New Zealand IPA

What makes this IPA from New Zealand? The hops, of course. I finally got my hands on some Nelson Sauvin and Pacifica hops (both NZ varietals) and could not resist brewing up an IPA with them. Nelson Sauvin is a new world, dual-purpose varietal and is one of the more sought after, in vogue hops on the market today. Typical descriptors include Sauvignon Blanc character, overpowering fruitiness and tropical. The Pacifica is an aroma hop with direct lineage to Hallertau Mittlefruh. New Zealand Hops Limited says this of Pacifica: "Orange marmalade aptly describes the citrus aroma notes achieved through late addition." This combination seemed right up my ally and has promise of some new, interesting flavors for an IPA. I did also receive a pound of Motueka, but decided to leave these out so I could really pick out the different Nelson and Pacifica flavors and aromas. 

For this brew I again employed the hop stand technique I have been using for my IPAs as of late. The last version of Hop Glop had tremendous hop flavor, probably the best I have ever achieved, but the bitterness was far too much. I had mistakenly used a large 60 minute bittering addition along side the 30 minute flavor hop stand. I must have gotten around 40 IBUs from the flavor hop stand because the overall perceived IBUs were off the charts, for my taste anyways. This time I skipped the bittering addition all together, and opted for only a flavor and aroma hop stand addition. I calculated the flavor addition's IBUs as roughly that of normal 20 minute boil addition. 


New Zealand IPA

Size: 5.5 gal
Boil: 7.5 gal
Yeast: WLP001 California Ale ~235 billion cells
Efficiency: 75%

Grist

12 lbs. Pale 2-row
1 lb. Carapils
3/16 lb. Caramel 60

Hops

1.5 oz. Nelson Sauvin (11.4% AAU) @ flavor stand & aroma stand
1.5 oz. Pacifica (6.1% AAU) @ flavor stand & aroma stand
=> ~54 IBUs

-Mashed at 152F for 60 minutes. Mash pH = 5.2. Boiled 60 minutes. Added the flavor stand hops at flame out  gave a quick whirlpool stir and set lid on boil kettle. Flavor hops steeped for 30 minutes, temperature dropped to 195F. 
-Chilled to 170F and added aroma stand addition. Left burner flame on extremely low to maintain temperature in the 170-160F range. 
-Aerated 60 seconds pure oxygen.
-Pitched at 72F (ground water warming up). Set temp controller to 66F, wort had chilled to 66F by bedtime.
-OG: 1.064

5/23/13: temp raised to 68F, fermentation continues in the 68-70F range.
6/5/13: Racked to secondary onto 1.5 ounces each of Nelson Sauvin and Pacifica. SG: 1.010

Prunus Cerasus (Kriek) Tasting

I brewed this farmhouse beer at the end of June of 2012. A month after primary fermentation I racked 4 gallons of it onto fresh tart cherries harvested locally (for free!). The 10 lbs  were frozen to break the cell walls, no sanitation step otherwise. This gives us 2.5 lbs./gal, which I feel ended up close to perfect for this beer. Final gravity was 1.006 when racked onto fruit, giving this a dangerously drinkable 8.53% abv. The ABV was probably further boosted by the sugar from the cherries, though how much, I do not know.

Prunus Cerasus

Appearance: Fluffy, rocky head that almost looks tinted pink in the right light (I might be imagining things). Deep ruby red with orange highlights when held up to the light. Perfect amount of haze and glow for a farmhouse beer. A few centimeters of head last until the end. This is a damn attractive beer.

Smell: Complex. Mixture of bright citrus fruits from the brett and tart cherries, followed by a distinctive spiciness, maybe from the saison yeast. They all meld to give a distinct pie like aroma, over-ripe/cooked fruit.

Looks great in this Duchesse glass!

Taste: Similar to the smell. Great tart brett flavors melded with the cherries. Not as much spice as the nose, nor as much of the freshly cooked pie. Mostly tart cherry/brett up front with a slight sour/lactic finish. Unsure if this is solely from the fruit, or if there were some contributions from surviving microbes on the cherries. A definite pucker, with low tannin in the finish, fits well.

Mouthfeel: Medium light body, not thin. Medium high carbonation with a slight prickle.

Overall: Really impressed at how this turned out. The distinct pie like spice and fruitiness is a mystery to me. I think I will chalk it up to a combination of brett, saison yeast, and it being on fresh fruit for 8+ months (with possibly the latter contributing the most). It has a great balance of fruit and beer, the cherries do not over power the base, and the brett really comes through.

It will be hard to keep this one on for long, I will probably bottle most of it.