Making Rogue Yellow Snow IPA into a light beer

[beerandloathinginaustin]

My friends (and my head most mornings) complain that I make too many big Belgian beers and Imperial IPAs. So I thought I should try making a 4% IPA and thought it'd be fun to make it something similar to Yellow Snow: http://www.rogue.com/beers/yellow-snow-ipa.php

This is what my 4am BeerSmithery has cooked up so far for a partial mash recipe:

OG - 1.046
IBU - 70.7
Color - 4.7 SRM
Est Abv - 4.1%

5.7lb Extra pale LME
.7lb Melanoiden
.6lb Carafoam
Possibly WLP 002 instead of Pacman

60 - 1oz Amarillo
30 - 1oz Amarillo
20 - .5oz Citra
15 - 1oz Amarillo
10 - 1oz Citra
5 - 1oz Amarillo
1 -1.5oz Citra
DH - As yet undetermined

I decided it might be fun to throw some Citra in and I upped the Melanoiden trying to darken it up a little (since YS is 14 Lovibond). My last YS clone was a little light in body and way underhopped in the back end so I'm trying to make up for that while also making it into a much lighter beer. Any thoughts or expertise would be greatly appreciated. I'll be brewing this up tomorrow night and will gladly keep anyone who's interested updated.

 

[defenestrate]

that is a ton of hops for the grain- i would think goinging 40-50 would still give you plenty of flavor.

 

[slowbie]

that is a ton of hops for the grain- i would think goinging 40-50 would still give you plenty of flavor.

You might be surprised. I made a ~50 IBU 4% ABV Citra single hop pale ale and was left wanting more bitterness. A lot of it depends on hop variety and what percentage of IBUs come from late vs early hop additions. I made something similar with Chinook hops instead of Citra, and also bumped up the 60 min addition just a tad (staying at ~50 IBUs and 4% ABV) and that one came out closer to what I wanted.

My most recent batch is a ~70 IBU 4% ABV Nugget single hop pale ale but it's not ready yet so I can't comment on the how it worked.

 

[defenestrate]

You might be surprised. I made a ~50 IBU 4% ABV Citra single hop pale ale and was left wanting more bitterness. A lot of it depends on hop variety and what percentage of IBUs come from late vs early hop additions. I made something similar with Chinook hops instead of Citra, and also bumped up the 60 min addition just a tad (staying at ~50 IBUs and 4% ABV) and that one came out closer to what I wanted.

My most recent batch is a ~70 IBU 4% ABV Nugget single hop pale ale but it's not ready yet so I can't comment on the how it worked.

i agree, as i do a ton of late hopping myself- i would be hesitant to go a 60, 30 and 20 with that malt though. if it works it works, just my opinion.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Alright, I might steer clear of the 20 & 30 min additions and move a little to 60 and more to the back. The original YS is 70 IBU and I'd rather err on the side of too hoppy on this attempt so I'll stick with something in the 60-70 IBU range.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[TahoeTexan]

Let us know how it runs out. I too am looking to brew a "light" IPA.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Supplies were acquired at AHS. Will be brewing after I get my sand vball on. Here's the gameplan now:

6gal batch (split in half with 3gal getting Pacman & 3gal getting WLP090 SD Super)
OG - 1.047
IBU - 63
Color - 4.6 srm
Est abv - 4.5%

6.9lb Xpale LME
.8lb Melanoiden
.7lb Carafoam

@60 - .5oz Amarillo, .5oz Nelson Sauvin
@15 - 2oz Amarillo
@10 - 1oz Citra, .5oz Amarillo
@5 - 1oz Amarillo
@1 - 1oz Citra
DH - Still undecided

I'm excited to see what the Nelson Sauvin is like and get a crack at the SD Super yeast!

 

[terrapinj]

you may want to bump the Nelson up towards the end of the boil if you want to taste it although not sure how distinct it will be with the citra and amarillo but im sure it'll still be very tasty

i've been dying to get my hands on some to do a single hop beer with it

very fruity with a white wine (thus the Sauvin name) backbone behind it

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

you may want to bump the Nelson up towards the end of the boil if you want to taste it although not sure how distinct it will be with the citra and amarillo but im sure it'll still be very tasty

i've been dying to get my hands on some to do a single hop beer with it

very fruity with a white wine (thus the Sauvin name) backbone behind it

Yeah, I was excited to see it. Maybe I'll try a little at the end too. I was told to use it judiciously as a bittering hop though. I think I'll dry hop my reverse DFH American Red & white wine with Nelson. Austin Homebrew had it when I was in today if you're looking for it.

 

[terrapinj]

nelsons aren't listed on their website, maybe they just haven't updated yet

thanks for the heads up I'll keep checking

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

nelsons aren't listed on their website, maybe they just haven't updated yet

thanks for the heads up I'll keep checking

You might want to shoot them an e-mail. Seemed like they had a decent amount.

I threw an extra half oz of Nelson in at the end. I was surprised its aroma wasn't a little more distinct. Seemed like another big fruity hop to me, but then again that'll work just fine for my purposes.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Just wanted to update:

Will be dry hopping any day now. Waiting on getting some more Amarillo & Nelson. Had the Widmer Nelson Imperial the other day and really liked it. Very smooth. Definitely will be picking more up. Nelson might just be a staple in my brewing if its availability stays solid.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Just bottled both 3 gallon batches. The aroma from the dry hops (.5oz Nelson & .5oz Amarillo in each batch for 2 weeks) is absolutely killer. Very big and tropical.

At this point it seems like the SD Super lets the hop flavors shine through a little better but otherwise the difference between the two is pretty subtle. Can't wait to really start pounding these in a couple weeks!

OG was 1.048 and FG on both rounded to 1.008 so they came in a little heavy at 5.3-5.4%.

 

[dirty_martini]

Im glad to see this worked out for you. Maybe, you can go even lower with the starting gravity to keep it in that 4% range next time. One of my favorite underrated breweries is Drakes. Last year they made a beer called Alpha Sessions. 3.8% abv and 80 Ibus. It was amazing. Heres a description of it.

Our session beer is 3.8% ABV, but packed with as much hops as we use in our double IPA’s (Citra, Simcoe & German Magnum). All very high in alpha-acids, giving the beer great flavor and aroma. Have an Alpha Session today!

Unfortunately, it may have been a one off...I called it a california light beer and have been striving to make something like it since.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Sounds awesome. Please share if you create something similar.

Based on today's sampling I wouldn't be afraid at all to bump up the 60 min addition. This beer is full of flavor with great aroma and it comes as a surprise to me that it could definitely handle more bitterness.

 

[Germelli1]

subscribed!

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Recent tasting notes: Pacman seems to bring the malt base together a little better. Aroma is still great. Maybe a little Nelson dominated. If anything, I might make alterations to the base. Maybe some Crystal 40 to bring a little sweetness to the picture.