New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[Braufessor]

Brau - what's your primary to keg transfer process. Sorry if I missed it earlier; this is a huge thread.

I use SS Brewbuckets with spigot.

A couple days before I want to transfer, I move them up on counter to let them sit in place and settle

I fill a keg with star san and push it out with CO2. I pop lid open, put tubing on spigot and that reaches bottom of keg, and just fill keg via gravity. I place the lid back over the opening to reduce open space. It fills quickly, in a couple minutes. I have CO2 hooked to keg and the last half gallon or so, I turn on CO2 to 1-2 pounds of pressure to push more CO2 into head space toward end. Once keg is full, I put lid back on, leave vent open and continue to purge head space for a minute or so. Then I hit it with 20-25lbs to seat the lid.

 

[BrewCityBaller]

NEIPA

• BrewCityBaller
• May 5, 2018

First NEIPA is in the books! Plenty hazy, but perhaps a little more orange than I anticipated. I did a closed transfer so I’m not sure where O2 could have gotten in. At any rate, it’s delicious and I’m sure it will go fast.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with my pH issue. It tastes great so it was likely my meter.

 

[BrewCityBaller]

Picture didn't work for some reason the first time around!

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Anyone planning on getting the Fermentasaurous for their NEIPAs? Sounds like the perfect marriage. Have a brew pub planned so sticking with original equipment till then.

 

[Braufessor]

Anyone planning on getting the Fermentasaurous for their NEIPAs? Sounds like the perfect marriage. Have a brew pub planned so sticking with original equipment till then.

I had a couple "V-Vessel" fermentors once upon a time..... basically, the same thing. I was not impressed. One BIG issue with fermentors like this (especially for a beer like this) is this........

Initially, you ferment the beer and all the trub falls in that ball.

Then, You take it off, and clean it out, and put it back on........

The second you put it back on and open the valve back up, two things happen.

1.) It sucks starsan through your airlock into your beer as the beer drops into that ball.

2.) The air (oxygen) that was in that ball, belches up through your beer....... Not good for a beer like this.

If I was going to go that direction, I would pay the extra $ and get the SS Brew Buckets. Or, I would ferment in Corny kegs and do things closed transfer.

 

[RTHP99]

Here is my recent beer that I forgot to add the hops at 170 degrees. Added when I finally realized at a little over 100 degrees. 3 oz citra 3 oz mosaic 1 oz simcoe. 4 oz citra, 3 mosaic, 1 simcoe dry hop on day 2. transfered to keg for spunding on day 3. Transfer was a mess, I tried to transfer without using a filter over the racking cane, got clogged up so I had to open everything up. So much for a closed transfer. The beer still came out great. Was worried there wouldnt be enough flavor because of the hops going in at 100 degrees, but its nice and juicy

 

[stickyfinger]

Anyone planning on getting the Fermentasaurous for their NEIPAs? Sounds like the perfect marriage. Have a brew pub planned so sticking with original equipment till then.

they look awesome. you can see inside and spund and do closed transfers i think. not sure if it fits in small dorm fridges

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It's worth noting that there's some kind of dispute around Fermentasaurus at the moment, I've not really followed it but I think one of the original guys split from the company and claimed he had the rights to it, so supplies may be a bit patchy until they've sorted that out.

 

[DHomebrews]

I had a couple "V-Vessel" fermentors once upon a time..... basically, the same thing. I was not impressed. One BIG issue with fermentors like this (especially for a beer like this) is this........

Initially, you ferment the beer and all the trub falls in that ball.

Then, You take it off, and clean it out, and put it back on........

The second you put it back on and open the valve back up, two things happen.

1.) It sucks starsan through your airlock into your beer as the beer drops into that ball.

2.) The air (oxygen) that was in that ball, belches up through your beer....... Not good for a beer like this.

If I was going to go that direction, I would pay the extra $ and get the SS Brew Buckets. Or, I would ferment in Corny kegs and do things closed transfer.

I use a Catalyst fermenter. One way I seemed to have gotten around these issues is that when I first transfer the wort from my system to the fermenter I let it sit a few minutes before pitching the yeast. It usually will quickly fill the attached jar. I will empty it then put a much larger jar on it, then pitch the yeast. During the rest of fermentation and dry hopping, that jar is big enough that it will fill and I won't need to remove it. Since I use a sampling port, it is above the tub and then I can get a clean transfer.

 

[stickyfinger]

OK, I had a flagging session IPA. I was like, "i'm going to just throw in a bunch of keg hops in a sack and see what happens." so, I threw in a bunch of hops in a sack and shook the keg up. The beer had a ton more hop character, but it was super floral and not really super great compared with adding hops to the fermenter. Now, it's been like 10 days since I put the hops into the keg, and the beer is tasting much better. I could detect some of the resinous Mosaic character, and it didn't have as much of the geraniol-floral-perfume thing going on. Has anyone else noticed a change in the character of a keg hopped beer for the bette with some aging?

 

[grassfeeder]

I use SS Brewbuckets with spigot.

A couple days before I want to transfer, I move them up on counter to let them sit in place and settle

I fill a keg with star san and push it out with CO2. I pop lid open, put tubing on spigot and that reaches bottom of keg, and just fill keg via gravity. I place the lid back over the opening to reduce open space. It fills quickly, in a couple minutes. I have CO2 hooked to keg and the last half gallon or so, I turn on CO2 to 1-2 pounds of pressure to push more CO2 into head space toward end. Once keg is full, I put lid back on, leave vent open and continue to purge head space for a minute or so. Then I hit it with 20-25lbs to seat the lid.

I also use SS Buckets and also purge a keg the same way. However my method varies where all I do is release the keg pressure and keep the purge valve open and hook up a hose to the spigot but on the other end of the hose I fill the keg from the out valve so it also fills from the bottom but I never remove the lid to allow potential mass O2 in.

 

[Braufessor]

I also use SS Buckets and also purge a keg the same way. However my method varies where all I do is release the keg pressure and keep the purge valve open and hook up a hose to the spigot but on the other end of the hose I fill the keg from the out valve so it also fills from the bottom but I never remove the lid to allow potential mass O2 in.

I've tried that (and I often use that method with things like blonde, pils, etc....) However, for whatever reason, I have never had a lot of success doing that with this beer. It has always been exceedingly slow and even stopped altogether on some occasions and I had to resort to other methods that introduced even more oxygen.
Do you leave the post and the disconnect in tact, or do you take the "guts" out of them? That would be a better method for sure, but I have struggled with implementing it from time to time and just kind of went the the simple procedure.

 

[grassfeeder]

I've tried that (and I often use that method with things like blonde, pils, etc....) However, for whatever reason, I have never had a lot of success doing that with this beer. It has always been exceedingly slow and even stopped altogether on some occasions and I had to resort to other methods that introduced even more oxygen.
Do you leave the post and the disconnect in tact, or do you take the "guts" out of them? That would be a better method for sure, but I have struggled with implementing it from time to time and just kind of went the the simple procedure.

I leave absolutely everything in tact. I will say however, I bag my dry hops with marbles and floss to keep them submerged half way so they don't sink and block the drain tube in the bucket.

 

[Quasinovo1]

I leave absolutely everything in tact. I will say however, I bag my dry hops with marbles and floss to keep them submerged half way so they don't sink and block the drain tube in the bucket.

I've had good luck with just tossing in free floating hops in the 14G BrewBucket (12 oz of dry hops in the case of 10 gal batch of NEIPA). I made sure that the pick-up tube is parallel to the floor from the very beginning. I do a couple of days cold crash and generally no problem direct kegging. On the odd occasion where I've had a clog, it has always in the black keg post connector. For that reason, I always have a second sanitized keg post connector on hand to swap out just in case.

 

[Curtis Russell]

Going to give this a try!

Okay…… This is just kind of an “update post”. The original recipe is great as is… but, here are some slightly different things I have started to do, minor changes, observations, etc. After a certain amount of time, you cannot edit a post – so I can’t really get in to make changes to the OP. I do think I can get this post linked into the OP though. Some of what follows is basically the same as the OP…. Some is different and updated. I will put the updated parts in bold italics

**I brew 6.5 gallons of finished beer (post boil)..... this allows me to leave some hop/trub behind in boil kettle and fermenter and get 5 gallons eventually into serving keg. If you finish with 5 gallons post boil, you might want to adjust hops down a bit.
6.5 gallons post boil
5.75 gallons into fermenter
5 gallons into keg

GRAIN BILL:
1.060 OG…. I think this makes a perfect compromise between getting into DIPA range (having beers that are just too high in abv. for my preference) and going too far toward 1.050 where the beer may become too much of a “session” IPA for some peoples preferences.

% and the actual amt. I use for 6.5 gallons @ 84% mash efficiency (your efficiency may vary – so use the percentages)

40% Rahr 2 Row (5.5 lbs)
40% Golden Promise (or similar…Maris Otter) (5.5 lbs)
8% Flaked Oats (1 lb)
4% Flaked Barley 1/2 lb)
4% Weyerman Wheat (1/2 lb)
2% Flaked Wheat (1/4 lb)
2% Honey Malt (1/4 lb)

60 minute mash @152-154)

*Note on grain…. Using all 2 Row for Base is probably fine. Using any combination of flaked Oats/Wheat/Barley to get into the 15-20% range is proably fine too. I do like the addition of Honey Malt and recommend keeping it.

HOPS:
**60 Min. = .75 oz Warrior
**Flame Out = 1oz. each of Citra/Galaxy/Mosaic
**Chill to 160 or below and add 1oz. each of Citra/Mosaic/Galaxy. Stop chiller and allow hops to sit for 30 minute or so. Stir up/whirlpool wort every 5 minutes or so.
Chill to 62-64 and let hops settle out as much as possible. Transfer wort to fermenter. I tend to leave behind .75 gallons of trub and hops (this is why I brew 6.5 gallon batch).

**Dry Hop #1- At day 4-6 (basically when there are a few gravity points left and beer is still fermenting). Add the following to primary fermenter:
1.5 oz. Citra
1 oz. Mosaic
.5 oz. Galaxy

**Dry Hop #2 - Around day 12, transfer to CO2 purged dry hopping keg with
1.5 oz. Citra
1 oz. Mosaic
.5 oz. Galaxy
(I use this strategy: http://www.bear-flavored.com/2014/09...no-oxygen.html )

Day 14 - Jump from Dry hop keg to serving keg. Force carbonate to moderate/moderate-low. For carbonation, I usually hook it up at 25 psi for 2 days and then back it off to 10-12 psi - generally seems to carb up best after a few days, but fine to drink after 2-3 days.


Many folks who don't keg, or don't have a dry hopping keg ask about adding all the hops to primary, or adding all the hops in a single dry hop..... that isn't what I do, but you have to make things fit your system and your process. Others do it with fine success. There is no reason it should not work to do that if it fits your system better

WATER PROFILE:
There are multiple directions to go here. Currently, I am partial to the following water addtions - 100% RO water. I add per gallon of mash and sparge water -
Gypsum = .9 grams/gallon
CaCl = .4 grams/gallon
Epsom = .1 gram/gallon
Canning Salt = .05 grams/gallon


Lactic Acid = I add about .5ml- 1ml (total) of lactic acid to the mash and the sparge. And may adjust a bit more…. Aiming for about 5.35-5.45 mash pH and Preboil kettle pH.

Using B'run Water

Ca = 100
Mg = 5
Na = 13
Sulfate = 147
Chloride = 80
Bicarbonate = 16

Mash pH = 5.37-5.42
Final runnings pH = 5.60
Pre-boil Kettle pH = 5.40-5.45
Post Boil pH = 5.3-5.35

**Water strategies to test out for yourself to see what you like best;
2:1 Sulfate:Chloride in the 150:75 range
1:1 Sulfate:Chloride in the 120-150 range
1:2 Sulfate:Chloride in the 75:150 range
All will produce a good beer… but you may find something you personally prefer.
I did go 200 sulfate:50 Cl…… it was fine…. But, it was not what I was looking for. It definitely “dried” the beer out a bit. I think it definitely moved this beer away from what most of us are shooting for in a “Ne IPA.”

Water Profile - the simple solution:
***Many people ask about a more general guide to water because they do not know what their own water profile is, or they have not made the jump to using a water profile software. I use B'run water, and the above profile. However, if you just want to get in the ballpark of something "similar" to start with..... The simplest solution is this:
100% RO water for both mash and sparge.
Per 5 gallons of mash water: 1 tsp of CaCl + 1/2 tsp Gypsum
Per 5 gallons of sparge water: 1 tsp of CaCl + 1/2 tsp Gypsum

This should bring you in around 140 Chloride and 80 Sulfate.

Or….. to try other versions….
*The opposite: 1tsp of gypsum and ½ tsp of CaCl per 5 gallon
*Equal ratios: ¾ - 1 tsp of each per 5 gallon.

This does not take into account trying to get Na or Mg numbers. It ignores bicarbonate and as it is 100% RO, it should bring your mash pH in around 5.41 without any acid addition.

ROUGH estimate of grams to tsp of minerals:
1/4 tsp Gypsum = .9 grams
1/4 tsp CaCl = 1.1 grams
1/4 tsp Epsom Salt = 1.3 grams
1/4 tsp Canning Salt = 1.8 grams


FERMENTATION
Yeast - Conan(vermont IPA), 1318 is also a yeast many choose to use in beers like this. *** I have also found that 1272 works great. I am starting to think that there are many yeasts that would likely do just fine in beers like this. 1056, 1450, 007…. I would not be afraid to try other yeasts.
I tend to start fermentation off around 62-64 at let it free rise to 66-68 degrees through the first 3 days or so of fermentation. At that point, I like to move it somewhere that it can finish off in the 68-70-72 range.

OTHER THOUGHTS/NOTES:

I keep almost everything the same in brewing IPA's to this style. However, I do mix up the hops. I always bitter with warrior (Columbus on occasion), and always use 4 sets of 3 ounce additions at Flameout, Whirlpool, Dry Hop #1, Dry Hop #2....... but, not always the same hops. I sometimes do 100% Citra. I sometimes do equal parts of Citra/Mosaic/Galaxy for all 4 additions (Grapefruit!!!!), I some times do equal parts (1.5 ounces) citra/mosaic at all 4 additions... But always the same basic amount, in the same basic schedule.
I think single hop versions of Mosaic or Galaxy would potentially be quite good. I have done 2:1 Citra:Columbus that was good. I like Simcoe/Amarillo/Centennial (but I keep centennial out of the dry hop as I find it “drying”). I have used Citra/Azacca – which was good (although Azacca can get lost as it is not as “strong” as some of the others). Personally, I think dank hops like Columbus, Eureka, etc. can get out of hand in beers like this and come off as harsh and grassy….. so, I tend to really limit them to smaller amounts. Lots of combos will work….. but, at the end of the day I still find it very hard to beat Citra:Mosaic:Galaxy combos.

 

[RTHP99]

11

 

[ca_baracus]

Based on Brau's updated post (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/page-146#post-8203827) when talking about the simple solution for water profile, do you guys add your brewing salts and lactic acid to the strike water while it's heating up or when it's in the mash tun? What about the sparge?

 

[Beerdrinker85]

I always add my minerals and lactic acid in the mash water and the sparge water the night before I brew. I am using Bru'n Water and I have always very good result.

 

[murphyslaw]

I do it as I heat the strike water so it has time to dissolve

 

[Sbe2]

I BIAB and do the same as @murphyslaw

 

[Braufessor]

I do it as I heat the strike water so it has time to dissolve

This^^

 

[ca_baracus]

Thanks, all! Brewing next week and I’m excited to give this style a try now that I have a keg setup. Will post results.

 

[fragged]

Based on Brau's updated post (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/page-146#post-8203827) when talking about the simple solution for water profile, do you guys add your brewing salts and lactic acid to the strike water while it's heating up or when it's in the mash tun? What about the sparge?

I add them to the strike water, though differently than others. I found the CaCl would dissolve and stick to the bottom of the kettle if I just poured in.

Now I dissolve them in the cup I use for weighing them out. Takes about 30 seconds of swishing around using strike temp water.

 

[anteater8]

While we're on the water topic.... I tend to add all my minerals to my mash water, using plain tap water for the sparge. Mostly because this helps me get down to a good mash pH without using lactic acid, but also because its way easier. Anyone see any issues with this method?

I'm very pleased with my NEIPA mouthfeel, but oddly enough I have trouble getting a nice crisp mouthfeel in my west coast IPAs (even with 200:100 sulfate:chloride).

 

[stickyfinger]

While we're on the water topic.... I tend to add all my minerals to my mash water, using plain tap water for the sparge. Mostly because this helps me get down to a good mash pH without using lactic acid, but also because its way easier. Anyone see any issues with this method?

I'm very pleased with my NEIPA mouthfeel, but oddly enough I have trouble getting a nice crisp mouthfeel in my west coast IPAs (even with 200:100 sulfate:chloride).

what is an example og and fg and mash temp? drop the chloride and up the sulfate to 300

 

[KrunkMasterKyle]

what is an example og and fg and mash temp? drop the chloride and up the sulfate to 300

Two great articles
http://scottjanish.com/chasing-mouthfeel-softness/

http://scottjanish.com/dextrins-and-mouthfeel/

 

[anteater8]

what is an example og and fg and mash temp? drop the chloride and up the sulfate to 300

Most recently 1.065 down to 1.010. Typically mashing around 152. And to correct myself, I actually aimed for a 50:200 chloride:sulfate ratio.

Two great articles
http://scottjanish.com/chasing-mouthfeel-softness/

http://scottjanish.com/dextrins-and-mouthfeel/

Thanks! Always love a good Scott Janish read.

 

[stickyfinger]

Most recently 1.065 down to 1.010. Typically mashing around 152. And to correct myself, I actually aimed for a 50:200 chloride:sulfate ratio.



Thanks! Always love a good Scott Janish read.

i’d try dropping to 1.060, drop the chloride, boost sulfate to 250, carbonate a little higher. are you doing at least 1 oz/gal in dry hop?

 

[anteater8]

i’d try dropping to 1.060, drop the chloride, boost sulfate to 250, carbonate a little higher. are you doing at least 1 oz/gal in dry hop?

No chloride at all eh? Yeah I use ~6 oz dry hop in just about all my IPA's (Sorry for the detour into west coast IPA talk everybody)...

 

[grassfeeder]

Just brewed this version a couple weeks back and by far my favorite to date. It is a total juice bomb so to add some dankness I'd move some the Whirlpool as a F.O.

6.75% ABV

37.5% 2-Row
37.5% Pilsner
12.5% Flaked Wheat
12.5% Flaked Oats

3oz Citra @ 165F for 30 minute whirlpool
3oz Mosaic @ 165F for 30 minute whirlpool

Dry Hop 1: 2oz Mosaic & 2oz Citra (added morning of day 3)
Dry Hop 2: 6oz Citra

Imperial A38 Juice Yeast

R.O. water w/ 1g per gallon of CaCl & .5g of Gypsum per gallon

Mashed at 152F