Pannotia White IPA 2021

It’s been two years since I last brewed my white IPA (the original hazy IPA!), so now is as good of a time as any to make it again. The recipe I used this year isn’t too far off from my previous one.

Pannotia White IPA 2021

  • 6.75 lb. Viking 2-row Xtra pale malt
  • 2.5 lb. white wheat malt (Briess)
  • 1 lb. white wheat malt (Great Western)
  • 1.5 lb. Viking Pilsner Zero Malt
  • 1 lb. flaked wheat
  • 0.75 lb. flaked oats
  • 0.5 lb. rice hulls
  • 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (9.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.25 oz. Magnum hop pellets (10.1% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 2.62 g (1 tsp.) WLN1000 yeast nutrient (White Labs), 5 minute boil
  • 0.35 oz. bitter orange peel, 1 minute boil
  • 0.15 oz. coriander seed, 1 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (9.5% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Citra hop pellets (12.8% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (13.4% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. Whiteout Belgian Ale Yeast (Imperial Yeast #B44)
  • 1 oz. Citra hop pellets (12.8% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (13.4% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (11.2% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.062 o.g., 1.015 f.g., 6.2% abv, 60 IBU, 4 SRM
  • 60 minute full volume mash at 152°, with mash-out at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, with 8 g gypsum

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 7.5 gallons of water at 159°, to hit a mash temperature of 152°. I added 5.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH.
  • After 60 minutes (with recirculation), I raised the temperature to 168° and held it there for 10 minutes, before removing the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.3 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.051, for 64% mash efficiency.
  • I added the gypsum to the kettle and brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat, whirlpooled the final hop addition, and then chilled down to around 75°, before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I chilled the wort the rest of the way down to ~66°, before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 15 May 2021, and fermented at 66°. Starting gravity was 1.058.
  • On 24 May 2021, I raised the fermenter to ambient, around 75°.
  • On 29 May 2021, I kegged the beer. Final gravity was 1.015, which works out to 5.7% abv. I added the hops in a bag, and chilled the beer down to 33°, removing the hops on 1 June 2021.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Light gold, with a moderate haze that has dropped fairly clear over the weeks it was on tap. The beer pours with a frothy and persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Light citrus hop character, with spicy yeast phenols and light coriander.
  • Flavor
    • The beer has an up-front citrus bitterness with citrus zest and pithy character. There is a light malty/doughy malt character, and a nice spicy yeast character as appropriate for a Belgian wit yeast.
  • Mouthfeel
    • The beer has a medium-light body, moderate carbonation, and a dry finish. It’s pretty good!
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yep! This is a nice recipe. The beer is best before too much yeast settles out, and I think it would be tasty with a touch more carbonation, but even after a month or two in the keg, it’s still a very drinkable beer.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

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!

IMG_20190713_123502

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

Pannotia White IPA Kegged

Pannotia White IPA
After a little more than two weeks in the primary fermenter, tonight I kegged the latest iteration of Pannotia White IPA. I think the bitterness level in this version is just about perfect, and the overall flavor and baseline aroma are also pretty good.

At the time of kegging, I added the dry hops charge in a weighted mesh bag (1 oz. each of Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops pellets), along with 2 oz. of the lemon zest extract that I made earlier.

The final gravity for this beer was 1.012, down from 1.060, equating to 6.3% abv.

Pannotia White IPA 1.6

Lemon extract

Lemon extract

I’ve been having a lot of fun tooling and re-tooling my white IPA recipe. Because it has been some time since I last brewed up a batch, I wanted to bring this brew on-line again, with a few tweaks to inch ever closer to perfection.

The grain bill is essentially the same as my most recent batch, with the primary change being a switch to 2-row alone as the base malt. Hops are modified slightly in line with my current inventory, with Amarillo hops pellets instead of whole Cascade hops. The final component that I felt the beer was missing was a nice lemon background and aroma. One option was to use Lemondrop hops, but these are rather hard to get. Instead, I elected to craft some lemon extract (see photo at right). With the zest from four lemons and four shots of cheap vodka, I combined it all into a jar and did the “set and forget” routine. Once the beer fermentation is done, I’ll strain the mixture and toss it into the keg.

Pannotia White IPA 1.6

  • 7.75 lbs. 2-row malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
  • 3 lbs. white wheat malt
  • 1 lb. flaked wheat
  • 0.5 lbs. flaked quick oats
  • 0.5 lbs. rice hulls
  • 8 g. gypsum
  • 1 oz. Amarillo hops pellets (7.0% alpha, 5.6% beta), added to wort prior to boil and boiled for 60 minutes
  • 1 oz. Amarillo hops pellets (7.0% alpha, 5.6% beta), 35 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Amarillo hops pellets (7.0% alpha, 5.6% beta), added at flame-out and steeped during chill
  • 1 oz. Citra hops pellets (14.1% alpha, 3.6% beta), added at flame-out and steeped during chill
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hops pellets (13.8% alpha, 5.9% beta), added at flame-out and steeped during chill
  • 1 oz. Citra hops pellets (14.1% alpha, 3.6% beta), dry hop
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hops pellets (13.8% alpha, 5.9% beta), dry hop
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hops pellets (11.3% alpha, 3.2% beta), dry hop
  • 1/8 tsp. yeast nutrient, 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
  • Lemon extract, zest of four lemons infused in four shots of vodka (~6 oz., resulting in 5 oz. of extract).

Procedure

  • Eight days in advance, I prepared a 2L starter, with an aim to overbuild my yeast culture for an upcoming Belgian wit. On the third day, I decanted 0.75L into a jar and cold-crashed the remaining 1.25L. I ended up delaying my brew day a bit, due to illness.
  • On brew day, I mashed in with 4.5 gallons of water at 167°, to hit a mash temperature of 152°. The temperature was down to about 150° after 30 minutes.
  • After 60 minutes of mashing, I collected the first runnings and then added 4.25 gallons of water at 185°. This raised the mash bed to 165°. I let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the wort.
  • Altogether, I collected 6.75 gallons of wort at a gravity of 1.051, for 75% efficiency.
  • I had an outside meeting, so had to leave the wort sitting for two hours. Upon my return, I added the first round of hops and brought the mixture to a boil (approximating a first-wort hopping technique).
  • As the wort boiled for 60 minutes, I added the various ingredients per the schedule in the recipe.
  • After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat, added the final charge of hops, and chilled the beer. Once the beer was chilled down to 77°, I transferred it to the fermenter and pitched the yeast. A krausen started forming within 12 hours.
  • Starting gravity was 1.060. I am fermenting this at 68°, and plan to keep it in the primary for around 10 days before transferring to the keg.
  • This beer was brewed on Tuesday, May 10.