SkinnyPete
Well-Known Member
I just finished brewing up a hop burst type of IPA. I wanted something close to Heady Topper or Resin - something super hoppy but more sweet than bitter. It came out amazing. I got tons of praise from beer snob friends. The keg went quickly and I want to brew it again this weekend. I can't really think of anything that I'd change except one thing.
I used, if I remember correctly (I'm not near Beersmith right now), 17-18% crystal 10 to try and grab that Heady Topper type of sweetness (I used WYEAST 1056). But, after sampling it in secondary, I decided it wasn't as sweet as Heady and I added Splenda when kegging to sweeten it up a bit. It worked great and I think I added just enough to capture the exact sweetness I was looking for. It was perfect. Now, for some reason, I'm a little embarrassed by using Splenda. It sort of seems like cheating to me. I'm a purest. I'd like to do something else to capture that sweetness. This time around, I'm thinking of maybe kicking up the crystal addition a little. I'm mashing at 159 so I think I'm probably pretty good there. Maybe I could try lactose, but won't that impart a creamy flavor instead of sweetness? I'm willing to experiment, since this will probably be the beer I brew most often now. Any suggestions with this? Again, the flavor ended up pretty perfect and I could brew it exactly the same and be completely happy - but, something in me wants to use more natural ingredients, and not chemicals.
Thoughts?
I used, if I remember correctly (I'm not near Beersmith right now), 17-18% crystal 10 to try and grab that Heady Topper type of sweetness (I used WYEAST 1056). But, after sampling it in secondary, I decided it wasn't as sweet as Heady and I added Splenda when kegging to sweeten it up a bit. It worked great and I think I added just enough to capture the exact sweetness I was looking for. It was perfect. Now, for some reason, I'm a little embarrassed by using Splenda. It sort of seems like cheating to me. I'm a purest. I'd like to do something else to capture that sweetness. This time around, I'm thinking of maybe kicking up the crystal addition a little. I'm mashing at 159 so I think I'm probably pretty good there. Maybe I could try lactose, but won't that impart a creamy flavor instead of sweetness? I'm willing to experiment, since this will probably be the beer I brew most often now. Any suggestions with this? Again, the flavor ended up pretty perfect and I could brew it exactly the same and be completely happy - but, something in me wants to use more natural ingredients, and not chemicals.
Thoughts?