(Bottling-time sample of the hazy IPA going to competition. Hop Butcher is just a cool brewery that I like)
While there are plenty of ways to brew beer, cider, mead, or wine for judgement or just your own enjoyment, this is how I developed my recipe for an IPA destined to compete.
There are differences in mentality when brewing beer that's to be looked at, pondered, inspected, pitted against, and tallied versus for your own palate. Subjectivity, mostly, goes out the window and objectivity comes more into focus. So while someone may, cough cough...a friend of mine...cough, really enjoy a crisp, dry, and slightly bitter hazy IPA that has a delightful balance of pine and fruit (think Focal Banger from The Alchemist Brewing if you've had the pleasure), a BJCP judge may not feel the same way given the hazy IPA category description. So that's where knowledge and attention to detail and literature come off the bench and play thier roles.
But like many of you, I have a distaste for long-winded, opinionated, and possibly boring intros to recipes. So, first off, here's the recipe I made to enter in this year's (2023) National Homebrew Competition in the Hazy IPA category (21C).
This recipe is for a 5-gallon batch at a brewhouse efficiency of 65%. Scale however you need.
ABV: 7%
OG: 16.2°P [1.066]
FG: 3.5°P [1.014]
IBU: Around 60, but I honestly don't pay too much attention to this number in highly hopped beers.
Grist | Amount (lbs) | % |
Pilsner [Root Shoot] | 12.25 | 71 |
Malted Oats [Gladfield] | 2.5 | 14.5 |
White Wheat [Proximity] | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Golden Naked Oats [Simpsons] | 1 | 1 |
Hopping schedule is to promote drinkability and lots of fruit without being too cloying. 60 minute boil
Variety | Amount (g) | Time | IBU |
Topaz | 7 | FWH | 16 |
Nelson Sauvin | 42.5 | 20min | 23 |
Columbus (YVH Lupomax) | 14 | 20min | 15 |
Nelson Sauvin | 42.5 | Flameout | 11 |
Columbus (YVH Lupomax) | 21 | Flameout | 4 |
Strata | 71 | Dry Hop 3 Days | - |
Nectaron | 113 | Dry Hop 3 Days | - |
Yeast is probably the biggest factor in making these hazy IPAs to style. Slightly sweet, fruity, and highly flocculant are what I look for; and Lallemand Verdant IPA fits this bill. I used 1.5 packs for my 5-gallon batch and fermented at 68°F (20°C). It attenuated slightly less than anticipated (75%), but it did a terrific job of striking a sweet/bitter balance to enhance drinkability.
Now for those of you who want a bit more substance than a surface recipe and why this is different than I would brew for myself, I'd like to talk a little bit of how it was formed and why I chose to do what I did.
For the grist, I wanted protein. That's where the wheat and oats come in and deliver the goods. The light pilsner malt increased fermentability and kept the color at a low SRM. I don't think I'd change this grain bill for the future. It did exaclty what I wanted it to do and nothing I didn't. Perfect...
Hops are another matter that certainly tends to have a bit more subjectivity. I know many people don't do bittering additions for their hazy beers, but I wanted the increase in drinkability as well as better head retention for the judges. So I went with an efficient bittering hop to bump up some IBUs for balance and then added flavor hops to saturate the beer on the palate. Some IPAs that I've either made or bought that I know didn't have much or any hot-side hops tend to be "hollow" and not as satisfying for me. I've noticed having some hot side hops helps with filling out the center. The flameout hops are for "biotransformation" as I don't particularly care for adding hops to the fermentor at the beginning of fermentation as I find it makes for a more green, vegetal, and not as pleasant beer. The oils carried over from these hot-side additions should provide some available compounds for transformation into more orange, lime, and floral characterisitcs. The dry hops are just nice quality hops that I knew would provide really big tropical fruit vibes...and they definitely delivered. I find a beautiful marriage between the North American Strata and the Southern Hemisphere Nectaron that brings really fun and interesting notes of strawberry, peach, generic tropical fruits, and pine/resin. It may skew slightly sweet for my tastes, but I do think it is balanced and should please a judge disecting and searching for 21C vitals.
I crashed in my fancy fermentor, purged oxygen from a 6-pack of bottles with my CO2 line, and added priming sugar to the bottles that I'm planning on sending to NHC. This is to try and curb oxidation and increase the beer's flavor stability in the face of shipping, handling, and whatever inclimate conditions it may be exposed to before judgement day.
The rest will be kegged, consumed, and thoroughly enjoyed by me and my friends. I'll update in the future with the BJCP scoresheets and feedback. The beer will hopeflully make it past the regional round, but there are a lot of great homebrewers with incredible talent. Cheers!
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