American IPA Experimental Lemon Lime Session IPA

[lbond2]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

WL-San Diago Super

Yeast Starter

yes...1400ml

Batch Size (Gallons)

6.5

Original Gravity

1.056

Final Gravity

1.014

Boiling Time (Minutes)

90

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

4-5 days untill gravity is reached

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

4-5 days of Dry hop

Tasting Notes

Reporting back in a couple of weeks

Grain Bill
8lb Maris Otter
2lb Vienna
1lb White Wheat
1lb Carapils
.5 Munich
.5 Golden Naked Oats
.5 Acid Malt - I wanted to note something here...I just bought a very nice digital PH Meter mostly because I am getting very serious about my mash PH; and, my starting tap water PH in Aurora, CO is exactly 8...the 1/2 lb dropped this perfectly to 5.34, very happy about this.

HOPS
60min - 5ml hop shot = 50IBU
15 - 1oz each Lemon Drop and J-Lime
10 - 1oz each Lemon Drop and J-Lime
5 - 1oz each Lemon Drop and J-Lime
0(15min hop stand) - 1oz each Lemon Drop and J-Lime
Dry hop 4-5 days - 1oz each Lemon Drop and J-Lime
Pushed through a hop rocket while serving with - 1oz each Lemon Drop .5oz Cascade

As you can see this is an experiment...I am excited to see how these hops taste and smell. I am going to explain a few things here to clarify. First the grain bill: I love a golden redish sunset look to my IPA's is the reason for the munich besides to round out the malt profile. The naked oats and wheat are mainly for a thick creamy mouthfeel. And of course the acid malt for a mash ph of around 5.3...Because if your making IPA's without checking your PH you should step your game up. Maris otter you ask??? Because it's the ****.
The reason for the 155 mash temp and 1.014 F.G. is to balance out the amount of hops with the low ABV. I want it a bit sweet to conform with the Lemon Lime I am looking for...There are no known dank hops in here.

The yeast...I am a big fan of the super yeast, this stuff can ferment a VOLVO. I really wanted to use Conan now that I have that yeast figured out but I want the hops to shine for now before I go do any of that.

The hops and oil... This will be my second time using the oil. I used 15ml = 150 IBU's in my last IPA and It didn't bitter it like I had expected. I doubt the 5ml will do much here, but I may be surprised. The hops were ordered from Yakima Valley Hops and the oil came from farmhouse brewing. I ordered oil from Yakima Valley Hops and the oil is much darker than farmhouse...that being said, I am wondering how much of a difference there is in the two.

As you can see the Information is Kind of muttled and unprofessional...a little sloppy if you will. This will be edited along the way for your convince. I hope you guys enjoy this post.

Cheers :rockin:

 

[lbond2]

Update...

Yesterday was brew day. Everything went super smooth, I hit all my target gravity's perfectly. I used a nylon bag for all my hop additions including a small nylon bag for my 15min hop steep. I have a chill wizard and I am trying to minimize as much as I can the amount of hops that go through the plate chiller....The bags are about as good as I can get.

A note on these hops...

First the Lemon drops - Being a low AA% hop these guys sure pack a good punch of nose with a nice fruity smell (I am not good at explaining how hops smell or better yet what they actually smell like)...So a buddy and I tasted a little nugget and they definitely taste like lemon. Excited about summer pale ales, Heffes, saison's, wheat beers, and maybe an all lemon drop IPA with these.

J-Lime hops - These things smelt just like alfalfa; which scared me a little bit because I am not a fan of Grass flavor in my beers due to hops. Tasted them and I could surly pick up lime. These hops did not seem to pack the punch the lemon drops hops packed.

After all said and done....The beer smells great so far and there is zero grass flavors as of now. Tasting the wort from the hydrometer was great...Lemon lime just as i had hoped. Hopefully these flavors are carried out through fermentation. This yeast may eat a bunch of the oils; time will tell. If this happens beyond what I am expecting, the hop back will make up for a good portion of what was lost.

 

[Snowden]

Sounds like a fun one! Looking forward to hearing how it turns out!

 

[lbond2]

The lupulin oils from the 5ml hop shot just before boil...View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425391721.006100.jpg

 

[lbond2]

Update...nearing day 3 of fermentation...not quite at final gravity. Perfect time to dry hop. I have been dry hopping near the end of fermentation in order to reduce hop oxidization. This technique was added on my last IPA and I will continue to do this.

The temp has been solid with my controller and ferm temp equipment at 66...that being said I may rise the temp a few degrees to help finish out.
The beer is super foamy maybe due to the wheat and rolled oats...it's almost carbonated I feel like.

Tasting notes this far. I am getting a grassy flavor along with some fruit...nose is the same. Of course the yeast is dominating(flavor)at this point but the mouth feel is going to be fantastic on this one.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425512277.638500.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425512286.657818.jpg

 

[lbond2]

Here is one of the first runnings..experiment description below...very heady topper like (appearance) after dry hopping. The proteins are very abundant, if brewed again the wheat/rolled oats will be adjusted accordingly; regardless, mouth feel is a 10/10. This is what craft beer is all about, can't except a cloudy beer, go drink bud light.

 

[lbond2]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426214628.067007.jpg

 

[lbond2]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426215447.815438.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426215468.745033.jpg

 

[lbond2]

This brew has been in the keg for a week now...that being said, it is a very sessionable IPA.
The final gravity finished at 1.014 = 5.5% ABV Perfect for a drinkable balanced IPA.

Here is the Deal on the hops:
I poured a few off the keg with the original brew...These were mellow tasting and easy to drink. The girl and I tasted them as best we could tried to describe the flavors and nose from these pours...Here is our results.
We both agreed that, we picked up a melon/strawberry/honeydew nose on the first few pours...The flavor, was a little astringent if you will...very much citrus like...really not blowing my hair back. Now, I am very used to making and drinking IIPAS so my "lupulin threshold" is very skewed.

Tonight I hooked the hop rocket up and tossed .5oz cascade and 1.5oz lemon drop hops in order to boost the hop punch in this beer and also to see how well this hop rocket works against the control group. THE RESULTS...

The nose...ALL but gone as of now and surprisingly, we could barely pick up anything, which tells me the Lime hops were dominating the nose. The flavor is super smooth, its just a great balance between citrus and tropical smoothness if you will. Its a great beer with no GRASS flavors at all (which I was definitely afraid of). I have a different opinion of the lime hops. Although grassy and alfalfa on the nose (in its raw state) it does not come off like that after a bit of aging. I feel this beer will get even better with age as most beers do. As the hops expand in the rocket we will be able to truly feel out the entire roundness of this beer. ALL in ALL, a very easy drinking spring/summer patio beer. Get some Lemon Drop hops, these beauties are a thing of the future pales and wheat beers...ENJOY!

 

[normonster]

Nice post. Sounds like a fun brew.