Tag Archives: BIPA

Byzantium IPA

Posted on by

With the summer months closing out, I wanted to do a final kveik batch. I targeted a 3 gallon yield, because I didn’t want to have a ton of higher-abv beer. Additionally, I made this a “quicker brew” session, by reducing the boil time to 45 minutes. I have no particular reason for the name, other than that it sounded cool.

Byzantium IPA

  • 8.25 lb. 2-row malt (California Select, Great Western)
  • 0.25 lb. 10L caramel malt (Briess)
  • 0.55 oz. CTZ (Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus) hop pellets (15.8% alpha), first wort hop
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellet (12.7% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 0.65 oz. Centennial hop pellet (8.1% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (WLN1000, White Labs), 5 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. Voss Kveik Ale Yeast (Lallemand)
  • 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 2 day dry hop
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.7% alpha), 2 day dry hop

Target Parameters

  • 1.067 s.g., 1.013 f.g., 7.2% abv, 66 IBU, 5 SRM
  • 149° mash, 60 minutes, with 10 minute mash-out at 168°, and 1 gallon sparge
  • Claremont tap water with 3 g gypsum and 2 g epsom salt added at boil, to hit add 3 g gypsum, 2 g epsom salt to water just before boil, to hit 71 Ca, 21 Mg, 93 Na, 180 SO4, 105 Cl, 156 HC03, 65 RA, 128 ppm Alkalinity

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 4 gallons of water at 156°, adding 5 mL of 88% lactic acid. This hit a target mash temperature of 149°, and I held it here (with recirculation) for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, I mashed out to 168°. I pulled the grain basket, and sparged with just under a gallon of hot water.
  • In total, I collected 4 gallons of runnings at a gravity of 1.057, for 73% mash efficiency. Nice!
  • I added gypsum, epsom salt, and the CTZ pellets, brought the wort to a boil, and added hops and such per the schedule. After 45 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to ~90°.
  • I transferred ~3.25 gallons of wort at a starting gravity of 1.064 into the fermenter, and pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 21 August 2021, letting it sit at ambient, which was around 85°.
  • Fermentation took off quickly, overflowing the airlock (oops). I added the dry hops directly to the fermenter (with no bag) on 1 September 2021, and then kegged on 3 September 2021.
  • I kegged the beer using a semi-closed transfer, and the hops were quite a pain. I had some issues with clogged lines, etc. I probably should have cold-crashed to drop the hops out of the beer, or else bagged them in the first place. Ah well.
  • Final gravity was 1.014, for 6.6% abv.
  • To help clear the beer and hurry it towards serving, I added 0.5 tsp of gelatin in 0.75 cups water on 4 September 2021. At this time, I also agitated keg to finish carbonation.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • This is a gold-colored beer with a slight haze; it pours with a quite persistent white head that leaves nice lacing on the side of the glass.
  • Aroma
    • The beer has a light citrus character for hops and a slight caramel malt aroma. There is no major yeast character, so the overall aroma is pretty clean. I would say it could use a little more hop character.
  • Flavor
    • The flavor is has a high level of bitterness, with a citrus pith character and a little bit of orange. The malt is in the background, with a slightly grainy aspect. There is a light…tartness?…in the yeast profile, that adds a bit of interest.
  • Mouthfeel
    • The beer has a medium-light body, moderate carbonation, and a dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a worthy experiment…definitely better than the other kveik IPA I did, which suffered from clashing hops, malt, and yeast in initial tastings, and never quite came together even as it matured. I think the hop selection works better here, although as before I probably should use a more character-rich base malt such as Maris Otter. My hop handling also wasn’t great on this one, which I think dinged it a bit also. I should probably just add the hops in a bag next time. I lost volume as well as introduced a bit of O2 while messing around trying to clear clogs. That aside, it is a pretty beer.
  • Overall
    • 6.5/10

Beer Tasting: Beringea IPA

Posted on by

The Beringea IPA has been on tap for about three weeks now, and has matured and clarified beautifully. Before it’s all gone, I figured I should do an official tasting!

A few notes–it was dry-hopped at around 60 degrees for 10 days. I chose to leave the hops in while carbonating and serving, and haven’t noted any negative effects on the beer.

  • Basics
    • Starting gravity = 1.060; final gravity = 1.013; abv = 6.2%. Estimated IBU = 56
  • Aroma
    • Pleasantly and moderately floral.
  • Appearance
    • Off-white, creamy head that is pretty persistent, with modest lacing. The beer itself is a clear, moderate copper in color. No chill haze. Really pretty!
  • Flavor
    • Nicely balanced with a hint of maltiness. The beer is modestly bitter but not overly so. The finish is gently bitter but not harsh at all. The hops come through nicely…not just bitter, but flavorful.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Smooth; carbonation is about perfect for the style.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! It’s a nicely balanced IPA; very drinkable, and not so ridiculously bitter that it blows out your taste buds from the first sip. I’m pleased.
  • Overall rating
    • 9/10

Beringea IPA Update

Posted on by

Tonight I transferred my Beringea IPA from the primary fermenter into the keg, where it will be dry-hopped for 14 days before carbonation begins. In a slight switch from original plans, I changed the final hops addition from Simcoe to Amarillo. Although I like the aroma of Simcoe, I’ve heard so many good things about Amarillo that I wanted to try it out. I put the hops pellets (2 ounces total) in a largish nylon hops bag, weighted it with a small ceramic dish, and tied it to the outside of the keg with a piece of thread. Then, I sealed up the keg.

The final gravity for this beer was 1.013, down from 1.060. This works out to 6.2% abv, right on target for the recipe. Taste and appearance for the beer are quite nice–it will be hard to have the patience for my first taste! After my two weeks of dry-hopping at between 60 and 65 degrees, into the keezer it goes for carbonation.

Beringea IPA

Posted on by

Continuing to ramp up brewing for my kegging outfit, I would like a nice IPA on tap later this month. In addition to using up the end of my 50 pound bag of 2 row malt, I also wanted to finish out a partly-used bag of Chinook hops as well as continue working through my supply of South Dakota-grown Cascade hops. Finally, I really like the aroma of Simcoe hops, but I didn’t dry hop my last recipe with them long enough, so the aroma on that batch was a little underwhelming. I decided to give Simcoe another try, with a longer dry hopping period this time around. Note added later: I ended up changing my mind and going with Amarillo hops, which I haven’t used for dry-hopping previously. Simcoe will get saved for later!

At any rate, I’ve designed a recipe that I’m hoping will hit the target for maltiness and hoppiness. The name refers to the adjacent parts of North America and Asia across which many an organism has migrated between continents over the millenia. We’ll see how this recipe works out!

Beringea IPA

  • 10.4 lbs. 2 row malt
  • 1 lb. Carapils malt
  • 0.75 lb. 60° L crystal malt
  • 0.15 lb. chocolate malt
  • 1.25 oz. Chinook hops pellets (11.4% alpha; 3.4% beta), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Cascade whole hops (est. 5.5% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Simcoe hops pellets (13.0% alpha; 4.5% beta) Amarillo hops pellets (8.2% alpha, 5.7% beta), 2 weeks dry hop
  • California Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP001), prepared 2 days in advance with 1.5 L starter
  • 1 tsp. Irish moss (10 minute boil)
Anticipated statistics
  • 1.060 s.g., 1.013 f.g, 6.2% abv
  • 56.9 IBU
  • 12.4 SRM
Procedure
  • I mashed in with 3.9 gallons of water at ~173°; the mash stabilized at 155° after 5 minutes, and was down to 154° after 30 minutes. After an hour, I added .75 gallons of water at 190°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected ~3.1 gallons of wort.
  • Then, I added 3.14 gallons of 185° water to the mash tun, which brought the mash up to 165°. I let this sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the rest of the wort. This came to a total of 6.75 gallons, with a gravity of 1.049 at 60°, which works out to 75% efficiency.
  • I brought the wort to a vigorous boil, and added the Chinook hops.
  • Because the original wort volume (6.75 gallons) was on track to be more than I anticipated, I aimed for a very vigorous boil to clear out the excess. I was down to 6.25 gallons after 30 minutes, and ~5.75 gallons after 60 minutes of boiling.
  • After 45 minutes, I added the Cascade hops.
  • After 50 minutes, I added the Irish moss.
  • After 60 minutes, I turned off the flame and used my wort chiller to cool the wort. Prior to chilling, I took a sample of wort for specific gravity. This is a minor change in my procedure–by taking the sample now, I figure I reduce the risk of contamination or wort loss due to clumsiness later.
  • I chilled the wort in two stages. The first was by running tap water through the wort chiller. After the wort temperature was around 82°, I siphoned around 3.5 gallons of ice water through the chiller, which brought the temperature down to around 68°.
  • The wort is a beautiful deep copper color, with a smooth bitterness and pleasant flavor. Starting gravity was 1.060 at 60°, exactly on target.
  • I transferred the beer into the carboy while aerating with the Venturi pump, and pitched the yeast starter. I’m fermenting the beer at 65°, in my usual temperature controlled fermentation chamber.
  • This batch was brewed on 3 January 2014.