Rich’s Pale Ale 2.0(US-05) Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Pours a deep orange with shades of brown.  A one finger slightly off white head dissipates slowly leaving the glass rimmed with lacing.

Smell: Strong orange and grapefruit, piney and resinous, subtle floral notes accompany a slight malt sweetness.

Taste: Smooth clean sweetness with a mild hop bite on the initial sip, complemented nicely by a moderate hop medley of citrus and pine.  Finishes with a hint of herbs and orange, a lingering bitterness and hints of carmel round out the flavor profile.

Mouthfeel: Moderately carbonated, feels somewhat thin, nice interplay of hop aromatics and malt sweetness with a slight edge towards the hops.

Drinkability & Notes: This being the second version of my pale ale I was able to tweak the recipe, specifically in the addition of a touch more crystal malt in hopes of achieving a better balance.  This version is definitely more balanced than the first and the hop aromas align closer to those found in some of the popular commercial examples of the style.  In the first recipe I used CTZ and Summit which were a bit too aggressive in both bitterness and aroma and pushed the beer towards the upper limits of the Pale Ale range. These tasting notes are from the SafeAle-05 fermented batch, which is evident by the extremely clean fermentation. There are no noticeable yeast flavors, however upon tasting the gravity samples there was a noticeable difference in the bitterness between the US-05 and the Burton Ale WLP23 versions, with the US-05 being much more bitter.  I will provide tasting notes for the WLP23 fermented batch in the near future, which I suspect will be a bit more complex.

Unfortunately, I had brew day problems that forced me to completely drain my mash tun mid mash (never switch dip tubes in a rush) and subsequently caused my mash temperature to drop into the 130 degree range.  As a result this beer finished slightly higher in alcohol than anticipated as well as slightly thinner.  The additional 2-4 gravity points that would have resulted from a proper mash temperature would have really set this beer off, as I prefer my Pale Ale’s to have a slightly maltier mouthfeel.  With that being said I believe this recipe is much more balanced than the first, with a great blend of malt and citrus/pine hops aromatics, and based on the reactions from my friends and family will be a contender for first kegs to kick at my wedding later this year. 

I’ll preface this post by saying I’m not the biggest hophead out there, in fact I tend to migrate more towards big malty beers when I’m looking for a high alcohol punch.  However, this year I was able to get my hands on several pounds of the popular citrusy/pine hops, namely Simcoe, Amarillo, and Citra, that are mainstays in many of the big commercial IPA’s and double IPA’s.  Additionally, as I continue down my “beers to brew” checklist, I decided that now was as good a time as any to give a double IPA a shot.

When brewing a double IPA there are several things to consider in the recipe formulation, the first and most obvious is the hop schedule and varieties.  For this recipe I went with three hops, specifically Belma, Simcoe, and Amarillo.  Belma is a new hop this year offered exclusively from HopsDirect.  On the site it is described as “a clean hop, imparting flavors of orange, grapefruit, tropical, pineapple, strawberry and melon.” However, after reading reviews of fellow brewers it seems like the hop falls somewhat short in the aroma intensity department, described by many as a “mild aroma” and another as a “cheaper Magnum”.

For that reason, coupled with the extremely low price of $5 a lb I decided to use the Belma for my main bittering additions.  I used a First Wort Hop to produce a smoother bitterness as well as additions at 20 and 15 to hopefully catch some of the flavors described previously.  I finished out the hop bill with additions of Amarillo and Simcoe at 10 and 5 minutes respectively as well as a huge 6 oz hop addition during my whirlpool.  These additions should contribute the classic citrus/pine aromatics that define American double IPA’s.  It is important to note that I added the hops to the wort upon chilling to 165 degrees, as at this temperature a greater percentage of the hop compounds are transfered to the wort, delivering an aromatic hop punch to the final beer.

Another important aspect of the recipe is the corn sugar addition.  This will dry out the beer somewhat while contributing to the overall alcohol strength that defines the style.  A double IPA shouldn’t be a malt monster, the dextrose provides the extra fuel for the yeast to get you to the sweet spot of around 1.016-1.104 FG. Lastly, one needs to consider the amount of wort that will be lost to the hops during the brewing process.  I calculated a loss of roughly a tenth of a gallon per oz of hops added during the brew.  In the recipe below I calculated my numbers for a 7 gallon batch with 10 oz of hops, and wound up with just over 6 gallons into my carboy on completion of the brew day.

Timber Ridge Double IPA

Batch Size: 7 Gallons

Original Gravity: 1.084
Est. Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV: 9.1%
IBU: 106.3
Color: 8.7 SRM
Boil Time: 90 Min

84% American 2-Row
7.6% Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
4.7% Carapils
3.5% Crystal 40 Malt
.9% Crystal 120 Malt

2 Oz Belma (11.3% AA) First Wort Hop
1.25 Oz Belma (11.3% AA) at 20 min
1 Oz Belma (11.3% AA) at 15 min
1 Tbsp Irish Moss at 15 min
1 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 10 min
1 Oz Simcoe (12.2% AA) at 5 min
2 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at Whirlpool (165 deg)
2 Oz Simcoe (12.2% AA) at Whirlpool (165 deg)
2 Oz Belma (11.3% AA) at Whirlpool (165 deg)
1.5 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 5 Day Dry Hop
1.5 Oz Simcoe (12.2% AA) at 5 Day Dry Hop
1.5 Oz Chinook (13.1% AA) at 5 Day Dry Hop
1.5 Oz CTZ (8.26% AA) at 5 Day Dry Hop

Pitched onto a washed yeast WLP 023 Burton Ale Yeast Cake

Mash:

60 minutes at 152 F (Saccharification Rest)
10 minutes at 165 F (Mash Out)

Collected 6 gallons of wort in carboy.

This is my second iteration of my Pale Ale recipe (version 1 can be found here).  For the most part I kept the grain bill the same, a mix of American 2-Row with some Vienna for color and maltiness.  I did however modify both the type of and amount of Crystal Malts in the grist.  I swapped out the C-120 for C-80 in the second version and also upped the overall percentage of crystal malts to 6.4% of the total grist vs. 4.% in version 1.  As I discussed in my tasting notes for my original recipe (tasting notes) the first version was slightly more hop forward, so I’m hoping the slight increase in the Crystal malts will work to make the second version a bit more balanced.

The main area that I focused on re-working for the second version was the hop profile.  I was fortunate enough to get my hands on 1 lb packages of Amarillo and Simcoe, two of the more popular hops, and wanted to incorporate them into my Pale Ale as they are known to work amazingly together. I used a backloaded hop schedule of 60, 20, 5, and 0 minutes to capture the the classic American citrus hop flavors associated with these hops. I also added some Chinook at flame out in an effort to introduce some pine and fruity notes to give the beer multiple layers of hop aromas.

I decided to do a split batch fermentation as I am planning on brewing this beer for my wedding and still in full out experimentation mode.  I decided to use Safale 05 for its clean fermentation for one batch. This traditional yeast choice for an American Pale Ale should serve as a good contrast to the second batch, which I decided to ferment with White Labs Burton Ale strain.  For this batch I am hoping the fruity notes from this strain will provide a nice interplay with the fruity/citrus hop aromas and contribute to the overall malt flavors in it.

I will be looking to see how the different yeast strains effect the perceived hop flavors as well as bitterness. Since I would up brewing 11 gallons I am also planning on dry hopping a small amount of the second version with some coffee beans in addition to the Amarillo/Simcoe/Chinook additions.  Stay tuned for tasting notes on  all three versions of Rich’s Pale Ale 2.0.

Rich’s Pale Ale 2.0

Batch Size: 12 Gallons

Original Gravity: 1.064
Est. Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 42.3
Color: 8.7 SRM
Boil Time: 90 Min

75.3% American 2-Row
18.3% Vienna Malt
4.1% Crystal 80 Malt
2.3% Crystal 40 Malt

1.25 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 60 min
1 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 20 min
1 Oz Simcoe (12.20% AA) at 20 min
1 Tbsp Irish Moss at 15 min
1 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 5 min
1 Oz Simcoe (12.2% AA) at 5 min
1 Oz Chinook  (13.1% AA) at 0 min
1 Oz Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 7 Day Dry Hop
1 Oz Simcoe (12.2% AA) at 7 Day Dry Hop
1 Oz Chinook  (13.1% AA) at 7 Day Dry Hop

Split Batch Fermentation

6 Gallon: 3.2 L Starter of White Labs 023 Burton Ale Yeast
5 Gallon: 1 Pack Safale 05

Mash:

60 minutes at 152 F (Saccharification Rest)
10 minutes at 165 F (Mash Out)

Ferment at ambient air temperature of 62 F

Notes:

Lost 1 gallon to hop matter.

Due to a mis-configuration in Beer Smith I pulled more wort than I should have, thus the 90 minute boil.  A 60 minute boil would be appropriate for this beer and I will use one for future batches.

Update: Make sure that you use a blow off tube when using WLP 023 Burton Ale Yeast!!

India Pale Ale is one style that has experienced a renaissance among American Craft brewers, with the momentum clearly excelerating as the number of variations continues to grow. The transformation of the traditional IPA began with the birth of the double IPA,  as in true American fashion, brewers began pushing the limits by brewing stronger, hoppier, and bolder IPA’s. Recently new IPA variations have emerged including the Black IPA, Belgian IPA, and Rye IPA as brewers strive to meet the American consumers love affair with the almighty hop.

One lesser known IPA variation, the Wheat IPA, happens to be one of my favorites even though few commercial examples exist, the most popular probably being Anaheuser-Busch’s Shock Top. My preference for wheat IPA’s stems from the wheat’s contribution to the malt profile of the beer and in my opinion, the superior balance that it provides with the traditional citrus hop IPA flavors. The West Coast recipe below is the third iteration, one that I feel strikes the best balance of the three, while still allowing for a delicious interplay of wheat and citrus flavors.

I am satisfied the grain bill has achieved a balance of wheat and sweetness that can stand up against the 60 IBU contributed from the hops, however I am planning on modifying the hop bill this year.  While I love Falconers Flight, the fact that it is a proprietary blend of several hop varieties of unknown proportions has led me to reconsider its use in the recipe.  Moving forward I plan to eliminate it completely from the hop bill and experiment with different ratios of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Belma hops in order to allow for better duplicity moving forward.  Don’t get me wrong the recipe is great as it currently stands, so good in fact that if I was every able to open a brewery of my own this would be one of my flagship beers.  This makes the use of Falconers Flight potentially problematic, thus my reasoning for seeking out the alternative hop combinations.

West Coast Wheat

Batch Size: 11.5 Gallons
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 59.1
Color: 6.2 SRM
Boil Time: 60 Min

52.2% American 2-Row
32.6% Wheat Malt
9.8% Munich Malt
2.2% Crystal 15

1.25 Oz Magnum(14% AA) at 60 min
1 Tbsp Irish Moss at 15 min
1.4 Oz Falconers Flight (10.5% AA) at 15 min
.75 Oz Summit (17% AA) at 15 min
1 Oz Citra (13.4% AA) at 5 min
2.6 Oz Falconers Flight (10.5% AA) at 1 min
2 Oz Citra (13.4% AA) at 1 min
1 Oz Summit (17% AA) at 0 min
4 Oz Falconers Flight (10.5% AA) Dry Hop (7 Days)

2 Packs Safale American Ale US-05 Dry Yeast

Mash at 15 for 60 minutes raise to 168 for a 10 minute mashout.

For detailed tasting notes of this West Coast Wheat recipe, click here.

While Lionheart Brewing is still in its relative infancy, I plan on sticking around for a while.  With that being said I thought it would be fun to have some annual posts highlighting some of the best blog related material of that particular year.   The first thing that came to my mind was beer recipe of the year. This year it will be my favorite recipe nominated by me. Hopefully over the years as the site continues to grow this can evolve into a nomination and vote by the site’s readers.

With that being said my favorite beer of 2012 was Unconventional Wit, my take on a Belgian Wit with an American twist.  I would describe this beer as an imperial Wit brewed with traditional Belgian spices and a strong dose of American hops.  This beer is best when consumed fresh, pronounced wheat and citrus flavors are balanced nicely by the subtle Belgian yeast aromatics.  To read the full tasting notes for Unconventional Wit click here.

Unconventional Wit

Batch Size: 11 Gallons
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 18.7
Color: 7.4 SRM
Boil Time: 75 Min

54.8% Pilsner Malt
37.6% Wheat Malt
3.6% Biscuit Malt
2.7% Caravienna Malt
1.3% Crystal 15

.25 Oz Columbus (12.8% AA) at 60 min
2 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
1.25 Oz Chinook (11.8% AA) at 5 min
1.58 Oz Citra (13.4% AA) at 5 min
1 Oz Crushed Coriander at 5 min
.66 Oz Orange Peel, Bitter at 5 min
2 Oz Columbus (12.8% AA) at 1 min
.5 Oz Chinook (11.8% AA) at 0 min
.5 Oz Citra (13.4% AA) at 0 min
8 grams crushed black pepper whirlpool
2 Lemon Grass stalks finely chopped whirlpool

3 Liter starter of Belgian Abbey II (1726)

Mashed at 149 for 60 min raised to 165 for a 10 minute mash out.

Keg and serve fresh after a one week primary fermentation for the optimum taste.

3.4 L Starter of Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey Ale II

After some delay I was finally able to track down a bottle of the 2012 Great Lakes Christmas Ale at a local bottle shop in Philly.  Unfortunetly Great Lakes, along with many other fine Midwestern craft brewers do not distribute to New Jersey, but thats a topic for another post.

For this set of tasting notes I will be comparing the Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone (clone) to the original Great Lakes Christmas Ale (GLCA) and highlighting the biggest perceived differences between the two.  After tasting the first sips of the original in close to a year I quickly remembered why this has become one of my favorite Christmas beers and I decided to brew a 10 gallon clone batch in the first place.

Tasting Notes Comparison:

Appearance: GLCA pours a dark orange, copper with a swiftly dissipating white head.  Clone pours a deeper shade of orange, bordering on brown with a much thicker head that dissipates just as quickly.

Biggest difference:  GLCA pours much lighter and has a subtle head that lasts well after the initial pour while the clone appears at least two shades darker and the head is non existant after a few minutes.

Smell: GLCA: swift pungent aroma of sweet malt and honey dominate.  Clone: subdued honey notes mixed with mild caramel and malt undertones.

Biggest difference: Depth of flavors, the GLCA is much more pungent most likely because it is fresher than my clone.

Taste: GLCA: Starts thin with a bready malt notes.  Finishes sweet with lasting notes of honey.  No hop flavors or bitterness present, mild carb bite.  Extremely sweet.  Clone:  Starts much thicker, strong malt backbone dominates initial sip, English malt notes are evident.  Carb bite about the same as the original with restrained  honey flavor lingering on the palate after the finish.

Biggest difference:  GLCA is much, much, sweeter with a malt profile that is much more defined and bready.  When the clone was younger the sweetness was much more defined but I do not think it ever reached the level of the original.  I prefer the clone in this regards as the GLCA is so sweet it boarders on being cloying.

Batch Size: 6 Gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.105
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.021
Estimated ABV: 11.2%
IBU: 64.3
Color: 69.6 SRM
Boil Time: 90 Min

65.6% Pale Malt (2 Row)
10.5% Dark Traditional DME
3.7% Special B Malt
3.7% Wheat Malt
3.5% Roasted Barley
3% Carafa III
2.6% Aromatic Malt
2.1% Crystal 40
2.1% Flaked Barley
1.1% Crystal 120
1.1% Chocolate Malt
1% Black Patent Malt

1.41 Oz Magnum (10% AA) at 75 min
.7 Oz Styrian Goldings (5.5% AA) at 75 min
.45 oz Columbus (12.8% AA) at 75 min
.15 oz Columbus (12.8% AA) at 15 min
1.25 Oz Styrian Goldings (5.5% AA) at 1 min
1.25 Oz Willamette (4.7% AA) at 1 min
.5 Oz Citra (13.4% AA) at 1 min
.5 Oz Summit (15.9% AA) at 1 min

5 L Starter of White Labs 028 Edinburgh Ale Yeast

Mash at 149 for 60 min

Pull 2 gallons first runnings then add 2 gallons from Hot Liqour tank and sparge in full.

Add 1.25 oz Port soaked oak cubes to secondary.  Oak for 3-5 months until the desired balance is achieved.

Ranked the #2 beer in the world, I decided to brew a clone of this bad boy from a recipe provided by the head brewer Todd Mott himself. Check out the video for a look into the beer and the event that is Kate the Great day at Portsmouth Brewing.

Appearance: Burnt orange to light brown with a quickly dissipating white head.

Smell: Subdued citrus hop aroma, slight carmel notes.

Batch Size: 11 Gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.050
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.013
Estimated ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 35.1
Color: 5.6
Boil Time: 60 Min

39.5% (7 lbs 11.5 oz) Pale Malt 2-Row
30.7% (6 lbs) Wheat Malt
21.9% ( 4 lbs 4.5 oz) French Pilsen
5.4% (1lb l oz) Honey Malt
2.6% (.5 lbs) Oats

.25 Oz Columbus (12.8 AA) @ 60 min 5.7 IBU
.25 Oz Citra (13.4 AA) @ 30 min 4.6 IBU
.5 Oz Citra (13.4 AA) @ 15 min 5.9 IBU
.5 Oz Columbus (12.8 AA) @ 15 min 5.7 IBU
.5 Oz Citra (13.4 AA) @ 10 min 4.3 IBU
.5 Oz Columbus (12.8 AA) @ 10 min 4.1 IBU
.5 Oz Citra (13.4 AA) @ 5 min 2.4 IBU
.5 Oz Columbus (12.8 AA) @ 5 min 2.3 IBU
1.5 Oz Orange Peel Bitter 5 min
.5 Oz Citra (13.4 AA) @ 0 min 0 IBU
.5 Oz Columbus (12.8 AA) @ 0 min 0 IBU

White Labs 090 San Diego Super Yeast Cake

Mash @ 15 Degrees for 60 minutes mashout at 165 degrees