A New Take on Single Tap IPA

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Nick Ladd

In the past, I’ve had good luck brewing my IPA. My standard recipe has won a number of awards and tastes great. That being said, my attention span is short and it is time to change things up. Between the fresh 2013 hops I had ordered in bulk (from Hops Direct) and capabilities built into my current brewery, the time was nigh to make some tweaks to Single Tap.

On the brew house side, I am now able to do a pump-driven whirlpool. This allows me to better simulate the extended whirlpool often done with the best commercial IPAs. Additionally, I now have a hop back that allows for one last infusion of hops directly before going into my plate chiller to cool. Finding Amarillo hops during the 2013 brewing year was nearly impossible. I’ve overcompensated this year by purchasing massive amounts of the 2013 Amarillo crop, which this recipe has been built around. I’ve also included a small charge of Sterling hops — a tip I picked up from Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing during last year’s National Homebrewers Conference. (The idea is that the Sterling will add a bit of complexity and nuance to what is otherwise a citrus heavy hop bill.)

Single Tap IPA Recipe

Size: 4.32 gal – My goal is to net just under 3 gallons into the fermenter.
Efficiency: 70% – Calculated
Attenuation: 75.7% – Calculated based off of OG and FG readings.

Original Gravity: 1.066 SG – Measured
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 SG – Measured
Color: 10.78 SRM
Alcohol: 6.58% ABV – Calculated
Bitterness: 63.2 IBU – Actual measured IBUs will likely be a bit higher. My software doesn’t account for the whirlpool hop contribution of bitterness.

Grist:
4.5 lb (38.3%) 2-Row Brewers Malt (Briess)
4 lb (34.0%) Golden Promise Malt (Crisp)
2.25 lb (19.1%) Vienna Malt (Weyermann)
8 oz (4.3%) White Wheat Malt (Briess)
6 oz (3.2%) Caramunich® TYPE II (Weyermann)
2 oz (1.1%) Acidulated Malt (Weyermann) – for pH adjustment

Hopping:
6 g Columbus (15.0% AA) – First Wort
20 g Sterling (7.5% AA) – 15 m
14 g Centennial (10.5% AA) – 15 m
1 oz Amarillo® Leaf (9.6% AA) – 10 m
12 g Columbus (15.0% AA) – 10 m
1 oz Amarillo® Leaf (9.6% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
14 g Centennial (10.5% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
8 g Sterling (7.5% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
3 oz Amarillo® Leaf – Hop Back

1 oz Centennial (10.5% AA) – Dry hop 3 days
2 oz Amarillo® (8.7% AA) – Dry hop 3 days

Kettle Additions:
0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablet – 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

Yeast:
1 ea Wyeast 1056 American Ale™ – 1400ml starter on stir plate

Mash Regiment:
Saccharification Rest – 150 °F – 60m
Mashout – 168 °F – 5m

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 62 °F and keep at 64 °F until activity slows (4-6 days).
2. Raise temp to 68 °F until fermentation stops.
3. Crash to 32 °F (2 days)

Double Dose IPA Review – Otter Creek / Lawson’s

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Last spring, I serendipitously had the chance to try Lawson’s Finest Double Sunshine while on a beer pilgrimage up to Vermont. Sitting on the sunny deck of The Reservoir in downtown Waterbury, the stars aligned — by pure luck, I happened to be seated for lunch at the very time that Double Sunshine was being tapped. In this case, the perfect atmosphere, company, and beer aligned to build a wonderful experience greatly exceeding the sum of its parts. The beer was absolutely fantastic and ever since I’ve been eager to try another of Lawson’s hoppy offerings.

Luckily Lawson’s Finest has teamed up with Otter Creek Brewing to produce a collaborative IPA called Double Dose. Thanks to Otter Creek’s distribution capabilities, a good amount of this beer made its way down to NYC and I was able to get a 4-pack.

Beer Tasting

Judged as a BJCP Category 14B American IPA.

Aroma (8/12)
Big in-your-face hops hit you as soon as your face nears the glass. Tangerine, pithy grapefruit zest, a very light hint of pine resin, and a substantial amount of ripe mango dominate. The intensity of the hops is quite high, but in many ways feel a bit muddled. There is just a hint of malt aroma. Some hot alcohol is apparent.

Appearance (2/3)
Very muddy and hazy. The beer paints a golden hue, which turns somewhat brown due to all the suspended solids. Head is bright white and persistent with tight creamy bubbles.

Flavor (13/20)
Citrus fruit dominates the flavor with a touch of pine sap. There is some very light crackery malt and maybe just a touch of sweet caramel. The bitterness is fairly moderate at first, but transforms into a fairly coarse and abrasive bite on the finish. The finish is further disturbed by a fairly substantial amount of hot alcohol.

Mouthfeel (4/5)
The beer is medium to medium-full bodied with a very distinct creaminess that is very reminiscent of Heady Topper to me. The beer finishes too full to fit well stylistically into the IPA category.

Overall Impression (7/10)
This is a nice example of an IPA that pushes, and likely exceeds the bounds of what most people would consider a standard IPA. I would be much more inclined to call this a double or imperial IPA. I enjoyed the hop intensity, but couldn’t help but think that the recipe could benefit from some hop varietal editing in order to allow individual flavors to pop on their own. Additionally, I found the amount of very apparent alcohol a bit overwhelming. I enjoyed this beer, but not nearly as much as my last Lawson’s experience.

Total: 34/50 (Very Good)

New Belgium / Alpine Super IPA Review

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Nick Ladd

New Belgium / Alpine Super IPA

The nature of the craft beer movement encourages trends. Currently, it seems that collaboration beers are all the rage. Stone does it all the time (even with homebrewers) as does Russian River, Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, and many of the greatest breweries in the country. Super IPA is a collaboration between one of the biggest craft brewers (New Belgium) and one of the smallest and most sought after (Alpine Beer Co.). At first glance, this seems like an amazing opportunity for a small and critically-acclaimed brewery to get distribution well-beyond their typical geographical influence. Unfortunately, while quaffable, this beer misses on many marks which would have made it amazing.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 10/5/12 at Whole Foods P Street, Washington DC
Consumed: 10/7/12
Bottled: No decipherable date on bottle
Alcohol: 9% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

The Alpine Beer Co. and New Belgium have come together for the love of IPAs. This collaboration is hop-wonderful with Amarillo, Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops, bringing the bitter all the way to the front. A nice balance is present with Pale, C-80 and Carapils malts, but the tropical and citrus tones of the American hops dominate. This Super IPA pours a sheened copper and carries a bright, white head. Consider yourself a hero for getting an Alpine beer outside of San Diego.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: Big green grassy raw hop aroma. Hops are quite resinous and herbal. This beer is dominated by Columbus hops, which are very rough around the edges. There are some nice mango and tropical fruit notes which seem bullied by the heavy piney and grassy characters. Little to no malt aromas are present on the nose; quite characteristic of Alpine’s other offerings. This beer smells like homebrewed beers I’ve had that sat too long on the dry hop. 5 / 12

Appearance: Very light copper bordering on golden. Off-white head with great retention. Clear, but not crystal clear. 3 / 3

Flavor: Big grassy raw hop flavor. Lots of resin on the palette. The flavor is pretty one-dimensional and dominated by the grassy / herbal hop flavor. There is a very light sweetness / honey character to the malt, but it is by no means easily perceived. This is a very smooth beer whose bitterness is quite low for the style, but balances with the dryness of the beer. This is where I see Alpine’s biggest influence. 11 / 20

Mouth Feel: Medium / medium low body. Average carbonation. Some astringency reminiscent of chewing on a raw hop pellet. 4 / 5

Overall Impression: Alpine is known for producing over-the-top hoppy beers with huge tropical fruit flavors and very lean malt profiles. I feel like this beer tried to hit those notes, but fell short in the hop selection arena. I can’t help but think that perhaps the need to produce New Belgium scale quantities of this beer forced the hand of the brewers into compromising on their hop selection; using massive quantities of Columbus hops which come off harsh, grassy and herbal in this beer rather than the more tropical varietals like Amarillo and Simcoe listed on New Belgium’s website. The malt is perfectly in line with Alpine’s tradition; dry and lean which would set the stage perfectly for a cleaner, fruitier hop experience. Unfortunately, this is where it falls short. 5 / 10

Score: 28 / 50 (Good)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14c. Imperial IPA.

Dark Horse Brewing Co. Crooked Tree IPA Review

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Crooked Tree IPA

In spite of my limited tenure in New York, I can already tell it is an exciting time to be a beer lover in the city. It seems like each new day brings news of yet another brewery distributing to the state. It is hard to keep up, but my liver is trying its best. When I saw that Bierkraft had tapped several kegs of Dark Horse beers, I hustled on over for a reasonably priced growler fill. Dark Horse has gained some following outside of Marshall, Michigan and I am excited to try the beers they send my way.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 9/17/12 at Bierkraft – 64 oz. Growler $11.95
Availability: Year-round (according to Dark Horse Brewing’s website)
Alcohol: 6% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.’s, but brewed with Michigan style. The Crooked Tree is heavily dry hopped to give it a big aroma of pine and citrus. The flavors are big, yet very balanced between fresh hops and malt. Often described as “grapefruit” our hops give this beer an excellent fruit flavor that finishes dry, crisp, and clean. It will pour a nice deep copper color with a bit of haziness. Because of our almost patented “Intense Transfer Methods” our Crooked Tree has won several medals in the India Pale Ale category.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: This beer eschews the brash tropical and over-the-top hop aromas of trendy (and proprietary) hop varietals like Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo, and their New Zealand brethren. Instead, what is immediately apparent are the classic aromas of grapefruit with a hint of an herbaceous note, reminiscent of classic hops like Cascade and Centennial. Aside from the hops, there are fairly strong malt aromas of toasty biscuits and crackers. The aroma is very nice, but perhaps a little understated by measure of other American IPAs. As the sample warms, a touch of alcohol presents itself. 8 / 12

Appearance: This is not a pretty beer. Out of the growler came a muddy copper devoid of any exciting highlights. The beer easily produced a nearly white meringue-like head that unfortunately dissipated rather quickly (perhaps because the carbonation was low from the growler fill). The foam is quite sticky, likely due to the large amount of hops used. 1 / 3

Flavor: Lots of grapefruit are the initial impression; however, this is followed by a very large malt flavor. The malt is less in the range of sweet caramel and toffee and more in the spectrum of heavily toasted malt. I get the impression that there is a firm Munich or Vienna malt presence with perhaps some biscuit like malts (Victory, Special Roast, Biscuit, etc.). The malt is more reminiscent of an English IPA and provides an interesting, but stylistically incorrect, counterpoint to the classic American hop profile. The hops finish with a slight grassiness, likely from the dry hop. 13 / 20

Mouth Feel: This beer presents with a medium / medium-low level of carbonation likely the side-effect of the growler fill. This lends to an appealing almost cask like mouth-feel. There is a firm bitterness that balances any residual sweetness and finishes with a touch of grassy astringency. Quite quaffable for an IPA. 3 / 5

Overall Impression: I very much enjoyed the balance of this beer. Unfortunately, to me the hallmark of the American IPA category is an assertiveness that celebrates huge in-your-face hop flavors at the cost of balance. This is America, dammit, and more is not always less when it comes to the IPA category. The beer is obviously well-crafted with no technological faults. It is a great drinker that one could easily empty a growler of (I did), but I doubt it would win many competitions as an American IPA. 6 / 10

Score: 31 / 50 (Very Good)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14b. American IPA.

Troegs Perpetual IPA Review

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Nick Ladd

Perpetual IPA on a Sunny Brooklyn Afternoon

East coast IPAs are frequently eclipsed by their hoppier west coast cousins. This was especially true a couple of years ago, before wildly popular beers like Heady Topper and various offerings from Hill Farmstead stormed the national beer stage. Of course, like all generalizations, there are certainly exceptions. More and more east coast breweries are shifting production towards the market’s demand for over-the-top hop aroma and flavor and producing beers like Perpetual IPA; a beer that makes the west coaster in me feel right at home.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 9/10/12 at a neighborhood bodega – $14.99 / 12oz. 6 pack
Availability: Year-round (according to Troegs’ website)
Bottle Date: 7/2012
Alcohol: 7.5% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

In our constant evolution as a brewery, we’ve developed an undying drive to meld the organic and the mechanical. Perpetual IPA utilizes our hopback and dry-hopping to engineer a bold Imperial Pale Ale. It features Bravo, Chinook and Mt. Hood hops in the boil, Mt. Hood and Nugget hops in the hopback, and is further dry-hopped with Citra and Cascade hops.

Tasting Notes:

Graphically Pleasing Label

Aroma: A thick luscious hop aroma fills your nose–reminiscent of tangerine, mango, and a touch of pineapple to go along with a small amount of classic grapefruit. Almost no malt aroma makes it through the hops, but what is evident has a very lightly toasted French bread quality. After further contemplation, some very light spicy hop notes are evident as well as a hint of pine forest. The hop aroma is the star here with many layers and a deep complexity. 12 / 12

Appearance: Near-crystal clarity with a hue that is only a couple shades deeper than a classic pilsner. Billowy off-white head forms sticky foam that resists until the last drop. 3 / 3

Flavor: Like the aroma, the flavor is dominated by hops. Grapefruit becomes more evident in the flavor, perhaps due to the fruitiness combining with the hops bittering qualities. There is a very light toasty malt component that needs to be searched for. Only the slightest hint of alcohol comes through; an impressive feat in a beer of this size. Personally, I love the flavor of this beer, but to better fit the style, it would require a little more malt complexity. 14 / 20

Mouth Feel: This beer is very dry and drinkable. The bitterness is firm, but on the low end of the style when compared to other commercial examples. I actually prefer this to the bracingly sharp bitterness of many IPAs. The body is medium, medium/light with a level of carbonation that is quenching but not harsh. 4 / 5

Overall Impression: A very well-balanced beer. The massive hop aroma and flavor is varied and intense while the relatively easy bitterness keeps the beer from being harsh and enhances its ability to be consumed one after another. I love this beer and hope to find a less-expensive source of it so it can become a routine drinker. It’s interesting that the label refers to this beer as an ‘Imperial Pale Ale’ rather than ‘India Pale Ale’–perhaps this is an allusion to the lean malt character and restrained bitterness? 8 / 10

Score: 41 / 50 (Outstanding)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14b. American IPA.