Going to take the dive

[redrocker652002]

And try the Treehouse IPA that the Apt Brewer did on his Youtube channel. He used London Ale 3 yeast, which is liquid. I have never had much luck with liquid yeast and was thinking of subbing out Verdant IPA yeast instead. Not only is it a dry yeast, but it comes in at half the price so that works out pretty well. LOL. Thoughts on this as a substitute? Also, going to try the magnet trick for my dry hops but this particular recipe has a large (5.25oz) dry hop addition that I am afraid my bucket fermenter krausen might hit if I do the magnet idea. I don't want to open the lid if I can help it with this much hops due to oxidation. My other idea is to drop the dry hops in the serving keg and put the beer on it as a closed transfer and just serve it that way, but I understand that brings up a whole bunch of other issues like hop creep, grassy flavors and such. This, to me, is an expensive recipe coming in at just over 100 dollars for the ingredients, so I want to try and give it every fair chance to be successful. Any input would be most appreciated. For info, I use a bucket fermenter and temp control in a dorm fridge set up with an inkbird. My "happy" temp for this setup seems to be in the low to mid 60's. Thanks for looking

Here is the recipe as used by the Apt Brewer.


https://share.brewfather.app/cYXSKdLgNh7cMi

Second edit: Funny, when I switched the yeast from London ale 3 to verdant it jumped the ABV from 7.0 to 7.6. Hmmm, not sure I want to get into an ABV that high. Might pick up the London ale at the local williams brewing instead of having it mailed and taking a chance.

 

[DonT]

I'm guessing you haven't done a hazy before... consider this a practice run...lol. Cold side oxidation with these is a real thing, be super careful. It took me a few tries to get all the bugs worked out of my process. I've never used Verdant, but if you feel more comfortable with dry, go for it. 64F is a bit on the cool side, you'll probably get less esters, but it should be fine. I don't think it'll cause an issue if the krausen comes in contact with the dry hops. Can you cold crash? If so, drop the hops mid-crash and you'll avoid hop creep. I don't keg hop, so I can't comment on that...
Good Luck!

 

[redrocker652002]

I'm guessing you haven't done a hazy before... consider this a practice run...lol. Cold side oxidation with these is a real thing, be super careful. It took me a few tries to get all the bugs worked out of my process. I've never used Verdant, but if you feel more comfortable with dry, go for it. 64F is a bit on the cool side, you'll probably get less esters, but it should be fine. I don't think it'll cause an issue if the krausen comes in contact with the dry hops. Can you cold crash? If so, drop the hops mid-crash and you'll avoid hop creep. I don't keg hop, so I can't comment on that...
Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply. I just did a dry run on a 2x6 collar for my ferm fridge and it seems to have worked. Now, with any luck, I will be able to ferment in one keg, transfer to another for dry hop and transfer to my serving keg all with no O2 exposure at all. This could be a game changer for me. I can probably get the temps to 67 to 68 if needed, but that might take a bit of work and an electric blanket. LOL. Now on to find a couple of inexpensive floating dip tubes for my new found fermentation process.

 

[k-daddy]

I've brewed many with so/so results over the past 8 years. My process is a closed one to o2 infiltration. 5-8 lb. pressure fermentations, o2 free dry hop using a purged hop bong and closed transfer into co2 purged kegs. Salt adjusted RO water, temperatures dialed in with glycol chiller or heat wrap, using seemingly proven recipes... Always seems to taste somewhat the same batch to batch, with no real crisp, bright aroma or flavor... boring would best describe my hazy's. They are all drinkable but nothing like those brewed by the leaders in this style.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Don't skimp on hop quality here, and use fresh as possible. Yeast, well, that's important too but hop quality and cold side oxygen free process are key. We don't get the quality of hops as the big boys do, unless you know someone in the industry, but get what you can and use them fresh as possible, makes a huge difference.

 

[k-daddy]

Don't skimp on hop quality here, and use fresh as possible. Yeast, well, that's important too but hop quality and cold side oxygen free process are key. We don't get the quality of hops as the big boys do, unless you know someone in the industry, but get what you can and use them fresh as possible, makes a huge difference.

I agree. I buy from YVH, thinking I am getting above average quality hops but I wonder if that's the case. They all seem to smell fine out of the package but I'm thinking it's the hops that are contributing to my seemingly boring hazy's. I am fastidious with my process and it's somewhat frustrating to end up with mediocre results in the glass.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I expect good quality hops from YVH as well, and if they smell good you shouldn't have a problem, that said it still doesn't come close to the hand selected lots the pros get. I've been having good luck with citra, nectaron, and nelson... side note to that would be to try not to use too many different hops, 3 is ideal, 4 at the most, or the hops just get muddled.

 

[redrocker652002]

Thanks all. My plan is to buy new hops and not use the ones I have in the freezer just in case. This is a very new style as well as process for me, so I want to make sure and try and eliminate any issues that I can and let it run it's course.

 

[wdavis2003]

My recommendation is not brewing a $100 batch for your first try. Especially, if using a bucket fermenter.. but it's your money.

Use ascorbic acid to help prevent oxidation. I use it in the mash but you can use it at different steps along the way. If using it in the mash, don't forget to adjust your other acid additions if there are any.

 

[redrocker652002]

My recommendation is not brewing a $100 batch for your first try. Especially, if using a bucket fermenter.. but it's your money.

Use ascorbic acid to help prevent oxidation. I use it in the mash but you can use it at different steps along the way. If using it in the mash, don't forget to adjust your other acid additions if there are any.

Thanks for the input. I have been brewing for a couple of years now and have been looking at trying this beer for a while. I am in the process of making a 2x6 collar for my fermentation fridge to be able to handle two corny kegs. One will be my primary fermentation keg that I will run a jumper from to the second one that will collect the CO2, purge the O2 and eventually will be my dry hop keg. Once all that is done, I will pressure transfer into my serving keg so that, hopefully, there will be absolutely no O2 exposure at all. I will probably do a batch or two before to tune this system in and get my process in place. So, I think I might have given the wrong impression when I said I was going to "take the dive". But, as I said, I do appreciate your input.

 

[Bramling Cross]

My recommendation is not brewing a $100 batch for your first try. Especially, if using a bucket fermenter.. but it's your money.

Use ascorbic acid to help prevent oxidation. I use it in the mash but you can use it at different steps along the way. If using it in the mash, don't forget to adjust your other acid additions if there are any.

Having used ascorbic acid at kegging for something like four years, I can attest that it does a great job. And it's cheap, too!

 

[BongoYodeler]

Thanks for the input. I have been brewing for a couple of years now and have been looking at trying this beer for a while. I am in the process of making a 2x6 collar for my fermentation fridge to be able to handle two corny kegs. One will be my primary fermentation keg that I will run a jumper from to the second one that will collect the CO2, purge the O2 and eventually will be my dry hop keg. Once all that is done, I will pressure transfer into my serving keg so that, hopefully, there will be absolutely no O2 exposure at all. I will probably do a batch or two before to tune this system in and get my process in place. So, I think I might have given the wrong impression when I said I was going to "take the dive". But, as I said, I do appreciate your input.

Re: “tuning your process,” if it were me I’d get the process down by brewing hazy pale ales instead of neipa’s. You’d still follow pretty much the same process but use quite a bit less hops and less grains. IOW, you’ll suffer much less financial loss as you experiment. On the other hand you may very well nail it on your first attempt and hit the ground running. Either way, good luck!!

 

[ninkwood]

I've brewed many with so/so results over the past 8 years. My process is a closed one to o2 infiltration. 5-8 lb. pressure fermentations, o2 free dry hop using a purged hop bong and closed transfer into co2 purged kegs. Salt adjusted RO water, temperatures dialed in with glycol chiller or heat wrap, using seemingly proven recipes... Always seems to taste somewhat the same batch to batch, with no real crisp, bright aroma or flavor... boring would best describe my hazy's. They are all drinkable but nothing like those brewed by the leaders in this style.

I have had the exact same experience albeit I only have 4 attempts so far. This style is elusive to me.

 

[Knightshade]

Re: “tuning your process,” if it were me I’d get the process down by brewing hazy pale ales instead of neipa’s. You’d still follow pretty much the same process but use quite a bit less hops and less grains. IOW, you’ll suffer much less financial loss as you experiment. On the other hand you may very well nail it on your first attempt and hit the ground running. Either way, good luck!!

This..exactly. The pale ale I have on tap has a "hazy" malt bill, and I used Verdant. Ex home brewer friend of mine tried it last night and his eyes popped out of his head. I was a little insulted w/the "You made this? Seriously?" but..I'm a bit congested so my taste buds are off.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

Verdant yeast came from the Verdant brewery, which uses and repitches London Ale III. It's similar but different.

Your software may increase the ABV but I'm not sure that would happen in practice. I've not had higher attenuation from Verdant than I have from LAIII myself. Software isn't reliable in attenuation methinks.

You posted this thread in August, so how is it all going?

 

[redrocker652002]

Hey all. As life gets in the way I have not tried this yet. The more I thought about it the more I took to heart the idea of trying "smaller" hazy brews before jumping in the deep end so to speak. I have been busy expanding my fermenting fridge with a a collar to fit two cornies for either storage or fermenting. Also purchased a Grainfather G30 and getting some research in before I run with that. Since most of what I have done is ale's I want to try my hand at lagers and marzen's now. I found a couple of cool recipe's for marzens that I want to try out. Since I can now get my fermenting down to lager temps that is next on my list I think.

But, with that said, since I now have the Grainfather step mashes and maybe even whirlpools are going to be attainable, so I am pretty excited to give this a go.

Thanks to all who replied.

Rock On!!!!!!!!!