Galaxy hops

[beertroll]

I recently made an IPA with Galaxy, Pacific Jade, and Pacifica. All late additions (first @ 15 minutes). It's one of the better beers I've brewed.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Though my galaxy recipe calls for two late boil galaxy additions, it also calls for a mid-wort-chill galaxy addition at 140 degrees for 30+ minutes (if this article is to be believed) in order to get the most out of galaxy's essential oils, and a dry hop addition.

I've used the mid-chill hop addition twice with galaxy and once with mosaic, and both times I've been rewarded with wonderful fruit aromas. And at 140 degrees for 30+ minutes, you're still within pasteurization range for beer.

 

[Brewmex41]

+1 to the galaxy/NS combo.
I have a beer cold crashing with rye, caramel rye, pale 2 row and C10.
Magnum @60 and the galaxy/ nelson sauvin at 10, 5 and FO.

The hydro tastes so good.

 

[Irishwhiskey]

This a Recipe that i came up with


5 Gallons The Galaxy hops i got where at 15% Alapha
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.0 %
2 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 15.0 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.0 %
0.50 oz Galaxy [15.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 34.3 IBUs
0.30 oz Galaxy [15.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 9.3 IBUs
0.35 oz Galaxy [15.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 7.9 IBUs
0.35 oz Galaxy [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 4.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP060) [50.28 ml] Yeast 9 -
2.00 oz Galaxy [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

its not totally carbed yet but the flavor is amazing

SIDE Note i took some left over Galaxy Hops put them in a Tea Leaf Sifter and put it into a Rolling Rock beer to Dry hop it for 10 min and boy did it add some great flavor and totally im prove the beer

 

[Yooper]

I'm brewing this now, with a few changes (I didn't have any Vienna malt so used MO for it instead). I'm using a pretty high sulfate water for this, similar to Mosher's pale ale water profile.

I'm using Northwest ale yeast, Wyeast #1332. I'll try to remember to update this with results in two weeks or so. I'll decide then whether to dryhop it!

 

[Token]

I want to use more New Zealand hops in my beers. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to get any more of my favorite Riwaka. I may have a hard time getting some Super Alpha too; real nice bittering hop! I'm working on plans for a couple other combinations.

Good luck with your brew day, Yoop!

 

[Yooper]

I want to use more New Zealand hops in my beers. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to get any more of my favorite Riwaka. I may have a hard time getting some Super Alpha too; real nice bittering hop! I'm working on plans for a couple other combinations.

Good luck with your brew day, Yoop!

Thanks! I'm a NZ hop (and Australian hop) noob for sure. I've been sort of stuck in a rut, and using all my favorite US hops for ages so it feels weird to sort of branch out. I'm definitely taking baby steps.

Tiber_Brew was visiting last weekend (fellow Yooper, in the Keweenaw) and tried my English IPA. He pronounced it "Very fugly". He's not a fuggles fan, but said it was a good EIPA. That's the first time in ages that I even used fuggles and EKG, so maybe I'm growing up a bit.

I'm sparging now. The wort is beautiful, and the smell is intoxicating. Oh, and maybe the beer is too.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Enjoy sniffing the airlock for the next week or so, and definitely dry hop to get some of that precious aroma back in that was driven out during off-gassing.

 

[MikeInMKE]

That recipe looks good! I never use epsom salts in my water, nor baking soda, nor table salt. But I sometimes use gypsum or calcium chloride if I need it.

I'm brewing this now, with a few changes (I didn't have any Vienna malt so used MO for it instead). I'm using a pretty high sulfate water for this, similar to Mosher's pale ale water profile.

There's a few "Mosher's pale ale" water profiles floating around on the web. The one I used (and I have no idea if this is the genuine "Mosher's pale ale" water profile):
Ca=111, SO4=337, Mg=18, Na=35, Cl=32, CO3=38

That recipe I referred to? If you take 5.25 gallons of RO water and add 9.5g of Gypsum, 1.0g of table salt, 3.6g of Epsom salt and 1.1g of baking soda, you get:
Ca=111.3, SO4=337.4, Mg=17.9, Na=34.9, Cl=31.4, CO3=39.8

It came out fantastic. All malt and hops with no mineral taste at all.

 

[Yooper]

There's a few "Mosher's pale ale" water profiles floating around on the web. The one I used (and I have no idea if this is the genuine "Mosher's pale ale" water profile):
Ca=111, SO4=337, Mg=18, Na=35, Cl=32, CO3=38

That recipe I referred to? If you take 5.25 gallons of RO water and add 9.5g of Gypsum, 1.0g of table salt, 3.6g of Epsom salt and 1.1g of baking soda, you get:
Ca=111.3, SO4=337.4, Mg=17.9, Na=34.9, Cl=31.4, CO3=39.8

It came out fantastic. All malt and hops with no mineral taste at all.

Ok, but why the baking soda? What's the mash pH? If you use baking soda, it can raise the mash pH. Most people have problems with a too-high mash pH (not too low) so it seems like you're adding stuff to raise the pH and stuff to lower the pH at the same time, and not considering the mash pH nor the flavor impact. That's a very small amount of baking soda, of course- a "why bother" amount actually, but I simply don't need it in my water and my mash pH is 5.35 without it in this recipe. I just took my mash ph about 1/2 hour ago. I don't need the table salt, as my chloride is fine without it (31). I think the sodium level (34.9) is higher there than my taste would like although some people do like a higher sodium level.

Malt has plenty of magnesium, but some people like to add it to sharpen the hops bitterness. That amount is fine, but in larger amounts it's "sour" tasting, and in even larger amounts it has a laxative effect. I'd rather use CaS04 to raise the sulfate, and the calcium, and not the magnesium.

In any case, I think water preferences are a matter of taste, just as hop flavor is so I don't think either is "bad" but I don't add unnecessary salts and I make sure my mash pH is optimal, and that's about it.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Ok, but why the baking soda?

In Beersmith, I used the Water Profile tool and clicked the "Calculate Best Additions" button. That combination of additions is what it gave me to turn 5.25 gallons of RO water into Mosher's ideal pale ale water profile.

What's the mash pH?

I don't yet have a pH meter, so I used the EZ Water Calculator spreadsheet, which estimated the room temperature mash to be 5.41. A pH meter is on my list of equipment to buy.

I probably put too much trust in Mosher's ideal pale ale water profile, that that combination if ions in the water would be good enough to not cause a bad taste nor a bad mash pH. As well, perhaps too much trust in a spreadsheet rather than a pH meter.

In any case, I think water preferences are a matter of taste, just as hop flavor is so I don't think either is "bad" but I don't add unnecessary salts and I make sure my mash pH is optimal, and that's about it.

I'm still learning, and still buying equipment; I've only been brewing since November. The water report for my village's wells show it to be extremely hard, which is why I've been experimenting with building water profiles from RO water, which I can get cheap locally.

Some day, someone will produce RO addition recipes for mash water and sparge water based on beer style.

Thanks for all the feedback. It really does help people like me who are trying to absorb it all.

 

[Brewsncrabs]

Crap! Wish I had seen this post earlier. I just did a Maris/Munich galaxy/cascade pale ale Sunday. Looked at the victory and Vienna in my fridge and talked myself out of adding some. Then I see your recipe! I wasn't sure how that would work. Oh well there's always next time.

 

[Yooper]

Crap! Wish I had seen this post earlier. I just did a Maris/Munich galaxy/cascade pale ale Sunday. Looked at the victory and Vienna in my fridge and talked myself out of adding some. Then I see your recipe! I wasn't sure how that would work. Oh well there's always next time.

Well, I'll let you know!

It's fermenting at 70 degrees right now, as I'm hoping to bring out a hint of fruitiness (not too much, though!) and the hops as well by fermenting right in the middle of the optimal range for that yeast strain (65-75 degrees).

I LOVE victory malt. It's got this wonderful toasty rich flavor, but without the caramel flavor from crystal malt, so I'm hopeful about this one.

The wort didn't smell as good going into the fermenter- it did up until I added the galaxy and did a hopstand. After that, it had an aroma that I can't quite place but didn't care for. It was almost like feet, but not quite.

 

[beertroll]

My galaxy IPA smelled like sweat in the fermenter. I was prepared to write it off as a failure. The finished product was delicious. I was very sad when I went to pour myself a pint tonight and the keg kicked.

 

[Yooper]

My galaxy IPA smelled like sweat in the fermenter. I was prepared to write it off as a failure. The finished product was delicious. I was very sad when I went to pour myself a pint tonight and the keg kicked.

that makes me feel better! It smelled great up until flame out, when I added the 3 ounces of galaxy (10 gallon batch). "Sweat" is a good description I guess- better than "feet" probably.

 

[dbennett78]

Made an IPA with galaxy simcoe and colombus this weekend. Used conan yeast (ECY001) to ferment. Smells good out of the box so hopefully its good. Have a library fundraiser tasting we brewed it for so hope its good in 2 weeks!

 

[MikeInMKE]

How does the airlock smell?

 

[dbennett78]

Not sure yet. On business travel this week. Wish I could huff the airlock, but my ferm chamber is set at 66. It was going crazy when I left so Im sure its fine.

 

[TNGabe]

Made an IPA with galaxy simcoe and colombus this weekend. Used conan yeast (ECY001) to ferment. Smells good out of the box so hopefully its good. Have a library fundraiser tasting we brewed it for so hope its good in 2 weeks!

I hope you meant ECY029. If you used ECY01, it's not going to be what you're expecting.

 

[Yooper]

I hope you meant ECY029. If you used ECY01, it's not going to be what you're expecting.

Yeah, I bet it was just a typo. ECY01 is quite the sensation, though, according to certain people at the NHC this year!

 

[Yooper]

Well, this is kegged now and I'm drinking it. It's much "earthier" than I anticipated. There is a tropical fruit flavor, but with a distinct earthy aftertaste. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

 

[Homercidal]

It's good to change now and again, but lately I've discovered I REALLY like the C hop flavors. Citrus, etc. I've had a few "earthy" IPAs recently and always feel disappointed. I'd probably liek those hops in an English ale. Maybe something with a bit of roast, but not necessarily roasty.

 

[Brewsncrabs]

Dry hopped mine yesterday with oz of galaxy. Mine was more cascade tasting than galaxy so I went with galaxy on the dry hop. Definitely tropical but not what I expected. See what happens when it gets kegged next week. I used the west coast ale yeast from mangrove jacks.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Well, this is kegged now and I'm drinking it. It's much "earthier" than I anticipated. There is a tropical fruit flavor, but with a distinct earthy aftertaste. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

Both times I brewed with Galaxy was with the 2012 crop, fermented with S-04, and neither time did I get an earthy aftertaste. I also didn't get any off-aromas during the hop stand.

Hmm. I was going to brew up a batch next weekend. Now I'm not so sure.

Edit: I just noticed some other possibly significant differences between our recipes. I used Warrior for bittering, and then Galaxy for flavor, aroma, hopstand, and dryhop. You used Magnum, Centennial, Cascade, and Galaxy. Could it be they don't play well with each other?

 

[Randy_Bugger]

I get passionfruit and herbal dankness from Galaxy. It makes a good single hop beer and it's a nice change of pace from the ubiquitous C hops.

 

[elproducto]

Well, this is kegged now and I'm drinking it. It's much "earthier" than I anticipated. There is a tropical fruit flavor, but with a distinct earthy aftertaste. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

Sorry Yoop.. didn't read the whole thread. How old is the beer? I brewed an APA with Cascade and Galaxy and I found it was quite earthy when it was only about 3 weeks old.. but after another couple of weeks it mellowed out, and was quite nice.

 

[Yooper]

Sorry Yoop.. didn't read the whole thread. How old is the beer? I brewed an APA with Cascade and Galaxy and I found it was quite earthy when it was only about 3 weeks old.. but after another couple of weeks it mellowed out, and was quite nice.

It's very young. I brewed it on 8/5, so it's 14 days old. Hopefully, it will be less earthy as it gets older, and still be hoppy.

 

[dbennett78]

Tasted my IPA. Its good, but not the best I have made. This batch was with YG001, not ECY001 like I typed before. I used all of the galaxy at the end of the boil, and did a hop stand with it. Its still not as prominent as the hop stand I did with Amarillo and citra though. But its really good.


The best one I made was with harvested conan yeast from heady topper.

 

[FATC1TY]

Never really got much earthy from Galaxy, I think it's a dang good sub from the over used Citra these days..

I get a rabid citrusy passionfruit flavor, with a little danky herbal note to it. Pretty pungent.