5 Hops IPA

[Edman89]

Hey group, I've been doing a lot of reading and a lot of IPA and pale ale drinking. I recently bought the Kama Citra Session IPA kit from Northern Brewer and then started getting ideas. This comes with centennial, cascade, and citra hops, and then after reading some hop character charts, I went to me lhbs and picked up a few oz of amarillo and challenger hops with the intent to do a dry hop 2-3 days before bottling, and potentially one at the start of fermentation with a steeping bag and remove either a few days later or at the time of second dry hop. Basically trying to go for a hazy juicy mango ipa. That being said as I'm still a novice, of those that have experience with these hop combos and dry hopping, can I get your thoughts on hop schedule? Also, will adding mango purée or dry freeze powdered mango add any significant alcohol content to the final measurement, say .75-1.5%, or is that overly optimistic? Mentioned the dry freeze powder as I've read it's more heavily concentrated and takes less to add to the fermenter while also preserving that precious beer liquid. Thanks for the input

 

[RCope]

You can definitely dry hop more than what the kit states, it already has a dry hop of 1oz each of Citra and Cascade. Amarillo would add more citrus/orange aroma and flavor. Save the Challenger for a stout or English bitter. My suggestion is to dry hop 3 or 4 days into fermentation (while it's still active) to minimize oxygen exposure. That fermentor is great but the lid doesn't allow for streaming in CO2, unless you rig something for the blowoff port.

Adding Mango puree can make a very tasty beer. I've made a bunch of them. It will not bump your abv significantly, turns out that most fruits have a high water content, with a probable OG less than your wort. It takes a lot of puree to add appreciable flavor, about 1lb per gallon. I use 6lbs (for 6 gallons in the fermentor) which is about 3/4 gallon of puree, so adjust your volumes accordingly. I have no experience with"dry freeze powder". Juice concentrates also work well and can increase your abv.

For your beer, my process would be to follow the kit instructions but aim for 1/2 gallon less in the fermentor (5.5 gallons for me). Then add mango puree and the dry hop while there is still some activity (bubbles). Stir with a sanitized spoon, fermentation will kick off again. I puree my fresh mango with 8oz of vodka to sanitize, others pasteurize it.

Transferring a mango beer can be a challenge, lots of fiber in mango. I don't know if you bottle or keg, but a Bouncer filter is my go to. You can rotate your racking arm to try to get above the dry hop/trub/mango that collects in the small cone. I always dry hop commando (no bag).

After typing all this, my best advice is to brew the kit (and several others) as written to get a feel for the process and outcome. Once you have some experience, then try making more complex stuff...Cheers!

 

[Edman89]

You can definitely dry hop more than what the kit states, it already has a dry hop of 1oz each of Citra and Cascade. Amarillo would add more citrus/orange aroma and flavor. Save the Challenger for a stout or English bitter. My suggestion is to dry hop 3 or 4 days into fermentation (while it's still active) to minimize oxygen exposure. That fermentor is great but the lid doesn't allow for streaming in CO2, unless you rig something for the blowoff port.

Adding Mango puree can make a very tasty beer. I've made a bunch of them. It will not bump your abv significantly, turns out that most fruits have a high water content, with a probable OG less than your wort. It takes a lot of puree to add appreciable flavor, about 1lb per gallon. I use 6lbs (for 6 gallons in the fermentor) which is about 3/4 gallon of puree, so adjust your volumes accordingly. I have no experience with"dry freeze powder". Juice concentrates also work well and can increase your abv.

For your beer, my process would be to follow the kit instructions but aim for 1/2 gallon less in the fermentor (5.5 gallons for me). Then add mango puree and the dry hop while there is still some activity (bubbles). Stir with a sanitized spoon, fermentation will kick off again. I puree my fresh mango with 8oz of vodka to sanitize, others pasteurize it.

Transferring a mango beer can be a challenge, lots of fiber in mango. I don't know if you bottle or keg, but a Bouncer filter is my go to. You can rotate your racking arm to try to get above the dry hop/trub/mango that collects in the small cone. I always dry hop commando (no bag).

After typing all this, my best advice is to brew the kit (and several others) as written to get a feel for the process and outcome. Once you have some experience, then try making more complex stuff...Cheers

Thanks! I'll be bottling. And good point in the filtering, I'd definitely need to have that. As for CO2 charging, I honestly hadn't planned on that, but I do plan to actually get a metal holesaw bit and get together with a welder buddy of mine and make some cuts to have him weld on sanitary tri clamp fittings. He has a bunch just sitting around in his shop and said he'd do it for a cigar and a 12pack. After reading your comment, I may just go for some mango juice concentrate. My wife loves fruity tropical ipa, and I enjoy them myself, so I figured I might try to have just a little fun. Maybe going overboard with messing with hop schedules in a proven kit but I definitely plan to dry hop. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[hottpeper13]

Last year I found a new to me product from Amoretti called Artisan natural flavors. They mostly got 4-5 star reviews stating tastes like real fruit. I put a bottle of mango on a 5 gal batch of lambic in Nov. 22 and will be checked and bottled sometime in Oct. I have a pear for a hydromell sometime this summer. We pay around 50$ for cherries and raspberries with a tun of wasted beer, we use 6 gal fermenters for secondary and only get 2 cases of each,tossing a gallon for each. I'm hoping for no waste and awesome taste,so here's to fingers crossed.
I can't remember the exact cost but it's way cheaper then real.

 

[Edman89]

Last year I found a new to me product from Amoretti called Artisan natural flavors. They mostly got 4-5 star reviews stating tastes like real fruit. I put a bottle of mango on a 5 gal batch of lambic in Nov. 22 and will be checked and bottled sometime in Oct. I have a pear for a hydromell sometime this summer. We pay around 50$ for cherries and raspberries with a tun of wasted beer, we use 6 gal fermenters for secondary and only get 2 cases of each,tossing a gallon for each. I'm hoping for no waste and awesome taste,so here's to fingers crossed.
I can't remember the exact cost but it's way cheaper then real.

Yeah that was my thoughts as well - how can I simplify the process and simultaneously save beer. The freeze dried fruit powder is still a viable option for me. Idk if I'll be able to get it out of suspension even with good flocculation, but since I'm shooting for hazy anyways, that's not really a deterrent for me. Plus it takes way less at .5oz freeze dried mango powder to 12oz of fresh from what I read here. Great little article that will be a game changer for me.

http://scottjanish.com/freeze-dried-mango-citra-neipa/

 

[hottpeper13]

When i used freeze dried raspberries i put them in a mesh bag (the second time) and slowly pulled it out(Big Mouth). The powder settled in the bottles.

 

[Edman89]

When i used freeze dried raspberries i put them in a mesh bag (the second time) and slowly pulled it out(Big Mouth). The powder settled in the bottles.

So you use freeze dried fruit in your process twice? How so, and do you notice a difference?

 

[hottpeper13]

Not twice ,but the second batch. I lost 3 gal on the first one so I sequestered the second.

 

[jschein]

Last year I found a new to me product from Amoretti called Artisan natural flavors. They mostly got 4-5 star reviews stating tastes like real fruit. I put a bottle of mango on a 5 gal batch of lambic in Nov. 22 and will be checked and bottled sometime in Oct. I have a pear for a hydromell sometime this summer. We pay around 50$ for cherries and raspberries with a tun of wasted beer, we use 6 gal fermenters for secondary and only get 2 cases of each,tossing a gallon for each. I'm hoping for no waste and awesome taste,so here's to fingers crossed.
I can't remember the exact cost but it's way cheaper then real.

I have used their raspberry in the keg with great results. I blew co2 in the out dip tube to mix it all up from the bottom.
I too was tired of wasting beer.