Category Archives: hops

Beam Me Up Pale Ale

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Beer can commemorate life events and the passage of time…meeting new friends and saying farewell to old. A dear friend and neighbor is off to new opportunities with their family, and it’s definitely a beer-worthy event. He loves Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (SNPA), and we’ve shared a few in his driveway (as well as a few homebrews) over the years. So, I decided to brew something SNPA-inspired…and by coincidence, this year’s “Big Brew Day” recipe is right in that wheelhouse.

Beam Me Up Pale Ale, all on its own

The original recipe was in the March/April 2023 issue of Zymurgy, under the name of “Nearly Nirvana Pale Ale.” It’s pretty similar to the Miss’ippi #BIGCASCADE recipe from the September 2013 BYO issue, too! My recipe is a good match for “Nearly Nirvana,” except I lowered the gravity a touch (1.056 vs. 1.060), to more closely match SNPA. This batch is also special in that I used only whole cone Cascade hops from the Farke family farm in South Dakota, all representing the 2022 crop year. I made some minor adjustments in the grist — the original called for Simpsons Crystal Light malt, and I substituted in Briess’s Caramel 40L.

I elected for a quick mash on this one, with just 30 minutes for the main rest of 156°. The goal was to shave a few minutes off of the brew day!

I did something a little different for the tasting, in doing a head-to-head with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Although my beer isn’t precisely a clone, I thought it would be good to make a comparison nonetheless. The intent was to help me more clearly evaluate my own version, and think about what the ingredients delivered.

Beam Me Up Pale Ale

  • 12 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
  • 0.5 lb. caramel malt – 40L (Briess)
  • 1.5 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 60 minute boil
  • 1.0 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1.5 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. BRY-97 (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.056 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 5.4% abv, 44 IBU, 6 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 156° for 30 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted with lactic acid and mineral additions, to achieve calculated water profile of 142 Ca, 6 Mg, 84 Na, 83 SO4, 120 Cl, 156 HCO3, RA=23 ppm.

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 7.75 gallons of water at 163°, to hit a target rest of 156°. I added 5.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH.
  • I recirculated during the mash, raising it to 168° for a 10 minute mash-out.
  • After the mash, I removed the grains. In total, the mash yielded 7 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.046, for 70% mash efficiency.
  • On the way to the boil, I added 2.5 g of gypsum to accentuate the bitterness a bit more.
  • Once the runnings were boiling, I added hops and kettle finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to 68° and transferred the wort to the fermenter. I pitched the yeast, and held the fermenter at 67° for the primary fermentation.
  • I brewed the beer on 18 March 2023. Starting gravity was 1.053.
  • I kegged the beer using a closed transfer, on 15 April 2023. Final gravity was 1.013, for 5.3% abv.
Down the glass, with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at left, and Beam Me Up Pale Ale at right.

Tasting

Just for fun, I tasted the beer on its own and also did a side-by-side with a can of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

  • Appearance
    • The beer is very clear, gold in color, and pours with a white and moderately persistent head.
      • Versus Sierra Nevada: Mine is slightly lighter in color, with less head and less head retention. The latter might be a result of a pour from draft versus the can? I’m not sure. The SNPA is slightly clearer, but also has what looks like some minor hop particulates at the bottom.
      • Winner: SNPA, by just a small margin, due to the better head and head retention.
  • Aroma
    • Sweet malt aroma and light caramel, with a light and citrusy hop aroma. The hops definitely have a mandarin quality.
      • Versus Sierra Nevada: SNPA lacks the light caramel aroma, and doesn’t have as much hop character (at least in the can I poured).
      • Winner: It’s a draw! I don’t have a preference either way.
  • Flavor
    • Medium level of citrusy mandarin orange and grapefruit, with a light resin quality in the hops. Light caramel in the malt character, medium bitterness, and clean yeast character.
      • Versus Sierra Nevada: SNPA is slightly more bitter, with more resin/pith character to the hop flavor. It’s definitely hop-dominated, with the malt to the back end, unlike mine.
      • Winner: Draw! I like aspects of each. They’re just different beers.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium carbonation, medium-light body, off-dry and smooth finish.
      • Versus Sierra Nevada: SNPA has a medium body profile and is slightly dryer on the finish.
      • Winner: I like SNPA slightly better, for having just a touch more body.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! “Beam Me Up Pale Ale” is by no means a clone (nor is it intended to be), but it’s a tasty and very drinkable beer! The mandarin quality on the hops in my version is super enjoyable. My main adjustments would be to up the bitterness slightly, and perhaps bitter with Chinook or another more resiny hop, using the Cascade for later additions. Or maybe I would leave it the same! It’s not a clone, after all.
  • Overall
    • 8/10
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (left) and Beam Me Up Pale Ale (right), head to head

Big Hop Summer IPA

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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.
  • Overall
    • 7.5/10

Spring Classic IPA

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I just love the “traditional” northwestern IPAs, as mentioned numerous times before 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.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Stratigraphic Pale Ale

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As mentioned previously, 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!
  • Overall
    • 8/10

2021 IPA

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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.

orange-gold beer with off-white head, held in tall tulip glass

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.
  • Overall
    • 8/10