Kit O' Beer #10 - Motueka Blonde

[Glass]

KoB #10. Motueka Blonde. Coopers Canadian Blonde dry hopped with Motueka pellet hops. Following on from KoB #8 where we dry hopped a Canadian Blonde with Cascade. Using up some more of the hops we had over from the clone KoB #7.

Purchased all ingredients from the LHBS.

The recipe:
1 x 1.7kg Coopers Canadian Blonde.
1.25 kg Brew Booster - from the preferred LHBS
1 pkt LHBS brand ale yeast 15gms. Used this before. It's a go'er.
23 gms Motueka pellet hops - dry hop secondary.

Changes:
I think it's basically the same recipe as the KoB #7. Different hops of course when we get to that stage.

OG 1.043

Brew temp: 20C - ambient
Pitch temp: 20C - wort
Current temp: 20C - wort
Volume: 23L

Notes: Grey wet windy day. Nothing better than to stay in doors and brew beer, clean some bottles and have a few bevies.

Straight forward brew. Was able to pitch the yeast right away. I was going to rehydrate the yeast but figured why bother. Temps seem right. Been an hour and a half and yeast is already getting in to it.

[Glass]

Day 9. We seem to have some nice fermenting going on the past couple brews. Hopping Time.

1st reading was 1.012 (@19C Day 7).
2nd reading was 1.008 (@20C Day 9).

I didn't write up the first reading. Was impressed with the progress. Again it's been under the blanket. Been able to keep it about 22C - 23C. Cosy.

OG was 1.043

This is nice and clean tasting. The taste is less sweet than the other blondes I've brewed. Between 1.012 and 1.008 is noticeable difference in sweetness. No complaints on taste. Colour is light golden, slight haze.

Racked this to secondary and dry hopped 25gms Motueka hops. Smelling the aroma of these its clear this will be different to the Cascadian blonde. The aroma reminds me of european lagers like pilsners.

[Libertytree]

This really sounds like a great batch Glass! Maybe I should look into some dry hopping?

[Glass]

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. The aroma on the Motueka is a bit different from the Cascade hops. I used both in the LCBA clone and I felt it was a bit bitter on the finish. Not offensive and that did mellow a fair bit. It's now at the point where sometimes when I open one I'm wondering where all the hoppy goodness has gone. It's still there but very subtle.

My impressions now are that the Motueka is more bitter than the Cascade. I feel like it is what is adding that bitter element I tasted. I remember the aroma clearly from when I brewed on premises years ago. Not sure if I used them back then. Tended to brew euro macro beer clones like heineken and stella atois so probably didn't use myself.

The last one I dry hopped was tasty. I can recommend Cascade in a summer ale of some sort, a cream ale or a pale ale. I'd like a sample pack of hops so I can smell them. Maybe 2 or 3 pellets of each type so I can get a good whiff.

I think for the effort of dry hopping its worth it. All you have to do is boil a stocking, plonk in some hops, bottom of 2nd fermenter and siphon in on top. Oh and give the beer a hug while you're at it. That seems to help.

I say have a go.

I've got another lager lined up to brew next. I've had it there to brew for a few weeks but I skipped it to do this one. It will be a straight recipe single ferment. But after that I'm doing another LCBA clone or the Cascadian again.

[BrewTech]

This really sounds like a great batch Glass! Maybe I should look into some dry hopping?

Ya think?? It's about time you guys started listening to me... sheesh!

[Glass]

Ya think?? It's about time you guys started listening to me... sheesh!

We realise we are in the company of the Mr Miagi/Yoda of brewing.

Miyagi: First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine.

[BrewTech]

We realise we are in the company of the Mr Miagi/Yoda of brewing.

I'm just giving you guys a hard time... since I can't get any Nelson (well, I guess I could trade for it possibly but contracting is out of the question through 2016 at least) I do use Motueka in a beer or two of mine. If you want that massive hop aroma in your lighter ales, dry hopping is the key, but it has to be done right to get the results you expect. Ideally, the beer should be cooled to allow the yeast to drop out of suspension (and perhaps the beer taken off the yeast altogether), but not so cold as to inhibit release of the aromatic oils. Southern Hemisphere hops are all the rage up here to get the tropical fruit flavors and aromas into IPAs. Dry hopping also helps to preserve the beer as well. Expect some hop haze to remain (from the polyphenols), but you can also expect better head formation and retention with proper levels of carbonation.

[Glass]

Bottled today. About 55 bottles or so. I've realised the bottles I am using are 375ml. I was using 330ml which works out 60 per 23L brew. Doing PET it takes 30 x 640ml.

This is fairly subdued aroma. I was not getting any aroma when racking to the bottling bucket and virtually none during the bottling. I've not smelt less of a beer before. I had to stick my head in the fermenter to pick anything up. It is pleasant. I'd say tropical fruit. Colour is nice and light. Same as previous blondes. It looks more amber in the fermenter but when bottling it's light. Taste follows aroma, light, hint of fruit.

Hops floated on this one. I'm wondering about these stockings as a sock. When boiling it takes a lot of poking to get them saturated. The fabric repels water for a long time. Wondering if they prevent too much contact between wort and hops. I chuck them after use.

[BrewTech]

Bottled today. About 55 bottles or so. I've realised the bottles I am using are 375ml. I was using 330ml which works out 60 per 23L brew. Doing PET it takes 30 x 640ml.

This is fairly subdued aroma. I was not getting any aroma when racking to the bottling bucket and virtually none during the bottling. I've not smelt less of a beer before. I had to stick my head in the fermenter to pick anything up. It is pleasant. I'd say tropical fruit. Colour is nice and light. Same as previous blondes. It looks more amber in the fermenter but when bottling it's light. Taste follows aroma, light, hint of fruit.

Hops floated on this one. I'm wondering about these stockings as a sock. When boiling it takes a lot of poking to get them saturated. The fabric repels water for a long time. Wondering if they prevent too much contact between wort and hops. I chuck them after use.

So, you stuck them in a sock during the boil?

[Glass]

nope. Boil to sterilize sock. Then add em hops, tie it off, drop into secondary. rack beer on top.