Serebrianka Hop: Deconstructed

The idea for this post was probably the inspiration that led me to actually start this blog, because it's the sort of post that I would find useful in my own homebrew research.  I'm sure I'm not the only homebrewer who has found some valuable information out on the old blogosphere, so I figured I'd give back with this experiment.

I bought a pound of Serebrianka hops from Hops Direct on a recent hop shopping splurge.  The price was right ($9 a pound!) and the description sounded nice, so I figured I'd try them out.  According to the site, this hop is an "Aroma Hop with a light perfume, mellow, ellegant, subtle, gentle, almost tobacco like smell."  They also ask me to "... give it a try and let us know what you think."  Okay, here it is!

The AA% is a low 3.5%, which is typical for a European aroma hop.  With some googling, I found that this is a Russian hop and is one of the father plants to the great American Cascade.  When I opened the bag, the aroma was pretty subtle, with a simple leafy note.  In order to get a good idea of how these hops work, I brewed a single hop pale ale.  The recipe pretty basic; 6% ABV, 45 IBU's, American Ale yeast and a touch of crystal malt.  I don't need to get too much into it here, but you can see my recipe on Hopville.

Great head formation and retention.  I've read that high use of low AA hops for bitterness can help with retention.   Hmm...

This was one of the final pours off the keg, so it's a bit cloudier.

Aroma/Flavor:

The aroma on the finished beer changed a lot as time progressed.  On day 7 of dry hopping, the beer smelled much like the whole-hops did, with gentle leafy notes.  By the time I kegged it on day 10, the fruitiness came out more.  This evolution continued in the keg, hitting its stride after a few weeks.  The fruity, Cascadian notes came through in the form of sweet orange peel and melons.  The European, herbal hop notes balanced it out, with a slightly minty, tobacco-y aroma that reminded me of a menthol cigartette.  But in a good way.  If that makes any sense. The flavor comes through with a standard caramelly sweetness on the front end of the palate, shifting in to a delicate, leafy bitterness on the finish.

Overall Recap: 

Even though I used an absurd amount of these hops (8 oz.), the character was delicate.  Never really leaped into my face like a high-alpha American hop would.  But, it was certainly unique and complex, so I will happily use them for something else.  I could see this working well as an aroma hop in a more malt focused beer.  Use it in a porter, stout or brown ale to get some nice complexity without giving it a noticeably or distinct hopiness.

Session Gold Ale Recipe and Brew Day (5/12/12)

The idea for this beer came to me earlier this week.  It's not anything earth shattering.  It's just a beer I envisioned in my head without the guidance of any style or experiment in mind. It's the beer I wanted to be drinking at the moment.  It turns out the recipe is a standard English session ale, but I've never drank one in real life.  I just envisioned the flavors and aromas in my head, and then went ahead and made it.

Even though this single malt, single hop recipe is as simple as it gets, I was excited about this creative process.  It got me thinking of the deeper philosophical questions.  Like, is brewing an art?  My first instinct is to say no, but I'm not sure either way.  I'll probably ponder that more on a future post, but feel free to leave a comment on what you think.

Anyway, the beer I'm brewing is a golden session ale.  Something light and refreshing for the warmer months.  It uses my favorite English yeast, London ESB, along with Golden Promise malt and US Goldings for hops.  I mashed a bit thinner than usual so I didn't have to sparge as much.  This, along with a low sparge temp of 168 should keep all the harsher grain notes out.

 I expect this to be crystal clear and pale with a white head.  It should taste and smell fruity and leafy with a delicate, toasty malt note.  At about 3.5% ABV, it's a true session ale which means you could house like a hundred of them if you wanted to.  Here it is:

Recipe (6 gallons):

Planned O.G: 1.038

Planned F.G: 1.011

IBU: 32

ABV: 3.8%

Malt:

9# Golden Promise (100%)

Mash 152 degrees at 2 qt/lb for 30 minutes.  

Collect about 2 gallons of recirculated first runnings. 1.055 OG

Add 6 gallons of 180 degree water to mash, resting at 168 for 15 minutes.  Collect recirculated runnings to get to 8 gallons in the kettle.

 Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding the following hop schedule.  Cool to 65 degrees and pitch yeast.







Hops (32 IBU's):


1.25 oz. US Goldings (5.7% AA) at 90 minutes
1 oz. Goldings at 10 minutes
1 oz. Goldings at flameout
1 oz. Goldings dry hop

Yeast:


1L starter of Wyeast 1968 London ESB.  Pitching rate according to Mr. Malty.  Ferment at 65 for one week, add dry hops for a week, then keg.

Original gravity reading: 1.040. Slightly higher than expected.

Double White Ale Tasting & Recap

Brew Date: 3/24/12

Tasting Date: 5/7/12

The first few "tasting & recap" posts will be for beers that I brewed before the start of this blog, so I'll introduce them quickly with the recipe before getting into the results.

Recipe (6 gallons)

O.G.: 1.062

F.G.:  1.011

ABV: 6.8%

IBU: 22

Malt:

5# Pilsner (40%)

5# Wheat Malt (40%)

1# Torrified Wheat (8%)

1# Oats (8%)

8 oz. Table Sugar (4%)

Mash @ 148 degrees for one hour

Hops:

1/2 oz. Nugget (15.1% AA) @ 90 minutes

Yeast:

Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit pitched from previous batch

Adjuncts:

1 oz. Fresh ground Indian coriander at flameout

1.5 oz. Minolla orange peel at flameout

Results!

So far, the feedback for all of the wit beers I've brewed have been positive to very positive.  But for me, I'm never quite happy with them.  Yes, I've made them light, tight, and refreshing with a prominent orange and coriander note.  But I have still yet to make one that is on the level of Allagash White, Hoegaarden, or Southampton Double White (which inspired this beer).  I wish my first "results" post was a homerun, but as former Jet's coach Herm Edwards says, I must "put my name on it" and explore what went right and what went wrong with this one.

Apperance:

While the beer isn't nearly as cloudy as it's supposed to be, I'm happy with how it looks.  Bright pale color, creamy white head and a lot of lacing.  There's a few tricks to fix the cloudiness level, so I'll try those next time.  Not perfect, but it's appetizing.

Aroma:

I feel like I hit the aroma really well.  The spice level in most wits is either too much or too little, but here I've hit the perfect level for intensity.  The Indian coriander I used smells outstanding when it's freshly crushed, but it comes out even better alongside the yeast notes on a wit.  It's citrusy, with a distinct peppercorn note.  If you've ever smelled pink peppercorns, it reminds me most of that.  The orange peel is on the subtle side, which is how I like it.  My biggest problem with Blue Moon and Shocktop is that the orange smells artificial, and when they put add another orange peel to the glass it gets overwhelming to the point where the beer has become an air freshener.  I feel the citrus component can be played around with on subsequent versions of this, but I like where this is at.

Flavor:

Everything checks out about this beer until about mid palate.  Looks good, smells great, and has the tight zip on the front palate that you'd expect.  The beer tastes refreshing, and has a wheaty, breadiness to it, but the aftertaste has a lingering off flavor.  I'll get into more of the specifics of all my wit beer tinkering in future posts, but on this version I tried replacing some of the unmalted wheat with malted wheat.  This, I think, led to a less traditional wheat flavor than a classic wit.  There is also less yeast and spice character than the nose.  And I'm not sure if the malted wheat experiment had anything to do with this, but the tartness traditionally added from wheat is a bit overwhelming, and not in an enjoyable way.  This tartness is felt mostly in the aftertaste, which takes the refreshment factor down a little bit.  Still, for an almost 7% abv beer, this is really drinkable, but I think some of the flavor intensities should be shifted towards the yeast and spices instead of the malt.

Overall:


I like this beer, and other people like it too.  But it's not perfect. This keg probably won't last too much longer, which is a success in some ways, but I still wouldn't brew it again.  The next wit I make will have a completely different recipe, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, don't use malted wheat in a wit beer.  It doesn't give the right wheat flavor.