I love tasting store-bought single-hop beers in order to learn their unique flavours and aromas. One of my all-time favourites contained the Meridian (cultivar W12244) hop variety, which is described thus by Crosby Hops Farm:
My recipe is neither a farmhouse style nor an aggressive IPA, but rather a sessionable California Common.A chance discovery in 2011, Meridian delivers a mix of tropical, berry, and citrus fruitiness with a hint of spearmint. A “top note” hop, nice in a saison, wit, or farmhouse, it can also be combined with more aggressive hops in IPAs to brighten the overall impression of the beer.
5.5 US gallons = 4.6 Imperial gallons = 20.8 Liters
GRAINBILL
90% = 8.41 lbs = 3.81 kg, Pale Ale Malt
5% = .47 lb = 213 g, CaraStan 30-37 (homemade approximation, anyway)
5% = .47 lb = 213 g, Golden Invert Syrup (homemade)
TOTAL: 9.35 lbs = 4.24 kg, plus a sprinkle each of gypsum and sodium bicarbonate.
MASH-IN with 3.25 gal/ water at 166°F/74.4°C to achieve
148°F/64.4°C for 60min, then raised to
168°F/76°C, then VORLAUF and LAUTER.
Draw-off a little first-runnings wort into a saucepan with Sugar, add a few drops Lime Juice, boil hard to create Golden Invert Syrup, after it thickens and darkens, dump into boil kettle.
SPARGE to COLLECT 7 US gal/5.8 Imp gal/26.5 L
BOIL hard for 90 minutes, reduce to 5 US gal/4.2 Imp gal/18.9 L.
HOPS: Meridian 4%AA
1 oz = 28 g, first wort addition
1 oz = 28 g, flame-out
TOTAL: 2 oz = 56 g
Whirlfloc Tablet at 15 minutes remaining.
AERATE & PITCH at 60°F/15.6°C.
YEAST: Urban Chestnut Zwickel Helles Lager strain
STATS: 74% mash efficiency* and 82% apparent attenuation
OG: 1.047/11.7°P
FG: 1.0085/2.3°P
ABV: 5.05%
IBU: 18
COLOUR: light golden amber with off-white foam and lace
BJCP STYLE: 19B Amber and Brown American Beer - California Common
*On my last brew Calabazilla Common I used a lengthy multiple temperature step mash with decoction and got 82% mash efficiency. This time, using the same base malt but only a single temperature infusion mash I only got 74% mash efficiency. I’ve personally seen that same deviation when brewing at commercial scale too. So, whenever someone tells you modern base malts are so well-modified there is no longer any benefit to multi-step mashes or decoctions, they are simply mistaken. If you take the time to perform a more complicated mash profile, you WILL get more beer for your buck.
Homemade Crystal Malt, targeting Bairds CaraStan 30/37. I must say it looked/smelled/tasted right on!
Picnic Cooler Mash/Lauter Tun
Vorlauf
First-runnings for homemade Golden Invert Syrup
Lauter
Using heat and acid to "Invert" the sugar syrup
Lighting the outdoor propane burner
Boiling
Albus, my Assistant Brewer
Original Gravity, with temperature correction I get 1047
Very active fermentation, thanks to my large fresh repitch