Citra-Amarillo-Kveik Fusion IPA
Fresh off of my lactic-yeast adventures, I find myself needing a more traditional beer to balance out my keezer selection. But I also find myself in possession of a bunch of modern hops and Hornindal Kveik from Escarpment Labs. So I decided to combine old and new and brew a “fusion IPA” with a malt bill and bittering hop approach inspired by 1990’s style IPAs, combined with a modern take on hop usage. This creates a beer with the traditional balance of higher bitterness countering a sweeter malt profile, while the modern approach to late hop additions emphasizes the tropical, orange and lemon flavours of Citra and Amarillo. And all of that is accented by the tropical fruit and apple flavours of hot-fermented Hornindal.
Recipe – Citra-Amarillo-Kveik
Stats:
- Volume: 20 L
- IBU: 55
- SRM: 8.3
- OG: 1.060
- FG: 1.011
- ABV: 6.4%
Ingredients:
| Amount | Ingredient | %/IBU |
|---|---|---|
| 5.00 kg | Canadian 2 Row Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) | 91.7 % |
| 0.45 kg | Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM) | 8.3 % |
| 18.00 g | Warrior [14.20 %] – Boil 60.0 min | 29.8 IBUs |
| 28.35 g | Amarillo [7.70 %] – Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 90.2 C | 7.7 IBUs |
| 28.35 g | Citra [12.00 %] – Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 90.2 C | 12.0 IBUs |
| 10.00 g | Warrior [15.00 %] – Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 90.2 C | 5.3 IBUs |
| 1.0 pkg | Hornindal Kveik Blend (Escarpment Labs) | – |
| 28.35 g | Amarillo [7.70 %] – Dry Hop 3.0 Days | 0.0 IBUs |
| 28.35 g | Citra [12.00 %] – Dry Hop 3.0 Days | 0.0 IBUs |
Brewing:
- I adjusted the water to have a 190 PPM:54 PPM sulfite:chloride ratio (roughly 3.5:1), and 70 PPM calcium.
- Mashed at 65.6 C (150 F) for 60 minutes and sparged to collect 29 L of wort.
- The wort was boiled for 60 minutes using Warrior for bitterness, whirflock was added 10 minutes before the end of the boil.
- At the end of the boil I killed the heat, and the beer was allowed to cool naturally (lid off) to 95C. At this time I added the whirlpool hops , and put the lid back on the pot to hold in the heat. I allowed temperature to free-fall for 20 minutes, then chilled to 40 C and transferred the wort to the fermenter.
- I pitched the yeast was pitched without a starter, and fermented at 35 C. Visible fermentation was completed in 4 days.
- On day 4, I added the dryhops.
- On day 7 I kegged the beer and force-carbonated it to ~2.5 volumes.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: This beer pours with a copper coloured body capped with a thick and luscious off-white head. The beer is quite clear (this is not apparent in the image thanks to some condensation), with small streamers of bubbles.
Aroma: Oranges, mango and a touch of sweet malt .
Flavour: Up-front you get a strong malt note, slightly sweet, that is partially balanced by hop bitterness. The balance is towards the malt, not the bitterness, which is off-style for a traditional IPA. Overlaid on this is a complex hop flavour – citrus (orange more than lemon or grapefruit), a bit of generic hop “spice”, and a small mango-esque tropical flavour. The character of the kveik blends into this perfectly, and its impossible to tell where the hop character ends and the yeast character begins. The hop character is somewhat fleeting, leaving an aftertaste that is a lingering and building bitterness, with a quickly fading malt sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, dead-on what you’d expect in a 990’s era IPA. The beer is very slightly astringent, in a good way, thanks to the bittering hops.
Overall: Not a bad IPA, but its a bit out of balance. If I rebrewed this beer I would increase the bittering charge by another 15 IBU, maybe even 25, to create a more aggressive bitterness. I would also use cascade or centennial for bittering, as this would give more of a “bite” to the beer. The hop and yeast flavour and aroma worked well, and I don’t think I’d alter that part of the recipe. So not my best IPA, but definitely a good one, and this beer ended up pretty close to my vision for this beer.
