CS7 - Passionfruit Creme Brule Inspired Pale Ale

[John H]

I guess CS's are the most benefit to the less experienced brewers such as moi - a chance to get some honest feedback from other brewers.

 

My entry was inspired by a passionfruit Creme Brule - recipe below:

 

Passionfruit Creme Brule Pale Ale
English PA

Recipe Specs
--------------------
Batch Size (L):           24.0
Total Grain (kg):         4.761
Total Hops (g):           154.00
Original Gravity (OG):    1.045 
Final Gravity (FG):       1.014
Colour (SRM):             10.5   (EBC): 20.7
Bitterness (IBU):         47.2   (Average) 87 (no chill +15min adjustment)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 80
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.285 kg Golden Promise Malt (90%)
0.238 kg Caraaroma (5%)
0.238 kg Carared (5%)

Hop Bill
------------
18.0 g Nelson Sauvin Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
16.0 g Nelson Sauvin Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
16.0 g Rakau Pellet (11.3% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
16.0 g Nelson Sauvin Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
16.0 g Rakau Pellet (11.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
16.0 g Nelson Sauvin Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
16.0 g Rakau Pellet (11.3% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
40.0 g Rakau Pellet (11.3% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.7 g/L)

Misc Bill
------------
5.0 g Irish Moss @ 10 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 19°C with Safale US-05

Made me a chiller now for my next brew - doing my head in with bitterness calculations for no-chill. The figures with the extra 15min boil time to adjust for no-chill seems OTT.

 

This one has been in the bottle for about a month now - so drink up ladies.

[Matt]

With the array of sauvin hopped pale ales in this swap, reached for this one first as the name was too much to resist!

 

Pours a very hazy amber, mostly chill haze I suspect as beer was sitting overnight.

 

Delicious subtle tropical fruits on the nose, the name sake is definitely there. Low to medium carbonation.

 

Tropical fruits carry through to flavour, though less than I was expecting given the hopping (guess this has been sitting for 6 weeks plus now though!). Also less bitter than I expected given the claimed IBUs. Fairly thin body and finishes quite dry, any hints on FG??  

 

A characteristically kiwi hopped pale ale that slides down easily. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

 

 

[JackoNZ]

OK, first beer of the swap!!

 

Pours a muddy orange with a thin white head which drops down to a thin covering. Fruity Sauvin aroma, I love that smell! This might have been a little on the cold side when I first cracked it, I found it had a good level of bitterness (I expected more from the recipe) but the body in the aftertaste was a little lacking and thin. 

 

I paired this with my prawn and mushroom risotto, there was a little chilli hit in there too. The beer worked really well with it I thought, the bitterness cutting through the spice and salt nicely. 

 

As it warms the body increases a little and the hop bitterness comes through more, quite a bit more. It started to get a little dry and mouth puckering, the hop flavour really lingering in the mouth. I wonder if it's the Rakau hop coming through? I've never brewed with it but had a couple of beers with it in and it's a bit of a weird hop I reckon.

 

All in all a great beer to start the swap off with, I'm surprised at the 1.014 finish and 10% specs. I expected more body and sweetness, the bitterness ratio is just over 1 so maybe the malt character isn't coming through as much due to the hops. I reckon maybe swap the rakau for some cascade or motueka and you'd have a wicked beer.

 

Cheers

[John H]

Thanks guys.

 

I have been struggling with balancing my hop bitterness levels - more so with brews with late hops and no-chill. It has been a bit hit and miss, and in hindsight the last few have been lacking malt character and all with a bit of a dry finish. They have all finished between 1.012 - 1,014 - so you would not expect too much dry-ness.

 

Chill haze has also been pretty standard for me.

 

I now have an IC chiller so I hope things will improve.

 

Interesting - Rakau has been used in my last few kiwi PA's - now that you mention it the hop flavours do seem to hang around on the tongue. I kinda assumed this was normal for a late hopped PA - I'm liking the fresh perspectives from some more learned palates.

 

Appreciate the feedback - keep it coming.

[Reviled]

John,a few tips for ya!!

With no chilling, id suggest you treat all your hop additions as an extra 10 mins, for example a 10 min boil should be entered in beersmith as a 20 min and so on - I found when I was no chilling this got my ibu more in the ballpark. Forget 0 min additions until you have a chilled imo and just dry hop instead.

Chill haze - Get some ph strips or a ph meter and add a bit of citric or tartaric acid to the mash after you dough in with an aim to get the ph down to 5.2 or as close as you can get it - for me this is usually two big pinches of acid for a pale beer. You will still get a bit of haze, but it will seriously make a massive improvement!!

[vdog]

Pours a hazy orange/gold with very little head even on a fairly rough pour. Tropical fruit on the nose, nice sweet NZ hops. Carbonation is quite low, almost feels like something that'd go well through a hand pump - I like it. On the palate there's definitely those tropical fruit notes with a bit of orange coming through. I would have guessed a lower FG as it seems quite dry to me. A little thin in terms of mouthfeel as well, which to me again suggests lower FG than you've said in the recipe. Nice firm bitterness, keeps you going back for another mouthful.

 

I enjoyed this one thanks John, well brewed. If I could suggest improvements I'd just say maybe mashing a degree or two higher would help to give it a bit more body to balance the hops. 

Cheers!

[Martin Bridges]

Pours a hazy dark gold/copper. I didn't read the name before drinking it, so my aroma descriptors were grapefruit sherbet rather than passionfruit creme brulee! Still, very clean and pleasant aroma.

 

Nice firm bitterness with that citrussy hop profile continuing. Carbonation a bit low, even for me (dodgy Englishman!). Nice & refreshing but a little thin.

 

Reading the other notes I'd agree that this probably needs a little higher mash temp. The haze isn't a chill haze as far as I can tell - my keg fridge is set to 10 degrees and this came out hazy and stayed hazy in the glass. Did you fine this with anything?

 

Very drinkable beer, thanks mate.

[John H]

Thanks Martin - appreciate the feedback

 

Fining - nope - last 2 efforts put me off fining for a bit. Probably need to give it another go - have had some useful pointers recently - I may have "killed" the gelatine with my mixing water being too hot.

 

Damn - didn't work - tried the English Pale ale tag to excuse the lower carbonation in the CS bottels. Learned a lesson regarding mixing the sugar solution properly when bulk priming. I wont go into the gory details but the result is that I have been banned from using the clothes drying cupboard for a while.

[Martin Bridges]

My standard fining technique is:

- boil kettle. Pour about 500mls into a sanitised jug, cover with clingfilm & leave to cool for 15 mins.

- sprinkle a teaspoon of gelatine on the water. Cover with clingfilm & leave for another 15 mins.

- stir well with a sanitised spoon.

- tip the solution into keg/bottling bucket & rack the beer onto it. Try and make sure the beer is colder than you will be serving it at.

 

Generally works for me, although I had an NZ Amber recently that refused to clear.

[Tilt]

Next up the PCB which has been sitting in the fridge for a few days waiting for the right moment - which is now.

Browny copper hazy (as previously noted) in the glass the head drops to a few mm and stays for the entire time.  The dominant smell is true to its name - and reminding me of the aroma I got from the Twisted Hop Sauvin Pilsener I had when I was last down south - damn I hope those guys are up and running again ços they know how to make a fine beer... I digress.  I also got a clean citrus smell but its only in the background.  First taste and I get more fruit - with a whack of grapefruit bitterness, which I like because those more lolly-ish fruity flavours need a bit to keep them in line.   I'm wondering if this is the Rakau - which I'm glad you've used as I've not brewed with them yet and I think I will after trying your beer - perhaps as a lesser portion with Cascade or even NZ Goldings.  Mouthfeel, dry and lower on the viscosity scale - but noting I'd be concerned about.  All in all a good drop and appreciate the chance to try Rakau/Sauvin combo - thanks John.

 

[Adrian Tayler]

First beer for the CS for me.

Carbonation is low, lower than I prefer but with a more vigorous pour the second time round I got a nice fluffy thin head which then faded but slightly lingered.

Aroma is subtle at first but as I worked my way through the bottle it seemed to hit me in the nose more and more with each taste. I definitely get passion fruit on the nose which is very pleasant and refreshing.

Flavour is nice and fruity with the passion fruit coming through nicely.

There seems to be a lingering sort of hop resin flavour that hangs around which I am guessing may be the Rakau, I have used that hop before and also agree that it behaves odd as a late addition.

This beer would be great with a sub for the late Rakau with say Cascade or Centennial.

Thanks for the Beer Jonny, great work mate very enjoyable indeed.

[Andrew]

"I guess CS's are the most benefit to the less experienced brewers such as moi" - Your need not be afraid my friend. Its all constructive criticism. Uuum........ but I can't find a criticism for this beer. John...no beating around the bush,I love this beer.

  I forgot about this and didn't know what I was opening because I forgot what PCB was. Carbonation is fine,a  little hazy in the glass, smells.... amazing. Its like oranges, ever so slightly lemony and of course some passionfruit in there as well. On the palate its got the bitter kick that for me is just about perfect. Its got a bit of malty, slight toffee (not diacetyl) sweetness that perfectly balances out the aroma and bitterness. Many a little thin, but I,m not to bothered about that at this point.

  I give this a major thumbs. I might try to copy it but I might just disappoint myself. If I got this from a commercial brewery, I'd be going back for more every day! I can't say more than that.

[Bambule]

Big hop aroma coming of this beer.  Real pineapple tropical fruit, lovely NZ hops. Can't say I've much experience with Rakau.

A fairly hazy beer, amber/brown in colour.  Bursts with hop flavor in the mouth, the malt tastes a little hollow though which is surprising given the 10% specialty malts.  I find the bitterness about right, and it would probably taste pretty good on a hand pump.

I'm enjoying this the more I drink.  Suggestions, maybe use a british crystal to fatten it up a bit and maybe raise the mash temp slightly but you wouldn't want the FG too much higher.  Glad to hear you've got a chiller sorted out.

This is a really nice beer, and the hops are spot on.  Cheers.