Zappa Pale Ale

 I let my IPA keg get empty a few weeks ago which was a very sad thing - I've been very busy - and ended up buying a case of commercial hoppy beer which I've also consumed. So, it is high time to brew a new hoppy beer to backfill.  Recently I've been experimenting with different levels of dry hopping and have found that 8 oz of dry hops seems to provide more bold flavor than 6 oz and that hopping in the fermenter seems to be as good as putting half the hops in the serving keg.  These have been experiments with hops I'm fairly familiar with.  For this batch, I'll be trying a hop that is new to me and reported to be potent:  a New Mexico hop called Zappa

I purchased these last year from Hops Direct.  They are a low alpha acid flavoring hop and, per reports, are found to have a very strong pine and marijuana-like character.  The Brulosophy web page wasn't fond of the beer they brewed with the hop.  I'll use it for dry hopping only (going to bitter and provide hot side flavor with Columbus and Centennial as I've done in the last several hoppy beers) and have opted for a 6 ounce dose all in at 7 days.  Will be an experiment to see how I like this hop and how I might use the remainder of it.

For the grain bill I've gone with the ratios of grain used by Sapwood Cellars Cheater Hops (which uses Oats and Wheat) and am shooting for a beer in the 1.045 OG/1.015 FG/4% ABV range.  I'm not trying for a hazy beer here but that may be the outcome as the original is hazy.  The wheat and the oats will hopefully provide some interesting complexity and mouthfeel but will likely be far outshadowed by the hops used in this volume.  Other than that I'm using Golden Promise as the base malt as that's what I have on hand.

Finally, for yeast, I've been doing a good job saving money by saving yeast strains for reuse in jars, I'll be reusing some Imperial Yeast Juice her for this batch.  This is a reuse of the third pitch and will be the third beer I've gotten out of the yeast packet.  I think I'll try harvesting the yeast cake from this beer as well for a third pitch as well.  The yeast seems to be pretty strong still after 6 months in the refrigerator which is very nice - will be building a starter for this of course.

Anyway, I'll give this beer 1 week to ferment, then 1 week to sit on dry hops before moving to the keg, and then will give 1 more week in the keg to carbonate and settle before drinking.  A fast turnaround on these beers is a good think I think.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 7 lb Golden Promise
• 2 lb Pilsner
• 1 lb Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb Flaked Oats
• 5 oz Crystal 10
• 2 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 1 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) at 60 min
• 2 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) at 5 min
• 2 oz Centennial (Leaf, 10.1% AA) at 5 min
• 6 oz Zappa (Leaf 5.3% AA) at Day 7
• Yeast:
• Imperial Yeast A38 Juice (2nd Pitch)
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 5 gal tap water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.15 gal
• Mash:
• 158 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Ambient Basement Temps (High 60s)
• Primary Duration:
• 2 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.048 (Target 1.045)
• Efficiency:
• 72% (Target 66%)
• FG:
• 1.018 (Target 1.015)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 62% (Target 66%)
• ABV:
• 3.9% (Target 3.9%)

Brewing Notes:

• 6/26/21 - Built a started for a second pitch of my Yeast (it has been in a jar in the fridge for the last 6 months - jar showed good activity once warming to room temp).  Moved to the stir plate to propagate over night   
• 6/27/21 - Brewday - 12:45 PM to 5:30 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated 8 gal of strike water to 185 F
• Milled my grain (ended up falling short on Golden Promise so I swapped in 2 lbs of pilsner.  Added CaCl and Gypsum to the grain so I wouldn't forget
• Added 6 gal of mash water cycled through the RIMS until it was a 170 F
• Stopped the RIMS and stirred in the grain.  Let the grain bed settle for 10 min

• Cycled the RIMS for 60 min at 159 F. The temperature was in the high 150s the whole time
  
• Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 200 F
• Drained the Mash Tun into the kettle.  Added sparge water to the top as I went until had collected 8 gal.  Started heating the kettle once 4 gal had been collected and had it at a boil shortly after collecting the target volume 
• Boiled for 60 min

• Added the bittering hops in a sack
• Added irish moss at 15 min
• Added the wort chiller and flavoring hops with 5 min left
• At flame out, chilled the wort down to about 200 F and let sit for 30 min of hop stand (settled down to about 190 in this window)
• Drained the kettle to my fermenter.  Let the wort fall a couple feet to aerate.  Pitched the yeast during the transfer 

• Collected about 5.9 gal and measured gravity as 1.050.  Topped up with about .25 gal
• Setup the fermenter in the basement since my freezers are unavailable for a controlled fermentation
• 6/28/21 -  Fermentation was proceeding strongly by this afternoon
• 7/5/21:
• Tasted the beer - it has a bit of hop character, although fairly mild, and a medium bitterness.  I think the hot side hops are a reasonable investment but no where close to enough.
• Added the 6 oz of dry hops.  Added these in hop sacks weighed down by stainless steel pipe fittings.  The Zappa smells a bit like pine and grass, maybe a bit herbal and perhaps a bit of citrus - pretty bold smelling.  Will be very interesting how that converts to flavors

• The beer still has a bit of krausen on the surface

• Applied CO2 to the fermenter after adding the hops to hopefully purge off some of the oxygen let in while I had the lid off
• 7/10/21 - Moved to the chest freezer to chill down to mid 30s for a cold crash.  Hooked this up to C02 at 1 psi to prevent oxygen from getting sucked in.  Once it was cold I added dissolved gelatin to clear the beer.
• 7/11/21 - Kegged today.  Flushed the keg with C02 by pushing out sanitizer.  Measured the gravity as 1.018.  The hop flavor is fruity and piney - I think it's very nice.  Saving off a couple jars of the yeast slurry for later batches
• 7/31/21 - Tasting Notes - The hop character is very strong in both aroma and flavor and I find it to be enjoyable.  It is a complex hop that creates many flavors by itself which is nice as well.  I've done a few samplings of the beer next to several fairly fresh Tree House beers and thought the level of hop character delivered by this beer was fairly close to them.  This is a hop I'd gladly use again - will try it as a component in a blend most likely.
• 8/28/21 - The keg kicked today.  Was a very good beer.  Glad to have another ready to go on tap today.

English Barleywine VIII

Memorial Day 2021 is here so it is time for another batch of English Barleywine.  This will be my eighth version to be brewed on Memorial day (going back to 2014) -  read about the previous versions: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.  English Barleywine is a wonderful style of beer characterized by a strength on a similar level to a wine, a richness of flavor, and a deep complexity.  They are a beer that ages very well and continues to evolve in the bottle (see my 2021 vertical tasting notes).

I typically brew a different recipe every year.  This really highlights one of the great things about being a homebrewer - there is so much to explore and so many things to try.  That I'm still finding unique ways to brew a fairly narrow style of beer after 8 attempts is really cool.  

This year, I'm brewing another historical Barleywine - 1954 Tennant's Gold Label from the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins Blog.  I've brewed a few historical Barleywine from this blog and have been very impressed.  This one is interesting in that it contains no crystal malt and uses a large amount of flaked corn - this should make of a fairly lightly colored beer.  It is also fairly aggressively hopped and brewed to be over 11% ABV.

It calls for a 3 hr boil which I'm going to honor.  This should make hitting the high target OG a bit easier and will darken the beer a bit.  Will be a long brew day as a result.  I'll plan on fermenting fairly warm (low 70s), will give it 4 months on the yeast cake to finish out, and then secondary until the winter - I'm age on Brandy soaked oak this time.

Excited to be brewing again!

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 17 lb Golden Promise
• 5 lb Flaked Corn
• 2.5 lb Invert #1
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 3 oz Willamette (Leaf, 5.5% AA) at 120 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 90 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 60 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 30 min
• 0.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• S04 (2nd Pitch)
• Water:
• 15 gal spring water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss
• Extras:
• 2 sticks of brandy soaked oak

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.25 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 149 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 180 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 70 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 4 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.109 (Target 1.109)
• Efficiency:
• 74% (Target 68%)
• FG:
• 1.040 (Target 1.024)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 61% (Target 76%)
• ABV:
• 9.2% (Target 11.3%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/30/21 - Built a yeast started using 100g of DME and 1 litre of water.  Added about 1 cup of yeast slurry from a previous batch 

• 5/31/21 - Brewday - 11 AM to 6 PM - Including setup and cleanup
  
• Heated 8 gal of spring water to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Mixed in CaCl and Corn

• Moved 6 gal of strike water to the mash tun and cycled the RIMS until the system settled at 160 F
• Stopped the RIMS and added the grain - stirred in well to eliminate dough balls.  Added another gal of water after stirring in the grain to reduce the mash thickness a bit
• Let the mash sit for 10 min prior to starting the RIMS cycle
• Cycled the RIMS for 60 min at 150 F
• Heated 11 gal of sparge water to 175 F
• Added CaCl and Gypsum to the boil kettle
• Did a fly sparge until 9 gal had been collected.  Started heating the kettle after collecting 3 gal and had it at a boil shortly after the end of the sparge.  Started the 3 hr boil
• Filled the mash tun with a second batch sparge.  Let this sit for 30 min.  Then slowly drained this into the kettle.  Was about 2 hrs left in the boil at this point - I filled until we had 10 gal in the boil kettle.
• With 2 hrs left I added the bittering hops

• Added the 90 min hops
• I cooked up a batch of Invert #1.  I used Terbinado sugar for this (along with 2 cups of water and 0.5 tsp of citric acid.  It is a bit darker than normal invert #1 but shouldn't darken the beer too much.
• Added 60 min hops
• Added 30 min hops
• Added invert with 20 min left

• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• With 5 min left I added the wort chiller to sanitize
• Chilled down to about 75 F (which was about as cold as the tap water)
• Drained into my fermentation bucket.  Pitched the yeast as I drained

• Collected about 5.75 gal and gravity is about 1.122 - way overshot my target.  I'm going to add some water to get down to the desired OG (addition of about half a gal)
• I'm going to let this start over night without temperature control
• 6/1/21 - Fermentation is underway this afternoon 
• 6/2/21 - I've left this without temperature control and also without an airlock.  Fermentation is producing a very estery yeast aroma
• 8/1/21:
• Checked the gravity of the beer - it is 1.040.  

• It is a reddish gold in color.  It is a bit sweet and has pretty bold ester flavor.  Malt and hop flavors are prominent as well.  Tastes nice
• Transferred it to a glass carboy for aging
• Added 2 sticks of brandy soaked oak

• Added the dry hops as well
• 12/18/21 - Bottled today with 4 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated pack of Red Star Premier Cuvee wine yeast.  The beer is malty and slightly fruity with a bit of brandy character.  Measured the gravity as 1.040.  Collected 5.5 gal of beer which netted me 54 12 oz bottles
• 3/6/22 - Tasting Notes - Bold flavors and a lot of different elements to pick out with this beer.  Quite sweet and pretty boozy.  I like the strong hop presence of this beer and the bitterness - the balance is somewhat to sweetness but the hops provide enough of a counter to make this a beer you feel like drinking rather than sipping.
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity with a sweet malty aroma.  Maybe a bit wine like.  Got a fair amount of alcohol on the nose
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Reddish gold in color.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fairly quickly fades down to nothing.  Very clear.
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Sweet bread malt and caramel up front.  This is followed by a nice bit of fruity ester character.  The finish has a bit of bitter kick that provides some balance to go along with the sweet malty character.  There is a bit of alcohol in the flavor as well but it's not harsh at all.  I don't think I'm getting any hop flavor in this one.
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and fairly sweet.  Drinks very smoothly.  Has a bit of alcohol warming.
• Overall (8 of 10):  A boldly flavored and fairly sweet Barleywine.  Has a fairly simple malt profile and a restrained fruity character so not the most complex beer.  I do think it's delicious and very drinkable
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
• Tasting Notes (38 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity aroma is prominent - musty and overripe dark fruit.  Has a wine-like character
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Golden and a little cloudy.  Pours with a 1 finger head that lingers around for quite a bit
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Fruity up front with a bold dark caramel malt character.  Also has a chocolate like flavor.  There is a bit of grassy and herbal hop flavor in there as well.  Fairly firm hop bitterness is balanced by a fairly sweet finish.  A bit of booze but it's well hidden  
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate.  Has a slight astringency and noticeable warming effect
• Overall (8 of 10):  Really nice bold flavors in this one along with a high level of complexity.  I like the bitterness and the balance it brings.  Makes it easy to drink for as sweet as it is.
• 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
• Tasting Notes (41 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Musty with some overripe fruit and wine-like character.  A bit of caramel and some alcohol.  Nice smells but fairly mild.
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 1 finger head that lingers for about a minute and fades to a thin layer.  Reddish gold in color and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Sweet and malty up front - toasted bread and a dark caramel character.  A bit fruity in the middle.  Maybe a bit of chocolate in there as well.  Some hop flavor as well - grassy and herbal.  Finishes with bit of bitterness but the balance is decidedly towards the sweet malty flavors.  Get a bit of alcohol flavor but it fits nicely.  Maybe even get something like a butterscotch character out of it.  This is a very nicely flavored beer with a lot of complexity
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Full bodied and drinks very smooth.  Leaves a stickiness on the palate.  Warming alcohol makes its presence known.
• Overall (9 of 10):  This is a complex and very richly flavored Barleywine.  I think the combination of flavors and balance is quite nice (happy that it has hop bitterness left to it).  I think this would be a very good example of what the style is about and (speculation here) why one might age a strong sweet beer like this.