The 14 Day Hazy IPA
Delicious Homebrew in a hurry
My supplies were running low and the weather, unusual for England, was glorious sunshine. I was experiencing the long, slow, lagering phase of a Bohemian Pilsner and needed something to drink now. With the help of Kveik Voss yeast, it was time for a fast brew. So long as I don’t accidentally freeze the beer halfway through it’ll be ready in no time…
New England IPA Recipe
The basic recipe is a New England IPA, an American IPA style that provides a full-bodied smooth mouthfeel, and oodles of tropical hop aromas and flavours, all presented with a mouthwatering hazy look. Delicious.
The oats, wheat, and a heavy amount of dry hopping combine to provide the haze. Meanwhile, the combination of Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops provided an abundance of citrus and tropical notes including pineapple, mango, peach, apricot, lemon and melon.
The magic ingredient for a fast brew was the Kveik Voss yeast, this is a Norwegian yeast strain renowned for its higher fermentation temperature and exceptionally fast fermentations. Kveik yeasts provide a flavour profile consistent across a wide temperature range, and the Voss strain specifically provides a neutral flavour with subtle hints of orange and citrus.
Equipment: Beginner Considerations
There is relatively little specialist equipment needed for this recipe. As the pictures show, the initial steps require only a large cooking pot and sieve.
For fermentation, a bucket or demi-john is required along with an airlock. 5 or 10 Litre plastic buckets and an airlock can be purchased easily and inexpensively.
Optional equipment such as a hydrometer to record gravity (and thereby calculate the ABV) or a pH Meter to check mash and fermentation pH levels are a matter of personal preference.
When it comes to carbonation, I currently enjoy using a Mini-Keg, a 4-litre keg which uses small Co2 bulbs to carbonate the beer after fermentation. This has been a terrific purchase, but when starting out I carbonated in the individual bottles which will also be explained in the recipe.
Finally, as you get more advanced, water chemistry allows you to adjust the water profile to hard or soft mineral contents that simulate the conditions of the original brewer. Burton on Trent water is famous for its high sulphate content used in Burton Ales, or the high alkalinity of Dublin water is great for stouts and dark ales.
The Mash (60 minutes)
During the mash, grains are steeped in water, releasing the fermentable sugars that will convert to alcohol during fermentation.
Before you begin, clean and Sanitise all equipment.
- Bring 7.5 litres to a strike temperature of 70°C
- Mix-in Water Chemistry chemicals (the target profile was a Hoppy NEIPA, by starting with distilled water it is possible to build up all minerals needed for the target profile)
- Mash In the Grains
- Maintain Mash temperature 67°C
- After 15 Minutes, check the pH and adjust to the range pH 5.2–5.5 (0.5ml Lactic Acid will reduce the pH by 0.07)
pH 6.2 Recorded and 4ml Lactic Acid added on this occasion - After 60 minutes, filter the grains through a sieve
- Cycle the wort through the grains to maximise the fermentable sugars from the grain
The Boil (60 minutes)
The boil sanitises the wort to ensure there are no unwanted yeasts or bacteria from the grains. During this time hops can be added for bitterness, flavour and aroma.
The NEIPA is an unusual brew day as no hops are added until after the boil is complete, this results in a very low level of bitterness and a high level of hop aroma from the hopstand and dry hopping that follows.
- Take a sample to record the pH and pre-boil gravity
pH 4.8 (lower than target); Gravity 1.046 (vs target 1.054) - Bring the wort to a rolling boil
- Add 5g of Irish Moss at 10 mins
- Add 10g of Fermaid-O at 10 mins. Yeast Nutrient is higher than typical due to the aggressive nature of Kveik Voss Yeast
Hopstand (40 minutes)
At hopstand the temperature is reduced to maximise the amount of flavour and aroma imparted by the hop additions while adding no further bitterness.
- Cool to 82°C.
- Add 7.5g each of Citra hops, Mosaic hops and El Dorado hops.
- Allow to stand for 40 minutes
Cooling Phase & Transfer
For the yeast to be effective the wort is cooled to an optimum temperature for pitching (adding) the yeast. For Kveik Voss this temperature is much higher than the norm, which is generally closer to 20°C than 38°C.
Cooling the wort quickly can be as simple as placing the saucepan in a sink of cold water and stirring rapidly. Alternatively, a chiller is a device that circulates cold water through the wort to reduce the temperature.
- Cool rapidly to 38°C
- Strain the boiled liquid into the fermenter and aerate
- Add 5g Kveik Voss Yeast
- Take the Original Gravity and pH Reading
pH 4.8, Original Gravity 1.064 (vs target 1.065) - Add Airlock
Fermentation
Fermentation is the stage where yeast converts the sugars in the wort into alcohol. The Kveik Voss yeast performed admirably in the kitchen where temperatures were around 25°C.
- Maintain a temperature above 24°C for 3–5 days until fermentation is complete.
Fermentation was fast, starting within an hour
Dry Hop (3 Days)
Dry Hopping is the addition of hops during fermentation to add further hop aromas and flavour. 3 days is a typical duration for adding hops into the fermenter.
- The dry hops are added when fermentation starts to slow down
Dry Hops were added on Day 2 - Add 6g each of Citra hops, Mosaic hops and El Dorado hops into the fermenter
- Remove (or syphon the unfermented beer to secondary) after 3 days
- Record the Final Gravity to calculate the ABV
Final Gravity 1.013 (vs target 1.013) and ABV 6.7% (vs target 6.8%)
Cold Crash — But Don’t Freeze
Cold Crash helps any remaining yeast or sediment to drop out of suspension. It is often used to aid clarity — not strictly a requirement of a NEIPA- but also ensures the required flavours are achieved.
- Cold Crash — Reduce the temperature to 3°C or lower for 2–3 days before transfer to Keg
Okay, it was a new fridge and setting it at maximum resulted in an overnight freeze! Oops. I feared that freezing would produce a clearer end result as a fair amount of sediment dropped out. It’s possible that some of the haze was reduced, but I was fortunate and sufficient haze remained to justify calling it a Hazy New England IPA.
Carbonation
Carbonation is the addition of CO2 into the beer.
NEIPA has a short shelf life due to the extensive volume of dry hops, therefore Keg carbonation is ideal.
Bottle Carbonation: If you’re bottle carbonating additional sugar is added (restarting fermentation) and sealing the beer a bottle. The CO2 produced from the fermentation will naturally carbonate the beer over around 2 weeks at room temperature. It’s important not to over-carbonate, adding too much sugar and risking the bottle exploding, for a high level of carbonation use 9g of priming sugar per litre.
Keg or Mini-Keg: The mini-keg system is a wonderful method, basically 1 week at 10PSI in the fridge (8–10°C) and you have a carbonated beer on tap. The mini-keg system would also facilitate force carbonation by gently rocking the keg for 20 minutes, this achieves carbonation but sometimes the beer also needs time to mature to taste.
Actual vs Expected
The true result is in the flavour, which was wonderful, we also did quite well against the planned results.
A brew-in-a-bag solution with no sparge step is a simpler way to homebrew, but it can also produce a lower level of efficiency in the sugars extracted from the grains. The calculated efficiency following this brew was lower than I’d anticipated but we still managed to get close to target:
Mash Efficiency (Calculated): 52%
Brewhouse Efficiency (Calculated): 58%
Evaluation
Ready to drink within 14 days was perfect and the result of all those hops came through to provide a delicious end result:
Colour — A light crisp colour that retained a light haze.
Aroma — The hops came through to assault the senses with delicious delicious tropical NEIPA notes.
Mouthfeel — was a little lighter than anticipated, this didn’t quite make it to the category of a ‘juicy’ NEIPA, however, it was still a full and tasty mouthfeel.
Taste — This did not last long, the taste was wonderful. If you like a hoppy IPA this is a wonderful recipe. The dry hops provided the citrus flavours in abundance.
While ready in 14 days, the tropical hop aroma and taste continued to develop further, resulting in a stronger and smoother drink by day 21.
Video Step By Step
I thoroughly enjoyed preparing and drinking this brew, despite my accidental freeze, all turned out well. The step-by-step video is also available to watch here:
Thank You for reading, please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Happy Homebrewing
Cheers Everyone
Rob
