans hop additions. He also suggested i may want to cut back on my biotrans additions in my hop schedule. I've often wondered how much of the hop oils is needed to impact the beer, and thought that maybe more doesn't really equal better.

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Regardless, that hop schedule taste-wise is going to be

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I hope so. I'm hoping the sabro/azacca combo gives me a ton of fruity aromas, and the medusa gives me some dank aroma.

Its okay. Not where I want it to be, but I will definitely drink the whole keg (with the help from some family/friends). Those in the FBD thread probably know J Murdah. He came over last night, and he said he liked it...

I added coffee and vanilla to the keg. Definitely get the coffee flavor in the beer. Overall its not very balanced though. When you first take a sip, its real light and thin. Then you get some bitterness and coffee on the back end. I think it will get better over time, but I also think there are some things I could have done and should have done to make a better beer... Overall, first attempt at a stout/porter, I'm happy I made a drinkable product and I learned alot. Already thinking about my next one.