Wet Hop Harvest Ale 2018

The beer you can only make that one special time of year when the hops are freshly picked from the bine.

Grain Bill / Fermentables

  • 14 lbs 2 Row Pale Malt
  • 0.5 lb Crystal 10
  • 0.5 lb Crystal 20

Hops

  • 8.2 oz Magnum (15 AAU Estimated)
  • 53.5 oz Cascade (7  AAU Estimated)

Yeast

  • Nottingham

Other

  • Whirlfloc Tablet
  • 1/2 tsp Gypsum
  • 1/4 tsp Epsom Salt

Target Stats

  • 6 Gallons
  • OG 1.069
  • FG 1.017
  • ABV 6.80%
  • IBU 117 (Estimated)
  • SRM 5.5

Final Stats

  • 6.5 Gallons
  • OG 1.056
  • FG 1.014
  • ABV 5.51%
  • Mash pH 5.21
  • Efficiency 66% (Fresh hops trap lots of wort.)

Prior to Brew Day

Collect water to allow chlorine to dissipate.

Brew Day (2018-08-11)

Heat 12 gallons of water to 158°.  (Unfiltered Dover City water with chlorine removed.)

Gently dough in grains until all grain is covered by water. Add 1/2 tsp gypsum and 1/4 tsp epsom salts and stabilize pH at 5.2

Mash grains at 152° for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Remove “grain bag“, rinse, squeeze and allow grains to drain.

Bring wort to a boil.

Once wort is boiling, add all (8.2 oz) Magnum hops and continue for 45 minutes.

Add 13.375 oz Cascade hops and continue boil for another 10 minutes.

Add whirlfloc, 13.375 oz Cascade hops and continue boil for 4 minutes.

Add 13.375 oz Cascade hops and continue boil for last 1 minute. (This is a good time to drop in the wort chiller.)

Reduce wort temperature to 170° and add 13.375 oz Cascade.

Reduce wort temperature to 68° and take OG reading.

Sufficiently aerate and transfer to primary fermenter.

Pitch yeast into fermenter.

Allow beer 1~2 weeks in the primary to adequately ferment and cleanup any diacetyl produced during fermentation.

Bottle and wait another 2 weeks or keg and carb.

Enjoy!

Notes:

  • August 11, 2018 Brew Day
    • Picked ~5 lbs of hops.
    • Almost 5 gallons of Cascade hops
    • Mash stabilized at a pH of 5.21 with gypsum and epson salts.
    • Pitched dry yeast directly into 76° wort.
    • Set fermentation chamber to 50°.
  • 24 hours, thin yeast film and positive pressure in the airlock.
  • 48 hours, full krausen.
  • 8 days, still some minor airlock activity, moved carboy from 50° fermentation chamber to 65° chamber to complete attenuation and cleanup any potential diacetyl.
  • 13 days, yeast has flocculated and beer is very clear.