Belgian IPA: brewing with wet hops

Belgian IPAs are a great variation of the standard American IPA, assuming that the drinker enjoys Belgian Yeast. Personally I have enjoyed Belgian IPAs brewed with a wide variety of Belgian Yeast strains (Saison, Trappist, etc.) I first read about Belgian IPAs in the BYO's October 2012 issue which brings up some challenges with trying to fuse these two styles. 

• Balance: In general, Belgian beers have levels of IBUs, while American IPAs are at the opposite end of the spectrum.
• The other issue is that Belgian yeast produces a lot of metabolic by products, that require cold conditioning to subdue. American IPAs are best fresh.

To combat these variables I decided to brew a low IBU IPA, ferment it for two weeks, cold crash the primary for two weeks, and then dry hop for an additional week at room temperature. The grain bill was simple: Almost all US Pale Malt and then a full pound of Caravienne.  I hopped with bravo at 90 minutes for firm backbone and then used up the last of my Zeus hop, straight from the bine. After fermenting with White Labs 575 (Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend), the beer was conditioned at 36 degrees F for two weeks, transferred to a santized carboy, and dry hopped with 2 oz Citra and 2 oz Mosiac. 

2015 Rye IPA: brewing with wet hops

This photo makes the beer look more amber than it
really is. The calculated SRM = 6.

I really enjoyed the Rye IPA I brewed last summer. So I decided to redrew it this year, with a few alterations:

2014 Rye IPA w/ wet hops

I have upgraded and changed equipment in the last year and had to adjust the recipe.  I have added a blichmann Hop Rocket and Therminator. Therefore, I have had to udjust my preboil volume to account for the loss in volume in both pieces of equipment. On top of that I add an additional gallon of to the preboil volume to account for wort lost to wet hop absorption. I have heard many brewer say that do not loose any volume to wet hops, but I have found the opposite. A 1:1 ratio of wet hops: additional gallons of preboil wort is the equation I use when brewing wet hopped beers. 

The majority of the grist is US 2-Row. There is a healthy dose Rye Malt, some Vienna Malt, and Crystal 20L for color and mouthfeel. 

The second change from last year is that I am using my own hops. I harvested a little over a pound of fresh, wet Centennial hop cones from my first year plant. I was actually shocked I ended up with so many hops due to the mild and overcast summer we had in Southern Michigan. I ended up using the a whole pound in this beer: 12 oz steeped at the end of the boil and 4 oz in the hop rocket on the way to the chiller. I supplemented the rest of the hops with pellets. 

Again this is a hoppy, crisp beer for the end of summer. Now that the keg is tapped, I am looking forward to 2016 Rye IPA.

Centennial Hops on the vine. If the tips of the cones turning brown and feel "papery", they're ready to be picked.

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Brewery Vivant - Grand Rapids, MI

One of Grand Rapids, MI most sought after breweries. Brewery Vivant is located in an refurbished, old church in east Grand Rapids.  In a crowded Grand Rapids market, Brewery Vivant stands out by brewing mainly Belgian and French farmhouse ales. If you don't like farmhouse ales they brew clean American styles as well. Great beer, food, and atmoshpere make a memorable experience.

Arbor Brewing Company's Corner Brewery (Ypsilanti, MI)

Arbor Brewing Company's Corner Brewery sits in Ypsilanti, MI directly east of easter Michigan University. This is one of my favorite places to get a beer in Michigan. Corner brewery has a large interior that gives off a towny feel. Slightly run down booths and sitting areas, with board games, and community style sitting makes for a great atmosphere to meet friends. Corner brewery also has a wide selection of beer styles on tap, ranging from Irish Stout, to IPA, and even a few sours.

IPA (Simcoe+Citra+Mosiac)

This was a really straight forward brew day and recipe. With summer, I like a more tropical fruit IPA. I really like Citra hops, so I made them the main attraction, and used Simcoe and Mosaic to round out the flavors. I haven't used Mosaic a lot in the past and am honestly still trying to find good ways to use it in hoppy beers. I'm thinking a 100% Mosaic Saison may be in the near future. 

The grain bill is a 50% US Pale Malt (2-Row), 50% Maris Otter, and 2 oz of Carmel/Crystal-120L for a little color. Bravo at 90 minutes for a smooth, but present bitterness and Simcoe for the late boil additions. Then I crammed 2 oz of Citra hops in the hopback. Fermented with WL 090 San Diego Super Yeast for 7 days at 66 degrees F, 7 more days in the primary with a 1 oz Simcoe Addition, and then racked to a secondary with an oz of Citra and Mosaic. 

With 9 oz of hops in a 5 gallon batch this beer is exactly what you would expect. In quantity Simcoe is the dominate hop, but in the final taste and aroma Citra dominates. This ended up being a great IPA and I will be brewing it again. 

Dry Hopped Saison (Saisonstein's Monster Review)

One of my favorite beers of all time is Boulevard Brewing Company's Tank 7. Tank 7 is a modern take on a belgian farmhouse ale, or saison. I think of Tank 7 as a slightly stronger take on the style and hopped like an American Pale Ale. It's a dangerously good beer for 8.5% ABV and a all around great beer. Unfortunately Boulevard Brewing Company does not distribute in Michigan and none of the local breweries make anything similar to Tank 7 (not that I know about at least). So I decided to try and brew something similar.

The two classic saison yeast strains are WY 3724 Belgian Saison and WY 3711 French Saison. While I really enjoy the classic flavor of WY 3724, the yeast seems to take a long time to attenuate (which isn's great for a hop forward beer). WY 3711 is one of the fastest attenuating yeasts that I have ever used, but I fine the flavor to be too peppery at the temperatures I ferment. I did some digging on the internet and found a yeast company, Omega Yeast Labs, that produces a strain called Saisonstein's Monster. In their words:

The first in our line of hybrid strains. This strain is a genetic hybrid resulting from the mating of strains OYL-026 and OYL-027, created by and available exclusively from Omega Yeast. Less phenolic and more fruit character than 026. Exhibits some of the bubble gum character of 027.

After looking at their catalogue, the yeast is a product from mating belgian saison yeast and french saison yeast.  After using this yeast for the first time, I really liked it. It attenuated quickly and produces some really great fruity phenolic notes which accompanied the Amarillo and Citra hops. While this beer is certainly not a Tank 7 clone, it does end up with a  lot of the same character. 

2015 Bell's Hopslam

This years batch has come and gone. I struck out at my local liquor store, but was able to puck a case up at the local Whole Foods. This is a great beer. It drinks easy for it's 10% ABV, loaded with hops, and well balanced.