NZ Pale Ale Recipe Advice

[AdyG]

Hi Everyone

I've sampled a couple of very nice NZ ales recently with various combos of pacific jade and moteuka, so I was planning on doing one pretty soonish myself.

It was based on a recipe in the 'Love of Hops' book, but I will be doing it as a 25l BIAB... it's a bit of a rough draft still, and I can't get any Wai-ti hops so the nearest thing is Amarillo, not very NZ though I'm afraid.

Grains:
75% maris otter
10% munich
8% caramalt
3% crystal

ABV 5.5%

Hops (quantities to be properly worked out still):
Green Bullet (maybe)... as bittering at start of boil
Pacific Jade @ 30 mins
Moteuka @ 30 mins
Amarillo (Wai-ti substitute - can't be found in UK at present time) @ 30 mins
Pacific Jade @ 0 mins + 30 min steep
Moteuka @ 0 mins + 30 min steep
Amarillo @ 0 mins + 30 min steep

Pacific Jade & Moteuka dry hop for 5 days after fermentation (reasonable 100g+ amount of leaf pureed and added to secondary fv and strained out before kegging)

Can't decide on S-04 or US-05 yeast....

What do you all reckon? Any advice welcome...

Cheers

Ady

[seymour]

I bet it would taste and smell good, but you're right, Amarillo doesn't possess those New Zealand traits, I'd drop it. Do you have access to any Rakau, Mosaic, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, or Sorachi Ace? To me anyway, those produce similar traits which remind me of mango and other tropical fruit, wine grape, lemon creme, Juicy Fruit gum, etc... You could even replace the Amarillo which something more neutral, earthy, noble, complimentary like Hallertau. Just brainstorming, there are no wrong answers here.

P.S. Speaking of the For the Love of Hops book, I was lucky enough to visit the Urban Chestnut brewery last weekend and taste their Hopfen Bavarian IPA for the first time, which is another recipe included in that book. Good stuff for sure.

[AdyG]

Cheers Seymour, I think the predominant flavour I wanted was the Moteuka, as I've had some cracking beers based on that, and from a bit of research it seems to be a popular combo with Pacific Jade. They were the two main hops I was interested in, and the Amarillo was just conisdered as a stand in for the lesser important Wai-ti, which in the recipe is added at flame out and in dry hopping.

I'm not too keen on the Nelson Sauvin in large quantities... goes a bit winey. I like NZ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc wine though still.

I've just read about the Hopfen IPA... looks good. I've always enjoyed German beer whether wiesse beer or even lagers, so this looks interesting hopping a pilsner malt in an IPA style!

[jimp2003]

When are you brewing?

I have a pack of Wai-iti you could buy off me if you like....

[killer]

There's a brewery over here that adds white wine to their beer (a pale ale)... Its not actually bad.

[AdyG]

When are you brewing?

I have a pack of Wai-iti you could buy off me if you like....

I was going to brew on Saturday (tomorrow)... but I could always do a more normal IPA this time, I'm trying to squeeze a quick brew in before I go away for a week a bit later in the month, and brew my NZ pale on my return if I knew some Wai-iti was available.

I was only after a 100g maximum so if the hops are still available I would take them off you cheers! How much do you want for them?

Due to my limited experience I'm still playing it safe and sticking to official recipes on unknowns like NZ hops.

[jimp2003]

I could do a 100g pack for £5 delivered.

They are 2012 harvest and have been stored in the freezer since I bought them.

[AdyG]

That's great! £5 sounds good to me... I assume they are in a foil vac pack anyway.

Do you do paypal? Or what's your preference?

[jimp2003]

That's great! £5 sounds good to me... I assume they are in a foil vac pack anyway.

Do you do paypal? Or what's your preference?

They are in a foil vac pack yes. They are from maltmiller so the packs are nice and flat so it cuts down on the postage.

Paypal is best. I will PM you the details.

Jim

[AdyG]

That's great! £5 sounds good to me... I assume they are in a foil vac pack anyway.

Do you do paypal? Or what's your preference?

They are in a foil vac pack yes. They are from maltmiller so the packs are nice and flat so it cuts down on the postage.

Paypal is best. I will PM you the details.

Jim

Cheers Jim, payment and pm sent with address!

[AdyG]

Thanks to jimp2003 for sending me some spare Wai-iti hops, the NZ pale will be able to go ahead with the proper all NZ hop schedule!

I now have Green Bullet, Wai-ti, Pacific Jade & Moteuka so next brew in July should be interesting! I wil post a thread on how I get on.

[CestrIan]

Sounds like a great combo AdyG! I am a big fan of the NZ PA. My last 3 or 4 brews have been variations on Kohatu, Motueka & NZ Cascade. I am loving the Kohatu at the minute. NZ cascade is nice too, nothing like the US version and would have been a good sub for Wai-iti if you hadn't been able to get hold of any. But you have, you lucky sod - it's a lovely hop, but very subtle; nice mandarin and lemon zest flavours and aromas.

My only words of advice for your NZ Pale ale is treat Motueka with respect. It is very lemony and will overpower everything else and you don't want to miss the wai-iti. I have used motueka a lot over the last twelve months and I find 10-20g max late in the boil is more than enough. On it's own a motueka smash with 10-20g late addition is a lovely summer quaffer, but if you over-do it, it is just too much!

I'll be interested to see how you get on. I love mixing up NZ hops - great flavours and often more subtle than US hops! You should try Galaxy as well! Great stuff!!

[ArmChair]

Ady,

I have this in the fv at the moment viewtopic.php?f=24&t=60111

It's been fermenting now for 11 days and smells amazing, can't wait to get this bottled!

[AdyG]

Sounds like a great combo AdyG! I am a big fan of the NZ PA. My last 3 or 4 brews have been variations on Kohatu, Motueka & NZ Cascade. I am loving the Kohatu at the minute. NZ cascade is nice too, nothing like the US version and would have been a good sub for Wai-iti if you hadn't been able to get hold of any. But you have, you lucky sod - it's a lovely hop, but very subtle; nice mandarin and lemon zest flavours and aromas.

My only words of advice for your NZ Pale ale is treat Motueka with respect. It is very lemony and will overpower everything else and you don't want to miss the wai-iti. I have used motueka a lot over the last twelve months and I find 10-20g max late in the boil is more than enough. On it's own a motueka smash with 10-20g late addition is a lovely summer quaffer, but if you over-do it, it is just too much!

I'll be interested to see how you get on. I love mixing up NZ hops - great flavours and often more subtle than US hops! You should try Galaxy as well! Great stuff!!

Cheers for the info there, this will be my first dabble with NZ hops so the advice is greatly appreciated. I will go easy on the Moteuka, I've enjoyed it in shop bought beer so I was interested in using it in my own. I will post a more detailed recipe in a week or so taking on your advice on the quantities of hops.

[AdyG]

Ady,

I have this in the fv at the moment viewtopic.php?f=24&t=60111

It's been fermenting now for 11 days and smells amazing, can't wait to get this bottled!

That looks great djseaton! Even more eager to get my NZ brew on the go... but got to go on holiday for a week first though.