Fruit Bowl Session IPA

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A good session IPA is nice to have on hand in the summer months, and also a handy way to burn through my hop stash. For this batch, I aimed for a “short and shoddy” approach, to speed up the brew day during a busy time of year. This meant a 30 minute mash and 30 minute boil, along with Lutra kveik to reduce chill time.

I have a decent variety of hops on-hand from my HOPBOX subscription, and aimed for a very experimental selection. Comet went in for the bittering, with a hefty dose of BRU-1 and Meridian for the dry hop in the keg. BRU-1 is supposed to provide a pineapple and green fruit combo, and Meridian some tropical fruit and berry. So, I’m calling this “Fruit Bowl Session IPA.”

Fruit Bowl Session IPA

  • 9 lb. 7 oz. Lamonta Pale American Barley Malt (Mecca Grade)
  • 8 oz. caramel malt 20L (Briess)
  • 8 oz. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 2 oz. Comet hop pellets (10.4% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. Lutra Kveik (Omega OYL-071; dry)
  • 2 oz. BRU-1 hop pellets (20.0% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 2 oz. Meridian hop pellets (5.6% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 s.g., 1.011 f.g., 4.6% abv, 59 IBU, 6 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 156° for 60 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water treated with 88% lactic acid to neutralize carbonates

Procedure

  • The night before brewing, I collected 7 gallons of Claremont tap water and added 5.84 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize the carbonates.
  • I heated the strike water to 162°, adding the grains to hit a mash temperature of 156°. I added 1.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH, and then recirculated for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, I raised the mash temperature to 168°, and continued recirculation for another 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.041, for 71% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the mash to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After 30 minutes, I chilled the wort to 82° and transferred to the fermenter.
  • Starting gravity was 1.045. I brewed the beer on 14 May 2023, and fermented at ambient. The fermenter temperature hit between 82° and 85° at the height of fermentation.
  • I kegged the beer on 23 May 2023. Final gravity was 1.012, which works out to 4.4% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • A straw yellow beer, with a pillowy and persistent white head. I’m writing this tasting on the last pour of the keg, which has a fair bit of haze. Even before the final pours and after sitting in the keg for two months, the beer never completely cleared.
  • Aroma
    • Bright citrus and kiwi hop aroma — very nice!
  • Flavor
    • Tropical fruit, fresh pineapple, lemon, and orange — it’s a very fruit-forward hop flavor. Bitterness is moderately high. The malt character is fairly subdued, as expected given the gravity and hoppiness of this beer.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, moderate carbonation. There is a slight hop astringency, which is accentuated in the final glass.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • I’m fairly pleased with this one, especially in the hop combination. If I were to brew this again (or one like it), I would reduce the dry hop load by a bit, to cut the astringency. I would probably increase the mash time to see if that helps with the haze (in case lingering starch was the cause), too. Overall, it’s a pretty decent session IPA!
  • Overall
    • 7/10