What's Brewing? (February Edition)

Oh, I get it. I had to baby sit that boil for a couple hours to get it down to under a pint (started with 2 quarts at least). I didn't want to add 1/2 gallon to the main beer and have too much with not much gravity change.

 

Bottled my last of 3 braggots, a Pirate strong ale that made into a braggot. 1.121-->1.002 plus a whole bottle of Meyer's dark rum It's going to be a good September!!

 

• Brewed a dry stout last week. Used a standard grain bill for it as I'm not super familiar with the style. I'll be brewing an Imperial Stout on the cake for my bday next week!
• Kegged my NEIPA brewed with 1469, Motueka and Galaxy.
• Brewed a best bitter yesterday. It was a bit of a nightmare brewday. Left the valve open on my kettle as I was draining my mash tun into it. Didn't realize it until it was too late and lost all bout 1 gallon of the first runnings. Went ahead with my brew day and mashed more maris otter. Surprisingly nailed my volume and OG despite all the hangups.

 

Trillium's version of their Congress St. is better than my clone of it. Two differences I can spot: 1. Mine is super dry and tart. I'm glad I changed things up with my NEIPA water, yeast, dextrose but I will dial back next time. Trillium's Congress is dry but there is also a soft rich taste up front. Mine has a bit of that but quickly goes to tart and dry. 2. The Galaxy pops more in Trillium's. It's also a bit of a different smell which was kind of annoying but I guess makes sense as the same hops sourced and stored in one manner will result in a different beer than the same variety sourced and stored in another. 3. I'd be remiss if I did not also mention equipment and more so procedure. I'm sure my procedures need improving.

Still, this was a great success and I think what I want to do now is dial down the alcohol and try to gently dial down the dryness. I like WLP007 so I'll use that again but I might mash at a higher temp and not use dextrose next time and see what that does. This beer at 7.2% is a bit too much for me to have on tap at home, haha! Especially because I like to drink NEIPAs fresh/fast.

 

@Curmudgeon

Great info! I actually have a review on mine as well, now that I had it side by side with DDH Farnsworth (closest I can get at the moment!).

Picture (Left is mine, right is Trillium)



So in the glass, color is very close. Trillium's is a hair lighter. My target SRM was 5.1, as a point of reference. Will adjust my 10L/40L ratio to bring the SRM down to 4.8ish next time.

The head on my version is significantly better, almost like a whip cream where Trillium's dies out very quickly. So in this area, my beer visually is superior.

Now, my girlfriend and I did blind tastings... In the end, while it took a few back and forth attempts, I could tell them apart. But only because of the hop flavor (Vic Secret vs. Galaxy) and the harsher bitterness with Trillium.

Mouthfeel, mine is a bit more "soft" and slightly more residual sweetness. Trillium's is a little thinner on the palate. My OG was 1.069 and FG was 1.014. Next time, I may target 1.012 FG to get it closer. My theoretical IBU was 45, next time I will increase to about 60 to get it closer. Now I know each hop will behave differently here with the oil content and such, but I actually like a nice bitterness to these beers and I wouldn't mind mine to be a little more punchy. I do believe Trillium is going even higher on the sulfates as well. I did 250:100 (sulfate:chloride) this time around... But I will increase to 275:100 (sulfate:chloride) for my next batch. That sulfate "crispness" is something I notice in Trillium that some other NE IPA's don't, which IMO is key to their overall profile. Just my hunch, though!

I didn't notice any difference at all with sourness or anything like that. Going back and forth, the only real giveaway was the hop variety and additional bitterness on the back end of the palate.

Aroma/Flavor were comparable, aside from the different hop. Trillium's was a bit brighter here with that signature Vic "grape/wine" like note, but it's hard to company otherwise given the different hop utilized.

In the end, I really couldn't pick which beer I liked more, it was very tough. I give them both 5 star. My girlfriend actually picked mine as being better (blindly).

I would have loved to do this with DDH Congress instead to get a definitive answer, but all things considered, it was really damn close! Closer than I expected. Mouthfeel was just right, the yeast character was near identical with only extremely minor adjustments required for next time. Again, just planning to increase the IBU slightly, increase sulfate in the water and aim for a FG of 1.012 vs. 1.014. I think it would be set to go! Look forward to the next one.