Although many of my IPAs have been on the session side, I do try to make a full strength version every once in awhile. In this recipe, I aimed for something highly drinkable and packed with hop flavor. Towards the first item, I mashed low and added some dextrose to keep things light. Towards the second end, I looped in some HOPBOX finds–Azacca, HBC 586, and Idaho Gem. Finally, I wanted to experiment with Lutra, a kveik strain that has a reputation of a quick and clean fermentation. It’s a bit of a kitchen sink beer, in order to use up some grains and hops, but it’s all with a purpose.
Big Hop Summer IPA
5.25 lb. Golden Promise malt (Simpsons)
5.25 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
1.75 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
0.25 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
0.75 lb. dextrose (added to boil)
0.75 oz. Bravo hop pellets (14.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
1 oz. Azacca hop pellets (12.7% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. HBC 586 hop pellets (11.8% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Idaho Gem hop pellets (14.2% alpa), 15 minute whirlpool
1 pkg. Lutra kveik (dry), Omega OYL-071
1 oz. Azacca hop pellets (12.7% alpha), dry hop in keg
1 oz. HBC 586 hop pellets (11.8% alpha), dry hop in keg
1 oz. Idaho Gem hop pellets (14.2% alpa), dry hop in keg
Tasting
Appearance
The beer pours as a hazy gold, with a persistent white head that leaves nice lacing down the side of the glass over time. I am surprised that the haze hasn’t dropped out, even after two months in the keg at temperatures below 40 degrees.
Aroma
Orange peel aroma at the front; very citrusy character overall.
Flavor
The balance is tipped towards the hops (no surprise), with a very citrusy and resin character. I also pick up a bit of stone fruit, which might be from the hops or perhaps from the yeast. There is a little bit of a “twang” of something somewhere in the background, which I suspect is from the yeast but I can’t be 100 percent certain. Even though Lutra is supposed to ferment clean, I’ve seen remarks that it is still a farmhouse-type strain, and they remain a bit rustic. As the beer sits on the tongue, I wonder if some of it is some citrus pith character. In any case, there is something that detracts a little bit from complete enjoyment of the beer by my tastes, but it’s not overwhelming, and it isn’t totally out of character for this kind of beer. The malt is in the background, as it should be, but provides a nice bit of body and a touch of malty flavor to balance against the hop bitterness.
Mouthfeel
Medium-light body, with moderate carbonation and a dry finish. It goes down super easy.
Would I Brew This Again?
I like the beer overall, but I might switch up the hop varieties. I tried Azacca years ago, it didn’t overwhelm me with awesome then, and I had a similar experience this time around. I think it’s just not a hop that does much for me. I’m surprised by how persistently hazy the beer has been, even after two months in the keg; the haze doesn’t terribly detract from the beer, but it’s just a bit more haze than I expected. Those remarks aside, this is a very drinkable beer, especially for something that clocks in at 6.7% abv. The combination of low mash temperature and dextrose addition likely contributed to keeping things on the lighter side.
I just love the “traditional” northwestern IPAs, as mentioned numeroustimesbefore on this blog. So many breweries focus on the tropical fruit profiles, which I also love, but sometimes I just want pine and citrus and dank flavors in my IPA.
This latest batch doesn’t follow any particular recipes; I’m just aiming for a bit of interesting base malt character with a touch of crystal malt. So, I leaned on the two-row for about three-quarters of the grist, along with a bit of Golden Promise for interest, some crystal 40, and a bit of biscuit. The latter two used up my supplies, so it was good housecleaning.
The hopping was traditional with a twist. A recent HOPBOX had some of their hop extract, enough to add about 47 IBU. According to their website, it’s mostly CTZ-type hops with some other semi-random aroma varieties. That sounded like a perfect bittering base for my beer, and I have also wanted to try out some of these hop extracts for awhile. I elected to put the rest of my hops all in the whirlpool and dry hop additions. In this case, Amarillo, Centennial, and Cascade were perfect choices.
This batch was brewed while my Foundry was down for repairs, so I used the “traditional” batch sparge technique. I’m glad to say I still have the skills here, and hit my numbers really closely.
Spring Classic IPA
10 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
3 lb. Golden Promise Finest Pale Ale malt (Simpsons)
9 oz. 40L caramel malt (Briess)
4 oz. biscuit malt (BlackSwaen)
10 mL Yakima Valley Hops CO2 hop extract (48.91% alpha), 60 minute boil
1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (7.8% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (8.7% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (12.5% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
2 pkg. American West Coast Ale dry yeast (Lallemand BRY-97)
1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (7.8% alpha), dry hop in keg
1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (8.7% alpha), dry hop in keg
1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (12.5% alpha), dry hop in keg
Target Parameters
1.059 o.g., 1.010 f.g., 6.5% abv, 69 IBU, 7 SRM
Infusion mash to hit target of 148°, 60 minutes, batch sparge
Claremont tap water with gypsum added to to achieve 79 ppm Ca, 6 ppm Mg, 91 ppm Na, 172 ppm SO4, 85 ppm Cl, 144 ppm HCO3, 118 ppm alkalinity, 58 ppm RA
Procedure
I heated 4.6 gallons of water (with Campden tablet) to 159°, and mashed in with my grains to hit 149°. I added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH. I mashed for 60 minutes before adding 0.75 gallons of 185° water. I let it rest, vorlaufed, and then collected the first runnings. Next I added 3.75 gallons of water at 185°, let it rest at around 170° for 10 minutes, and then collected the second runnings.
In total, I collected 7.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.050, for 75% mash efficiency.
While the kettle was coming up to a boil, I soaked the hop extract in hot tap water, in order to make it easier to add. That certainly did the trick!
I added 6 g of gypsum to the boil, to hit my water target.
Once the kettle was boiling, I added the hop extract and then added other items per the recipe.
After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the flame, added the whirlpool hops, and let it rest (with occasional stirring) for 15 minutes before chilling.
I transferred the wort to my fermenter and chilled it down to 66° before pitching the yeast.
I brewed this beer on 15 April 2022, and fermented it at 66°. Starting gravity was 1.059, right on target.
I moved the beer to ambient on 24 April 2022, and kegged it on 4 May 2022. I added the drop hops at this point, with a mesh bag inside the keg.
The final gravity was 1.011, for 6.4% abv. I’m very pleased on how closely I hit my numbers overall!
Tasting
Appearance
Pours as a golden, somewhat hazy beer, with a creamy white head that is very persistent. The head leaves gorgeous lacing down the sides of the glass.
Aroma
Orange and overall citrus notes, with a slight malty background. The yeast character is quite clean.
Flavor
A citrus, citrus pith, pine, and resiny hop bitterness at the front, with a clean malty presence and a light bit of candy behind that. The hop character has that “sticky” quality on the tongue that I really adore in a good traditional American IPA.
Mouthfeel
Medium body, with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.
Would I brew this again?
I feel like I’ve gotten my “traditional” West Coast IPAs down pretty well now. I know the hops and hop combos I like, and have found that perfect balance of crystal malt and base malt. I also have a few variations on recipes that work well. It definitely has a “hop haze,” which I suppose dings it a little bit in terms of my overall score, but I also expect that should be cleared out by the end of the keg. BRY-97 is my favorite IPA yeast now, too! Another thing I love about this beer is that I perceive it just a little differently every time I sample it. Sometimes the pine hits me, sometimes the orange, sometimes the resin.
As mentionedpreviously, Yakima Valley’s HOPBOX is a good way to sample fresh and interesting hops. My first box included Strata and El Dorado; I’ve brewed with the latter previously, but not Strata. I was noodling about for a recipe that would have tropical-type notes, and these seemed to be a good way to achieve that goal.
The base recipe is a fairly standard American pale ale; I aimed for the lighter side of the style, with a very deft touch of caramel malts. To maximize the hop character, I dosed all of the aroma hops in the whirlpool and the dry hop additions. Otherwise, there’s not a ton of note in the recipe design.
Stratigraphic Pale Ale
7.25 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
4 lb. Maris Otter malt (Crisp)
5 oz. crystal 15 (Great Western)
4 oz. caramel 10L (Briess)
0.25 oz. Bravo hop pellets (14.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
1 oz. El Dorado hop pellets (16.2% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Strata hop pellets (13.7% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 pkg. Safale American Ale yeast (Fermentis US-05)
1 oz. El Dorado hop pellets (16.2% alpha), dry hop in keg
1 oz. Strata hop pellets (13.7% alpha), dry hop in keg
Target Parameters
1.053 s.g., 1.011 f.g., 5.5% abv, 5 SRM, 38 IBU
Full volume mash, 60 minute mash at 152°, 10 minute mash-out at 168°
Claremont tap water adjusted to hit target of 71 ppm Ca, 6 ppm Mg, 91 ppm Na, 154 ppm SO4, 85 ppm Cl, 144 ppm bicarbonate, RA=63.
Procedure
I heated 7.25 gallons of water to 159°, and mashed in with the grains to hit a target mash temperature of 152°. I added 7.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH. I held it here while recirculating for 60 minutes, before raising the temperature to 168° for a 10 minute mash-out.
I removed the grain basket and brought the kettle to a boil. In total, I collected 6.4 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.048, for 70% mash efficiency. I added 5 g of gypsum to the boil kettle, to adjust the mineral profile of the water.
I added hops and finings per the recipe, with a 60 minute boil. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat, added the whirlpool hops, and whirlpooled for 15 minutes.
After the whirlpool, I chilled and then transferred to the fermenter.
I chilled the wort down to 66° in my fermentation chamber, before pitching the yeast. I fermented at 66° also.
I brewed the beer on 29 January 2022. I kegged it on 8 March 2022, adding the dry hops to the keg.
Final gravity was 1.012, for 5.4% abv.
Tasting
Appearance
Gold beer, slight haze; pours with a persistent fine white head.
Aroma
Citrus/orange prominent, with a bit of tropical fruit and strawberry also. Light malt aroma. Clean yeast character.
Flavor
Light malty flavor, against a moderate bitterness. The hop flavor is citrus, tropical fruit, and strawberry. Very nice!
Mouthfeel
Medium body, medium carbonation, slightly dry finish.
Would I brew this again?
Yes! This is a nice hop combo. I ding the beer slightly for the haze, but otherwise this is a great recipe for tropical-type hops. I enjoyed Strata–the strawberry character really is something!
This might be my least creative recipe name ever, but it sure is appropriate! Thanks to my HOPBOX, I had a whole mess of hops from the 2021 harvest. I wanted to craft a recipe that would highlight more “traditional” IPA flavors of citrus and pine, while also exploring some new-to-me varieties.
After sorting through my hop selection, I selected Bravo as the main bittering hop, with heavy doses of Cashmere, Wai-iti, and Waimea in the whirlpool and dry hop. Each of those brought complementary notes of lemon, citrus, and pine, without major components of tropical fruits. When opening up the hops, I noted that Waimea had an incredible fruit aroma (and was my favorite), with Wai-iti being a close second. The Cashmere had a slightly dank aroma that verged on vegetal, so I wasn’t initially sure how I would like it in the brew. I built a moderately complex grist, in part to use up some malts and in part to give a robust malt backbone to the beer. Finally, I chose BRY-97 as the yeast. I haven’t brewed with it a ton (my early experiments found it to be veeery slooow to take off), but have heard enough great things that I wanted to give it a try.
2021 IPA
10 lb. 6 oz. California Select 2-row malt (Great Western)
2 lb. Maris Otter malt (Crisp)
0.75 lb. Chateau Munich Light malt
0.5 lb. Caramel 40° malt (Briess)
0.25 lb. biscuit malt (BlackSwaen)
1 oz. Bravo hop pellets (14.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
1 oz. Cashmere hop pellets (7.0% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Wai-iti hop pellets (3.5% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
1 oz. Waimea hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
2 pkg. American West Coast Ale yeast (Lallemand BRY-97)
oz. Cashmere hop pellets (7.0% alpha), 3 day dry hop in fermenter
1 oz. Wai-iti hop pellets (3.5% alpha), 3 day dry hop in fermenter
1 oz. Waimea hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 3 day dry hop in fermenter
Target Parameters
1.062 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 6.5% abv, 63 IBU, 8 SRM
Full volume mash at 152° for 60 minutes, with 10 minute mash-out at 168°
Claremont tap water, adjusted with lactic acid to knock out carbonate in strike water. Adjusted further in kettle to reach target water profile of 61 ppm Ca, 16 ppm Mg, 91 ppm Na, 170 ppm SO4, 85 ppm Cl, 15 ppm HCO3; RA=-41 ppm.
Procedure
The night before brewing, I collected 7.5 gallons of tap water and treated it with 0.5 Campden tablet and 5.75 mL of 88% lactic acid, to knock out the carbonates. I let it sit overnight, before brewing the next morning.
I heated the water to 159°, and mashed in to hit a target temperature of 152°. I added 2.1 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust pH.
After recirculating at 152° for 60 minutes, I raised the temperature to 168° and held it there for 10 minutes before removing the grain basket.
In total, I collected 6.3 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.054, for 66% mash efficiency.
I brought the runnings to a boil, boiling for 30 minutes before adding the hops, to bring up the gravity a bit. As the boil started, I added 4 g of gypsum of 3 g of epsom salt to the boil, to hit the target water profile.
After the initial 30 minute boil, I added hops and finings per the recipe, reaching a 90 minute total boil.
Once I had finished the boil, I added the whirlpool hops and whirlpooled for 15 minutes before chilling down to 70° and transferring to the fermenter.
I pitched the yeast, and fermented at 66°.
I brewed the beer on 6 November 2021, and hit a starting gravity of 1.063.
On 14 November 2021, I added the dry hops to the fermenter in a bag, and let it sit at ambient temperature (~64°) for three days.
I kegged the beer on 17 November 2021. Within about a month, the beer had dropped completely clear.
Tasting
Appearance
This is a deep gold and very clear beer, with a persistent ivory head–gorgeous!
Aroma
Citrus peel and orange; not much in the way of detectable malt character, and the yeast character is very clean.
Flavor
The hops are at the forefront, with orange and citrus zest, followed by light pine. The malt character is smooth, but not over the top. I feel like a little bit of the hop character was lost between when I smelled the hops directly and now. Although I think it partly could be oxidation, I also suspect I should have either dry hopped more freely or else dry hopped in the keg, to get more exposure time. I bagged the hops for dry hopping, and don’t think they got as much contact as they should have.
Mouthfeel
Moderate body, with an off-dry finish and moderate carbonation level.
Would I Brew This Again?
Yes! I think I will modify my dry-hopping for next time, and dry hop a little longer or else leave the hops in the keg, or increase the amount of Waimea and Wai-iti.
When it comes to hops, I am often a creature of habit. I love Cascade, Centennial, Citra, and Simcoe for my IPAs, and I’ll sometimes throw in Galaxy or Amarillo. I love Saaz, Hallertauer, and their American equivalents for my German beers. And…I don’t get much outside of that box very often. With a bewildering array of hops on the market for homebrewers, I just get overwhelmed and usually stick with what I know.
Now, that philosophy can be great for consistency and predictability. It also helps me to avoid chasing the latest expensive fad hop, and I’ve really gotten to know the flavors in each familiar variety. That said, I’m almost certainly missing out on some real gems. But, how can I break out of my rut, without too much effort on researching and such?
About two months ago, I was super excited to learn about a hop subscription box from Yakima Valley Hops, called The HOPBOX. HOPBOX was totally sold out then, but one of their reps said to check back at a certain date, and I should be good to go. Sure enough, I visited the website a few weeks later and I could order! (thanks for the tip, YVH rep!) I signed up for a full year (which came with a 15% discount), and waited for my first shipment…
A little over a week ago, a very attractive box landed in my mailbox. Opening it up, I saw eight 2-oz. cans of eight different hop varieties, along with some stickers, a card describing the hops, and a set of stainless steel cups to portion out hop additions.
So, what do I think about all of this? Let’s take a look! (note: I paid for this myself, and did not receive any compensation for the review, so I feel I can be reasonably even-handed)
The Hops
I was pretty impressed by the hops! All were from the 2021 crop, so I have no doubt on freshness. High marks there.
I am also impressed by the varieties–this box included Bravo, Cashmere, Cascade, Centennial, El Dorado, Strata, Waimea, and Wai-iti. A few are ridiculously expensive to buy at some suppliers (e.g., Strata sells at over $2.50 per ounce at some online stores), and others aren’t yet available for this crop via YCH (e.g., Cashmere and El Dorado).
For my brewing habits, this is a perfect quantity of hops. There are enough to do a few beers with fun blends–for instance, my first batch uses Bravo as the bittering with Waimea+Wai-iti+Cashmere for the whirlpool and dry hop. There isn’t enough of each for a five gallon SMaSH beer, but I think I’m okay with that. I can always go back and try a particularly intriguing variety in more depth. For me, Waimea is the standout in my current package so far, and I may well come back to that.
I like that this box fits within a general theme, of “hops that are good for IPAs and pale ales”. That made it a lot easier to plan brewing, versus if I had gotten a smattering of hops suited for disparate styles.
One thing that might have been nice is access to detailed data on individual lots. The packages had alpha acids, etc., but I wouldn’t complain if there were specifics on particular hop oil quantities, etc. That is a very minor quibble, though.
The Extras
This box came with two stickers as well as a set of stainless steel cups to portion out hops. I’m not really a sticker person, so those were somewhat of a wash, but the cups have already gotten use in my brewery. Previously I have been using reusable plastic containers, which are OK but a bit large for what I need. The little stainless steel containers (the same as 4 oz. sauce cups you might get at a restaurant) are branded with the YVH logo and will fit 3 oz. of hops fairly comfortably. The cups also make it easy to weigh out an ounce at a time, or a measure mineral additions.
One extra I might suggest for future boxes would be to include variety-specific recipes for the hops. I of course had fun thinking up something on my own, but at the very least a starting point would be helpful.
The Packaging
Yakima Valley Hops uses a nitrogen-flushed pull-top can, which is pretty slick. There’s no doubt as to the fact that they’re sealed and pretty impermeable to oxygen. A minor beef is that they are a little less convenient to store compactly in my deep freezer than bags are, and the cans also tend to wrinkle slightly due to the contraction of the internal gases at freezer temperatures. That said, they’re quite visually attractive.
The box itself was nicely arranged, and it was enjoyable to open and see what all was inside. I personally find unboxing videos or excessive commentary on such things a bit over the top, but I can’t deny that I had fun.
The box/packaging itself are maybe a little big for what’s inside, but it is all cardboard and recyclable, so I give them high marks for that. There’s no excess plastic junk, or unrecyclable bits. Also, everything arrived in perfect shape.
The Cost
Because I ponied up for a one year (four box) subscription, this knocked 15% off the $40 price tag per box, so I’m paying $34/box. And, shipping is free! Is that worth it? Overall, I think yes.
For comparison, I priced out 2 oz. containers of each hop on the Yakima Valley Hops website. This adds up to about $18.50 of hops and $9.70 of shipping, for $28.20 total. I will note, though, that some of the things in my box are currently sold out or only available in 2020 or 2019 crop years. When I compared with MoreBeer, you’d spend around $31.42 and then an additional $8 or $10 for shipping, and you wouldn’t necessarily get as much control over which year you got.
In pricing out the stainless steel cups, it looks like they run around 50 cents to $1 each online; just for the sake of argument, let’s say $1 each (they have printing on the outside, after all). So, that’s $6 value there, more or less.
With everything included ($28.20 of hops and $6 of steel cups), and free shipping, I would say this box is about a break-even proposition, and you definitely come out ahead versus if you had to pay shipping. The exclusive access to some hops is also a nice perk. Overall, the box is also a fairly good value versus buying each individually at a reseller. However, the box wouldn’t necessarily be a good value at full price ($40).
Overall
On the whole, I rate the HOPBOX a 4 out of 5, and it comes awfully close to being 5 out of 5. The cost for what you get is pretty good, although not a ridiculous steal. The full-price one-off box might make for a good gift for someone, but if you brew a lot and are likely to use the hops, I would just get a full-year subscription to save a fair bit of money. The hop selection is top-notch, and the extras in the box are pretty cool. Additionally, at least this first box has definitely helped me to expand my brewing horizons, so mission accomplished! I definitely recommend this if you are a hophead or know someone who is.
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