May Brew of the Month: Max Spencer's Flux IPA

By Max Spencer

Spring is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. Weather is not the only herald in this time of transition—the beer we brew and drink also reflects the changing of the seasons. I love to brew and drink stouts, quads and barleywines during the winter — and while they still have a place in my heart during the warmer months, I begin to crave different fare. IPAs tend to be a year-round choice for many beer drinkers, but nothing makes me itch for an IPA quite like spring weather. There is just something about the emergence of fresh greenery, kind-of-warm weather and sunlight that ignites my thirst for hoppy goodness.

In honor of that thirst I brewed an IPA with a fun assortment of hops. I chose Galaxy as my core hop for bittering and aroma additions. Galaxy is an Australian hop known for imparting flavors of passionfruit, peach and citrus. Along with Galaxy I added Wai-iti and Citra hops as aroma additions. Wai-iti is a New Zealand hop which gives flavors of peaches and other stone fruits. Citra is a hop most brewers and beer drinkers are familiar with, providing tropical fruit and citrus flavors.

The finished product was a beautiful deep gold. The nose was rife with fruity goodness — including a healthy dose of peach, citrus and tropical fruit tones. On the palate, I detected more of the passionfruit and peach with a background of citrus and tropical fruit supported by a pleasant dry malt character. The finish was pleasantly bitter and dry with lingering fruitiness. I enjoyed this beer immensely. This malt build has quickly become my go-to for IPAs, and really showcases the hops without being chewy or too overbearing.

All Grain ($45.50)

• 12 lbs. Golden Promise
• 1 lbs. Golden Naked Oats (or Carahell)
• 0.75 lbs. Melanoidin Malt (or Gambrinus Honey Malt)
• Mash @ 154 for 60 minutes
• 0.5 oz. Galaxy @ First Wort (60 minutes)
• 0.5 oz. Galaxy @ 30 minutes
• 1 oz. Galaxy @ 15 minutes
• 1 oz. Galaxy @ 0 minutes
• 1 oz. Wai-iti (or Vic’s Secret) @ 0 minutes
• 1 oz. Citra @ 0 minutes
• 1 oz. Galaxy Dry Hop for 4 days
• 1 oz. Wai-iti (or Vic’s Secret) Dry Hop for 4 days
• 1 oz. Citra Dry Hop for 4 days

Vital Statistics

• OG: 1.066
• FG: 1.010
• IBUs: 66
• SRM: 7.1

EXTRACT ($50.99)

• 9 lbs. Light LME
• 10 oz. Caramunich I
• 7 oz. Gambrinus Honey Malt
• 8 oz. Corn Sugar
• 1 oz. Galaxy @ 60 minutes
• 0.5 oz. Galaxy @ 30 minutes
• 1 oz. Galaxy @ 15 minutes
• 1 oz. Galaxy @ 0 minutes
• 1 oz. Wai-iti (or Vic’s Secret) @ 0 minutes
• 1 oz. Citra @ 0 minutes
• 1.5 oz. Galaxy Dry Hop for 4 days
• 1 oz. Wai-iti (or Vic’s Secret) Dry Hop for 4 days
• 1 oz. Citra Dry Hop for 4 days

Vital Statistics

• OG: 1.068
• FG: 1.010
• IBUs: 59.7
• SRM: 8

Variations

I used OYL-052 for my yeast — Omega’s “Conan” DIPA strain. Their DIPA strain produces esters that taste like peaches and complemented the hops well. You can also use Safale 05 for a dry yeast, or any other American ale strain that you prefer. An additional option is Wyeast 1318 London Ale III, which many people are using for New England style IPAs.

Right Brain Brewing Company Concrete Dinosaur

Review by Mark Iacopelli

In a seemingly endless sea of IPAs it is difficult to find one that stands out and really impresses me. Concrete Dinosaur by Right Brain Brewing is one such IPA. It is a brown rye IPA clocking in at 7.2% ABV. Although Right Brain is most often associated with their CEO Stout, I'm not the only one this IPA impressed — the Traverse City brewery brought home a silver medal in the category of Rye Beer from The Great American Beer Festival 2015.

I poured Concrete Dinosaur into a chalice-style glass at around 43F. It poured a very deep brown almost black color. In the light you can see very good clarity and deep ruby highlights. The head is tan and pillow soft with fine bubbles lingering. On the nose I picked up grassy resinous hop aroma with pine in the background. I detected little to no malt or rye initially, but as the beer warmed more of the rye and caramel-chocolate came through. As for the flavor, wow! Initial caramel sweetness gives way to a burst of peppery rye that is both aided by hop bitterness and also makes for a near seamless transition into the hops. Hop flavor reflects the resin and pine found in the aroma. It is assertively bitter without being a tongue scrapper. The finish is immediately dry and lingers with a pleasant balance of bitter hops and nutty malt tones. As it warms nutty chocolate malt takes center stage with hops as the chorus. The mouthfeel is medium in body, medium carbonation and very smooth. It is prickly on the tongue, but has no alcohol warming or burn. Overall I thought this was a fantastic beer! It was both satisfying if you were to have just one glass, but I could see myself easily drinking a couple.

I have always been a fan of blended styles. In many cases, blending styles have a way of bringing the best out of both worlds. This beer is a wonderful marriage between the nutty chocolate of a brown ale and the crisp refreshing character of an IPA, with rye being the key to the harmonious union.

Right Brain Concrete Dinosaur is available at Siciliano's Market for $6.49/750ml while supplies last.

Brew of the Month, May Edition: Matt's 30 Minute IPA

By Matt Ross

May’s Brew of the Month recipe was created to fill a void in my palate. Beer of all styles appeal to me and I can appreciate almost anything, but lately I’ve just wanted to punish my tongue with hops. May’s Brew of the Month recipe was crafted to do just that. I present the 30 Minute IPA.

The beer I've been craving has a light malt presence with moderate attenuation and almost no yeast character. It's obviously hop forward but not extremely bitter. I prefer more flavor and aroma, specifically tropical fruit, citrus and pine. I studied award-winning homebrew IPA practices and through my research as well as conversations with other homebrewers, I decided on doing a hop stand, and first wort hopping. These are probably considered “advanced” methods but in my experience, timing and patience are the most important points.

To explain, first wort hopping is an old German technique where you add a small amount of your bittering hops (up to 30%) to the wort in your kettle when you begin draining your sparge water. This does a number of things. According to the folks at Beersmith, it will increase your overall IBUs by 10% but produces a more well-rounded bitter instead of a tongue scraper. It should be noted that this recipe and method were used on an all-grain system. I have read but cannot confirm that similar results are gained in extract brewing when you first wort hop at the same time you add your malt extract.

The grain bill on this recipe is pretty no nonsense with mostly pale malt and a bit of C40, Victory and flaked barley. Total grain weight came to 13.88 pounds and I mashed at 153° for an hour. Prior to draining the mash tun of sparge water, first wort hops (.25oz of AU Topaz) were added to the kettle. Once the sparge water was drained off I took the collected wort and boiled it for 45 minutes. I call this brew the 30 Minute IPA because I did not start adding kettle hops until the 30-minute mark. Starting at 30 minutes I added one ounce of hops every ten minutes until the boil was done. I then began chilling the wort along with the hop stand process.

A hop stand occurs after the boil when you chill your wort down to 175° or lower and add hops. 175° is important because that is the temperature that hops isomerize (create IBUs). In short, you are making bitterless hop tea. Brewers will often stack techniques and whirlpool during this stage but it is not necessary. I went with one ounce of Simcoe for 30 minutes. From here it was a pretty standard fermentation around 65° with US-05 and dry hopping for 5 days in secondary with one ounce each of Citra and Mosaic.

All in all, this beer was very fruit forward. It has intense tropical fruit aroma and flavor that finished with a sneaky bitterness that was not overwhelming. I chose Topaz, Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra because my palate enjoys the big fruit flavor they lend. If you prefer a different flavor profile change up the recipe to make it your own. Hope you enjoyed this edition of Brew of the Month. Brew on.

All-Grain Recipe

• 12 lbs Briess Pale malt
• 0.75 lbs Briess Caramel 40L
• 0.75 lbs Briess Flaked Barley
• 0.38 lbs Briess Victory
• 0.25 oz Topaz FWH
• 0.75 oz Topaz 30 min.
• 1 oz Simcoe 20 min.
• 1 oz Topaz 10 min.
• 1 oz Citra @ Flameout
• 1 oz Simcoe Hop stand 30min (under 175°)
• 1 oz Citra Dry Hop 5 days
• 1 oz Mosaic Dry Hop 5 days
• Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast

Extract with Specialty Grains

• 1.5 lbs Briess Amber LME
• 7 lbs Briess Pilsen Light LME
• 0.75 lbs Briess Caramel 40L
• 0.50 lbs Cara-Pils
• Hops: See Above
• Yeast: See Above

The staff at Siciliano's is always eager to answer your homebrewing questions. Stop by for help developing custom-made recipes like this one!