India Pale Lager (Cascade, Comet & Vic Secret)

For me, the months of January and February equal Lager Season. Not necessarily drinking, of course, but brewing them. Ever since I purchased a separate freezer and a temperature controller in 2011 (my first major homebrew equipment purchase), I've brewed 2 or 3 lagers each year. Now, with a temperature-controlled freezer, I could technically brew a lager any time of year, but it's just so much easier in the winter, when ground water temps are a lot lower. Lagers aren't my favourite class of beer to brew, but I completely appreciate the talent it takes to brew a really good one. You have to pitch a lot of healthy yeast, you have to aerate properly, you have to pay close attention to fermentation temps and diacetyl rests and lagering periods... it goes on and on. It's not easy to brew a really good Pilsner, and that gets missed a lot by people who don't know a lot about brewing.

Last year was the first time since having the freezer that I didn't brew any lagers. This happened for two reasons: 1) I was kind of on a big hoppy kick and kept brewing APAs, IPAs, etc., and 2) my fermentation chamber had become a keezer; with 3-4 taps flowing at a time, there just wasn't enough room for a carboy, let alone two. This year, however, I figured that I could take the time to brew at least one or two; by cleverly using the back, closed-off room of my garage for fermentation (acting as my beer cellar, it's kept at a perfect 48-50 F thanks to a simple digital thermostat), and the garage itself for lagering (it's typically 2-4 F during January and February), I thought I could make it work.

So, in early January I brewed a Festbier (think paler, more-bitter Oktoberfest) using a private collection strain from Wyeast, Munich Lager II. I've used this strain before in a Vienna Lager and a Schwarzbier, and was quite happy with it... good malt character, decent attenuation, less diacetyl-producing. The Festbier turned out pretty decent, and - as usual for my method to brewing lagers - I kept lots of slurry to re-use for another beer. I had full intentions of brewing a bigger beer, like a Bock or Doppelbock, but as usual, all those hops in the freezer were calling to me...

While India Pale Lager is not a defined "style" of beer (at least, it isn't in the BJCP), that - as usual - doesn't keep plenty of commercial breweries from brewing it. I don't think I have to get too technical here: an IPL is basically an American IPA fermented with a Lager yeast strain. I believe the idea is that since Lager strains generally give a very clean beer (if brewed properly), an IPL should bring the hops (and supporting malt) even more forward than when used in an IPA (even one featuring a generally-neutral yeast strain, such as US-05). I can't really comment on whether this is true; I've never brewed an IPL, and I haven't tried many of them either. The standout for me is one that is definitely impressive to have been brewed well, TrIPL, a 10% monster with CTZ, Chinook and Citra from Jack's Abby, probably one of the best Lager breweries in North America.

Well, I decided to give it a go, if only to see if there was really a difference between a heavily-hopped Lager vs. a heavily-hopped Ale. When putting together the recipe, I didn't want a beer that was too dark, of course, but maybe something that wasn't Light Lager yellow, either. I was originally going to go with all-Pilsner malt for the base, as I would with a lot of pale Lagers, but after a bit of reading online, I decided to add some 2-row in. I made up the rest with some Munich, Wheat malt, and Melanoiden, trying to give the beer a bit of body and provide some breadiness. A bit of Acid malt, as usual, and that was that. I mashed fairly low, at 150 F; I wanted a fairly-dry beer, and with the attenuation of the Munich Lager II not being super-high, I hoped this would give me a good balance of enough-body with not-too-sweet.

I went with three hop varieties, one that I've used plenty of times, one I've used once and really enjoyed, and one that I've never brewed with before:

• Cascade - We've all used Cascade, and it often gets forgotten in the mad rush of new, hot hops out there... and it's a shame. Sure, it may not be as potent as Galaxy, Azacca, Citra, Mosaic, etc., but its citrus and grapefruit characteristics can be truly wonderful in a hoppy beer, and I've been trying to use it more often lately.
• Comet - I think this one has been around for awhile, but I hadn't brewed with it since my 2015 Meek Celebration (Christmas giveaway beer), and I really liked it in that beer. Described by the Bear Flavored hop guide as "intense wild American grapefruit/citrus character, extremely dank"; it doesn't disappoint. So obviously, I'm looking for grapefruit in this beer.
• Vic Secret - A new (~2013) Australian variety, this hop has been doing well - I see it popping up in a lot of beers lately, and I tried a single-hop beer from Fredericton's TrailWay awhile back that was quite good. Described as exhibiting flavours of passionfruit, pineapple and some light herbs and resin, I thought it would work nicely with the Cascade and Comet.

I mixed it up a bit as per the hopping schedule below, with an ounce or slightly more (when using up stock) of all three in a single dry-hop. But that raised the question: what is the best way to dry-hop an IPL? Do you lager the beer first, and then dry-hop? Or is the lagering period also the dry-hop period? Problem is, even light lagers are lagered for longer than your typical dry-hopping time (which is often no longer than 5-7 days, or even shorter). I looked into it some, and turns out that - surprise! - there are a lot of different opinions on the "best" way to dry-hop a lagered beer. So, I chose the following method: brew the beer, ferment cool as expected, raise temp for a short diacetyl rest, bring back down to ~50 F again, then after a couple weeks total, rack to a keg and lager the beer. After several weeks, throw the dry hops in that keg, move the keg inside to a warmer temperature for 5 days, then transfer the beer from that dry-hop keg into the serving keg, chill and carb. Make sense?

The brew day was fine, if a little longer than usual - with a 90-minute boil, a hop steep of 15 minutes, and having to chill to 50 F or lower, it definitely stretched out compared to an Ale brew. Fermentation was going about 24-36 hours after pitching, and in true Lager fashion for me, never got crazy... the airlock bubbling every 2 seconds for several days is what I'm used to for Lagers. After about 5 days the bubbling started slowing down, so I moved the fermentor inside for a 2-day diacetyl rest in the mid-60s F, then moved it back to 50 F ambient. After two weeks total, I racked the beer to my "dry-hop" keg and left it in the garage to lager... not exactly the most regulated way to do so, but my garage was holding at about 40 F or so, consistently, so it would have to do. Two weeks later I threw in the dry-hops, moved the keg inside for 5 days, and then transferred via CO2 to a purged serving keg, and started carbing.

And how did it turn out? I've got to say, I quite enjoy this beer. Really smooth and creamy, it's got a fruity, candy-like sweetness to it that in no way overshadows the citrusy, fruity, slightly-herbal flavours from the hops. The malt also complements the hops well, but be very clear, this is a hop-forward beer. It just seems a little less dry than a lot of hoppy ales I've brewed, but it's still juicy. That's the best way I can think to explain it. I'm sure a different Lager yeast with a bit higher attenuation would result in a drier beer, but I like how this tastes, and I'm a big fan of the mouthfeel.

This is something I'll definitely try again, although now it's probably going to have to wait until next winter. Lots of room for experimentation here - with many Lager yeast strains to play with, not to mention all those wonderful, wonderful hop varieties, this is a style I look forward to revisiting again. In the meantime, I need to track down some more commercial examples...

Recipe Targets: (5.5 gallons, 72% efficiency) OG 1.063, FG ~1.014, IBU ~52, SRM 5.7, ABV ~6.4%

Grains:
3 kg (50.6%) Bohemian Pilsner
2 kg (33.8%) Canadian 2-row
300 g (5.1%) Munich
300 g (5.1%) Wheat malt
200 g (3.4%) Melanoiden
125 g (2.1%) Acid malt

Hops:
Polaris - 10 g (19.8% AA) @ 60 min

Cascade - 28 g (6.4% AA) @ 10 min
Comet - 28 g (7% AA) @ 10 min

Comet - 28 g @ 0 min (with a 15 min hop steep)
Vic Secret - 28 g @ 0 min (with a 15 min hop steep)

Cascade - 28 g @ 0 min (when begin chilling)
Comet - 28 g @ 0 min (when begin chilling)

Comet - 44 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)
Cascade - 30 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)
Vic Secret - 28 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)

Misc: 1/2 tab Irish Moss at 5 min

Yeast: Wyeast 2352 Munich Lager II (slurry)

Water: Fredericton city water, carbon-filtered; 8 g Gypsum and 8 g calcium chloride added to mash

- Brewed on February 10th, 2016, by myself. 50-minute mash with 15 L of strike water; mash temp on target at 150 F. Mashed-out for 10 minutes with 7.75 L of boiling water to 165 F. Sparged with ~4 gallons of 168 F water for final volume of ~7.25 gallons.

- Pre-boil gravity 1.047 (target 1.048). 90-minute boil. Final volume ~5.5 gallons; OG 1.064. Chilled to 48 F, then poured into Better Bottle. Aerated with 120 seconds of pure O2, pitched yeast slurry at 50 F and set fermentor in back room of garage, ambient temp set for 50 F.

- Airlock showing signs of activity by the next evening, with steady bubbling occurring for the next week. When activity slowed, moved carboy inside for two days for a diacetyl rest at ~64 F. Moved back into 48 F temp for another 10 days or so.

- 1/3/16 - Racked to CO2-purged keg, set in back of garage where temp was approximately 38 F.

- 15/3/16 - FG 1.014. Added dry hops to keg, purged again, brought keg inside to sit at room temp.

- 20/3/16 - Transferred via CO2 to serving keg, began carbing.

Appearance: Pours with a moderate-large size white head that shows good retention, eventually fading to 1/2-finger. Body is a deep-golden colour, with very good clarity.

Aroma: Pleasant bready malt character, with a strong hop presence that is fruity and tropical, for the most part. Clean, no diacetyl, no sulfur.

Taste: Lots of hops, tropical, citrusy, with a bit of an herbal-like quality that two fellow beer geeks picked out. Backed by the malt sufficiently, but definitely a hoppy beer. Finishes crisp and fairly dry, smooth and easy-drinking.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, moderate carbonation. Very smooth and creamy.

Overall: Very enjoyable; I haven't had a lot of IPLs but this is one of the better ones I've had for awhile. Definitely a recipe to play around with; changing hop varieties and yeast strains really opens the possibilities.

Meek Celebration 2015: Imperial IPA with Amarillo, Comet and Hallertau Blanc

Well, it's that time of year again! Oh wait, no it isn't, it's over. Ok, so I didn't get this out in time to post before Christmas, but that doesn't mean I can't keep updating... albeit, slowly.

In November of 2014, I decided to brew a beer to give away to fellow homebrewers/craft beer drinkers as a Christmas gift. Ok, I planned on keeping some for myself, too, but only a few bottles! My whole family was spending Christmas in PEI that year as well, and I wanted to brew something specifically to celebrate that gathering (which hadn't happened in years and probably won't happen again). Of course the beer would center around hops; Red IPAs are one of my favorite styles to brew and drink, so I came up with a recipe for a really hoppy one, with Amarillo, Azacca, and Simcoe. I was really happy with how the beer came out (it was one of my favorites of mine of the year), so I pledged to brew a different "Meek Celebration" beer every year for Christmas.

Last year's beer, a Red IPA

When November rolled around again in 2015, I started planning a recipe. I wanted to focus on a hoppy style again (I'm sure most of these beers will be hoppy, but don't be surprised to see a dark, Belgian-style in the future); I've had not-the-best luck with DIPAs that I've brewed recently, so I decided to take another crack at the style. I love a good DIPA, but I've gotten really picky with them lately. I no longer enjoy the darker, maltier ones that are simply high in alcohol but don't have near as much hop aroma and flavour as I want. Give me a really hoppy Session IPA or APA any day - I love to enjoy hops without feeling drunk after one beer! So, my goal was a DIPA that was light in color, had a dry finish but still a creamy body, and a big hop aroma, with plenty of citrusy, fruity hop character to go with it. Minimal to no sweet caramel character, here.

I've brewed DIPAs before, of course, and have been happy with several grists that I've gone with. This time, though, I wanted to try something a little different. I had remembered reading a post from Derek of Bear-Flavored (and now, Kent Falls Brewing) when he was playing around with perfecting hoppy beers; the recipe was for a DIPA, and I liked how the grist looked: majority of 2-row, with ~7% each of Wheat malt and Carapils, some Flaked Oats, and about 5% table sugar to help dry the beer out. I've done similar ones in the past, but not exactly like this. So, I shamefully lifted it! Just kidding, there really is no copying in brewing. Well, mostly not.

Choosing a hop schedule was a little more difficult, as usual. Not because I can't think of hops I'd like to use... because there's too MANY hops that I would like to brew with! And I still have quite an inventory from 2014 on hand (and have picked up some 2015 varieties as well... gulp), so plenty to work with. As I mentioned, I wanted a beer with a big fruity, tropical profile; but I also wanted some dank, resinous character in there, too. I eventually decided on:

• Amarillo - a no-brainer; it's been around for awhile now, and it consistently delivers. Such a fantastic hop that gives plenty of tropical fruit character to any beer I've used it in, it's still one of my favorites.
• Comet - a hop that's been around for quite some time, I've actually brewed with it before. I split a pound on a whim with a friend, and sat on it. Then when I read a bit more about it, and saw it described as "intensely dank" and with an "intense wild American grapefruit" character (according to Bear-Flavored's Hop Guide); sounded great to me!
• Hallertau Blanc - I've brewed with this hop, a fairly new tropical variety from Germany, once before in my first 100% Brett IPA, and I really liked it. It's not just fruity... it kind of has a lightly floral characteristic to it that works really well. I was looking to brew with it again, and thought it would great in a DIPA.

I went with a pretty-typical hopping schedule for me: 10 min, hop steep, chiller-on, and a big dry-hop, with the overall emphasis just slightly on the Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc. By the time the wort was poured into the Better Bottle, it was smelling pretty fantastic.

Normally for a beer of this style, I'd ferment with US-05. However, I've done a few beers with Wyeast 1318 London Ale III recently, and every time I make a starter I overbuild by 80-100 billion cells. I've really been enjoying the beers I've brewed with this yeast strain lately, and I've never done a DIPA with London Ale III, so I decided to give it a try, here. I build up what I had to ~260 billion cells, pitched at 64 F, aerated well with pure O2, and let 'er rip (temperature control is rarely needed this time of year in my house; if anything, when temps get REALLY cold, I have to make sure to keep the beer warm enough so the yeast don't poop out on me).

After 10 days or so in primary, I threw the dry hops into the BB for 7 days, and then bottled the beer. Of course I'd normally keg a beer like this, but since I'm basically giving more than half the batch away, for ASAP consumption, it's easier just to bottle it now. The only problem here is I wasn't thinking when I calculated how much priming sugar to add - I calculated for 2.5 vol CO2 for 5 gallons, but with all the hop sludge in this beer, I really only ended up with slightly over 4 gallons of beer. This would unfortunately give a carb level of ~2.9 vol. Oops.

I tried sampling the beer after it had been bottled for 5-6 days, and it was already carbonated more than I'd like for a DIPA. I was able to move all the bottles into my cellar, which is a perfect 48-50 F during the winter. Carbonation did increase after a little while, but luckily it's not TOO bad; high, yes, but it's not a Hefeweizen or anything. The other aspects of the beer, I was quite happy with. The aroma is huge, lots of mango and orange, some pine and dank in there, too. The flavour is a bit more restrained, but still a very enjoyable hop presence similar to the aroma; some bready malt character is there to help balance a little, but as I hoped for, no lingering sweetness. A touch of a carbonic bite in the finish (possibly due to the higher carbonation?). The bitterness is about perfect for a DIPA... for me. I'm not big on huge bitterness anymore, and ~60 IBUs works well in a hoppy beer.

Overall, this beer is extremely smooth. Smoother and easier-drinking that most DIPAs I've brewed, so I'm going to attribute that success to the London Ale III, and the changes in water chemistry to bring my mash pH down to 5.4. I've been doing this more and more with my hoppy beers lately, and most of the time it's worked out great (I'm sure the wheat malt and flaked oats helped as well). Aside from being smoother, the hop profiles seem to be... juicier. I'd love to do a Brulosophy-inspired experiment with the same hoppy beer fermented with London Ale III vs. US-05, and another with water chemistry changes vs. none at all. I'll put that on the list, see if it actually happens!

As much as I enjoy this beer, I think I have to tip the Celebration award to last year's Red IPA. I will say that after a month, this current beer is holding its own really well for a hoppy brew. I don't know why I still have a few bottles left; guess I didn't go out of my way to give as many away! Sharing? Bah, humbug! ;)

Recipe Targets: (5.5 gallons, 75% efficiency) OG 1.073, FG ~1.010, IBU ~62, SRM 4.5, ABV ~7.7%

Grains:
4.85 kg (75%) Canadian 2-row
475 g (7.3%) Wheat malt
475 g (7.3%) CaraPils
240 g (3.7%) Flaked Oats
100 g (1.5%) Acid malt
335 g (5.2%) Table sugar

Hops:
Hop extract - 5 mL @ 60 min (equivalent to 28 g of a 10% AA hop variety)
Amarillo - 28 g (7.4% AA) @ 10 min
Hallertau Blanc - 28 g (8.4% AA) @ 10 min

Amarillo - 56 g @ 0 min (with a 20 min hop steep)
Comet - 28 g @ 0 min (with a 20 min hop steep)

Comet - 28 g @ 0 min (when chilling started)
Hallertau Blanc - 56 g @ 0 min (when chilling started)

Amarillo - 39 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)
Comet - 42 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)

Hallertau Blanc - 42 g dry-hop for 5 days (in primary)

Misc: 1/2 tab Irish Moss at 5 min

Yeast: Wyeast 1318 London Ale III (with a starter, ~260 billion cells)

Water: Fredericton city water, carbon-filtered; 10 g Gypsum and 10 g calcium chloride added to mash

- Brewed on November 15th, 2015, by myself. 50-minute mash with 15 L of strike water; mash temp was reading all over the place at first, ranging from 150-158 F. Finally settled at 151 F; still holding at this temp at end of rest. Mashed-out for 10 minutes with 7.5 L of boiling water to 165 F. Sparged with ~3.5 gallons of 168 F water for final volume of ~6.75 gallons.

- Pre-boil gravity at 1.052 (target 1.054). 60-minute boil. Final volume ~5.5 gallons; OG low at 1.070 (after sugar calculation). Chilled to 62 F, then poured into Better Bottle. Aerated with 75 seconds of pure O2, pitched yeast slurry at 64 F.

- Fermentation took off quickly, going strong by the next morning. After a couple of days it started to slow, so I added the sugar in two separate additions over 12 hours, after boiling and cooling in some water.

- 4/12/15 - FG ~1.010. Threw dry hops in fermentor. Bottled 5 days later, aiming for 2.5 vol CO2 for 5 gallons, but wasn't thinking about loss to trub and hop matter, so only got ~4 gallons. Results in a too-high carbonation of ~2.9 vol.

Please excuse the crappiness of this photo

Appearance: Pours with a medium-large, off-white head that sticks around for quite some time before fading to 1/2-finger (probably at least partially due to the high carbonation). Body is quite hazy, with a light-golden colour. Slightly effervescent.

Aroma: Really big citrus and grapefruit bomb, and a tiny bit dank. All hops.

Taste: Plenty of grapefruit, lots of citrus and tropical fruit upfront, with a bit of dank following behind, as in the aroma. Supporting malt character is minimal, but keeps it in check. Finishes with a moderate bitterness, plenty dry.

Mouthfeel: Moderate-high carbonation, medium-light bodied. Slightly oily mouthfeel, I assume from the combination of the London Ale III and all the hop oils.

Overall: I quite like it. Too heavy on the carbonation, my fault for not thinking ahead. While it isn't as good as last year's Christmas beer, this is definitely the best DIPA I've brewed in a while.