CS7 - NZPA "Loose Goose"

[Tilt]

This one is my first CS entry and first go at using Sauvin and Cascade in a NZ Pale Ale. 

I'm hoping that putting up a kit and bit brew for the case swap isn't bad form - I entered it because I thought this was the best of my efforts over the summer - and the partial mash ESB I'd originally planned to enter didn't make the grade.

 

Recipe Specifications --------------------------

Batch Size: 21.00 L

Boil Size: 14.00 L

Estimated OG: 1.052 SG

FG: 1012

Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM

Estimated IBU: 45.2 IBU

Boil Time: 40 Minutes

Steeped grains: 45 minutes

 

Ingredients: ------------

0.40 kg Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 9.62 %

1.70 kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale Extract (2.5 SRM) Extract 40.87 %

1.50 kg Coopers wheat malt extract (2.2 SRM) Extract 36.06 %

0.33 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 7.93 %

0.23 kg Carared (Weyermann) (24.0 SRM) Grain 5.53 %

15.00 gm NZ Cascade [9.00 %] (20 min) Hops 8.7 IBU

15.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 9.7 IBU

30.00 gm NZ Cascade [9.00 %] (5 min) Hops 5.8 IBU

10.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU

35.00 gm NZ Cascade [7.70 %] (0 min) Hops -

10.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -

0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc

1 Pkgs SafAle American (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale

 

Bottle conditioned and ready to drink now - looking forward to reading your impressions and learning from the experience.  Sum Vol!

[vdog]

First one out of the box for me - good to be into it! 

 

Pours a hazy gold, nice white head on the top. Aroma is mainly of mangoes for me, which is cool - I like that Sauvin/Cascade combo. Very drinkable, but two of us picked that it seemed to be missing something although we couldn't pick what. Overall an enjoyable beer, and I definitely would not have picked it for extract. Nice job Tilt.

[Martin Bridges]

Hazy gold in the glass, excellent head retention. Aroma is pleasantly hoppy, although there's something lurking in the background I couldn't quite pick.

 

Lovely citrus hop flavour, almost a hint of tartness which makes it nice & cleansing. Fresh & drinkable, and I certainly wouldn't have picked it as extract. Nice work mate.

[John H]

Nice fluffy head - nice balance. Pretty clear considering it is like 40% wheat (I understand APA Kit is around 10% wheat too) Nice tarness. Would also not have picked it was extract based - well done.

[Tilt]

Thanks for the notes fellas - yeah I was concerned the haze might put people off.  John - I didn't know the APA kit was 10% wheat too - no wonder its missing clarity.

I'm definitely keen to know what the missing/lurking factor is - and very happy to have ideas tossed about. I'm keen work on it and sort out over time to perfect this one (I'm definitely liking the potential the Sauvin/Cascade combo seems to have shown).

Cheers!

[Andrew]

2nd beer of the swap for me. Poured a hazy orange/amber as per the other comments but didn't mind that. Nice fluffy white head which held up fairly well. Had a mango/passionfruit aroma but I could also get a clovey aroma with tiny hints of sulphur.

  To me this beer was a hybrid of a pale ale and a wheat beer. The NZPA being the mango/passionfruit side and the sulphury/banana clovey undertones making it taste and smell like a wheat beer. Not sure if you brewed a wheat beer in the fermenter before it or if the aroma and flavours were just coming from the wheat extract itself. I thought it was a little on the thin side before looking at the recipe but I think thats just a consequence of alot of extract making up most of the malt sugars.

Overall, I enjoyed the beer and it went down well with the Chinese Stir Fry and Rice I was having for dinner last night. Thanks for your contribution Tilt. I'll look forward to more in the next swap.

[Tilt]

Thanks for the comments Andrew - I like your description of it being a hybrid wheat/PA, pretty close on the mark going by the ingredients.  I guess this wasn't brewed to a style, more to fermentables availability and to test the inverse proportions Sauvin/Cascade combo.

Sulphury/Clovey - maybe this is the background taste the others picked up.  Hmm, my guess would be the extract or temp variation during the ferment as this one was brewed prior to sorting out my temp controlled fridge.  I can definitely say there hasn't been any wheat beer blending with this one.  Cheers

[JackoNZ]

Pours fairly clear out the bottle and a little hazy once in the glass. Certainly doesn't put me off having a little haze in there. Head soon subsides, good mouth feel and body I thought. Tropical aromas and wine gums on the nose, liking that a lot. Taste is right up my street, not full on hops, more of the flavour comes through rather than just bitterness. I think you've done really well there working in more hops with a kit, always easy to end up with an overly bitter beer when you don't have full control over it, I've been there myself and one of the reasons for moving to all grain. 

As it warms up a little something comes in to play with the aftertaste, a little clove like, a little tangy. I certainly wouldn't say it's putting me off, just there. Great work mate, you've obviously got the knack for brewing, would love a taste of your partial mash ESB if you rebrew it. I think your ratio of sauvin and cascade worked well. I just brewed a NZPA with Sauvin and Motueka with the same ratio and hope that turns out as well. Cheers

[Tilt]

Thanks Jacko - I appreciate the learned feedback.  I've got a few things to work on as I take my next steps and I think haze and getting to the bottom of that clove/tanginess are high on the list.  Cheers.

[Adrian Tayler]

Second beer from CS for me, I picked the extract almost instantly.. however, it had nice flavour and aroma and a very nice beer all in all.

 

Well done Tilt, thanks.

[Barry]

Hazy gold with amber highlights, puffy off white head.

Smooth and drinkable, some fruity citrussy hop character and nice malt backbone. In hindsight I picked the extract, but it definitely didn't effect my enjoyment of the beer one iota.

Good solid beer mate, I brew my pales hoppier and crisper so this was a nice change up. Keep up the good work.

 

 

[Matt Smith]

Poured a nice pale copper colour, almost clear with a big big head, quite spritzy in the glass. Nice tropical fruit aroma..I too pick up something else faint in the background which reminds me of DMS but I couldn't say if it is, unlikely I'm guessing being extract.

Was very dry with a crisp bitterness without feeling too thin, and hints of caramel malt came through. Nice hop flavour, very refreshing, I drunk this really fast. Really impressed with the results you can get from being creative with kits...no comparison to the kit beers I made when I started out which were awful.

Thanks for sharing !

[Stu McKinlay]

I had this in two lots... the first was clearer, the seond had a fair bit of haze from the yeast at the bottom.

 

Lightly hazy amber with a lingering nice off-white head. Definitely a punchy NZ hopped pale ale on the nose, with plenty of tropical fruit - there's also a sawdust/wood note in there that makes me think it has a bit of an infection or some wild yeast. But, in noting that, it doesn't bother me. In fact, it comes across a little like some sort of NZ Pale Ale "Orval" and becomes a positive feature of the beer.

A little bit wild... but it really worked for me.