What are you brewing?

[nzbrewer]

Since this is the most popular thread on the RealBeer.co.nz forum I thought I would start it here just to see what happens

[MrC]

Just took a gravity reading from this Belgian Blonde fermented with Wyeast 3522 (Ardennes) and it's come down from OG 1.068 to FG 1.008 which means an ABV of around 8.0%. I little high for the Belgian Blonde style, probably more like a Tripel or Belgian Golden Strong Ale.

I was expecting an OG around 1.012. Can anyone else give an indication of how 3522 has attenuated in your beers?

[JoKing]

Not so well for me... but then again, I'm a pretty shit home brewer! How did the sample taste?

[MrC]

Sample tasted great, very happy with it so far. A little rough still but nothing a little conditioning won't fix. Although the ABV is higher than expected it seems pretty well balanced between bitterness, sweetness/dryness & alcohol. I have 22L of it and 22L of Tripel in another fermenter. That's a lot of Belgian strong ale for me get through :-)

[Patrick]

What shall I brew this weekend? I love my IPA, should I brew it again with the same malt bill but different hop varieties to the same IBU level (60)? I used NZ cascade and Nelson Sauvin last time. I have some ods and sods I would like to use up, 60g of NZ Goldings and 20g of Imp Fuggles. I was thinking about using them for the bittering and using some other NZ hop for the later additions, would Motueka and Riwaka work together well?

[Reviled]

"would Motueka and Riwaka work together well?"

Absolutely mate, I say go for it! It will give you a great idea of what the hops are adding to the beer whilst you can look for similaritys in the malt flavours!!

[MrC]

Late hop additions of Fuggles (and maybe goldings) & Riwaka would put you in the Bookbinder hop ballpark. Hard to that combo. Hmmm, Bookbinder IPA...

[Patrick]

Rats - Mike has Motueka but no Riwaka at the moment... Suggestions? Should I just use heaps of Motueka or should I pair it with something else?

[Reviled]

IMO motueka will work well with fuggles also, it has a nice spicy element to it which will compliment the fuggles earthyness...

[Patrick]

I will have a play in beersmith and see what I can do, I could do 50:50 imp fuggles/motueka for the late additions then dry-hop with the remaining motueka. Will use the goldings for bittering.

[MrC]

Sounds nice. I'm planning similar hopping for a Pilsener in the very near future.

[MrC]

Liberty doesn't have any Riwaka either. James P must have bought the lot ;-)

[Martin Bridges]

Is this year's harvest available yet? I was thinking about grabbing a kilo from NZHops.