2010-07-14 - Poppy

[Invalid Stout]

I haven't brewed for months, what with one thing and another. I took advantage of a spare evening to get a brew on, there were some hops in the freezer that needed using up. Nelson Sauvin on its own didn't impress me too much, but I did really enjoy a beer with Nelson Sauvin and Cascade together, so I decided to try combining it with Chinook, my favourite US hop.

Poppy because it's pale 'n' 'oppy. A nice session beer.

I mashed very high because I've noticed all my beers finishing very dry, so I want to get some unfermentables in there, especially with the low gravity.

This is the theoretical recipe, I haven't actually taken a gravity reading yet.

Poppy
---
Brewer: Robbie
Style: Poppy
Batch: 20.00 L All Grain

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.033 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 96 IBU
Recipe Color: 2 SRM
Estimated FG: 1.008
Alcohol by Volume: 3.2%
Alcohol by Weight: 2.5%

Ingredients
-----------
Lager malt 3.00 kg, Grain, Mashed

Chinook 10.00 g, Whole, 60 minutes
Magnum 20.00 g, Whole, 60 minutes
Nelson Sauvin 14.00 g, Whole, 60 minutes
Magnum 10.00 g, Whole, 30 minutes
Chinook 15.00 g, Whole, 0 minutes

Notes
-----
Batch Notes:
Mashed with 10Lat 71º-73ºC and got conversion in 30 minutes. Sparged with another 15L at 79º.

[196osh]

That looks great Robbie.

96IBU at 3abv%. Brewdog will be nicking your recpies if it turns out well.

[mysterio]

I was expecting an opium beer, disappointed.

[Invalid Stout]

That looks great Robbie.

96IBU at 3abv%. Brewdog will be nicking your recpies if it turns out well.

It wasn't meant to be quite that much, but it's easy to overdose with 15% alpha hops. Is brewing first and then calculating the recipe what they call "beer for punks" then?

Sh1te, I made my starter with wheat beer yeast by mistake. US-05 to the rescue!

And the OG is 1.034, I wasn't expecting to get it anywhere near as exact as that. It's so pale it's almost green, too.

[Invalid Stout]

This is down to 1.010 now. Looks and tastes like grapefruit juice.

[Invalid Stout]

As it's so warm, I'm slightly worried about picking up wild yeast or mould while the beer is in the fermenter. Should I just bung it in a polypin and sup it young, or dry hop it for another week to see if it's going to clear any more?

[boingy]

Unless you want to drink something that looks and tastes like grapefruit juice I would suggest a little more time might be a good idea!
Was the original plan for bottles, keg or polypin?

[Invalid Stout]

Bottles but putting it in a polypin would be less effort.

I can see it starting to clear from the top now so I've dry hopped it with some Magnum and EKG and will give it another four or five days before bottling.

[Invalid Stout]

Well, I've tried this now and I think I overdid the Magnum. Should have used more late hops to balance the bitterness, it has a bit of "chalkiness" to it (that's how I perceive the bitterness, not anything in the water). I overreacted to an American beer I had recently that had massive hop aroma but weren't actually that bitter. I got it wrong in the other direction.

Can't really tell if the high mash temperature did anything much, a weak beer like this is never going to be full-bodied

[delboy]

Well, I've tried this now and I think I overdid the Magnum. Should have used more late hops to balance the bitterness, it has a bit of "chalkiness" to it (that's how I perceive the bitterness, not anything in the water). I overreacted to an American beer I had recently that had massive hop aroma but weren't actually that bitter. I got it wrong in the other direction.

Can't really tell if the high mash temperature did anything much, a weak beer like this is never going to be full-bodied

You could have tried bunging all the hops in from about 15-20 mins to go, thats what i do quite often, great for getting lots of hoppyness without it being too bitter.

[Invalid Stout]

I wanted it bitter, doing everything with late hops is precisely what I didn't want to do. I just didn't get the balance quite right.

[WishboneBrewery]

How is it for head? In the 2.8% I did it's pretty non-existent. Drinks pretty thin and doesn't display the hopping as well as a stronger beer would have.
Mine had Nelson, Cascade & Centennial.
I like the chalkiness in the bittering, I've found that with NS hops. I will try a hot mash like you've done next time with a fair amount of Torrefied.

[delboy]

I wanted it bitter, doing everything with late hops is precisely what I didn't want to do. I just didn't get the balance quite right.

Fair enough, very difficult to work that out from what you posted about the american beer etc but hope you have better luck next time striking the balance.