New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[emr25]

Why such a small blow-off receptacle? I usually just fill my chest freezer full of star san.

Hey that'd be a great way to keep temperature regulated with all that thermal mass!

In all seriousness though we dump our carboy full of StarSan solution into a 5-gallon bucket before filling with wort and have always used that as our blowoff receptacle. Used to be in the bath tub, with the carboy in a large plastic bucket of water / frozen bottles.

I will also swap out to an airlock after the first dry hop is added tomorrow. We've never had a batch blow out of the 6.5 gallon carboy, but the large tube is a safety measure because never say never.

 

[emr25]

Braufessor, I keep meaning to ask about the ABV calculation from the OP. The OG is listed as 1.055, FG as 1.011, and ABV as 5.3%.

When I plug those numbers into an ABV calculator I get 5.77%. Am I missing something obvious?

Our OG was also 1.055 and I'm hoping to end up in the ballpark of 1.011, so just curious.

 

[Braufessor]

Braufessor, I keep meaning to ask about the ABV calculation from the OP. The OG is listed as 1.055, FG as 1.011, and ABV as 5.3%.

When I plug those numbers into an ABV calculator I get 5.77%. Am I missing something obvious?

Our OG was also 1.055 and I'm hoping to end up in the ballpark of 1.011, so just curious.

Likely nothing more than me thinking in "averages"....... From batch to batch I am never under 1.050 and never above 1.055 (often due to the volume I end with). And FG is always in the 1.010-1.012 range....... So, just due to me writing it down that way. So, 1.052 to 1.012 would be 5.2% or so...... Probably just took the O. gravity from one batch I was looking at the F. Gravity from a different batch and the alcohol from another....

 

[emr25]

Likely nothing more than me thinking in "averages"....... From batch to batch I am never under 1.050 and never above 1.055 (often due to the volume I end with). And FG is always in the 1.010-1.012 range....... So, just due to me writing it down that way. So, 1.052 to 1.012 would be 5.2% or so...... Probably just took the O. gravity from one batch I was looking at the F. Gravity from a different batch and the alcohol from another....

Thanks for the explanation, I was thinking I might be crazy!

Anything in the ballpark of 5.5% sounds great for a summer IPA. We may consider upping the OG like you do with your latest batch, but I want to brew the OP recipe with minor tweaks (hops, possibly 1318 vs. Conan yeast) 2-3 times first to dial it in on our system.

 

[emr25]

Sorry to keep hijacking the thread.

Is this what your dry hop keg looks like (more or less)? I have the smaller screen on the dip tube end and this larger Better Bottle dry hop screen around that. Had to cut 1" off of the dip tube and unbend it a little for everything to fit in correctly. Might lose 16-32 oz when jumping to the serving keg but no worries there.

https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php#betterbottledryhopper

 

[TheHopfather]

I know I saw it earlier in the thread but I can't seem to find it now. How quickly are you guys turning this one around? Specifically time from hitting the keg with gas till drinking?

 

[whovous]

Braufessor,

I plan my first NE IPA brew for this weekend, and would appreciate your feedback. I will mostly track what you described in the base note to this string in a 2.5 gallon batch - then I will bottle rather than keg.

Here are the differences I plan. Should I reconsider any of them?
1) Mosaic/Citra/Simcoe instead of Mosaic/Citra/Galaxy. I doubt that matters much.
2) I want to play with color a bit with my grain bill, and I do not know if what I am planning is likely to much affect the flavor.

2 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 41.5 %
2 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.5 %
4.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 3.8 %
4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.8 %
2.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 6 1.9 %
The Crystal 120 is the elephant in the room. I want that color, but not at the expense of the flavor. Thoughts?

3) I will oxygenate and then direct pitch a single package of Gigayeast Vermont IPA, which I assume should be plenty safe for a 2.5 gallon batch.
4) I want to do something on the clarity front. Whirlfloc and maybe something post-fermentation as well, but probably no cold crash.

Advice?

 

[Braufessor]

Sorry to keep hijacking the thread.

Is this what your dry hop keg looks like (more or less)? I have the smaller screen on the dip tube end and this larger Better Bottle dry hop screen around that. Had to cut 1" off of the dip tube and unbend it a little for everything to fit in correctly. Might lose 16-32 oz when jumping to the serving keg but no worries there.

https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php#betterbottledryhopper

Yeah - that looks great. I don't use the rubber stopper - but otherwise basically the same.
In regard to losing beer due to short dip tube. Tip the keg a bit as it nears the bottom during transfer....keep tipping and rocking a bit to keep the beer deep around the dip tube - you can get the vast majority of it and leave behind less than 16 ounces for sure.

 

[Braufessor]

Braufessor,

I plan my first NE IPA brew for this weekend, and would appreciate your feedback. I will mostly track what you described in the base note to this string in a 2.5 gallon batch - then I will bottle rather than keg.

Here are the differences I plan. Should I reconsider any of them?
1) Mosaic/Citra/Simcoe instead of Mosaic/Citra/Galaxy. I doubt that matters much.
2) I want to play with color a bit with my grain bill, and I do not know if what I am planning is likely to much affect the flavor.

2 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 41.5 %
2 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.5 %
4.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 3.8 %
4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.8 %
2.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 6 1.9 %
The Crystal 120 is the elephant in the room. I want that color, but not at the expense of the flavor. Thoughts?

3) I will oxygenate and then direct pitch a single package of Gigayeast Vermont IPA, which I assume should be plenty safe for a 2.5 gallon batch.
4) I want to do something on the clarity front. Whirlfloc and maybe something post-fermentation as well, but probably no cold crash.

Advice?

Ditch the 120 for sure... that is going to overwhelm a 2.5 gallon batch with burnt caramel flavors. If you want color I would do 2-4 ounces of honey malt for flavor and then I would use 1-2-3 ounces of Midnight Wheat.... it is a roasted wheat that will give you lots of red/amber color with little to no roast flavor in that amount. Or, something like Carafa II or III. The rest of your grain bill looks good. You might be able to get the color you want with just an ounce or two of one of those grains I mentioned.

Hops look good.

If you want it clear - use some gelatin in the keg once the keg is cold, and before you carbonate it. That should drop it somewhere between clear and lightly hazy.

 

[Braufessor]

I know I saw it earlier in the thread but I can't seem to find it now. How quickly are you guys turning this one around? Specifically time from hitting the keg with gas till drinking?

Day 1-5 ferment
Day 5 or 6 First dry hop
Day 12 to dry hop keg
Day 14 to serving keg
Day 15 and 16 around 20 psi in the fridge
Day 17 back it down to 10-12 psi..... and, at that point I usually am drinking it.

Probably better around day 25-30 range.

Mine are usually gone before they ever see 5 weeks from brew day.

 

[whovous]

Ditch the 120 for sure... that is going to overwhelm a 2.5 gallon batch with burnt caramel flavors. If you want color I would do 2-4 ounces of honey malt for flavor and then I would use 1-2-3 ounces of Midnight Wheat.... it is a roasted wheat that will give you lots of red/amber color with little to no roast flavor in that amount. Or, something like Carafa II or III. The rest of your grain bill looks good. You might be able to get the color you want with just an ounce or two of one of those grains I mentioned.

Hops look good.

If you want it clear - use some gelatin in the keg once the keg is cold, and before you carbonate it. That should drop it somewhere between clear and lightly hazy.

That is exactly what I needed to know, thankyouverymuch. I did not know there even was such a thing as Midnight Wheat, but I've just confirmed my LHBS has it. I will delete the Crystal and start fiddling with the Midnight, and fall back on Carafa if I don't get where I want to go.

 

[whovous]

Arrghh! BerSmith does not list Midnight Wheat, and my LHBS does not provide any SRM info on it. Might it be the same as "Wheat, Roasted" with an SRM of 425? The next darkest option is only 9SRM.

 

[Braufessor]

Arrghh! BerSmith does not list Midnight Wheat, and my LHBS does not provide any SRM info on it. Might it be the same as "Wheat, Roasted" with an SRM of 425? The next darkest option is only 9SRM.

Yep - it is 425 range.

 

[cegan09]

Arrghh! BerSmith does not list Midnight Wheat, and my LHBS does not provide any SRM info on it. Might it be the same as "Wheat, Roasted" with an SRM of 425? The next darkest option is only 9SRM.

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Bitterless.htm#Midnight

550 Lovibond.

 

[Braufessor]

Might even be closer to 550.... depending on the specific source. I actually use a bit of it in my Dortmunder Lager to deepen the gold color. It is a nice malt for tweeking color in really small quantities.
http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_MidnightWheatMalt.pdf

 

[emr25]

Yeah - that looks great. I don't use the rubber stopper - but otherwise basically the same.
In regard to losing beer due to short dip tube. Tip the keg a bit as it nears the bottom during transfer....keep tipping and rocking a bit to keep the beer deep around the dip tube - you can get the vast majority of it and leave behind less than 16 ounces for sure.

Thanks for the tip!

Any reason for me not to use the rubber stopper? I figured if the liquid level is above the filter height the stopper might help keep hop trub from getting inside the larger mesh filter. But I'm also wondering if the rubber could be a source of contamination or off flavors? I would guess not since it is just 2 days in the dry hop keg but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

 

[milldoggy]

Could get a silicon stopper

 

[Braufessor]

Thanks for the tip!

Any reason for me not to use the rubber stopper? I figured if the liquid level is above the filter height the stopper might help keep hop trub from getting inside the larger mesh filter. But I'm also wondering if the rubber could be a source of contamination or off flavors? I would guess not since it is just 2 days in the dry hop keg but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Nope.... I might start using one too

Once I cut the dip tube a bit though, I have had zero problems with plugging.

 

[m00ps]

Arrghh! BerSmith does not list Midnight Wheat, and my LHBS does not provide any SRM info on it. Might it be the same as "Wheat, Roasted" with an SRM of 425? The next darkest option is only 9SRM.

By SRM, you mean degrees Lovibond? SRM is for the final beer...

Midnight wheat, made by Briess is actually 550L
There's a chocolate wheat by weyermann thats 300-450 range
http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_MidnightWheatMalt.pdf
http://www.weyermann.de/usa/produkte.asp?idkat=167&umenue=yes&idmenue=269&sprache=10

 

[whovous]

By SRM, you mean degrees Lovibond? SRM is for the final beer...

Midnight wheat, made by Briess is actually 550L
There's a chocolate wheat by weyermann thats 300-450 range
http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_MidnightWheatMalt.pdf
http://www.weyermann.de/usa/produkte.asp?idkat=167&umenue=yes&idmenue=269&sprache=10

I have no idea what I mean, and now I am not on my home machine where BrewSmith is installed, but my recollection is that BrewSmith gives an SRM number for each grain. So, when I created an entry for Midnight Wheat, which number should I have entered? 425 or 550?

 

[Braufessor]

I have no idea what I mean, and now I am not on my home machine where BrewSmith is installed, but my recollection is that BrewSmith gives an SRM number for each grain. So, when I created an entry for Midnight Wheat, which number should I have entered? 425 or 550?

Use 550 if it is Briess Midnight Wheat..... that is the lovibond number. Your program probably needs to know the L # of each grain so it can then calculate final beer color. So, the 550 is the color associated with that one grain.
However, your program is probably then telling you, based on your malts, what the final beer color is in SRM.

SRM is the resulting number associated with colors.
1-5 = pale yellow to gold
5-8 = getting toward deep gold/orange
8-14 = moving toward amber
14-20 = getting toward brown
etc.

 

[emr25]

SG is down to 1.016 about 90 hours after pitching (1.055 OG). Added the first 3 oz dry hop (1.5 oz Citra, 1.0 oz Mosaic, 0.5 oz Galaxy). Planning to hold at 68* for another day or two and then ramp to 70* until Day 12 when we transfer to the dry hop keg and add the second 3 oz dry hop.

Color looks good, I think it should be less murky after jumping to the serving keg and cooling to serving temperature.

 

[brew703]

I'm going to be brewing this soon as written. Only difference is I will be using either Columbus or Magnum for bittering as I don't have any Warrior. I'll try and get to the LHBS next weekend to get the yeast and may pick up some Warrior if they have some.

 

[emr25]

I'm going to be brewing this soon as written. Only difference is I will be using either Columbus or Magnum for bittering as I don't have any Warrior. I'll try and get to the LHBS next weekend to get the yeast and may pick up some Warrior if they have some.

I'm planning to use Columbus for bittering on the second batch. For our first we used Warrior.

 

[Braufessor]

Columbus works nice with these hops.... I have been adding various amounts to recent batches and like it.

 

[brew703]

That's good to know. Still need to get the Conan yeast. Hopefully next weekend I get make a trip to the LHBS to get some.

 

[olotti]

That's good to know. Still need to get the Conan yeast. Hopefully next weekend I get make a trip to the LHBS to get some.

They sell Conan where your at or a varient? I've always only seen it online from yeast bay or omega which I got from farmhouse. There really isn't an equivalent so u may want to call ahead.

 

[brew703]

They sell Conan where your at or a varient? I've always only seen it online from yeast bay or omega which I got from farmhouse. There really isn't an equivalent so u may want to call ahead.

I can get Giga Yeast Vermont strain but that's it so that's what I was going to use.
It's too hot down here to order online. I've have not had good luck with ordering liquid yeast online. Thought about ordering from Yeast Bay but figured by the down it made it down to S. Louisiana it would be hot.

 

[olotti]

I can get Giga Yeast Vermont strain but that's it so that's what I was going to use.
It's too hot down here to order online. I've have not had good luck with ordering liquid yeast online. Thought about ordering from Yeast Bay but figured by the down it made it down to S. Louisiana it would be hot.

Nice I'm jealous u can get it local.

 

[brew703]

I'm hoping they still have it next weekend. Sometimes they sell out and it takes a while to get it back.
Not cheap at $10.
If I cant get the Giga what's the next best yeast to use? I can pretty much get any of the Wyeast and White Labs yeast.