21B Specialty IPA: Red IPA
RIPA — Into Kegs
ABV6.0% OG1.058 FG1.012Grain bill
| Gladfield American Ale Malt | 5.5 kg | 75.9% |
| Gladfield Munich Malt | 0.7 kg | 9.7% |
| Gladfield Redback Malt | 0.55 kg | 7.6% |
| Gladfield Shepherds Delight Malt | 0.45 kg | 6.2% |
| Gladfield Eclipse Wheat Malt | 0.05 kg | 0.7% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | half tablet @ 15 min |
| Yeast nutrient | half tsp @ 15 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 10 min | WP | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citra | 20g | 30g | 50g | · |
| Superdelic | · | · | 100g | 100g |
Yeast
| LalBrew BRY-97 | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Sulphate | 1 tsp in mash |
| Calcium Chloride | half tsp in mash |
| Lactic acid (88%) | 4 drops in sparge |
Tasting notes
About This Beer
Owen’s first attempt at both natural CO2 capture and kegging in the same brew, which is a significant step up in process complexity.
The RIPA grain bill is the proven one: American Ale, Munich, Redback, Shepherds Delight and a little Eclipse Wheat. Citra and Superdelic in boil and whirlpool, with Superdelic returning for a day-5 dry hop via the hop bomb.
The kegging
Kegs had to be sanitised and purged during the first days of active fermentation, then used as receivers on a closed transfer.
Held at 19°C and 3 to 4 psi for five days, then dry hopped, valve closed, and temperature raised to 22°C for three days. Gradual cooling to 4°C brought final pressure to 8.3 psi, which is 2.15 volumes.
The problem
Significant volume loss on transfer. The 150 g whirlpool addition created a dense hop cake that blocked the dip tube, leaving at least two litres behind in the kettle. Of 23 litres in the fermenter only 19.6 made it into the kegs.
For future batches: a hop spider or bag, or switch to cryo to reduce the volume.