Northeast Pales/IPA/DIPA

This was my last homebrew IPA that I wanted in the same vein as PSue and the NE hoppy beers. This is out of the fermenting bucket right before kegging. (shitty pic, but the color and turbidity is true to how it looked)
Here is the beer after 1 month in the keg better pic, but different lighting and what have you. Still a little hazy but it clears as you get to the bottom of the glass. 3 oz DH and US-05 with 1 lb flaked wheat in the grist.

 

“Without a double blind experiment it would be very difficult to figure out how much is perception and how much is actual change in flavor.” I agree with that statement.

“I 'm sure many brewers would consider these beers rushed, but there is some magic to the fresh character they exhibit. It seems that these massive levels of dry hopping do make for a hazier beer on their own, but based on the level of opacity(is that a word?) I would certainly assume that there is also yeast in suspension.” I agree that aggressive dry hopping will add some haze. I personally am unwilling to assume that the murkiness of Trillium beer is due to yeast in suspension based upon the input provided by JC of Trillium.

Cheers!

 

My only experience with flaked wheat is brewing Wits; I use flaked wheat for 50% of the grain bill. In a Wit flaked wheat does provide a cloudy appearance (which is too style for a Wit). After 3-4 months in the bottle by Wits become cleared in appearance since the proteins from the flaked wheat settle out over time. The beers are still tasty despite being clear(er).

Cheers!

 

So, possibly using wheat (not only flaked), massive hopping schedule (including DH) and the relatively short time these commercial, turbid beers are consumed do not allow enough time for the beers to clear. We could take this to the trade forums or latest haul as these hoppy NE beers are being sent all over the country and they can't all be super-de-duperdy fresh. Maybe some have "cleared"...?

 

Reports are that they do clear with time, as noted above I can confirm this with at least one Treehouse IPA, the real question is if there is any advantage to doing so or if you are just making the beer taste worse for the sake of clarity. I'm not a champion for turbid beer in all cases and I very much appreciate a nice clear beer but there seems to be a fairly high degree of prejudice against these beers. At the end of the day I think they taste great and welcome variety in my beer consumption.

 

Are you of the opinion that reducing the turbidity of the beer will in fact affect the flavor/aroma of the beer? If so, why? The way I think is these are great breweries with competent brewers. If they wanted clear beer they could make it. The fact that their beers are so good and hazy it leads me to think that they aren't internationally trying to make their beer hazy or turbid but it's a result of their process and their ingredients, also possibly because they are always consumed fresh. If they changed their processes I would think the results would be inferior beer.

I used a high floculant yeast and still got a hazy beer too. I am just saying if a yeast like Conan causes the beer to be hazy should it not be used just to have clear beer?

I don't know exactly why these beers are so hazy and turbid but if they taste great and are the result of solid brewing process and quality ingredients I wouldn't change them just to produce clearer beer.

 

All: this has been a great discussion and I wish we were having it in person around a large community table, each with our favorite clear or hazy homebrewed IPA. The homebrewing forum is the most civil place on this site (minus the folks counting each day they drink).
Cheers!

 

I will offer a theory that a hoppy beer could be produced with ‘equal’ flavor/aroma which is hazy vs. turbid.

You mention: “…are the result of solid brewing process and quality ingredients…”

There are breweries like Russian River that make extremely hoppy beers that have great aroma/flavor but are not turbid.

I personally remain unconvinced that turbidity is a ‘requirement’ to produce flavorful hoppy beers.

Maybe now is a good time to repeat an old mantra of mine: brew the beers you like and brew them the way you like.

Cheers!

 

I agree with everything you said. I don't think hazy is a requirement but it seems to be a biproduct of how certain breweries do their ipas and those IPAs are some of the best in the world.

Two local breweries to me beechwood and noble ale works brew AMAZING ipas that are uber hoppy and mostly clear, especially compared to tree house and trillium. However, they are different and some like one more than the other.

Last thing, it my underling point is if a beer is awesome and is super hazy I wouldn't change the process for clearer beer at the risk of losing that quality. Maybe taking different steps to brew clear beer wouldn't have a negative effect but I personally just wouldn't change it.

Cheers!

 

Recently I helped a friend brewed two of the same batch of IPA (split batch) one intentionally not cleared and one cleared and gelatin fined and there was a noticeable difference between the two when shared with 5 friends in non-clear solo cups, the hop presence and "juiciness" was much more pronounced in the turbid one as opposed to the cleared/fined.

 

Hello Folks, I am relatively new to brewing. I made a couple different kits prior to this past week. I decided to go for it and brew direct from grain. I made a recipe for Fullers London Pride. It all went well but there is a part of the instructions I really do not understand and maybe someone can explain it. After the final hops are added, post heat, cooling and yeast pitched, the wort is supposed to ferment for 4-5 days before racking? This does not make sense to me. Then add gelatine and dry hops with the airlock. It seems odd to leave the beer like this without airlocking it because with no airlock the lid cannot be tight and it makes me wonder about contamination? Why not add the final hops and airlock it right away?

 

Yes, fining with gelatin will 'scrub' flavor from beer. For this reason I refuse to use gelatin in my personal homebrewing practice.

There are steps that can be taken to enhance beer clarity that will not have the same effect as gelatin fining.

Cheers!

 

I have a similar experience. Brewed 10-gal batch on 06/27 and split between (2) kegs (kegged on 07/11). I gel'd mine, my brew partner did not. My beer is crystal clear and decent. My brew partners is hazy and much juicier (citra and galaxy IPA). I poured a pint at his house last weekend and couldn't believe it was the same beer. Much better than mine.

We kegged our latest IPA on 08/21. You think I added gel to mine? No

 

You should add the airlock right away (at the beginning of primary fermentation). Once primary fermentation is complete (which may be 4-5 days or maybe not), then you add the dry hops. Just add the dry hops to the primary fermentor.

Cheers!

 

I will no longer gelatin fine.

 

So based on this info I should skip the gel and just dry hop the original container. Jack, Is there any situation where I would rack it to a separate container? Thank you Gents for your advice. Much appreciated.

 

Well that did not come out right. What I meant to say is will probably not add the gel.

 

Don't add gel. Dry hop in original container. Racking to separate container is solely, IMO, for aging say on fruit or bourbon soaked oak cubes. The more you move beer to different containers the more oxygen will be introduced (in standard practice of racking). Oxygen is bad for beer. I have no idea why kits still to this day say rack to secondary.

 

What is everyone using as a water profile for these?

my hoppy water profile is typically (which i got from @OldSock a long time ago on his Nelson Nectar and it has served me well for all IPAs and PA since)

Calcium(Ca): 90.0 ppm
Magnesium(Mg): 5.0 ppm
Sodium(Na): 10.0 ppm
Sulfate(SO4): 145.0 ppm
Chloride(Cl): 60.0 ppm
biCarbonate(HCO3): 65.0 ppm

 

Ahh, chit man. That's another debate. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/high-chloride-instead-sulfate-in-a-ipa.325909/

As a general rule at least my rule is higher sulfate ppm, close to 200+ But 145 is in line.