Double Tap (Vermont Style) Recipe and Review

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Nick Ladd

Love them or hate them, “juicy”, hop-heavy double IPAs in the same vein as Heady Topper are here to stay. These massively hopped fruit bombs have a fanatical following, drawing hordes of thirsty drinkers to the remote wilds of Vermont, Massachusetts, and other New England locales.

Recently, some of the vocal hosts of The Brewing Network have had a good time poking fun at fans of these beers and claiming that they are simple cloudy, poorly made versions of what West Coast breweries have been making for years. The comments are typically made in jest, but they fail to recognize that there is a fair amount of intent involved in making these beers, in terms of ingredient selection and process. The biggest contributor of the haze in these beers is likely a specific yeast strain popularized by a brewery in Vermont and now used by a number of breweries producing these types of hoppy beers. This strain produces a very unique fruity ester that tends to harmonize with hop flavor and aromatics, making excellent hoppy beers. It is also quite dusty, leaving a fair amount of haze in suspension. The combination of this particular yeast strain with an obscene amount of late and dry hopping, flaked adjuncts, and an unwillingness to use heavy filtration, makes for a well-made, albeit very hazy beer.

Curious about this particular strain of yeast, I decided to take my Double Tap recipe, using Giga Yeast’s GY054 Vermont Ale strain and brew up a massive hoppy double IPA. I ended up using a heavy hand of Azacca hops, a strain that I’ve been enjoying quite a bit lately.

Double Tap – Vermont Style – Recipe

Specifications:
Size: 4.5 gal
Efficiency: 74%
Attenuation: 84.0%

Original Gravity: 1.084
Terminal Gravity: 1.013
Color: 6.12 SRM
Alcohol: 9.37% ABV
Bitterness: 72.4 IBUs

Malt Bill:
7lb (50.0%) Weyermann Pilsner Malt
4lb (328.6%) Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt
1lb (15.4%) Weyermann Munich Type I Malt
2lb (14.3%) Corn Sugar

Mash Profile:
148°F – 60m

Water Treatment:
Extremely Soft NYC Water
4g Gypsum (to mash)
2g Calcium Chloride (to mash)

Hopping:
0.5 oz Warrior® (16.0% AA) – 90 m
1 oz Citra™ (12.7% AA) – 10 m
1 oz Azacca (10.8% AA) – 10 m
3 oz Citra™ (12.7% AA) – Whirlpool 15m
1 oz Azacca (10.8% AA) – Whirlpool 15m
2 oz Mosaic (11.6% AA) – Whirlpool 15m
1.5 oz Citra™ (13.2% AA) – Hop Back
1.5 oz Azacca (11.3% AA) – Hop Back
2 oz Citra™ (12.7% AA) – Dry Hop 3 Days
2 oz Azacca (10.8% AA) – Dry Hop 3 Days
1 oz Mosaic (11.6% AA) – Dry Hop 3 Days

Kettle Additions:
0.5ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15m
0.5tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10m

Yeast:
2L Starter on Stir Plate – Giga Yeast GY054 Vermont Ale

Tasting Notes:

Judged as 2015 BJCP Category 22A Double IPA

Aroma (10/12):
A massive, juicy hop aroma explodes from the glass with aromatics reminiscent of mango, pineapple, and other tropical fruit. The beer has an overripe character not unlike a tropical fruit punch. It is hard to get much aroma of anything beyond the in-your-face hop profile. As the beer warms, a touch of hot ethanol reminds you that this is a nearly 10% ABV beer.

Appearance (1/3):
The beer is a deep golden hue, but muddied by a tremendous amount of haze. The head is big and pillowy with large white bubbles that persists for days.

Flavor (12/20):
The beer’s flavor falls somewhere between hop tea and tropical punch. There is a fair bit of residual sweetness that is emphasized by the fruity hops and the fact that the beer is a bit under-bittered for the gravity it started at. The beer tastes well-attenuated and dry, but is lacking a sharp bitterness for balance. Although similar to the somewhat low-bittered Vermont style IPAs, it needs more sharpness to be in line with the BJCP style definition.

Mouthfeel (4/5):
The beer is extremely creamy, almost oily. I suspect that this yeast strain produces high levels of glycerol that, when combined with exorbitant hopping, gives the beer a very full mouthfeel. This is accentuated by the slightly low level of carbonation in the beer.

Overall Impression (5/10):
I absolutely love the aroma of this beer, although it falls a bit flat on the palate. I think this is mainly due to the fact that when you combine an under-bittered beer with a huge mouthfeel, you tend to limit the beer’s drinkability. In future batches I will definitely increase the bitterness in order to account for the beer’s substantial mouthfeel.

Very Good (32/50)

Bioreactor Culture A – Gen 1

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Nick Ladd

The current state of my sour beer cellar. 20+ vessels (mostly 1-gallon) in various states of aging.

It’s been well over a year since I started my bioreactor project. What started as a method to maintain a single ‘house’ mixed culture has grown into maintaining 3 separate and distinct mixed cultures. Each of these cultures is refreshed every 4 months by brewing a new 3-gallon batch of beer and splitting it into (3) 1-gallon jugs for each culture. In addition to the 1-gallon refreshes, with every refresh I grow up a separate large slurry of one of the cultures and pitch it into a larger 3-gallon test batch.

Over a year in, the first of the cultures, “Culture A” (I know, very creative) has begun to produce the first finished 1-gallon batches of beer. The recipe for this beer and review is below.

“Culture A” Provenance

“Culture A” started its life as bottle dregs grown up from the following commercial beers:

Cantillon Gueuze
Tilquin Gueuze
Russian River Beatification
Crooked Stave Surette
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

Bio Reactor – Culture A – Gen 1 – Recipe and Review

Specifications:
Size: 1.5 gal
Efficiency: 80%
Attenuation: 85%

Original Gravity: 1.054
Terminal Gravity: 1.008
Color: 3.95 SRM
Alcohol: 6.11% ABV
Bitterness: 0 IBU
Terminal pH: 2.86

Malt Bill:
2.25 lb (90.0%) Best Pilsner Malt
0.25 lb (10.0%) Briess Cara-Pils

Mash Profile:
158°F – 60m

Water Treatment:
Extremely Soft NYC Water
Added to mash: 2g Calcium Chloride

Hopping:
0.25 oz Aged Cascade Hops (0.0% AA) – 90m

Kettle Additions:
0.25 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15m
0.25 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10m

Yeast:
Bio Reactor “Culture A”

Tasting Notes:

Judged as a BJCP 28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer

Aroma (9/12):
Quite fruity and tart on the nose with aromas reminiscent of sour cherry, berries, and perhaps a little tart apple. There is a fair amount of Brett funk on the nose—hay, leather, wet earth, and then some cinnamon-like spice with a touch of plastic-like phenol.

Appearance (2/3):
The beer paints a deep golden hue with crystal clarity. The beer pours with a nice, white foam, but quickly dissipates, likely due to lactobacillus’ ability to degrade foam positive proteins.

Flavor (13/20):
The beer leaves an initial impression of stark dryness and acidity though manages to balance with just a touch of residual malt sweetness. There is a low crackery malt character that is amplified by a hint of Cheerios-like THP. The beer has a tannic character that is reminiscent of apple skins. Most of the funk exhibited on the nose is subdued on the palate. The acidity is primarily lactic in nature, which is somewhat surprising considering the abundant amount of head space that was in the carboy during aging.

Mouthfeel (3/5):
The beer manages to feel crisp in spite of what is a fairly low level of carbonation. The acidity is soft and round not sharp or biting. A little bit more carbonation would be a welcome addition.

Overall Impression (6/10):
This is a very nice, refreshing sour beer with just enough funky Brett aromatics to keep it interesting. While blending is typical in sour beer production, this beer manages to remain somewhat balanced without any additional intervention.

Very Good (33/50)

Cream Ale Homebrew Recipe and Review

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Nick Ladd

It’s with a heavy dose of irony that I admit that the largest proportion of beer I drink is industrial American lager. Much of this is attributable to the fact that my go-to after-work happy hour bar serves inexpensive buckets of Narragansett tall boys, but I can honestly say (without much irony) that I frequently enjoy drinking cold, effervescent, dry, and nearly flavorless adjunct lager. I am a firm believer that there is a beer for all occasions, and this is especially true for adjunct lager. The fact of the matter is there are very few craft breweries producing any sort of light American lager so when a situation calls for this type of beer, I am often reaching for an industrial macro lager. Whether it is the economics of tying up tank space or a reaction against Big Beer, it is somewhat sad to me that no one is taking up this style. The closest thing that can be found are cream ales or ‘blonds’; often feeling like they want to be an adjunct lager, but are too self-conscious to describe themselves as such. It’s along these lines that I brewed the recipe below—essentially an ale version of Budweiser with a little extra gravity and flavor. I really enjoyed drinking this beer, and apparently so did the judges at the National Homebrew Competition who gave it a second place ribbon in the first round.

Cream Ale Recipe

Specifications:
Size: 3.25 gal
Efficiency: 74%
Attenuation: 82.7%

Original Gravity: 1.052
Terminal Gravity: 1.009
Color: 3.0 SRM
Alcohol: 5.6% ABV
Bitterness: 17.0 IBUs

Malt Bill:
3lb (46.2%) Weyermann Pilsner Malt
2lb (30.8%) Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt
1lb (15.4%) Briess Flaked Corn
0.5lb (7.7%) Corn Sugar

Mash Profile:
151°F – 60m
170°F – 5m

Water Treatment:
Extremely Soft NYC Water
3g Gypsum (to mash)
3g Calcium Chloride (to mash)

Hopping:
22g Hallertauer Mittelfrüher (3.8% AA) – 90m

Kettle Additions:
0.5ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15m
0.5tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10m

Yeast:
Safale US-05 Dry Yeast – 1 Packet

Tasting Notes:

Judged as 2015 BJCP Category 1C Cream Ale

Aroma (10/12):
Overall, the aroma is very muted. Malt is apparent with just a hint of bready pilsner character and a touch of graininess. There is a very low pear ester that reminds you this is an ale fermentation. I find a touch of corn in the aroma which I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn’t brewed the beer myself. Surprisingly, there is a touch of herbal hop character that comes through against the generally muted aroma.

Appearance (2/3):
The beer strikes a very light straw hue with just a hint of haze. The beer is capped by a big white frothy foam with moderate to low persistence.

Flavor (18/20):
The beer is exceptionally clean with a very minimal malt character—just a hint more flavor than the beer’s adjunct lager cousins. There is a very low bready malt component that finishes with a touch of sweet corn and grainy husk. There is a very low bitterness, just enough to balance the slight sweetness attributable to the flaked corn addition. Overall, the beer is exceptionally dry, clean, and refreshing.

Mouthfeel (5/5):
This is an exceptionally lean beer with a spritzy level of carbonation. The beer finishes perhaps a touch watery, but not less than the style would dictate.

Overall Impression (9/10):
This is a great quenching and dry beer with enough snappy carbonation to make it very refreshing. A tall pint of this would be a great choice for hot summer days when you’re looking for a light lager, but want perhaps a touch more flavor.

Excellent (44/50)

Vienna Lager 5.0 Recipe and Review

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Nick Ladd

How time flies! My apologies for the radio silence over the past two months. Between moving apartments, a trip to CBC, the announcement of a brewery that I’ve working on, and an awesome trip to Asheville, NC, things have been crazy! More information on all of those things to come, but in the meantime, here’s a quick post about my latest batch of Vienna Lager. Cheers!

It’s a little baffling to realize that this is the fifth iteration of Vienna Lager which I have brewed. Not only does this make me do a double take in terms of realizing how much I’ve brewed over the past 6.5 years (over 150 batches and counting), but also illustrates how much I love this style.

Considering the number of different batches I brew, the breadth of styles that I have attempted to master, and the period of time that a lager like this occupies my fermentation space, it speaks volumes about the amount of respect I give a humble beer like this.

In many ways, Vienna Lager is the perfect beer for my tastes. I find it somewhat intangible trying to pinpoint why I love this beer as much as I do. It circumvents reason and defies cogent prose, but the closest I can get to describing why I enjoy this beer so much has to do with malt’s ability to be delicate and nuanced, while maintaining a quenching minimalistic lager dryness and boundless sessionability.

Being the constant tinkerer that I am, I made a couple tweaks over previous versions of this beer. As time has progressed, I’ve consistently lowered the amount of crystal malt in this beer. This version eschews crystal malts completely, making the beer a pure expression of the high-quality German base malts of which it is solely comprised.

Vienna Lager 5.0 Recipe

Specifications:
Size: 3.25gal
Efficiency: 76%
Attenuation: 76.0%

Original Gravity: 1.052
Terminal Gravity: 1.013
Color: 13.35 SRM
Alcohol: 5.21% ABV
Bitterness: 23.0 IBUs

Malt Bill:
4lb (61.0%) Weyermann Vienna Malt
1lb (15.2%) Weyermann Pilsner Malt
1.5lb (22.9%) Weyermann Munich TYPE II
1oz (1.0%) Weyermann Carafa® TYPE II

Mash Profile:
144°F – 30m
151°F – 30m
170°F – 5m

Water Treatment:
Extremely Soft NYC Water
2g Gypsum (to mash)
4g Calcium Chloride (to mash)

Hopping:
42g Hallertauer Mittelfrüher (2.7% AA) – 60m

Kettle Additions:
0.5ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15m
0.5tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10m

Yeast:
White Labs WLP833 German Bock Lager – Decanted 2L Starter on Stir Plate

Tasting Notes:

Judged as 2015 BJCP Category 7A Vienna Lager.

Aroma (10/12):
Bready malt wafts from the glass accompanied by complimentary amounts of toasty crust and just a hint of toffee. There is some slight malt sweetness coming through on the nose. There isn’t any real apparent fermentation character, although there is a touch of grape-like fruitiness. It is unclear if this is a fermentation by-product or coming from the Munich malt. No apparent hop aroma.

Appearance (3/3):
Medium copper color with pristine clarity. Tightly spaced, off-white bubbles form a great foam cap which persists.

Flavor (17/20):
Beautifully balanced malt with nuanced layers of toasty malt and just a hint of caramel or toffee. The malt is balanced far more towards toasty and dry rather than sweet and caramel-rich. A touch of hop bitterness balances out the slight perception of sweetness attributed to the malt. Exceptionally clean lager fermentation with no hints of alcohol, ester, or diacetyl.

Mouthfeel (5/5):
Medium to medium-low bodied with moderate carbonation. Soft and round with no perceptible astringency.

Overall Impression (9/10):
This is a beautiful, clean malty beer without being overwhelmingly melanoidin-rich or overbearingly complex. The beer finishes clean and dry making it a crushable pint. Dropping out the crystal malt only seems to have enhanced the beer as the base malts are still capable of producing some perception of caramel flavors without any of the associated sweetness or contributions of unfermentable sugars. This beer is a great alternative to Octoberfest beers which offer a great malt richness, but can often be a touch overbearing in terms of fullness and alcohol.

Excellent (44/50)

Solera 2014 Review & 2015 Solera Recipe

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Nick Ladd

After slightly more than a year in a corny keg in the corner of my living room, my 2014 Solera beer was ready to produce its first round of finished beer. From the 5-gallon corny, I bottle conditioned 2.5 gallons of aged sour beer. On the same day, I topped the corny keg back up with 2.5 gallons of another batch which had already gone through its primary fermentation (recipe below). With this round of top-up beer, my goal was to steer the Solera towards a more traditional lambic-style wort while also inoculating the Solera with a more diverse culture that includes Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend as well as microbes grown up from Sante Adairius Cellarman. My goal is to produce more acidity in future pulls from the Solera.

2015 Solera Recipe:

Specifications:
Size: 3.25 gal
Efficiency: 74%
Attenuation: TBD (am expecting 90% +)

Original Gravity: 1.051
Terminal Gravity: 1.003 (projected)
Color: 4.06 SRM
Alcohol: 6.32% ABV (projected)
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs

Malt Bill:
4 lb (61.5%) Dingemans Pilsner Malt
2.5 lb (38.5%) Briess Raw Wheat

Mash Profile:
With this recipe I completed a fairly complex turbid mash routine that involved taking the mash through a number of temperature steps. To get from 113 °F to 136 °F I used a simple hot water infusion. To get between the other steps, I pulled varying amounts of the thin portion of the mash, heated it to 185 °F, and then returned it back to the mash. The goal was to create a dextrinous wort that can provide abundant complex carbohydrates for an extended mixed-culture fermentation.

113 °F – 20m
136 °F – 5m
150 °F – 30m
162 °F – 5m
170 °F – 5m

Water Treatment:
Extremely Soft NYC Water
4g Gypsum (to mash)
2g Calcium Chloride (to mash)

Hopping:
2oz Aged Hops (0% AA) – 90 m

Kettle Additions:
0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

Yeast:
1 Pack – WYeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend™
500 ml – Sante Adairius Grown up Culture

2014 Tasting Notes:

Judged as 2015 BJCP Category 28B. Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer

Aroma (6/12):
Low to moderate lactic tartness on the nose, no real perception of acetic or other acids. There is a medium to medium-high peppery phenol accompanied by medium Brett aromatics reminiscent of hay, earth, and leather. There is a relatively strong, tart pie cherry Brett character, which is pretty nice. Some toasty malt hides behind the fermentation aromatics and features a touch of honey-like malt sweetness. At the very end there is a bit of rubbery phenol that isn’t particularly pleasant.

Appearance (0/3):
Deep gold with a light haze. No head whatsoever, although abundant fine bubbles rise from the glass. The head appears to be a casualty of the proteolytic lactic acid bacteria in the mixed culture.

Flavor (10/20):
The beer approaches the palate with a very lean and slightly toasty malt profile. Despite using aged hops that were labeled with 0% alpha acid, there is some definite low to medium hop bitterness that feels a bit out of place in the beer. Acid levels in the beer feel quite low compared to most commercial beers, exhibiting only a mildly acidic lactic tang. Overall the beers is quite mellow and austere. There are some biting phenolics on the finish that are a bit harsh.

Mouthfeel (1/5):
Very low body with a sharp carbonic bite. There are some tea-like astringent components that do not pair well with the sharp carbonation. The carbonation comes off almost soda-like.

Overall Impression (7/10):
In general, this beer comes off quite simplistic, especially considering the complexity of its fermentation and aging. The overall acidity levels could certainly be increased to round out the mouthfeel and bring another layer of complexity to the beer. As it sits now, it is primarily a showcase for Brettanomyces in both a pleasant sense (pie cherries) and negative sense (harsh phenolics).

Good (24/50)