Beerlust Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Hi guys. I am contemplating a toucan brew based on PB2's 2013 ESVA recipe in an attempt to create a more session-able ESVA type beer. I would like to use the flavour base provided by the combination of the two kit tins & the crystal grains, but completely remove the dextrose amount & up the ferment volume from 21 to 23 litres. Then add my own hop varieties in the same fashion as PB2 has outlined for the 2013 ESVA. ABV should end up around 5.3-5.5% with that mix at that volume. Will it work, or is the dextrose a necessity to produce the flavour profile? I welcome all thoughts. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 I think you will be fine Lusty. The dex is really there to increase the alcohol content without increasing the FG of the beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Hi guys. Just finished my first ever Monday night brew day! [lol] I was still suffering the effects of a BIG AFL Grand Final day & wasn't in much of a mood for brewing yesterday, but didn't want to wait until the coming weekend before getting another brew down. So Monday night after work it was! The brew I put down is as above. It is a blatant rip-off of PB2's latest ESVA recipe from the How To Brew section. I just wanted something a little more sessionable at a lower ABV%. This one should come in around 5.3 - 5.5%. I copied the recipe as is listed but without the 1kg of dextrose, & brewed it to 23 litres. I used 25gms of Riwaka for the hop steep, & will dry hop with 25gms each of Vic Secret & Mt. Hood. I'll update again when it reaches a decent drinking stage. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 Well it's not at a drinking stage yet, but thought a small update might be worth noting. I threw the 25gm dry hop additions of both Vic Secret & Mt. Hood in earlier this afternoon when I got home from work today. Whoop-de-do I hear you say! [lol] The smell from the FV was certainly dominated by the Real Ale kit & the Riwaka addition I added. Very forward with it's aroma & given my slight dilution of the full recipe, that was an aspect I had hoped for. [love] I'm very keen to see how the Mt. Hood & Vic Secret dry hop additions impact on the brew. Fingers crossed there. Given my recent brew experiences with Riwaka, I hope that Coopers consider it as one of the hops for use in next years ESVA. I truly think it is an outstanding hop on a number of levels. [love] Next update @ bottling. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I have never used Mt Hood before but you seem to have used it often. Do you think Mt Hood will be lost in this brew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 I have never used Mt Hood before but you seem to have used it often. Do you think Mt Hood will be lost in this brew?You are very perceptive Hairy. It's a trait I certainly respect when I'm fortunate enough to discuss brewing in a serious sense with you. [cool] Your knowledge & points about the characteristics of Mt. Hood are well made. It's not a high flavour/aroma hop (IMHO). Oddly enough it's offered up as a good lager hop for the most part. Having brewed with it a number of times' date=' including a single hop APA with it (that had a FWH addition of it), it presents a very nice smooth bitterness (due to it's co-humulone level), & has some nice subtle resiny characteristics that I liked. I decided to try dry hopping it in this brew as my own replacement for PB2's Chinook at the same dry hopping stage. I know the Mt. Hood will offer little aroma/flavour in comparison to the Chinook, but hope the same resiny character that the Chinook has will present with the Mt. Hood. The lower fruit character of the Mt. Hood should allow the massive Alpha of the Vic Secret to shine aroma-wise & still leave room for a similar resiny character from the Mt. Hood to be present in the end beer. That's my warped view of what I hope for anyways. [lol'] Fingers crossed. P.S. I know you used this as a distraction to find out the name of the guy who had his hand ripped off in Mad Max 1. I think his name was Cundalini! [lol] [biggrin] Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 You are very perceptive Hairy. It's a trait I certainly respect when I'm fortunate enough to discuss brewing in a serious sense with you. [cool] But I am never serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adz Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hi Beerlust, I'm also interested in the results of your version with the different hop additions. I generally like ESVA, but 2013 was a bit too fruity for me, so your hop additions are of interest to me. I like your enthusiasm for a lower ABV brew, a nice more session type brew![love] Hi Hairy, I have submitted my registration details to Western Sydney Brewers and haven't heard anything back. Cheers, Adz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hi Adz. I'm hopeful the hop combo will work well together. I've never seen the three mentioned together in a brew recipe anywhere, so I only really have my own practical experiences & instincts to draw on. As is mentioned in the ESVA recipe listing in the How To Brew section, past listings have used a variety of different hops as part of the ESVA's recipe. If you ask PB2 nicely, he might be kind enough to give you some of the alternate hopping groups used from years gone past that will offer less fruity type outcomes. [wink] I'll definitely post some tasting notes at various stages of it aging (If it lasts that long! [lol] ) Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hi Hairy' date=' I have submitted my registration details to Western Sydney Brewers and haven't heard anything back. [/quote'] When did you register? You mustn't have passed the psych test to get it; you are probably too normal [biggrin] Nah, the mods approve the registrations because of spam registrations. It shouldn't take too much longer; it just depends on when they log in. Whereabouts in Western Sydney are you based? Sorry for the off-topic detour Lusty [innocent] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Don't sweat it Hairy. My... ...days are truly over! [lol] [biggrin] Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adz Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hi Hairy' date=' I have submitted my registration details to Western Sydney Brewers and haven't heard anything back. [/quote'] When did you register? You mustn't have passed the psych test to get it; you are probably too normal [biggrin] Nah, the mods approve the registrations because of spam registrations. It shouldn't take too much longer; it just depends on when they log in. Whereabouts in Western Sydney are you based? Sorry for the off-topic detour Lusty [innocent] Hahaha. I registered on the 25th of September. I'm based in the City of Blacktown. Cheers, Adz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adz Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hi Adz. I'm hopeful the hop combo will work well together. I've never seen the three mentioned together in a brew recipe anywhere, so I only really have my own practical experiences & instincts to draw on. As is mentioned in the ESVA recipe listing in the How To Brew section, past listings have used a variety of different hops as part of the ESVA's recipe. If you ask PB2 nicely, he might be kind enough to give you some of the alternate hopping groups used from years gone past that will offer less fruity type outcomes. [wink] I'll definitely post some tasting notes at various stages of it aging (If it lasts that long! [lol] ) Cheers, Anthony. Yeah, A journal with entries occuring every 5 minutes [biggrin] . I've seen the old school ESVA recipe, however I am not that keen on Nelson Sauvin either. PB2, do you have any thoughts as to a couple of alternative hops for my taste for ESVA? I dislike fruity flavors and dislike nelson sauvin. Thanks, Adz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Just go with some English hops (or similar style). A mixture of target, challenger, and Styrian Goldings would be nice. You won't get the citrusy fruity hit that you get from the American hops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Hairy's suggested hop combo would be nice! My take on things - each Vintage is an opportunity to show a strong ale with late hop character when young whilst still having ageing/cellaring potential. When first brewed back in '98, the thoughts were more about ageing the beer over some years, which would see any hop character completely gone by then. A couple of the earlier Vintages used PoR as the bittering hop and were late hopped with Hallertau and Hersbrucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I had a pint of the actual ESVA at Bitter Suite last night as part of my birthday beer boutique crawl. I don't remember much about it though.[biggrin] Except that it was a very nice drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Hi guys. I bottled this brew a little earlier today. The sample I tasted from the FV was very good with very powerful aromas in tow. Having never brewed the ESVA kit version before, I found the flavour descriptors listed for it in the How To Brew section rang very true. Just from the FV sample, you could certainly see that this beer will benefit through aging, & I plan to age a good quantity of them. Your point about the Mt. Hood possibly becoming lost was/is a good one Hairy. Detecting a 5.7% alpha hop (Mt. Hood) in conjunction with a 16.1% alpha hop (Vic Secret), is not going to be easy early on, & I admit its influence was hard to detect from the sample I tasted given the Vic Secret is so powerful. After it's aged sufficiently though, I'm hoping that will develop into something a lot more interesting. I'm looking forward to sampling a bottle or two over each coming month & enjoying a fair few that I've buried at the back of my aging cupboard for our winter next year. [biggrin] Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Hi guys. I had a sampler of my hop altered & lower alcohol version of the ESVA just a short while ago. I'm over the moon! For me at least, it ticks all the boxes! [love] Make no mistake, the bulk of the flavors come from the combined kits, but the added hop mix of my own concoction following the 2013 late hopping schedule, integrates very well (IMHO). Saying I'm pleased is an understatement. I may have to put down another batch of it soon, as I'm not sure the entire first batch will survive a solid aging to be available at the pre-planned winter period for drinking! [lol] Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sounds like you've had a fair bit of success recently. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sounds like you've had a fair bit of success recently. Good stuff. Yeah I honestly have. The first half of this year involved a lot of experimenting with new hop varieties & grains. A lot of what worked in those brews, I've honed into better (smarter) recipes in the last 3 months or so that have yielded some very good beers as a result. [cool] Throw 3 very enjoyable brews from the How to Brew section into that mix, & it has been a very rewarding last 3-4 months of home brewing. [biggrin] Cheers & good brewing, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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