New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[Cavpilot2000]

Has anyone experimented with making a beer of this style with say a 30 minute boil instead of the standard 60? Curious if it would make a difference.

See above (forgot to quote).

 

[stickyfinger]

Yes. I've done basically the same grain bill with 30 and 60 minute boils (the longest hops boil I do with these is 15 min).
It worked great.
I still do 60 usually, but that's mainly out of habit and consistency of process.
This beer is a prime candidate for a 30 min boil due to the lack of need for a 60 minute hops boil.

I think Brulosophy has done at least one or two short-boil (30 mins or less) XBMts and found that the resulting beers were indistinguishable from longer boil times (even with Pils malt.) I wouldn't be too afraid of doing a shorter boil on these. As Cavpilot says, they don't need the long boil for bitterness, so it would probably work fine. You will also lose some efficience to knockout, as you won't get as much evaporation from the kettle, but that is a not really important if you plan for it. I would do 30 min batches if I didn't need the 60 mins to get my **** in order and ready for chilling.

 

[ultravista]

Is there THAT much of a difference with 1318 vs. Conan in regards to this style? I have read that many have great results with both.

Interesting idea w/the 30 minutes ...

 

[mintyice]

Is there THAT much of a difference with 1318 vs. Conan in regards to this style? I have read that many have great results with both.

Interesting idea w/the 30 minutes ...

1318 is easier to work with.

 

[Korx]

Yes. I've done basically the same grain bill with 30 and 60 minute boils (the longest hops boil I do with these is 15 min).
It worked great.
I still do 60 usually, but that's mainly out of habit and consistency of process.
This beer is a prime candidate for a 30 min boil due to the lack of need for a 60 minute hops boil.

What differences did you notice - if any other than the obvious less evaporation?

 

[Cavpilot2000]

What differences did you notice - if any other than the obvious less evaporation?

The difference I saw was mainly in evaporation (30 min boil kinda screwed with my efficiency calculations, since my process is based on 60 min for ales and 90 min for lagers).
I also noticed a difference in the "composition" of the wort going into the fermenter (more cloudy, more suspended particulates, probably due to less hot break formation) with the 30 minute boil, but in the long run I don't think that made any difference in the finished beer once fermentation was complete.
In the long run, I don't think the reduced boil time hurt the beer at all, but I still like a 60 min boil for consistency. I may do a 30 min from time to time though if I need a short brewday.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

What differences did you notice - if any other than the obvious less evaporation?

Just kegged my 20min 3.75gal PM Pale Ale experiment. DME all added post boil. Nothing unusual noticed. 7days fermenting. 1day cold crash. Dig the 1.5hr brew day!

20min mash, 20min boil, 20min cool down 20min cleanup. 3oz boil hops and 1oz dry. OG 1.040. FG 1.007. Bit thin and lacks flavor, but concept seems fine. Doing a full 5gallon IPA 20min next, triple the hops tho.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Pic, 2hrs kegged.

Maybe more bitter then desired. All high alpha hops were used. Scratch the 20min hops. Probably do all whirlpool next time. Can we say 5min boil?? 😉

View attachment 1490291327800.jpg

 

[plazola86]

Pic, 2hrs kegged.

Maybe more bitter then desired. All high alpha hops were used. Scratch the 20min hops. Probably do all whirlpool next time. Can we say 5min boil??

Was this an all extract recipe? That's a great color, looks like a thirst quencher!

Off topic. My wife and I are headed down to Austin this weekend! We have a list of breweries but any personal recommendations? Pint house is a must but any other places with good IPA's? Anybody doing NE style down there?

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Was this an all extract recipe? That's a great color, looks like a thirst quencher!

Off topic. My wife and I are headed down to Austin this weekend! We have a list of breweries but any personal recommendations? Pint house is a must but any other places with good IPA's? Anybody doing NE style down there?

It was a partial mash. Happy for sure.

Pint House is top for IPAs and great pizza. Might want to hit both Burnet and South Lamar locations for maximum sampling. ABGBs, just up the street on South Lamar/Oltorf has decent IPA and good pizza. Independence, southeast, is coming around with nice brews. If you hit Jester King, southwest , go to Last Stand and Argus Ciders just a mile down the road. Blue Owl, Hops and Grain, Zilker, east central, are all real close together. Blue Owl is releasing barrel aged sour mashes this coming week, I was told by a brewer I ran into the other day. 4th Tap and Red Horn are north and worth a stop.

Austin is getting to be a pain for driving. Suggest staying north or south for the day. BlueOwl and them are easily accessible from south Austin.

Enjoy your visit!

 

[cheesebach]

Off topic. My wife and I are headed down to Austin this weekend! We have a list of breweries but any personal recommendations? Pint house is a must but any other places with good IPA's? Anybody doing NE style down there?

Definitely go to Pinthouse for your hop cravings (south lamar location for Electric Jellyfish IPA), but whatever you do, don't miss a chance to check out Jester King if you haven't been before. The combination of the atmosphere and quality, innovative beers can't be beat. Have a great trip!

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Jester king is releasing their Color Five, a sour blueberry this weekend. PhP south Lamar releasing 2 brews also and EJ a must!

 

[cheesebach]

Quite clear to somewhat hazy. I think most of the haze comes from the early dry hop addition.

Braufessor, I think you're probably right on the impact of the early dryhop addition, but iirc, I thought I remembered you saying in a post a couple months back that these beers for you were typically hazy going into the fermenter and stayed hazy until finished?

I also got a clearer-than-expected finished beer, which I thought was due to a lower mash pH, but I now think that measurement was off due to bad calibration solutions I was using. Using a new set of buffers from a different manufacturer, the 5.25 room temp pH I measured would have really been around 5.35-5.40. The 2 things I think I "missed" on were the whirlpool being at a bit cooler than I was shooting for (around 160F) and starting my dryhop too late on day 4ish when fermentation was already winding down from the peak at day 2. If it's typical for the wort to be mostly clear going into the fermenter, that would give me more confidence that just correcting my dry hop would give me the desired result.

 

[cheesebach]

I was able to find the post a long ways back that mentioned the haziness being present post-boil:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7784975&postcount=2009

All of my IPAs (including this one) have been quite clear post-boil, so I'm just trying to figure out where is the first point in the process that these beers start looking different to help me pick 1 or 2 variables to tweak in my process the next time I attempt this style.

 

[tomchukj]

When I poured my first beer I will admit I was a bit disappointed due to the bite that was present. Gave it another 5 days and I am really happy how this came out. Will say this is the first IPA i am proud of making. Thanks. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1490321735.956500.jpg

 

[plazola86]

@pianoman and @cheesebach thanks for the recommendations! We've been to Austin twice and have been Jester King both times, Pint House once. Pint house is a must for me after my last visit. I can't wait! DM me if you guys want to get a beer together.

 

[plazola86]

I was able to find the post a long ways back that mentioned the haziness being present post-boil:



https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7784975&postcount=2009



All of my IPAs (including this one) have been quite clear post-boil, so I'm just trying to figure out where is the first point in the process that these beers start looking different to help me pick 1 or 2 variables to tweak in my process the next time I attempt this style.

Are you brewing extract or all grain? I find right from the start that the oatmeal and wheat adds to the haze before the yeast and the dry hop come into play. I actually have a problem with clear beer! I just brewed a west coast style IPA grain bill was just 2 row with a little cara and crystal 20 and fermented with us-05. Came out tasting perfect but the appearance threw me off.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1490322825.644799.jpg

 

[stickyfinger]

Are you brewing extract or all grain? I find right from the start that the oatmeal and wheat adds to the haze before the yeast and the dry hop come into play. I actually have a problem with clear beer! I just brewed a west coast style IPA grain bill was just 2 row with a little cara and crystal 20 and fermented with us-05. Came out tasting perfect but the appearance threw me off.
View attachment 393873

do u use kettle finings?

 

[plazola86]

Actually LOL now that you mention it, i misplaced (lost) my whirlfloc and haven't used any in my last three batches.

 

[stickyfinger]

Actually LOL now that you mention it, i misplaced (lost) my whirlfloc and haven't used any in my last three batches.

i had not used whirfloc in any ipa for weeks then did a WC IPA with whirfloc and it was much clearer...

 

[bkboiler]

just brewed this last night! followed the grain bill and water profile exactly! and i stuck to the IBU recommendation, but subject to available hops am doing nugget to bitter and calypso and apollo for flameout, hopstand &dryhop. Using WLP008 "East Coast Ale", since the LHBS didnt have conan.

 

[mintyice]

Planning an all Hop Hash NEIPA this weekend

 

[plazola86]

Planning an all Hop Hash NEIPA this weekend

I've heard this is one of the real "secrets" to creating the haze on this style of beer. Looking forward to the results!

 

[cheesebach]

Are you brewing extract or all grain? I find right from the start that the oatmeal and wheat adds to the haze before the yeast and the dry hop come into play. I actually have a problem with clear beer! I just brewed a west coast style IPA grain bill was just 2 row with a little cara and crystal 20 and fermented with us-05. Came out tasting perfect but the appearance threw me off.

Interesting that you seem to be on the opposite end of the clarity spectrum with your hoppy beers from me. I'm doing all grain and switched from a cooler batch sparge mash to full volume BIAB about a year ago. I don't recall noticing any change in the clarity of my beers switching from batch sparge to BIAB, but I've wondered if BIAB vs batch sparge results in a slightly different pre-boil pH. I wouldn't expect it to be much different though, assuming the sparge water is treated. Also, I've been using RO and building my water profile ever since my 3rd batch back in 2015.

Regarding the oats and wheat - I haven't found either to contribute to haze/cloudiness with my process before. Last summer I made the mosaic honey wheat recipe from another thread that ended up clear (I was hoping for at least a little of the cloudy wheat appearance and didn't get it). With the oats, I did get substantial cloudiness in the 2nd batch I made that was an extract oatmeal stout. I contribute this to being a badly designed recipe kit that included oats with the specialty grains and said in the instructions to just steep them all for 30 minutes (not mashing) before boiling and adding extract. After reading homebrew books and learning about all grain since then, I can't understand why a reputable homebrew store sold me the recipe this way, since oats need to be mashed. Other beers with oats I've brewed as all-grain since then have turned out quite clear. Sometimes, I almost feel as though I'm doing something wrong that is making all my beers come out so clear

I do include whirfloc as part of my process, and it sounds like you've skipped that in your last few batches so that might definitely be accounting for some of the difference.

Are most people here that regularly use whirfloc skipping it intentionally for these beers? That would seem to go against one of the common themes in this thread though, which is that it's not necessary to change the process in ways to deliberately increase haziness.

 

[plazola86]

I almost feel as though I'm doing something wrong that is making all my beers come out so clear
QUOTE]

My very first try at this style was spot on (appearance wise) and my process is exactly like yours. Full volume BIAB using RO water built to a specific profile.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I do include whirfloc as part of my process, and it sounds like you've skipped that in your last few batches so that might definitely be accounting for some of the difference.

Are most people here that regularly use whirfloc skipping it intentionally for these beers? That would seem to go against one of the common themes in this thread though, which is that it's not necessary to change the process in ways to deliberately increase haziness.

I understand the idea of keeping your process consistent, but adding or not adding whilrfloc isn't so much a process as an ingredient. And in this case, it's an ingredient that is inappropriate for this style.
Why inappropriate? Because the whole purpose of Whirlfloc, Irish Moss, etc, is to reduce haze in your beer. It makes no sense to add an ingredient whose sole purpose is clarifying beer when you are making a beer that is deliberately cloudy. At best it's pointless and wasteful. At worst, it's counterproductive.
Do you Whirlfloc your Hefeweizen?
Likewise, I might gelatin my lagers post-fermentation, but I would never do it to an NEIPA because it's a waste of resources (time, effort, gelatin) to gain a result I don't want.

 

[cheesebach]

I understand the idea of keeping your process consistent, but adding or not adding whilrfloc isn't so much a process as an ingredient. And in this case, it's an ingredient that is inappropriate for this style.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm probably leaning towards skipping the whirlfloc the next time. I tried searching this thread for other posts relating to the use of whirlfloc, and it seems there are roughly equal numbers that use it to the ones that don't. I'm guessing that it does play some role in the clarity from the comments I've read, although you can find a few quite hazy examples in this thread that did use it. I can't think of any other things I could change in my process though that would lead the beer to be hazy going into the fermenter, as it seems is the case for many here. The other thing I'll likely change is doing the dry hop closer to the day 2-3 mark when fermentation is still chugging along at a good pace, rather than when its winding down at day 4 like I did last time.

 

[leesmith]

I was able to find the post a long ways back that mentioned the haziness being present post-boil:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7784975&postcount=2009

All of my IPAs (including this one) have been quite clear post-boil, so I'm just trying to figure out where is the first point in the process that these beers start looking different to help me pick 1 or 2 variables to tweak in my process the next time I attempt this style.

Can you share with us your exact process from grain to glass?

I used whirlfloc in this last batch of a Nelson Pale Ale and it's cloudier than some of my previous attempts. I don't really care if it is or not but after dry hopping it was very dense looking: Nelson Pale Ale

It's been in the keg for a week and and a half and showing no signs of clearing.

 

[marjen]

Full volume BIAB using RO water built to a specific profile

could you share your water profile with RO water? Specifically how much gypsum and CaCl you added? Thanks.

 

[bigplunkett]

Do you guys think this would work with hop shots? I was thinking of using citra and chinook shots and mable eldo.