So I have been trying to replicate a NEIPA style beer similar to one that Trillium/Treehouse etc would make. I know there are other threads on this here and I have read most of them several times but they dated/long and hard to follow at times, so I figured it may be time to start a new one.
This last batch I had made tasted great at day 3 after kegging. It was not perfect but it was VERY good. Hazy, hoppy (but not bitter), had great mouthfeel, smelled of orange juice and mango and had all the tropical fruit flavors you may expect from this style of beer that was done well. I actually brought some to a friend and he asked me if I was messing with him and if it really was a Treehouse beer.
Fast forward about a week later and I find that it has lost a bit of haze (like maybe 1/2 as hazy?) and a lot of flavor. I mean, it is still super flavorful but not that treehouse kind. It almost reminds me now of ruffled feathers NEIPA by stony creek, where the tropical notes kinda remind you of fruity pebbles (not off putting at all either) and a little less complex. Am I making any sense here?
So we can discuss, I will share my 10 gallon brewing process.
My grain bill was pretty high on oats (4lbs) and white wheat (3.5lbs) (yes I know that treehouse and trilllium do not need these to make their beers viscous but thats what I did). I pretty much started with one of the treehouse clones I found online that included Golden promise , carapils etc. I mashed around 154 F. I boiled for 60 mins. Had a small 1 oz hop addition for 60 mins and then did 7 oz of hops at 5 mins then did a whirlpool at 110 F for about 15 mins with 10 ounces.
I cooled the wort, transferred to my SS Brewtech Chronical BME, where it was aerated on the way in and then I pitched the Imperial Juice A38 yeast. The Chronical is not being pressurized during fermentation. I did a break drop out of the conical on day 3 to get rid of all the hop and other break that had started to thicken on the bottom of the conical. After day 8 or so, I began to ramp temps up 1 degree per day. At about 1.015 SG (about 3 or so from expected terminal gravity), I dry hopped with 6 ounces of hops. I did this intentionally do make sure there would still be c02 to push out any O2 that had found its way in from my hop addition. I know there was still activity because my blowoff was still producing bubbles. The wort fermented out, as anticipated to approx 1.013 (I use a tilt now, which I LOVE). I then connected positive C02 pressure to the Chronical and began to crash cool to 32 F. After day 2 I dumped the trub. I tried a sample off the chronical and it was very good... tasted almost like "GREEN" and had a little hop burn, but really just a SMALL amount of it, which was expected as the sample port was close to the trub. I waited one additional day before then pressure transferred it to a keg. Keg sat, hooked up to the keggerator for 2 or 3 days before the pressure was equalized. At this point, the beer was pouring very hazy, with NO apparent particulates, no real hop burn, the head was amazing, the aromas where amazing. I felt I had NAILED IT! Fast forward to 2 weeks and now I have a VERY GOOD BEER, but not the beer I had 2 weeks ago.
I did not do much in the way of water balancing. I have very neutral water. In the future I will try to get my water profile closer to this:
This last batch I had made tasted great at day 3 after kegging. It was not perfect but it was VERY good. Hazy, hoppy (but not bitter), had great mouthfeel, smelled of orange juice and mango and had all the tropical fruit flavors you may expect from this style of beer that was done well. I actually brought some to a friend and he asked me if I was messing with him and if it really was a Treehouse beer.
Fast forward about a week later and I find that it has lost a bit of haze (like maybe 1/2 as hazy?) and a lot of flavor. I mean, it is still super flavorful but not that treehouse kind. It almost reminds me now of ruffled feathers NEIPA by stony creek, where the tropical notes kinda remind you of fruity pebbles (not off putting at all either) and a little less complex. Am I making any sense here?
So we can discuss, I will share my 10 gallon brewing process.
My grain bill was pretty high on oats (4lbs) and white wheat (3.5lbs) (yes I know that treehouse and trilllium do not need these to make their beers viscous but thats what I did). I pretty much started with one of the treehouse clones I found online that included Golden promise , carapils etc. I mashed around 154 F. I boiled for 60 mins. Had a small 1 oz hop addition for 60 mins and then did 7 oz of hops at 5 mins then did a whirlpool at 110 F for about 15 mins with 10 ounces.
I cooled the wort, transferred to my SS Brewtech Chronical BME, where it was aerated on the way in and then I pitched the Imperial Juice A38 yeast. The Chronical is not being pressurized during fermentation. I did a break drop out of the conical on day 3 to get rid of all the hop and other break that had started to thicken on the bottom of the conical. After day 8 or so, I began to ramp temps up 1 degree per day. At about 1.015 SG (about 3 or so from expected terminal gravity), I dry hopped with 6 ounces of hops. I did this intentionally do make sure there would still be c02 to push out any O2 that had found its way in from my hop addition. I know there was still activity because my blowoff was still producing bubbles. The wort fermented out, as anticipated to approx 1.013 (I use a tilt now, which I LOVE). I then connected positive C02 pressure to the Chronical and began to crash cool to 32 F. After day 2 I dumped the trub. I tried a sample off the chronical and it was very good... tasted almost like "GREEN" and had a little hop burn, but really just a SMALL amount of it, which was expected as the sample port was close to the trub. I waited one additional day before then pressure transferred it to a keg. Keg sat, hooked up to the keggerator for 2 or 3 days before the pressure was equalized. At this point, the beer was pouring very hazy, with NO apparent particulates, no real hop burn, the head was amazing, the aromas where amazing. I felt I had NAILED IT! Fast forward to 2 weeks and now I have a VERY GOOD BEER, but not the beer I had 2 weeks ago.
I did not do much in the way of water balancing. I have very neutral water. In the future I will try to get my water profile closer to this:
- Sulfates – 150PPM
- Chloride – 100PPM
- Calcium – 20PPM
- Magnesium – 20PPM
- Estimated Mash pH – 5.2