Mid-Strength Nirvana

[Beerlust]

There can be a fine line between bitterness with bite and harsh bitterness. It is easy to cross that line' date=' especially when trying recipes and hops for the first time.[/quote']

Agreed.

 

Understand how co-humulone levels in hops affect this aspect of bittering, & you don't EVER have to worry about that though.

 

Being a "Tom Selleck" supporter yourself though, you already know that!

 

Cheers & good brewing,

 

Lusty.

[Hairy]

Being a "Tom Selleck" supporter yourself though' date=' you already know that! [img']tongue[/img]

 

Cheers & good brewing,

 

Lusty.[/size]

My brew this weekend is being bittered with Target

 

So I use my Magnum for Target practice

[Beerlust]

My brew this weekend is being bittered with Target

 

So I use my Magnum for Target practice

[Ale.Coholic]

Hi guys,

 

I was keen to have a crack at Lusty's Mid Strength Nirvana at some stage and ordered a Sparkling Ale kit before it ran out. I got In keeper's Daughter instead. I got it for $13.80 which ain't bad, but now I'm unsure how to go about it. I can't get my hands on any Nelson hops either.

 

Any thoughts on some tweaks?

 

Luke

[Beerlust]

Hi Ale.Coholic.

 

The new Innkeeper's Daughter Sparkling Ale kit is bittered higher than it's predecessor. Unfortunately this now likely makes it unsuitable for a recipe like this at this ABV level. It would work for an IPA @ approx. 4.5%+, but for a beer around 3.5%, the bitterness would likely be just too much.

 

The reason I chose the old Sparkling Ale kit as a base for this recipe, is that it has a stronger Ale malt content than the Pale Ale kit, & was bittered almost perfectly. For a kit based IPA-like brew @ 3.5% ABV I thought it was terrific!

 

The obvious switch is to use the Coopers AUS Pale Ale kit, & through a longish boil addition, add another 10 IBU's or so, then just add the steeped hops & dry hops as per normal. It won't quite have the ale malt depth of the Sparkling Ale kit, but will produce something similar.

 

As far as something to sub for the Nelson Sauvin, perhaps try some Simcoe. It'll work in well with the other hops in the mix.

 

Cheers & good brewing,

 

Lusty.

 

 

[Ale.Coholic]

Thanks Lusty.

 

I might have to get my hands a Sparkling Ale kit by the sounds of it...

 

[Scottie]

Hey Lusty

 

I predominately brew mid strength beer, targeting 4% ABV is more often than 3.5%.

Now here is a thing, every time I get a brew approaching the 5% mark I hit achieve what I believe is an excellent beer. This happens even when I am doing straight K&K, like the one I have now, so I am left wondering about the effect of Alcohol which is a recognised flavour enhancer.

 

What is left for me to do is take one of my best mid strengths and boost the ABV to 5%. If my theory holds true I should hit the pinnacle of my brewing journey.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

[Morrie]

Scottie:

I predominately brew mid strength beer, targeting 4% ABV is more often than 3.5%.

Now here is a thing, every time I get a brew approaching the 5% mark I hit achieve what I believe is an excellent beer. This happens even when I am doing straight K&K, like the one I have now, so I am left wondering about the effect of Alcohol which is a recognised flavour enhancer.

 

What is left for me to do is take one of my best mid strengths and boost the ABV to 5%. If my theory holds true I should hit the pinnacle of my brewing journey.

 

Is it the high ABV that is the flavour enhancer or the fact that to achieve a higher AVB we are using more tasty inputs such as malt....or..... is it a combo of both????

[Scottie]

 

Is it the high ABV that is the flavour enhancer or the fact that to achieve a higher AVB we are using more tasty inputs such as malt....or..... is it a combo of both????

 

I defer to PB2 ???

[Otto Von Blotto]

Probably a bit of both really.

 

You can make mid strength beers that taste like they have the malt flavour and body of a full strength beer though - just mash it high and short or use a bit more caramel malts.

 

A keg of ESB that I emptied last Friday night only came out at 3.4% because it didn't ferment out as much as I expected it would. It was packed with flavour. Another one is my regular red ale that usually comes in at the low 4% mark, another one that is very tasty for a low ABV beer, which is why it's on regular brewing rotation.

 

I have yet to try brewing a pale ale that low, but I might give it a go at some point just to compare to my full strength ones. The two kegs going in soon are 4.7% and 4.9% respectively, which is right in the middle of the range I normally get on pale ales, and the bastardised Bo Pils is currently at 5.3%, although I think it's done fermenting.

 

That's another advantage of kegs and force carbing. You don't get that extra ABV from priming sugar, so you can either brew it to a lesser ABV or increase the malt to keep it the same and get a bit more flavour.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Beerlust]

Hiya Scottie.

I predominately brew mid strength beer' date=' targeting 4% ABV is more often than 3.5%. Now here is a thing, every time I get a brew approaching the 5% mark I hit achieve what I believe is an excellent beer. This happens even when I am doing straight K&K, like the one I have now, so I am left wondering about the effect of Alcohol which is a recognised flavour enhancer.[/quote']

I'm more inclined to look at alcohol & it's level as a preservative of sorts, rather than being anything resembling a flavour enhancer. If you look at higher ABV beers, they generally have a longer shelf life before they begin to lose their lustre than lower ABV beers. The more malt you are able to put into a beer, the more flavoursome & full bodied it will be, & the increase in ABV% simply comes as a bi-product of that.

 

I predominantly brew beers in the 4.5 - 5.0% ABV range as I feel I can obtain a good malt presence without having to produce a beer that will put me to sleep after just a couple.

 

I've enjoyed playing around in the light to mid-strength zone with some of my brews. It really has forced me to look at how I malt & hop the beer to such a point that it measures up to the higher ABV beers I usually make.

 

Brewing & sampling PB2's Nelson's Light was a 'game changer' for me. A terrific homebrew beer recipe that despite its simplicity, taught me a hell of a lot, & sent me on many positive trains of thought from there on.

 

P.S. While I've got your attention Scottie, any chance you could let us in on how you carb & store your beer kegs outside your kegerator from a question I posed to you & Kelsey in the "It's Kegging Time!" thread? I'd be interested in your method(s).

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[ben 10]

I had a go at this today.

 

 

[Beerlust]

I had a go at this today.

I did notice the recipe listing in the Brew Day thread.

 

I saw the OG & assumed it was a typo!

 

Seriously though' date=' if you've got your hopping levels right, at this ABV% the end result might even surprise you Ben! [img']wink[/img]

 

I hope it turns out well.

 

Lusty.

[porschemad911]

Mid-strength beers are awesome because you don't fall down and you don't get (as) fat

 

I have a couple of Tap-a-Draft bottles filled with my sub 4% attempt at a Coopers Mild that I'm really looking forward to tapping! Just have to wait for this weekend's guest to arrive. He is a big drinker so having a mid-strength around will be a good thing ...

[ben 10]

 

I hope it turns out well.

 

I do too, I mashed quite high so I'd say it will not hit the predicted 1009.

Perhaps I'll get sub 4% in the bottle.

I used the Munich for maltiness and the Rye as I can't seem to live without it.

 

It will be interesting. That's the bit I love about homebrewing... well love hate actually.

Make something and then wait for several weeks to see what it is you came up with.

[ben 10]

Seems promising.

Well hoppy but low bitterness due to only late hopping.

[Scottie]

Nothing really to add just had to check what the hell Tennyson was doing posting in a Mid-Strength Nirvana thread.

 

Lusty

It was PB2 who said in another thread that alcohol is a flavour enhancer.

 

I posted in another thread re how I manage my kegs, two CO2 bottles, kegerator and dedicated keg storage fridge.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

[Rowbrew]

I have been wanting to try and produce a hoppy mid strength IPA for a while now, then i found this thread. Awesome information in here, but i am unsure how i should tackle it. I could go with an aus pale ale base or do an extract base. I have LDM, caramalt grains, 1 wheat tin and 1 amber tin, (though i dont think they are of any help) and i can easily get any OS kits and International kits also the Bootmaker pale and the Brew A IPA.

Hops wise, i have...

100g cascade 8%aa

100g chinook 11.8%aa

50g columbus 15.1%aa

50g simcoe 13.2%aa

25g centennial 9.3%aa

And heaps of warrior15.6%aa

So what do you all think? What would be a good recipe to get that IPA flavour without the high ABV%

Any help will be much appreciated, thank you

[ChristinaS1]

Lusty

It was PB2 who said in another thread that alcohol is a flavour enhancer.

 

Yes, which is why vodka, which is flavourless, is sometimes added to pasta sauce. Alcohol is a solvent, especially at higher ABV. Some compounds are more soluble in alcohol than in water.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[Beerlust]

Hi Rowbrew.

I have been wanting to try and produce a hoppy mid strength IPA for a while now' date=' then i found this thread. Awesome information in here, but i am unsure how i should tackle it. I could go with an aus pale ale base or do an extract base. I have LDM, caramalt grains, 1 wheat tin and 1 amber tin, (though i dont think they are of any help) and i can easily get any OS kits and International kits also the Bootmaker pale and the Brew A IPA.

Hops wise, i have...

100g cascade 8%aa

100g chinook 11.8%aa

50g columbus 15.1%aa

50g simcoe 13.2%aa

25g centennial 9.3%aa

And heaps of warrior15.6%aa

So what do you all think? What would be a good recipe to get that IPA flavour without the high ABV%

Any help will be much appreciated, thank you[/quote']

Perhaps give the following a go...

 

Coopers DIY Recipe: Beer O'Clock Session IPA

 

This should make a beer right in the zone you're looking for. Given the increase in base IBU with the new Inkeeper's Daughter Sparkling Ale kit, I plan to make a version using this base soon myself.

 

You can pretty much use any combo of the hops you currently have in place of those listed in the DIY recipe & it will produce a tasty beer.

 

Simcoe, Cascade & Chinook would be my choice from those you currently have.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Rowbrew]

Thanks Lusty. I have seen that recipe before and have considered it but i think it might be a tad too bitter and also just a touch too strong at 4.5% (HAHAHA). But i was looking for more of a 3 to 3.5% and maybe a total of 45 IBU. With that recipe using the simcoe cascade chinook schedule, i get around 60ish IBU. Do you think that would be too bitter for such a low abv beer? Would it be better if i chuck em all in at 10mins or maybe a 10, 5 and 0 schedule? What are your thoughts?

[Otto Von Blotto]

I dunno what the IBU of the recipe is meant to be, but if you do have that information then just play around with the hopping schedule until you get close to it. Or play around with the hopping schedule until it seems more reasonable. I'd think 60IBU is a bit much for a mid strength "IPA" but you could probably get away with 40-45. Late additions are the go here I think.

[Rowbrew]

Alright then cool. Thanks Kelsey. Ill have a play around with the hop amounts and times until i get the desired IBUs. I was basing it on the aus pale ale which comes in at around the 22 IBU mark in 22 litres. Plus the hop schedule is about 40 IBU the way it is at 30, 20, and 10 mins

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah, you definitely want more than 22 IBUs in a style like that. I normally brew my standard APAs to about 35-40 IBUs (these come in around 5% ABV), but bear in mind the APA style is different to Coopers pale ale. It is hoppier and more bitter. These session IPAs are really just more highly hopped pale ales in reality, sometimes with a lower ABV than a normal pale ale as well. I'd suspect they're loaded up with late hops and dry hops to get the flavour without adding huge amounts of bitterness. The IBUs might be up there, but they present differently from hops only boiled a short time compared to hops boiled for longer.

 

As such, I think you'll get a better flavour by using those hops in late boil additions (10 minutes or less) and/or flameout additions plus the dry hop for added aroma. Especially if you're only looking at a 3.5% or so beer. If there's too much bitterness from longer boiled hops for the reduced malt backbone then it will just be an over bittered, unbalanced, hard to drink beer.

[Beerlust]

Hi again Rowbrew.

Thanks Lusty. I have seen that recipe before and have considered it but i think it might be a tad too bitter and also just a touch too strong at 4.5% (HAHAHA). But i was looking for more of a 3 to 3.5% and maybe a total of 45 IBU. With that recipe using the simcoe cascade chinook schedule' date=' i get around 60ish IBU. Do you think that would be too bitter for such a low abv beer? Would it be better if i chuck em all in at 10mins or maybe a 10, 5 and 0 schedule? What are your thoughts? [/quote']

For a 3.5% ABV bottled beer, drop 500gms of LDM from the DIY recipe. At 3.5% ABV you'll need a re-hash of the hop schedule as it will simply be too bitter for that lower malt content. I found the old Coopers Sparkling Ale kit had a lovely malt content & a perfect bitterness (36 IBU @ 23 litres) for an IPA type beer @ 3.5%. Unfortunately the new TC Sparkling Ale kit is bittered higher & is unlikely suited for this lower level ABV% now.

 

A lot of brewers confuse IBU numbers with actual bitterness at the glass. IBU numbers can be very misleading. For a true IPA, you want noticeable bitterness at the glass. True bitterness can only be created by long boiling hops (IMHO).

 

If planning to use the AUS Pale Ale kit for this beer then use a suitable hop at the right weight & boil for somewhere between 30-60mins to achieve a further 10-11 IBU's on top of the kit's base bitterness level of 25 IBU's @ 23 litres. Then make a 70-80°C hop tea with some lovely aromatic/flavour hops, & dry hop with the same types of hops as I have described in some earlier recipe listings in this thread.

 

Adding in some medium crystal grain in place of some of the light dry malt extract will also improve the beer further.

 

I hope that helps,

 

Lusty.