Super dry beer? Thinking Oakham's "Inferno"

[yashicamat]

Oakham Ales' "INFERNO" which I've had a few times recently in my local is rapidly turning into one of my favourite beers and definately one I want to try and replicate. Now I've found a source for the hops used ( ), a combination (apparently) of Sterling, Amarillo, Cascade (quelle suprise), Chinook and Centennial. The flavour is a very crisp grapefruit and tastes fantastic to me. However, the beer is incredibly dry and crisp tasting. Moreso than what Nottingham can achieve . . . . which is making me wonder, is this possibly a characteristic of the malt used rather than the yeast and/or mash temperature?

I've managed to order some Chinook and Centennial (cheers Garth ), which I think are the dominant hops in the brew, I've also got 300g of cascade making it's way over to me from elsewhere, so I'm going to give this one a try.

Looking at Oakham Ales' other beers, e.g., JHB, does anyone know what malt and/or likely mashing they use? JHB is quite crisp, although not as crisp as Inferno is.

Cheers.

[Parva]

Amarillo also has a very distinctive taste and I would expect the beer to taste very different if it were omitted, though I obviously don't know what sort of quantities they are putting in there.

[yashicamat]

Amarillo also has a very distinctive taste and I would expect the beer to taste very different if it were omitted, though I obviously don't know what sort of quantities they are putting in there.

I don't think there is very much of it in Inferno to be honest, I've made a few pale ales with amarillo and the distinctive flavour isn't obviously there. I tend to think of amarillo as having a orangey-citrus flavour, the flavour in Inferno is out and out grapefruit.

[mysterio]

Chinook is very grapefruit, Cascade is kind of Lychee, Centennial to me is somewhere between the two.

Do you mean dry as in a nice bitter finish or dry as in thin mouthfeel/low sweetness? Something I quite like doing in my pale ales, especially with US hops, is to include 5% sugar, 5% crystal malt along with the 90% base malt. You could try using lager malt which will finish drier than MO and will closer approximate US-2row if it's the clean malt character you're after. The sugar trick works good though.

I don't know if you're drinking it on draught or bottled, but a lively carbonation really accentuates a dry impression. For example Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is quite spritzy in the bottle, makes it seem drier than it is. It's quite a difficult balancing act though, if you've thinned out the body with too much attenuation, a high level of carbonation can seem very harsh.

[yashicamat]

Chinook is very grapefruit, Cascade is kind of Lychee, Centennial to me is somewhere between the two.

Do you mean dry as in a nice bitter finish or dry as in thin mouthfeel/low sweetness? Something I quite like doing in my pale ales, especially with US hops, is to include 5% sugar, 5% crystal malt along with the 90% base malt. You could try using lager malt which will finish drier than MO and will closer approximate US-2row if it's the clean malt character you're after. The sugar trick works good though.

I don't know if you're drinking it on draught or bottled, but a lively carbonation really accentuates a dry impression. For example Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is quite spritzy in the bottle, makes it seem drier than it is. It's quite a difficult balancing act though, if you've thinned out the body with too much attenuation, a high level of carbonation can seem very harsh.

Thanks for the reply. I think it's more mouthfeel and lack of a malty sweetness rather than just bitterness, although the latter is definately very pronounced. I currently use Perle crushed malt as it's what I can get locally, but I might try and get hold of some lager malt and mix it half and half to see what I get. Does lager malt otherwise behave the same as normal malt?

The beer I've had is on draught only, as far as I know that's the only way it's available.

[mysterio]

Pretty much, yeah. All malts these days are designed to be used in a single infusion mash. If you buy two sacks from The Home Brew Shop (Farnborough) the delivery is free which is a pretty good deal.

[jubby]

Yashicamat, I am on a similar quest to brew 'Inferno' I have decided to use the chinook for aroma also, but not sure what they use for bittering. What's your source for hop types? I assumed Challenger for bittering, as Oakham Ales use it in JHB and Bishops Farewell. I have brewed both of these using WLP 001 and both turned out very good.

The malt in JHB is; 95% low colour MO and 5% Wheat.(ABV3.8%) Bishops Farewell is 92% low colour MO and 8% wheat.(ABV4.6%) Both of these are mashed slightly low at 65C.

I was going to attempt Inferno with:

93% low colour mo and 7% wheat. Challenger bittering with 35g Chinook at 15 min with 35g at flameout (34IBU) WLP 001. Brewed to around 4.1%ABV. Mash at 65C.

What do you think?

[yashicamat]

Yashicamat, I am on a similar quest to brew 'Inferno' I have decided to use the chinook for aroma also, but not sure what they use for bittering. What's your source for hop types? I assumed Challenger for bittering, as Oakham Ales use it in JHB and Bishops Farewell. I have brewed both of these using WLP 001 and both turned out very good.

The malt in JHB is; 95% low colour MO and 5% Wheat.(ABV3.8%) Bishops Farewell is 92% low colour MO and 8% wheat.(ABV4.6%) Both of these are mashed slightly low at 65C.

I was going to attempt Inferno with:

93% low colour mo and 7% wheat. Challenger bittering with 35g Chinook at 15 min with 35g at flameout (34IBU) WLP 001. Brewed to around 4.1%ABV. Mash at 65C.

What do you think?

My source for the hops used was on this page: http://www.bunitedint.com/portfolios/co ... /awbac.php

I am going to try a clone with 5% to 8% wheat, the rest pale malt (I've only got Perle in but that'll have to do), using a mix of Chinook, Cascade and Centennial for aroma and probably use Chinook for bittering. I'll see how it goes and try and work out what's missing (if anything) from there. Most likely will use US-05 yeast too, although I'm not sure if this is the best choice for this beer?

[jubby]

Thanks for the info Yashicamat. I am surprised that they use so many different hops in this beer.

I have never used US-05, but from what I read, it seems a fairly neutral yeast, similar to WLP001.

I have emailed Oakham ales in the past in an attempt to get the ingredients for Bishops Farewell, but they did not reply. I will try the telephone to see if I can get any info on Inferno. I have found that if you can get past the shiny arses in the offices to the brewers, they are more than happy to talk beer. I will let you know if I have any success.

[yashicamat]

Thanks for the info Yashicamat. I am surprised that they use so many different hops in this beer.

I have never used US-05, but from what I read, it seems a fairly neutral yeast, similar to WLP001.

I have emailed Oakham ales in the past in an attempt to get the ingredients for Bishops Farewell, but they did not reply. I will try the telephone to see if I can get any info on Inferno. I have found that if you can get past the shiny arses in the offices to the brewers, they are more than happy to talk beer. I will let you know if I have any success.

Cheers. From my experience, phoning brewers will usually yield some info, but not that much! I get the impression Oakham will be very closed, I was non too impressed with their attitude at the Peterborough Beer Festival this year. Very much "we'll do our stuff by ourselves thank you". By contrast some other breweries are a lot friendlier, including Steve Taylor, the MD / head brewer at Copper Dragon (he didn't exactly volunteer information, but he was a great help ). Mind you, IIRC he founded the CBA?

[lordnoise]

I'm a big fan of Oakhams beers but have never tried Inferno so this is only a guess but you might want to think about increasing the Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) content of your mash which should result in a drier mouthfeel and accentuate the hop flavours. I tried this in a recent Cascade binge Pale Ale to good effect.

[yashicamat]

I'm a big fan of Oakhams beers but have never tried Inferno so this is only a guess but you might want to think about increasing the Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) content of your mash which should result in a drier mouthfeel and accentuate the hop flavours. I tried this in a recent Cascade binge Pale Ale to good effect.

Cheers. I've not actually started playing about with the mineral content of my mash yet, but I think that's most likely to be my next step.

[TC2642]

US-05 would be the best yeast to go for if you want a dry beer. I've had this going down to 1005 from an OG of 1050 and above! It really can chomp through sugar.