After going to an awesome bottle share yesterday and talking to everyone there, I realized that a bunch of people were excited to get information about the new recipe I'm working on. Coincidentally, I'm anxious to start talking about it! Since I'm working on a yeast starter right now for a few test batches to be brewed this week, I figured I'll start my experiment updates with covering some yeast options.
When most people want to talk about DIPA recipes, everyone wants to discuss the hops. Obviously, hops are the big distinguishing ingredient of DIPA's. However, most people will get their exciting hops and then skimp on yeast selection. In my experience, anytime a homebrewer is asking for advice on a double ipa recipe, the common advice is always something like follows. 1. Keep the grain bill simple with little to none caramel malts. 2. Pick your favorite "C" hops (Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Chinook, Crystal, Columbus, etc.) and load up the hop additions at the end of the boil. 3. Pick a clean fermenting American Ale yeast (Wyeast 1056, White Labs 001, or Safale US-05). This is a proven recipe for success and it will make for a good starting point for a typical DIPA.
For the longest time, I followed that advice and I have made some really good beers that way. But now with so many people following the same formula for success, I've had to wonder what there is that is exciting about new Double IPA's. If everyone is doing that, what sets apart the great double IPA's from the average ones (other than brewing proficiency)? There are potentially 900-950 flavor compounds that can come from fermentation alone... Why wouldn't we want to take advantage of the potential flavors?
That train of thought lead to me thinking about some of the great double IPA's that have been brewed recently. In the last 2 years, we have seen a huge shift in the craft beer community as far as what is considered a great DIPA. One trend that I thought was funny was the sudden interest in cloudy DIPA's which seem to be typical of Northeastern breweries. The trend has caught on so much that now Stone has released an unfiltered variation of their Enjoy By series. It was so funny to me that we had released batches of cloudy Weedy's in the past by mistake and felt bad about it and now we have huge breweries purposefully releasing cloudy beers and customers that are complaining that the beers aren't cloudy enough.
So a week or two ago I had a little bit of a lightbulb moment. Stone's Unfiltered Enjoy By was a beer that I thought was pretty good, but not great. I didn't think that it had the same flavor components that some of the Northeast cloudy IPA's have and as a result, it really just kind of tasted like yeasty Enjoy By. In contrast, the Northeast IPA's I've had always seem to have significantly more hop flavor than the clearer, extremely hoppy West Coast IPA's. I started wondering how the cloudy IPA trend came to be. My theory: A few breweries brewed really good IPA's with special yeast strains (Notably, Conan yeast in Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead beers). Beer enthusiasts realized that the beer was world class beer despite the cloudy appearance and began to associate cloudy IPA's with these extremely tasty beers. So now cloudy IPA's are all the rage and breweries like Stone, Boston Beer, and others are trying to cash in on that by releasing their own beers that have sediment in the bottle.
The problem with that train of thought though, is that the breweries that are mimicking the appearance aren't getting the same flavors that the Northeast breweries are getting. Why? Because they are using yeast strains that are too neutral in flavor. What I believe has happened with some strains of yeast is that they have evolved in a way that they lose their ability to fall out of suspension when they are coated with hop oils and resins. Some yeast strains normally fall out of suspension very easily, but once you dry hop a beer that uses one of those specialized strains, they lose their ability to flocculate. So since those yeast cells are coated with hop oils and resins, there are flavors on those cells that would normally be lost in a clearer beer.
In addition to that, some of these strains have developed esters that can be confused for hop flavor. Some people describe these esters with words like "tropical," "peachy," "juicy," "fruity," "pear," and "melony." So when drinking an aggressively hopped double ipa fermented with one of these yeast strains, the distinction between hop flavors and fermentation flavors can be lost. With flavor profiles like that, it is hard to imagine why the common advice is still to use a neutral American Ale yeast strain. There are two yeast strains that I believe exhibit these characteristics that I will be experimenting with.
The first one is a strain that evolved from English yeast (believed to have originally been Boddington's house yeast). It is only available through a very small yeast lab and is not actually available for most brewers to use. However, if you know how to propagate yeast colonies, it can be a very rewarding strain. The second strain is from Wyeast and it is the strain that the first one is believed to be evolved from.
Since the beginning of my research on these yeast strains, I have known that I want to maximize the esters they produce. To do so, there are a few things that brewers normally try to control. 1. Temperature of Fermentation. 2. Amount of Yeast Pitched 3. Amount of Aeration of the Wort. The thing that most brewers don't have the ability to control which also has an impact on ester formation is the amount of pressure exerted on the beer in fermentation.
In most American breweries, the common type of fermentation vessel is a Cylindro-Conical vessel. These fermenters are great for the majority of beers a brewery would want to brew. However, there are flavor compounds that can be achieved with other types of fermenters. For example, if a fermenter is wide and shallow, the yeast wouldn't have as much pressure built up on it during fermentation and would increase ester production and decrease diacetyl production. Fortunately for us, we have a 1,000 gallon vessel that was originally intended to be used for lagering. For a multitude of reasons, we never did set it up as a lagering tank. Now, it can be used as a fermenter and we can have all the benefits that would come from open fermentation without the big downside (potential contamination from open air).
So the beginning of our DIPA experiment starts with yeast... The ingredient most frequently thought of last in a double. So where does that get us started?
1. The beer should exhibit intense esters that will be tropical in flavor
2. The beer will be cloudy with yeast covered in essential hop oils and resins
3. The beer will have a soft mouthfeel and will still be dry like our DIPA always has been
I would call that a good start!
Monday, January 25, 2016
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Weedy's Double is Getting a Facelift
For the last 2 years, we've known that the Weedy's Double IPA recipe was in need of a change, but we've been able to delay the need. 2 years ago, we were told that we would no longer be able to get Citra hops from our supplier due to high demand and low quantity. We have watched as the resale value of Citra has gone from $12 per pound to $30 per pound. In the past, we have made some pretty crazy prices for ingredients in order to make the highest quality beer possible, but at $30 per pound, were forced to draw the line. We were lucky enough that we were able to get enough Citra for two batches of Weedy's this year since we were on a waiting list just in case there was extra available.
Running out of Citra actually did come as a bit of a surprise since we did have it on contract for a few years. However, the reason for the shortage was made apparent recently. With the release of New Belgium's Citradelic, I ran some quick math. Using some very generous estimates, I estimated that they would be using between 50,000-100,000 lbs of Citra in the coming year. There was already a shortage before they began brewing Citradelic, so while it is unfair to point the finger only at New Belgium, the truth is there are hundreds of breweries that would have loved to have Citra available to them that would have brewed beers that are much more exciting than Citradelic is.
As a result, we have had to face some really difficult questions... Should we stop brewing Weedy's (one of our most popular beers)? Should we try to find a hop substitute? Is it time for a full on recipe change?
In regards to stopping brewing the beer, we would be forced to do so if we couldn't come up with a recipe that was better than the original. Just being as good as the original would not be enough. Finding a hop substitute is not a real option either. Galaxy is a hop that is very similar to Citra (and arguably, Mosaic is similar as well) but neither of those hops are more readily available than Citra now.
The idea of changing a successful recipe is always a difficult thing to wrap our heads around . Many breweries (even large craft breweries) will change recipes for this exact same reason as we are now, but instead of being open about it, they try to hide it. As consumers, when we notice the change, it is all too often that we are disappointed. For that reason, if we are going to change the recipe I decided that the beer can't just be as good as the original, it needs to be better. In addition, I want to be very open about the fact that we have changed the beer. I really believe our consumers deserve to know that.
Sidetrack rambling: Something interesting about the original recipe is that we never intended for it to become a regular beer when we first brewed it. I wanted to brew a small batch of a Double IPA for the taproom back in 2011. I used a recipe that was very similar to some recipes that I had brewed at home when I was 19 years old and the beer sold shockingly well. A 1 barrel batch was soldout in 3 nights. Naming the beer was also pretty funny... When I kegged the beer and put it on tap, we didn't have a name for it. I suggested putting it on the board without a name and just calling it "Double IPA." Doug thought I should get credit for the beer and he put my name in front of it. After seeing how well it sold in the taproom, Pants and Chris (Alabama sales rep) decided we should put it in bottles and Chris suggested keeping the name as it was. So there I was, 21 years old with a Double IPA with my name on it available in bottles at grocery stores.
So now we are faced with the task of giving a very popular beer an upgrade. Over the next few weeks, I will be brewing some homebrew batches (breaking out the old homebrewing equipment!) and experimenting with a few theories I've been working on. In the last few weeks, I've tried about 20 different Double IPA's and I've been taking notes on specific things that I think are good and bad about each beer. In addition, I've been reading reviews on BeerAdvocate, RateBeer, Untappd, and on other blogger's posts.
Through my research, I've learned some very interesting things about hop varieties and some specialized yeast strains. I believe completely that with the experiences I've had in the last 4 years, education from brewing school, and with the new products available to brewers today that I will be able to develop a recipe that blows the original out of the water. This is going to be a wildly fun project for me and in addition to experimenting with new hop varieties and yeast strains, we will be experimenting with different fermenter shapes and designs which will allow us to utilize flavor compounds that no other brewery in Alabama (or that I know of in the Southeast) is capable of reproducing. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I keep updates on the experiments!
Running out of Citra actually did come as a bit of a surprise since we did have it on contract for a few years. However, the reason for the shortage was made apparent recently. With the release of New Belgium's Citradelic, I ran some quick math. Using some very generous estimates, I estimated that they would be using between 50,000-100,000 lbs of Citra in the coming year. There was already a shortage before they began brewing Citradelic, so while it is unfair to point the finger only at New Belgium, the truth is there are hundreds of breweries that would have loved to have Citra available to them that would have brewed beers that are much more exciting than Citradelic is.
As a result, we have had to face some really difficult questions... Should we stop brewing Weedy's (one of our most popular beers)? Should we try to find a hop substitute? Is it time for a full on recipe change?
In regards to stopping brewing the beer, we would be forced to do so if we couldn't come up with a recipe that was better than the original. Just being as good as the original would not be enough. Finding a hop substitute is not a real option either. Galaxy is a hop that is very similar to Citra (and arguably, Mosaic is similar as well) but neither of those hops are more readily available than Citra now.
The idea of changing a successful recipe is always a difficult thing to wrap our heads around . Many breweries (even large craft breweries) will change recipes for this exact same reason as we are now, but instead of being open about it, they try to hide it. As consumers, when we notice the change, it is all too often that we are disappointed. For that reason, if we are going to change the recipe I decided that the beer can't just be as good as the original, it needs to be better. In addition, I want to be very open about the fact that we have changed the beer. I really believe our consumers deserve to know that.
Sidetrack rambling: Something interesting about the original recipe is that we never intended for it to become a regular beer when we first brewed it. I wanted to brew a small batch of a Double IPA for the taproom back in 2011. I used a recipe that was very similar to some recipes that I had brewed at home when I was 19 years old and the beer sold shockingly well. A 1 barrel batch was soldout in 3 nights. Naming the beer was also pretty funny... When I kegged the beer and put it on tap, we didn't have a name for it. I suggested putting it on the board without a name and just calling it "Double IPA." Doug thought I should get credit for the beer and he put my name in front of it. After seeing how well it sold in the taproom, Pants and Chris (Alabama sales rep) decided we should put it in bottles and Chris suggested keeping the name as it was. So there I was, 21 years old with a Double IPA with my name on it available in bottles at grocery stores.
So now we are faced with the task of giving a very popular beer an upgrade. Over the next few weeks, I will be brewing some homebrew batches (breaking out the old homebrewing equipment!) and experimenting with a few theories I've been working on. In the last few weeks, I've tried about 20 different Double IPA's and I've been taking notes on specific things that I think are good and bad about each beer. In addition, I've been reading reviews on BeerAdvocate, RateBeer, Untappd, and on other blogger's posts.
Through my research, I've learned some very interesting things about hop varieties and some specialized yeast strains. I believe completely that with the experiences I've had in the last 4 years, education from brewing school, and with the new products available to brewers today that I will be able to develop a recipe that blows the original out of the water. This is going to be a wildly fun project for me and in addition to experimenting with new hop varieties and yeast strains, we will be experimenting with different fermenter shapes and designs which will allow us to utilize flavor compounds that no other brewery in Alabama (or that I know of in the Southeast) is capable of reproducing. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I keep updates on the experiments!
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