Pannotia White IPA 1.7

I skipped a round last year, but decided that I needed to do another batch of my old favorite, Pannotia White IPA.

As I brewed this a few weeks back and as I enjoyed it now, I reflected on the fact that the (now long since past) white IPA mini-craze laid groundwork for the current hazy IPA mega-craze. White IPAs share some important features with the hazy ones, including haze and a juicy-fruity hop bill. They’re a distinct beast though, distinguished in large part by their drier body and distinct Belgian character. Personally, I find white IPAs a lot more enjoyable, but then again I also find the vast majority of hazy IPAs to be pretty mediocre.

In any case, this version of my white IPA recipe is pretty similar to the last time I brewed it, with the only minor distinction being the lack of lemon zest tincture. No particular reason I skipped that–I just forgot. Ah well!

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Pannotia White IPA 1.7

  • 7 lbs. 2-row malt (Rahr Malting Co.)
  • 3 lbs. white wheat malt
  • 1 lb. flaked wheat
  • 0.5 lbs. flaked quick oats
  • 0.5 lbs. rice hulls
  • 2 oz. Amarillo hops pellets (7.7% alpha), 45 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Amarillo hops pellets (7.7% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Citra hops pellets (13.2% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hops pellets (13.8% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Citra hops pellets (13.2% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hops pellets (13.8% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hops pellets (11.3% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 tsp. Fermax, 10 minute boil
  • 8 g gypsum (added to boil)
  • 0.35 oz. bitter orange peel, 1 minute boil
  • 0.15 oz. coriander seed (crushed), 1 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. Belgian Wit Ale yeast (WLP400, White Labs), prepared in 1.25L starter, chilled and decanted

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 152°, batch sparge
  • 1.059 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 6.1% abv, 60 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Claremont water, with 8 g gypsum added to boil

Procedure

  • I began a starter a few days in advance of brewing, and cold crashed it for two days.
  • I mashed in with 4 gallons of water at 163.6°, hitting a mash temperature of 152°. I added 10 mL of 88% lactic acid to hit my pH estimate.
  • With two collections of runnings (one after 0.75 gallons of water at 185° and one after adding 3.35 gallons at 185°), I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings in total with a gravity of 1.046, for 73% efficiency.
  • I brought everything to a boil, adding hops and such per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the flame and chilled to pitching temperature.
  • I brewed this beer on 18 May 2019, fermenting at 66°. Learning my lesson from past experiences with an extremely vigorous fermentation for WLP400, I used a blow-off tube for initial fermentation. I moved it to ambient temperatures on 2 June 2019, and kegged on 22 June 2019. The hops were added to the keg in a mesh sack at this point.
  • Starting gravity was 1.057, and final gravity was 1.011, for 6.1% abv.
  • The tasting was done about a month after kegging; two months after kegging, this beer is still holding up really well!

Tasting

  • Aroma
    • Tropical fruit forward; it’s like a nose punch of passionfruit, guava, and citrus all at once! There’s just a hint of the Belgian ale spice behind that.
  • Appearance
    • Slightly hazy, with a pale gold color. The head is low but persistant.
  • Flavor
    • Definite tropical hop flavor at the front of this, with a smooth bitterness and the spicy Belgian ale yeastiness around that. Malt character is in the background, and is pretty clean (as expected for the grain bill).
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderate carbonation, moderate body, very slightly dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yep! This is a good recipe as always. The head could be a touch better on this one, I probably should have added the lemon tincture, and I suppose there should be a little more haze, but nonetheless it’s a great beer.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Peach IPA

This is a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for quite awhile…fruit beers intrigue me, and a well executed fruit IPA can be exquisite. This particular recipe is modified from the Peach IPA recipe by Mitch Steele in the March/April 2016 Zymurgy magazine. I adjusted the base malt, hops, etc., to match some of what I had in stock. I also upped the dry hop quantities to provide the more intense hop aroma that I like.

Peach IPA

  • 11.25 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
  • 0.75 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 lb. Carapils malt (Briess)
  • 1.10 oz. Warrior hop pellets (15.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (14.0% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 2 oz. Helga (Southern Hallertau) hop pellets (5.6% alpha), 10 day dry hop
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (14.0% alpha), 10 day dry hop
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (12.25% alpha), 10 day dry hop
  • 4 oz. peach puree, added on day 3 of fermentation
  • 1 pkg. California Ale yeast (White Labs WLP001)

Target Parameters

  • Single infusion mash to hit target of 152°, 60 minute rest, batch sparge
  • 1.063 s.g., 1.014 f.g., 6.5% abv, 64 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Water adjusted to 113 ppm Ca, 22 ppm Mg, 24 ppm Na, 194 ppm SO4, 42 ppm Cl, 170 ppm alkalinity, 76 ppm RA

Procedure

  • Two days before brewing, I prepared a 2L yeast starter, and let it go for 36 hours before cold crashing in the fridge. I’ll set aside ~0.6L for a later batch.
  • I prepared my mash water and sparge water in two equal batches of 4.25 gallons. To each, I added 3.1g gypsum, 1.7 g epsom salt, and 0.7 g calcium chloride. To adjust the mash pH, I added 2 tsp (10 mL) of 75% phosphoric acid.
  • I mashed in with 4.25 gallons of water at 160.5°, to hit my mash target of 152°. After 45 minutes, I was down to 150°.
  • After 60 minutes, I added 0.75 gallons of water at 185°, let rest for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings.
  • Next, I added 3.5 gallons of water at 185°, let rest for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the second runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of sweet wort with a gravity of 1.053, for 75% efficiency.
  • I brought the wort to a boil, and added the hops and other ingredients per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I added the final hop dose and then turned off the flame before chilling as far as I can.
  • I got the wort down to about 85°…that’s the best I could do in the midst of this heat wave! So, I transferred the wort into the fermenter and put it in the fermentation chamber overnight to chill down to 66°.
  • Starting gravity was 1.062. I brewed this beer on 1 September 2017, and pitched the yeast on 2 September 2017.