Fatal Flaw: Finish him!

The last brew was well on its way to being _the_ one.  A flawless brew day, no hiccups during fermentation.  I even used a forced diacetyl test and ended up raising the temp a few days during the last dry-hop (no thanks to hop creep) to clean things up.  

Hazy, juicy, crisp, with a hint of malt.  Exactly what I wanted.  Until…

 To package beer I used purged corny kegs, purged jop strainer and then force-push with CO2 to fill each keg.  Flawless process right?  Two days later this is what’s pouring from the tap…

Right side is sample from conical; Left side is two days in the keg.

What a huge letdown.  But I’ve seen this before.  Oxidation.   But from where.  I’ve brewed about 12 batches of beer with this equipment and I’ve only used the hop strainer (extra large one) on exactly two batches of Nor’Easter.  The previous one turned color which I assumed was related to the infection I found in my pump but with that now hyper cleansed the only remaining element is the strainer.  I also brewed a pilsner which turned out fantastic and it’s still pale as straw on the tap today.  What difference?  No dry-hop which mean no use of the strainer.   This is super frustrating, not to mention costly; hops for NEIPAs aren’t cheap. 

I did the only thing I could do: brew another batch and remove the fatal flaw.

Operation Hop Stand
Hazy Hop Particles
Here’s the next iteration, this time with a 60/40 split between regular T-90 pellets and pelletized CryoHops.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
15 gal 60 min 50.5 IBUs 5.7 SRM 1.068 1.014 7.1 %
Actuals 1.061 1.014 6.2 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American-Style India Pale Ale 56 1.06 - 1.075 1.012 - 1.018 50 - 70 6 - 15 2.2 - 2.8 6.3 - 7.6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western) 14 lbs 36.84
Vienna Malt (Weyermann) 14 lbs 36.84
Oats, Flaked 4 lbs 10.53
White Wheat Malt 4 lbs 10.53
Carapils (Briess) 1 lbs 2.63
Honey Malt 1 lbs 2.63

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Cryo - Simcoe 0.28 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 23
Mosaic (HBC 369) 2.1 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 12.3
Simcoe 1.98 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 13
Eukanot 1.83 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 14
Citra 1.78 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 14.4
Cryo - Mosaic 0.78 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 22
Cryo - Simcoe 0.74 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 23
Cryo - Citra 0.68 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 25
Cryo - Eukanot 0.67 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 25.5
Cryo - Citra 1 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 25
Cryo - Eukanot 1 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 25.5
Cryo - Mosaic 1 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 22
Cryo - Simcoe 1 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 23
Citra 1 oz 2 days Dry Hop Pellet 12
Eukanot 1 oz 2 days Dry Hop Pellet 14
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1 oz 2 days Dry Hop Pellet 12.3
Simcoe 1 oz 2 days Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 7.30 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 2.70 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 2.40 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Phosphoric Acid 1.20 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
San Diego Super Yeast (WLP090) White Labs 80% 65°F - 68°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 154°F 60 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Adjust cl:s04 to 1.5 ratio
Use 60/40 pellet/cryo hops throughout
Single dry-hop
1:1 GU:IBU ratio
Swap in 50% base with Vienna for additional malt backbone
Welcome Simcoe to the Hop Club
Gravity bump to 1.071

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