Riwaka Rocket - 09/07/09

[adm]

Today sees the debut of the second in my "Rocket" series of beers......this time using Simcoe as the bittering hop and Riwaka (D-Saaz) as the main flavour and aroma hop. I've never used either hop, but Simcoe is meant to give a strong resiny, citrus flavour (and apparently some passion fruit flavour if used late) and Riwaka is meant to give a monstrously grapefruity citrus burst. Hopefully, together they should give something approximating a grapefruity Goose Island type taste (GI tastes resiny and orangey to me....) Both hops are from Craftbrewer and smell superb.

I've used Lager malt to give a crisp pale beer, but sweetened it up with a bit of pale crystal to add body but keep the colour down. I'm going for a well hopped "Summer Pale Ale". Mashing at 66C for 90 mins. Boil will be 90 mins. Yeast will be US05.

Riwaka Rocket

Grain:
About 5Kg Lager Malt (I forgot to weigh one jugful)
300g Pale Crystal Malt
150g Wheat Malt

Hops:
US Simcoe Pellets 12.3% AA 15g First Wort 20.4 IBU
US Simcoe Pellets 12.3% AA 10g 15 Min 12.4 IBU
NZ Riwaka (D-Saaz) Whole Hops 5.9% AA 45g 15 Min 6.3 IBU
NZ Riwaka (D-Saaz) Whole Hops 5.9% AA 45g Flame Out

Water treatment was CRS down to 20 mg/l CaC03, plus a teaspoon of gypsum in the mash and another in the boil.

Mash has been in for 20 mins....now I'd better do some paying work until it's ready!

Pics to follow later.

[delboy]

Good luck with it adm, my last brew at the weekend was a GI attempt also, but with cascade, amarillo, fuggle and styrians (really need to get my hands on some cenntenial).

[mysterio]

Looks amazing, i'll be interested to hear how the D-Saaz turns out.

[adm]

Well....that all went well. I finished up a while ago, but I've been out at the kid's school open evening and for a pizza.

I ended up with 23L at 1048, which is more or less exactly what I was hoping for and the wort tasted great!

Here's the pics:


Grain


Simcoe hop pellets for the main bittering addition


And the Riwaka (D-Saaz) for the flavour and aroma. There's also more Simcoe pellets hidded under the flowers on the left. These hops smell fantastic


pH is good - about 5.2


And the temperature is smack on too.


Mash after 90 mins. Final temp was 65C


First runnings onto the Simcoe pellets


And a nice rolling boil


The final hop addition is in, as is the protafloc and the hot break is forming nicely


Today, I thought I'd recirculate the chiller ouput back into the boiler to try and keep most of the cold break in the boiler instead of the FV


And here's it running pretty clear after a few minutes


Pitched and aerated. I collected 23L


At 1048. And the wort tastes wonderful.

I think this is going to be a good one....should be ready to drink by the time I get back from holiday.

[WishboneBrewery]

that last shot looks lovely and clear

[adm]

Yeah....looks like the recirculation made a difference. There was definitely less break material in the sample than normal - maybe 50%+ less.

Although, recirculating kind of kicked up the settling break in the boiler a bit, so I need to find a way to spray the recirculated wort into the top of the boiler. That way, I can recirculate and aerate at the same time. Win-Win!

[adm]

1010 today and in the keg.....the sample tasted great. Really citrussy.

No more brewing for a while, as we're off on holiday on Friday. The good news though is that I've now got 8 kegs of beer conditioning for when I get back!

[adm]

Been drinking this over the weekend and it's a lovely summer ale.

The Simcoe and Riwaka go together beautifully, to give a very citrussy, yet very subtle taste. I think this one's going to be a favourite.....

[mysterio]

I've put this on my to-brew list, how would you describe the Riwaka apart from 'citrussy' ? The NZ hops are nice and cheap on the Craftbrewer site

[adm]

I've put this on my to-brew list, how would you describe the Riwaka apart from 'citrussy' ? The NZ hops are nice and cheap on the Craftbrewer site

Good question.....I'd describe them as "Saazy and Citrussy"

They taste like a lager finishing hop crossed with Cascade. A bit spicy, and a bit earthy....with a good dose of lemon/grapefruity citrus. I'd say the citrus is more "sophisticated" than Cascade.

[DarloDave]

That sounds fantastic, I've already got a load of hops to use up, but am tempted to put in another craftbrewer order and get some of these!

[adm]

I got a bit of a Brucie Bonus today....was poking around in the garage and found the very last bottle of this beer left over from July. Don't know how I missed it before.

I'm glad I found it.....6 months in the bottle have definitely made a difference to it - it was awesome. It was good before, but now it's even better. Shame its the last one. Citrus and tropical fruit flavours overflowing. Even a bit of lychee unless I'm much mistaken. And so crystal clear you'd swear every drop had been hand polished by little beer faeries.

Nectar!

I think i will brew this again pretty soon. I even think I've got the right hops in....

[Whorst]

Great avatar delboy! That gives mine a run for its money!

Are Summit available in the UK? That's a hop with a serious, tangerine, orange marmalade type flavor.
Fabulous for dry hopping as well.

[adm]

Are Summit available in the UK? That's a hop with a serious, tangerine, orange marmalade type flavor.
Fabulous for dry hopping as well.

Stop teasing me, you temptress, you....

I have looked almost everywhere and cannot find Summit for sale in the UK, or even from any US stores that would ship a reasonable amount (1Kg) for a decent price....

[leedsbrew]

Brucie indeed adm! I found a couple of bottles tucked away in what I thought was an empty crate last night. Spooky! One was a bottle of the very last kit beer I did. A brupaks Bavarian lager, and 3 bottles of my 1st ever AG beer, a pale with Goldings and fuggles! Te lager has been in the bottle well over 18 months and to be honest was better than most of the fizzy pish down the pub!

the pale was very good as well, but even after 12 months it was still hazey! Didn't know about Irish moss then!

Out of interest, did you prime and bottle the riwaka rocket or force carbonate and bottle from the keg? I'm asking as I planned on carbonating my RIS then bottlig from the corni,Then age for a year, but was wondering if it would be better for the flavour to re-inoculate with say nottingham and bottle condition?

Cheers


LB