BeerBorg

So as I mentioned in the other post. I picked up wort from Bell's last Saturday that will be used in their annual Homebrew Competition. For this competition Bell's is looking for interesting, unusual, and unique recipes that are highly drinkable and don't conform to the BJCP guidelines (new or old). Before this competition I was already thinking of doing something different by using Citra hops, since I had recently had a couple of different beers that used Citra and I really enjoyed them and I was thinking of a unique way that I could use them in a beer. I started thinking that with the citrusy, fruity flavors that Citra hops have it might be interesting to add vanilla to it to give it a little different flavor then what I have seen available. Lastly I have resently become interested in trying White Labs Cream Ale yeastwhich is a high breed Lager/Ale yeast.

With those 3 ingredients in mind I started looking at recipes that used the Citra hops and recipes that used the Cream Ale yeast to try to put together a grain bill. By comparing recipes I looked for similar grain bills and used grains that seemed to be consistantly used in both "Citra hop" recipes and "Cream Ale yeast" recipes. Below is the result.

One of the things Bell's mentioned when we picked up the wort was to make sure to take "lots" of notes and document everything, "because obviously if your recipe is choosen" they want to be able to replicate it.

I don't know if this is a winning recipe, only time will tell, but it has been a fun experience going to get the wort and going through the whole process of putting together the recipe.

• Recipe: Citra-Nilla/Mosquito Chaser IPA
  
  Est. IBU - 96
  Est. ABV -5.9%
  Color - 12 SRM
  OG - 1.055
  Est. FG - 1.010
  
  5.25 gallons Bell’s Wort - OG 1.054
  1 gallon Detroit City water
  
  Additional Grains/Fermentables
  
  ◦1 lbs Caramunich (steeped 1hr @ 156*F)
  ◦0.5 lbs Crystal 40L (steeped 1hr @ 156*F)
  ◦0.5 lbs Melanoiden (steeped 1hr @ 156*F)
  ◦0.5 lbs Orange Blossom Honey (10 minute boil)
  
  Hops
  ◦1.0 oz Centennial (8.5 alpha) (60 min boil)
  ◦0.5 oz Citra (12.8 alpha 3.8 beta) (40 min boil)
  ◦1.5 oz Citra (12.8 alpha 3.8 beta) (15 min boil)
  ◦1.0 oz Citra (12.8 alpha 3.8 beta) (Flameout 15 minute steep)
  
  ◦2.0 oz Citra (12.8 alpha 3.8 beta) (Dry hop 7 days)
  
  Other
  ◦1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 minute boil)
  ◦0.25 tsp Irish Moss (10 minute boil)
  ◦2 units vanilla bean (7 day dry hop - secondary)
  
  Yeast
  ◦White Labs WLP 080 Cream Ale (straight pitch, no starter)

I believe YOU get to replicate it AT Bell's.

"and don't conform to the BJCP guidelines"

Wouldn't CatButt Ale by Inkleg win?

Looks like a winner Leigh. What temperature are you going to ferment?

I think that's Mashani CattButt ale. Mine was the Nut Brown I did in my kilt.

RickBeer wrote:I believe YOU get to replicate it AT Bell's.

Yes,

Bell's Brewery wrote:The homebrewer who takes first place will again get to brew their recipe at our original brewery to then go on tap at the Café.

The first place winner will also attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado as a guest of Bell’s Brewery. That person will team up with Bell’s for the 2016 Pro-Am Competition and attend both the awards ceremony and member’s only session.

Inkleg wrote:Looks like a winner Leigh. What temperature are you going to ferment?

My basement is a constent 64* So I put it down there on the floor with a damp/wet towel over it and it is holding pretty steady at 66*.

Inkleg wrote:Looks like a winner Leigh. What temperature are you going to ferment?

I think that's Mashani CattButt ale. Mine was the Nut Brown I did in my kilt.

Yeah, I think my ale was a Düsseldorf Alt with Cat Butt. (it was good too!).

This sounds really interesting, Leigh. Please keep us posted. I remember somebody on the Borg doing a vanilla Amber a while back that sounded good, too.

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Sounds great....will be following this one closely.

Sounds like an interesting brew! Keep us posted.

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Good luck and looking forward to the pics of you standing in front of a tank at Bell's that has your brew in it.

Interesting to hear how the Citra and Vanilla play together.

Ok so yesterday I racked this to secondary and added the 2 oz of Citra and the vanilla beans. I forgot to write down the gravity reading I took with my refractometer and can't remember what it was, but there was still a little sulfery smell from the yeast when I took the lid off the primary so there is still some active fermentation going on. This smell was to expected from this yeast based in the profile description. The color is a really nice amber/redish color and the small sample, once I allowed it to settle it was very clear. I took a taste of it before adding the dry hops and vanilla and it has a good amount of bitterness to it but not over powering. I'm thinking that the yeast may have muted the hops slightly but not so much to cause an issue. It will be interesting to see how the additional hops and vanilla affect the taste and aroma profile over the next week or so.

I am debating wheather to let this go in the secondary a little longer than a week. The samples have to be submitted by Sunday, Oct 25 with judging to be done the week of November 1st, so I could leave it a little longer and still have enough time for it to bottle condition. Also thinking of cold crashing it but i don't know that I really need to based on how clear the first sample was.

I took a sample today and checked the SG which calculated out to 1.011 which give this one a ABV of about 5.7% The aroma was wonderful. I could really smell the Citra hops but not much vanilla. The flavor was very good, there was a good bitterness from the hops but not over powering, Unfortunately there wasn't as much vanilla as I was hoping but still very good. I decided to give it a couple more days and I may add some more vanilla to it before I bottle it.

Stay tuned!

Well I finally got this in the bottle. I had planned to bottle it one day after work last week but seemed to have something come up each night. Then over the weekend I was a bit under the weather so I left work early today and got it into the bottles this afternoon. The sample I took still had great aroma and I could detect the vanilla more this time then the last time I sampled it but it still wasn't quite as much as I was hoping for. I think the vanilla is muting the hop flavor/bitterness because I can taste the Citra but it doesn't have an IPA type of bit to it. Instead it kind of sneaks up and you can taste the bitterness on the back of your tongue and throat but it's not harsh at all. Though it was flat and warm (66*) I ended up drinking the whole 6 oz sample I took. It was just too good to put down. The color is a really nice reddish/amber color which kind of matches the whole Mosquito theme of this beer.
So as an experiment I decided to take a few (12) bottles and add some vanilla extract to them before filling them. For the 12 bottles I used 3cc (0.11 oz) and added 10 drops to each bottle.

With just 2 weeks to the turn in deadline it will be interesting to see how how this turns out. Regardless of the competition I think this might be one of the best brews I've made.

Your assessment sounds encouraging, hope they see it the same way!!!!

Well all I can do now is wait. Yesterday I turned in my entry for the competition. Judging is Wednesday and the winner will be announced next Sunday.



So here is what the final product looks like and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results. There is a ton of citrusy, floral hop aroma with just a hint of vanilla. The first sip has a very nice mouth feel, almost creamy with a nice citrusy flavor with the bitterness showing up as it warms up followed by the vanilla as it finishes. I shared a sample of this with a couple of friends and they were pretty impressed with it. Regardless if it wins I will be brewing this one again.