A quite potentially not stupid "Raw" Brut IPA Experiment

[mashani]

Based on how the Grätzer came out, I decide to just go for it with this, because it seems to be the perfect beer to try it.

So for 6 gallons, I did this:

5# Viking Pilsner malt
5# Viking Pale Malt
4oz Honey Malt (some Brut IPAs use some Vienna or similar, this little bit of honey malt will kind of be like that.
4oz Hallertau Blanc (divided see below)
6oz Nelson Sauvin (divided see below)
1/2 tsp amylase enzyme
1 vial of amyloglucosidase enzyme (White Labs Ultraferm)

In a mash with as much water as I could fit (about 5.5 gallons) I put the grains in at 95 degrees, and raised it to 150 with the Mash & Boil set at 1000 watts. This took me through acid rest, glucan rest, and protein rest steps. In the mash was 1oz of the Hallertau Blanc. I added the amylase enzyme to the mash too. I just walked away and let this go for 2.5 hours total just ignoring it as it walked through the mash steps and then got to mash temp, then pulled the basket and let it drain, and then sparged (gasp) to get to ~6.75 gallons to account for thermal expansion and kettle loss.

I added 2oz of the Hallertau Blanc and 3oz of the Nelson Sauvin, put my fermentation lid on with the sanitized foam stopper in it, and heated it back up to 150 and held it there for 30 minutes to pasteurize any bugs that got in during the sparge. Turned off the burner and let it slow chill to about 140, then quickly pulled the stopper and tossed in my vial of ultraferm. Am going to let it slow chill overnight while the ultraferm keeps doing it's thing, and pitch S-05 in the morning.

It ended up at 1.051 temperature adjusted OG due to high mash efficiency, which I was expecting due to long mash and the extra amylase added.

The other 1oz of Blanc and 2oz of Nelson Sauvin will go in as dry hop additions.

The ultraferm if it's not already eaten every complex sugar by the time I pitch, will continue to work in the fermenter since I never murdered it, so who knows how low this fermentation will go. The amylase is still active too, although I don't think its got much of anything to do anymore.

It will end up at 6.7% ABV if it gets down to 1.0. It may very well go below 1.0. If it gets down into the 0.99 range it's going to be 7.2%+ That is why the grain bill seems so small, there is a limit to the ABV I want to get here, I am trying to stay below or max out at 7.5%.

[Inkleg]

Please explain this Ultraferm? I'm lazy and don't want to Google.
Following along as aways.

[mashani]

Amyloglucosidase (Ultra Ferm White Labs name/brand of it) is a type of amylase that is used industrially to make corn syrup.

It is typically derived from a fungus Aspergillus niger which is a mold that often makes the black dots you find on "rotting" fruit. People who make rice wine who get those "rice ball" things from a LAFS to make it are usually getting some kind of yeast mixed with some kind of Aspergillus and related fungus, the fungus is what breaks down the rice starch into sugars and then it takes those sugars and breaks them down further, and then the yeast eats it. So it's like that, but in beer, and this stuff isn't actually the fungus, but what the fungus produces. That is because sometimes Aspergillus can create some toxins as well, so this is more purified and considered safer. IE "industrialized for quality control" as such.

It basically turns all the more complex malt sugar blocks (malto-whatevers and what not) that the types of amylase found in the mash make into glucose which the yeast can fully consume. So it leaves you with less to no unfermentable sugars depending on how you use it.

So it basically it can let your yeast eat *everything* no matter what kind of yeast it is. IE it takes your typical 75% attenuative yeast and turns it into Bella Saison that will take your beer down to 0.997, except without the flavor side effects.

That's why it's used in Brut IPAs which are supposed to ferment out crazily like that.

There is some debate in the Brut IPA community of whether you should add it to the mash and let the mash sit, then boil and what not, or if you should to pitch it into the fermenter. Some people will say it ends up better one way, some other ways, I figure it's more of a perception issue, maybe someone just prefers a 1.001 beer vs. a 0.997 beer for example. I believe that the brewery who invented Brut IPAs did it in the mash and they insist this is the better way, but other people don't agree with them, so whatever.

It can handle 150 temps for a good long while, at 140 and below it will work forever, so it can work well in the mash. But it can't handle 180 for more then 10 minutes. In the mash, you have to let it sit a while if you want it to really chew everything up, most recipes that do that use flaked corn and rice and/or sugar to try to make sure they get to that 1.0 territory. Other recipes that are all pilsner or pilsner/wheat or what not tend to throw it into the fermenter.

I love Saisons made with Bella and Nelson, so I expect I will like this. That said in a saison I'd have used maybe 2oz of the stuff, and I'm using 8oz of grapey hops in this, so it will probably smack me upside the head LOL.

One of the reasons I considered this the perfect beer for this experiment is that Brut IPAs really have next to no bittering hops since they ferment out so dry... usually they might use say 1/8oz or so at 15 minutes as the bittering addition in a 5 gallon batch. I will get that much bittering from the long mash + mash hops + flameout/hopstand/slow chill hop utilization easily.

When I make saisons using Bella + Nelson, I just throw all the hops in at flameout with no bittering addition at all at around 1oz per 2.5 gallons. It is plenty of bittering when I do that. So I think the 5oz here in the mash + whirlpool + slow chill utilization time will also be plenty, this stuff is more about flavor/aroma then a big bitter bite. It's supposed to be kind of like "beer Champaign".

If this turns out good, I'll do another one with 8oz of Mosiac hops.

[Inkleg]

Great read this morning. Thanks for the edgeamacation!

[Beer-lord]

Brut IPA's are the current 'thing'. I've thought about doing one but I'm not sure just how much CO2 these should be primed at. I've read where many just use the standard IPA CO2 and others kick it up much more than many regular bottles can handle.

[mashani]

If you want to put the real Champaignyness into it, which I think is how it is supposed to be, then I think Belgian glass with corks, or PETs, (or a Keg) are in order. I think they were intended to be this way, but it increases cost if you are a Micro. I don't know what the carb limits on canned beer is, I would guess cans could handle it but maybe they become super foam exploders too, I dunno LOL.

Many home brewers who bottle in glass probably can't carb that high with what they have. I can do it in my PETs.

From a "Belgian" perspective the extra carbonation acts like a foil against residual sweetness since you might be making a 1.07+ beer that ends up 7%+ ABV and only has 20 IBUs. The carbonic bite helps balance it. It also adds "body" to a beer that was likely fermented at low mash temps and had sugar added to it.

This stuff ends up at a similar ABV and is also lightly bittered (compared to most "IPAs"), but it has virtually no residual sugars remaining, so I don't think it's really needed to help balance the sweetness. It might make the lower IBUs seem much higher and make it more "IPA'ish" as such though. And it probably takes the aroma of the stuff and throws it across the room for all to smell. And it would make the body seem less thin.

[bpgreen]

Are you doing anything to denature those crazy enzymes? If not, how do you know when you're finished?

I'd be concerned that those enzymes will slow down but keep converting (ask my why I'm concerned and/or ask me about the stains on my basement ceiling).

[mashani]

Are you doing anything to denature those crazy enzymes? If not, how do you know when you're finished?

I'd be concerned that those enzymes will slow down but keep converting (ask my why I'm concerned and/or ask me about the stains on my basement ceiling).

I'm just gonna wait it out, once it gets down to 0.9something it's not gonna go much further and should be safe.

The reason you use the amyloglucosidase and not just amylase is to make sure it gets done quicker. The amylase will still be converting starches into maltowhatevers, and the amyloglucosidase will be finding those and turning them into glucose and it's more efficient at that then letting the amylase just keep breaking down stuff on its own which might take forever. Amyloglucosidase also will attack lingering starches so if the amylase isn't getting it done so well on its own, it should help.

Also by putting it in the Mash & Boil and slow chilling for 12+ hours, both the amylase and amyloglucosidase stayed in a very healthy (as in working fast / pretty optimal) temperature range for a long time. I think most of the work was likely already done by the time I put it into the fermenter.

I think adding it right to the fermenter after chilling it would be a bit more sketchy and take longer.

I can tell you for S-05 at about 62 degrees, a pretty *insane* fermentation going on right now, it looks like I'm using 3787!! It is finding a hella lot of easy things to eat and going totally nuts.

[mashani]

So, this went pretty well, the only weird thing that happened is what you see in the first pic. Some of the break material and yeast, instead of flocculating and sinking to the bottom turned into what looked like the DME marshmallows (if you have used DME you know what I mean). Some of those did get sucked through the siphon when I racked to bottle, and asploded into many little tiny little critters like that on the way through (but did not clog up the siphon). I have about 5 bottles here that have those critters in them, others are totally clear. Hopefully they just sink to the bottom as part of the bottle trub, and I have those bottles marked so I know to watch out when pouring them. This did not happen in the Gratzer.

Other then that it fermented out more then anything I've ever made, including Bella Saison. Lowest I have ever seen with Bella is 0.997, this is more like 0.995. That puts it at 7.35% ABV and 110% attenuation.

Even though I didn't boil any bittering hops at all, and what I added all went in at 150 and just sat for some hours at that temperature, it is bitter as f00k - it is like Pliney or some other West Coast DIPA perception wise in that regards. And then the Nelson grapey/tropical aroma punches you in the face. And there is nothing there to change it. I think that's the idea...

And as you can see it is very clear. So the idea that you need to boil a beer to get clear beer is now... after doing this twice... proven to be... *absolute crap* in my mind.

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[mashani]

So this is a thing, and a very yummy thing indeed. It is very dry and light bodied which would seem to be expected, it is very "Belgian" like that and also in the sense that I can't tell that it's 7.5ish% ABV when drinking it, it's super easy to drink, the alcohol is unnoticeable until it's too late. Its bitter and fruity in a pithy marmalade kind of way, with a dry ritz cracker like background. I like it. It is not as fizzy as I wanted, I primed it lightly being paranoid that the enzymes were not done. Apparently they were, or else my basement is just too cold right now and it will get a bit more fizzy in a few more weeks.

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[Beer-lord]

Sure looks a beaut!