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.

November Brew of the Month: M. Spencer's Strong Bitter

By Max Spencer

With the holidays coming up I wanted to make a crushable yet weather appropriate beer for the long drinking sessions that family gatherings entail. This need inspired me to create a Strong Bitter, better known in America as an ESB (Extra Special Bitter). This very British style of beer incorporates a strong malt backbone with enough hop character and bitterness to be balanced — dangerously drinkable, endlessly enjoyable. ESBs typically have flavors of bread, biscuit, nuts, toffee, fruits, earth, spices, and flowers. To me, this flavor profile screams fall and early winter — a perfect companion for holiday foods too.

I used a technique called first wort hopping as you will see down in the recipes. First wort hopping is an advanced hopping technique that has great practical uses and is easy to execute — it increases the utilization of all the hops that are added to the boil by around 10-15%, increases hop aroma and results in a “softer” bitterness overall. German breweries have traditionally used first wort hopping as a method to get more out of less hops. For all grain, first wort hopping entails adding hops as soon as you start draining your mash into your kettle. For extract, add hops after steeping your grains and adding all or some of your LME before boil.

I ended up brewing an additional gallon of beer to do something a little special with. I took my extra gallon and aged it on oak chips soaked in Calvados — apple brandy from the Normandy region of France. I thought that the flavors of rustic apples and earthy spices found in Calvados would complement my ESB in all the right ways. Feel free to do something similar with Calvados as well, or any form of brandy — especially apple brandy — or even whiskey.

All Grain

• 9.5 lbs. Golden Promise 
• 1 lbs. Medium Crystal
• 0.5 lbs. Amber Malt
• 0.5 lbs. Melanoidin Malt
• 0.25 lbs. Pale Chocolate
• 1 oz. UK Challenger First Wort (60-minute boil)
• 1 oz. UK Challenger @ 30 minutes
• 1 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 15 minutes
• 1 oz. UK Challenger and 1 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 5 minutes
• Yeast: Lallemand’s London ESB

Extract:

• 7.75 lbs. Light Pilsner LME
• 1 lbs. Medium Crystal
• 0.5 lbs. Amber Malt
• 0.5 lbs. Melanoidin Malt
• 0.25 lbs. Pale Chocolate
• 0.5 lbs. corn sugar
• 1.5 oz. UK Challenger First Wort (60-minute boil)
• 1.5 oz. UK Challenger @ 30 minutes
• 1 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 15 minutes
• 1 oz. UK Challenger and 1 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 5 minutes
• (Alternatively, use the same hop schedule as all grain if you are boiling at full volume)
• Yeast: Lallemand’s London ESB

Manipulations: For all grain, you can replace Golden Promise with Maris Otter as the base malt if you prefer one over the other. For extract — if you feel like spending a little extra money for authenticity — you can use Munton’s Pale LME in place of the pilsner LME. There are several English ale yeast strains that you could use as an alternative to the Lallemand ESB strain — Safale 04, White Labs 005 British Ale, Wyeast 1028 London Ale, Wyeast 1098 English Ale. Really, any English ale yeast will work. You can use American hops if you wish, but I would recommend a lighter hand on the quantity.

September Brew of the Month: Farmhouse IPA

Cashmere hops

By Max Spencer

Late August and early September is harvest season for many crops, including one of our favorites as brewers: hops! Harvest season always puts me in the mind of agriculture — the smell of a farmyard, produce fresh out of the fields and long hours of hard manual labor.

Recently I found myself in the possession of fresh wet hops thanks to one of our regular customers and felt that I should make a special beer with them. I decided to make a wet-hopped farmhouse IPA inspired by agriculture and driven by opportunity.

The phrase “farmhouse” refers to historical beers, typically some kind of pale ale, brewed at farms for the consumption of farmhands during the farming seasons. A well-known example of a modern beer inspired by this tradition is the Saison.

Saisons (“seasons” in French) are derived from ales brewed in Wallonia, Belgium. In this region farmhands were entitled up to five liters of beer each workday (the average ABV would have been around 3-3.5%, so farming wasn’t necessarily an all-day rager). I utilized Saison yeasts in my take on a wet-hopped IPA to add the “farmhouse” aspect that I was looking for in honor of harvest season and the farmhands that are working hard for our benefit.

Not everyone will have access to fresh hops, so in the recipes I added hop schedules that use pellet hops. If you do have fresh hops, scroll down to the bottom for a wet-hop schedule.

ALL GRAIN

• 8.5 lbs. Pale malt
• 4 lbs. Maris Otter
• 1 lbs. Carahell
• 1 lbs. Golden naked oats
• 0.5 oz. Magnum @ 60 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ 30 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ 15 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ flameout
• 1 oz. Motueka @ flameout
• OG: 1.065
• Bitterness: 61.5 IBUs
• SRM: 6.2

EXTRACT (Boil volume: 3.85 gallons)

• 8 lbs. Pilsner liquid extract
• 2 lbs. Wheat liquid extract
• 1 lbs. Carahell
• 1 oz. Magnum @ 60 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ 30 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ 15 min
• 1 oz. Mosaic @ flameout
• 1 oz. Motueka @ flameout
• OG: 1.064
• Bitterness: 59.9 IBUS
• SRM: 6.9

YEAST

With yeast, you have all kinds of options! I wanted to do something fun with my IPA, so I used two yeasts: Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison and White Labs 644 Saccharomyces “brux-like” trois. The Belgian Saison is known for producing spicy phenolics, fruity esters and providing a dry, acidic finish. 3724 is also notorious for stalling out, so I co-pitched with the S. “brux-like” trois, a highly attenuating yeast that imparts flavors of mango and pineapple. I thought they both would work well with the tropical flavors of the Cashmere hops I was able to use.

If you wanted to keep it to a single yeast strain, I would recommend Wyeast 3711 French Saison or the Danstar Belle Saison. Additionally, if you want to avoid Belgian yeast all together, you can use any American ale strain to create a clean IPA.

WET-HOPPED

Use your favorite bittering hop (I like Magnum) for a 60 minute addition to achieve around 50 IBUs, or 60 IBUs if you want a high level of bitterness. Starting at 30 minutes until flameout add approximately an ounce (3-5 handfuls) of wet hops every 5 minutes. Dump any remaining hops, or around 4-8 oz if you have an extreme amount left, in at flameout to get a huge burst of aroma and flavor. Be sure to stir the hops in as you go to make sure they are submerged into the wort.

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!