Hop Slam IPA (NZ - Riwaka)

[DeviantLogic]

Today I picked up the ingredients to make Hop Slam IPA (NZ - Riwaka). At this stage, I will be putting this on either Sunday or Monday. I would love to hear from anyone who has brewed this beer.

I am wondering whether the recipe contains a typo. I note that many of the other Hop Slam IPA recipes call for only 20 litres, while this one calls for 23 litres (indeed, I was initially drawn to this one over other Hop Slam recipes because it makes more beer!). The recipe says that the beer should finish with an abv of 5.6%, EBC of 22, and 60 IBUs. However, when I plug the recipe into the spreadsheet with 23 litres, it predicts the finished product will have an abv of 5%, an EBC of 15, and 45.1 IBUs. If I reduce the volume to 20 litres, the spreadsheet predicts the final product will have an abv of 5.7%, an EBC of 17, and 51.8 IBUs. While the figures for 20L are not exactly the same as the recipe, they are a lot closer than the figures for 23L. Does anyone else think this might suggest a typo in the recipe with respect to the brew volume? To those who have brewed this recipe, how many litres did you brew?

The recipe calls for an 11.5g sachet of US-05 and the Brew A IPA yeast., but I could only get a 15g sachet of US-05. Would I be overpitching if I used the larger sachet alongside the kit yeast? I could omit the kit yeast if that would help avoid overpitching, but ideally I would like to follow the recipe as closely as possible.

[DeviantLogic]

I'm having a bit of trouble editing the initial post, but upon rereading the recipe it now seems unlikely to me that the 23L is a typo, as it appears several times in the recipe. It does seem rather odd that the spreadsheet predicts such radically different values for the recipe than Coopers state though. Is this relatively common?

[Shamus O'Sean]

@DeviantLogic, this was the 6th beer that I brewed.  My notes from 2017: Wow, what an aroma.  Great taste too.  Best brew so far.  Really strong hops aromas.  Easy to drink. 8/10

I made it to 23 L, so around 5%.  The 23L might be a typo in the recipe, given the ABV, EBC and IBU stats.  Some of the stats in some of the Coopers recipes are wrong, but it does not happen a lot.

The 15g of US-05 will be enough for this brew. 

[DeviantLogic]

@Shamus O'Sean I should have known you would have brewed this one before me! Thanks for the feedback; it sounds very promising. I reckon I will just brew it to 23L since that gave you such a good result and I was keen on the larger volume anyway.

Do you happen to recall (or have notes which tell you) how long the recipe took to ferment? The recipe says 7-10 days, which seems like a long time to me, but I have never used US-05 before and understand some find it ferments a little bit slowly.

[Shamus O'Sean]

9 hours ago, DeviantLogic said:

@Shamus O'Sean I should have known you would have brewed this one before me! Thanks for the feedback; it sounds very promising. I reckon I will just brew it to 23L since that gave you such a good result and I was keen on the larger volume anyway.

Do you happen to recall (or have notes which tell you) how long the recipe took to ferment? The recipe says 7-10 days, which seems like a long time to me, but I have never used US-05 before and understand some find it ferments a little bit slowly.

My notes say it was in the fermenter for 10 days.  That sounds a little bit long, considering I was not cold crashing at that stage.  My notes say my last SG reading was after 7 days.  Although that does not mean that is when it finished, it might have been sooner.  My guess is that I left it for a few more days until it was convenient for me to bottle.

Our liking for the same brews is a bit freaky.  Back then, I was pretty much brewing a lot of the Recipes of the Month when they came out.  So my inspiration was limited to what was coming out at the time.  What is pretty amazing is that of the hundreds of recipes in the back catalogue, you are picking the same recipes now. 

[DeviantLogic]

15 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

My notes say it was in the fermenter for 10 days.  That sounds a little bit long, considering I was not cold crashing at that stage.  My notes say my last SG reading was after 7 days.  Although that does not mean that is when it finished, it might have been sooner.  My guess is that I left it for a few more days until it was convenient for me to bottle.

Our liking for the same brews is a bit freaky.  Back then, I was pretty much brewing a lot of the Recipes of the Month when they came out.  So my inspiration was limited to what was coming out at the time.  What is pretty amazing is that of the hundreds of recipes in the back catalogue, you are picking the same recipes now. 

Thanks for checking! I understand US-05 does not flocculate very well, so it seems like I should plan for the best part of two weeks between pitching and bottling by the time I factor in a cold crash. 

It is a bit freaky. But it's certainly a fortunate coincidence for me; I'm grateful to be in a position to benefit from your experience! Most of the recipes I pick are relatively low effort; if you brewed most of them when you were starting out, perhaps some of the overlap can be explained by a shared desire to brew straightforward recipes.

[DeviantLogic]

Ended up putting this on today. OG was 1.047, which is exactly what the spreadsheet predicted, but apparently a bit low for an American IPA.

[DeviantLogic]

Foam had subsided and what I suspect will be FG was reached by Sunday. I was a bit preoccupied and a little hungover, so I didn't get around to dry hopping until today (technically yesterday, I suppose). Will take another gravity sample on Tuesday and assuming it has not dropped any further I will cold crash from Tuesday night until the weekend and then get it bottled up. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

I keep hearing about Carapils & Carafoam to increase head retention, as I am an extract brewer willing to do partials ets, do any of you guns have the answer  to my question ?

 I am aware of the basics of achieving carbonation, clean & correct choice of glass etc but lately some of my beers pour a great foaming head which is visually pleasing as well as tasting good but it slowly passes giving you the appearance of a flat beer even the taste is OK. I have always had luck with Dark Ales & Stouts but still want to grab a beer a without worrying about the head failing.  So I am wondering if I can add something extra to get more zing.

Cheers & Thanks.

[Stickers]

1 hour ago, CLASSIC said:

So I am wondering if I can add something extra to get more zing.

i haven't used those particular grains but i have been using a 1kg addition of maris otter or 2 row to bulk up my batches of late. easy enough to do on a stovetop/hotplate and really does give that extra something something that straight up kit and kilos lack. the life and sparkle of the beer lasts right up to the last sip

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Stickers said:

i haven't used those particular grains but i have been using a 1kg addition of maris otter or 2 row to bulk up my batches of late. easy enough to do on a stovetop/hotplate and really does give that extra something something that straight up kit and kilos lack. the life and sparkle of the beer lasts right up to the last sip

Well that sounds encouraging, I would like a bit more life & sparkle ( in my beer too ) I am aware of Maris Otter so I guess a bit of study won't go astray.

Thank you for your input.

[Stickers]

12 minutes ago, CLASSIC said:

Well that sounds encouraging, I would like a bit more life & sparkle ( in my beer too ) I am aware of Maris Otter so I guess a bit of study won't go astray.

Thank you for your input.

this is a great explanation of the mini mash

[Classic Brewing Co]

OK thanks again, I will sift through it tomorrow. 

[DeviantLogic]

Bottled this yesterday. Got 30 740mL PET bottles, but had to rock the FV a bit for the last few. (hopefully they're not too yeasty!). The small sample I took was drinking real well, so I have high hopes for this one.

[DeviantLogic]

This is a really nice beer. I can't help but feel the name 'hop slam' is a tad hyperbolic, but it's certainly an enjoyable drop. The recipe calls for 50g of riwaka hops, but I could only get 100g. I certainly intend to use the remaining 50g to make this again.

 

[DeviantLogic]

I put on another one of these today. This is my first time brewing a recipe I have already done; I really enjoyed it and have leftover hops from the first time (I could only buy 100g and the recipe calls for 50g), so I figured I might as well go for it. To anyone considering brewing this, I say you should go for it - it's very tasty!