Ross NZ WAI-ITI IPA

[Ross]

I wanted to brew an IPA with Wai-iti so that the Wai-iti was the main hop as I have never used it before. 

Brew in the bag

Grain 

4.5kg Pilsner Malt

0.5 Light Crystal 

0.2 Carapils

Hops

5gr Wai-iti 60min

15g Wai-iti 15min

5g Cascade 15min

5gr Rewaka 15min

20g Wai-iti 10min 

10g Cascade 10min

5g Nelson Sauvin 10min

10gr Wai-iti 5min

10g Cascade 5min

10g Rewaka 10min

15g Wai-iti Flame out

5g Rewaka Flame out

5gr Nelson Sauvin Flame out

40gr Wai-iti Dryhop after 7 days on the yeast

20gr Cascade Dryhop after 7 days on the yeast

5gr Nelson Sauvin Dryhop after 7 days on the yeast

37g Wai-iti Dry hop after 8 days on the yeast 

20g Cascade Dry hop after 8 days on the yeast 

Mashed in 67 deg

Mashed out at 78 deg for 10 min

Pitched at 18 deg for 7 days, then 7 days at 21 deg. 

Kegged after 14 days on the yeast, bottled after one week in the keg. 

OG 1.052

FG  1.016

19L batch

60 min Boil

[Paul Fraser]

I was keen to try this one Ross so I cracked it tonight. Poured a nice golden colour. Head faded(as did Oli's so I suspect the glass) Slight haze but good considering the amount of dry hop.

I must say the aroma coming from this is WAY better then the sample I had earlier in the musty glass. A distinctly kiwi aroma. Nice and fruity, light orange, maybe stone fruit.

Carbonation is perfect. The taste is crisp, clean and the hops come through as citrus again. Mouthfeel is medium. Bitterness is clean and to a good level(what were the IBU's)

A great beer Ross, this should be a re-brew for sure. I'll have to seek out Wai-iti at some point. Well done.

[Paul Fraser]

This seems to be getting better as I drink it. Use the spiegelau glasses if you have them guys.

[Crusader-Rob]

Impressive beer.

Appearance: Clear golden yellow colour, good clarity and head, dissipates quickly, and a ring stays.

Aroma: New Zealand Hops, Nothing that really punches you in the face, but a nice "Bouquet"

Flavour: Light malt, delicate hop character, I'd consider this a Pale ale ratherthan an IPa, cleanly fermented, no faults I can pick up, Pils malt comes through on the back end. Wai-iti seems like a slightly toned down version of Riwaka, a hop I may need to use at some stage.

Mouthfeel: Light an easy drinking I like it, but for a competition It would probably be considere d a bit thin. some sharpness as expected from the riwaka type flavour.

Overall: Lovely beer. Clean ferments no faults to speak of from my point of view, NZ Hops are great. just good all around. 

[Paul Finney]

Appearance: Looks good in the glass. Thin head which lasted. Golden/straw colour.

Aroma: Lemony hops coming to the fore

Taste: Perfect bitterness level, nicely balanced. 

Overall: I thought it was a really nice beer and would go back for more. nice one!

[Stewy]

Pours golden with slight haze in the glass. Good carbonation. Slight fruity aroma on the nose. The taste is slightly grassy with taste evidence of stonefruit. Slight bitterness and a good session beer you could drink a lot more of. Well done Ross.

[Julie Fitzjohn]

Hi Ross, Much too slow getting to this beer as missed case swap then sick then away for work.

appearance - nice golden colour, not much head

aroma - bit of nice hops but I suspect a shadow of former self

taste - I really enjoyed this. it clearly isn't what it was the hop mix seemed lovely and I imagine when there was more of it, it was super

mouthfeel - carbonation has obviously dropped

overall - Ross even past its best I can see this was a tasty beer. I haven't managed to get to Riwaka or Wai-iti yet but the hint of what this beer was like makes me feel a bit like plagiarising it. Couple of questions - which yeast did you use and why the pilsner as a base malt? I saw pilsner suggested as base malt for sierra Nevada clone and wondered what benefits of that are over pale malt? cheers  Julie

 

[oliver]

Aroma: Fruit, little musty basement

Appearance: Light golden, great head, fairly clear with a touch of haze.

Flavour: nice hop hit up front, slightly strange almost peppery finish. Low-med bitterness, could use a few more IBUs to be in the american IPA type category. 

Body: light-medium body, nice carbonation

Overall: solid base recipe for IPA, depending on what you're going for it could use a few more IBUs and some more hop aroma/flavour, very nice beer though.