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SEYMOUR MERIDIAN HOP TRIAL



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:

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.

My recipe is neither a farmhouse style nor an aggressive IPA, but rather a sessionable California Common.

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

Decoction always gives a little bit higher efficiency, but the bigger difference you see may be due to the rising of the gelatinization temperature of the starches in barley over the last couple of years. At least that is what we see in Europe. It is probably caused by the rise in temperature and the lack of water, climate.

For a single infusion you may have to mash in as high as 67°C to get full conversion as gelatinization does not happen at a single temperature but over a trajectory. (full) Decoction is the perfect remedy.

Modification indeed isn't better or worse now a days. Maltser now what it is and how to control it for centuries, modification is a choice (and tradition). The difference, especially if you compare current USA malts with European ones is the amount of enzymes in the barley. US malts have 3-5 times as much as the big brewers use big amounts of unmalted grains. The selection process of the varieties was/is different.

Old European malts had even less enzymes, hence the decoction as it quenches out the max efficiency and it is nice to the enzymes from a temperature point of view.

Ingo

Great comments ingo, thank you very much!

Hasn't dropped perfectly clear yet, but definitely ready for drinking. Good stuff.

Did the hops live up to the description?

seymour wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 10:26 pm

Hasn't dropped perfectly clear yet, but definitely ready for drinking. Good stuff.

Looks like a Sam Smith's glass.

orlando wrote: ↑

Mon May 11, 2020 9:18 am

Looks like a Sam Smith's glass.

Yep, you're right!

Greg wrote: ↑

Sun May 10, 2020 4:23 pm

Did the hops live up to the description?

Yes, mostly. Definitely fruity, but not tropical and not citrusy as some sources say, strikes me more as berry fruit or stone fruit, kinda like Bramling Cross or Phoenix hops, actually. Broadleaf weedy, a little minty, earthy, herbal, flowery. Smooth, flavourful bitterness that blends well with rich pale ale malt and crystal malt sweetness, not overpowering but would nonetheless stand up to bold yeasts. I know from commercial examples it ages well, so it really ticks all the boxes for me. Odd Alpha/Beta ratio, 6-7% alpha acids to 9-10% beta acids. A great well-rounded single hop to use for American, English, Scottish, and Belgian styles, just not a true-to-style noble German or Czech lager. I highly recommend it if you can find it.

seymour wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 12:59 am

Looks like a Newcastle Brown Ale glass!

Beer smells BLM!

WA

WalesAles wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 7:20 pm

seymour wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 12:59 am

Looks like a Newcastle Brown Ale glass!

Beer smells BLM!

WA

The original didn't.

seymour wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 12:59 am

orlando wrote: ↑

Mon May 11, 2020 9:18 am

Looks like a Sam Smith's glass.

Yep, you're right!

Greg wrote: ↑

Sun May 10, 2020 4:23 pm

Did the hops live up to the description?

Yes, mostly. Definitely fruity, but not tropical and not citrusy as some sources say, strikes me more as berry fruit or stone fruit, kinda like Bramling Cross or Phoenix hops, actually. Broadleaf weedy, a little minty, earthy, herbal, flowery. Smooth, flavourful bitterness that blends well with rich pale ale malt and crystal malt sweetness, not overpowering but would nonetheless stand up to bold yeasts. I know from commercial examples it ages well, so it really ticks all the boxes for me. Odd Alpha/Beta ratio, 6-7% alpha acids to 9-10% beta acids. A great well-rounded single hop to use for American, English, Scottish, and Belgian styles, just not a true-to-style noble German or Czech lager. I highly recommend it if you can find it.

Sounds great! If you did this again would you dry hop? The colour looks great too btw.

Greg wrote: ↑

Wed May 13, 2020 7:01 pm

Sounds great! If you did this again would you dry hop? The colour looks great too btw.

Thanks! Probably not. But not because dry-hopping wouldn't taste/smell good, it surely would, but it's such a pain, soaks up so much beer, risks infection and oxidation, and makes it so I can't repitch the yeast again. I'd add more at flame-out, for sure. I stuck to true-to-style low hopping on this California Common style, but would gladly use Meridian again in an APA or IPA.