Who's afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF?!

Yep, I'm a true slacker. It's been 2-3 weeks since I even looked at this blog. I need to make more of a concerted effort to update it and give my all beit small readership something to do.

Now onto what I wanted to talk about.

The Bad Wolf, some of you may have heard of this beer I've made a few times. Essentially it is an IPa, with Belgian Yeast. I've useda different yeast each time I've made it with WY1214, followed by WLP530, and finally in the interpretation WLP550. I've been told this new yeast is more along the lines of the Ardennes strain, which supposedly plays nicely with hops. Sao I figured, why not give it a shot.I stuck with much the same malt bill I have in the past, and as usual with this beer, it seems to end up very much under gravity... I hit 1.057, despite looking for 1.060. My Last ever BIAB... for now anyway.

Here is the recipe and tasting notes:

Bad Wolf Belgian IPA III:
Malt
Golden Promise - 5.5kg
Gladfield Vienna - 0.35kg
Caramunich II - 0.2kg
Melanoidin - 0.2kg
Acidulated Malt - 0.15kg

Now I changed the hop schedule somewhat, as I wanted to get more fruit out of it, so I naturally chose Citra. and Boy did it deliver a punch.

20g Pacific Jade @ 60
20g Centennial @ 30
30g Centennial @ 10
50g Amarillo @ 0 (15 min stand, prior to chilling)
35g Citra @ 0 (15 min stand, prior to chilling)

DRYHOP: 50g Amarillo / 35g Citra 5 Days (inc cold crash)

Yeast: WLP550 - 2 Litre Starter.

OG 1.057 / FG1.012

Tasting:

APPEARANCE: Despite putting Gelatin in the Keg, it still hasn't cleared itself up completely, I tried the brulosophy way of doing things this time for gelatin, which was a fraction of what I had used previously. Clearly its not as effective. Either that or I'm still doing something wrong. Looks good, considerably Lighter than previous versions.
AROMA: Citra, and Melon, grapefruit, with a hint of Belgian funk in the back ground. Exactly What I was going for.
FLAVOUR: Initially it was all Belgian yeast in its early days, but at about 4 weeks in a keg, the hops really began to pop and come forward, this is where the grapefruit and melon type flavour come in, the yeast plays a great supporting role in getting some spice in there. I think I've found the right yeast.
MOUTHFEEL: Slightly lacking in mouth feel, but that's the lower amount of special malts, the yeast helps to keep it from being too thin, nice malt background, just enough to keep life interesting.

OVERALL: This is fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for, especially from the Citra hops. Unfortunately, as Citra hops are so hard to come by, they will be removed for an alternative in Version 4. The Malt needs a touch of work, I'll be going back to Gladfield Ale for a start, as golden Promise was my only choice when I made it this time at finney's shop. I'll also add to the specialties, I miss that colour I had previously, copper/burnt orange, where as this one is more of a golden colour. hops will be changed considerably, to use varieties, which are more readily available if I was to brew commercially (contract of course). I'd probably Swap the Citra out, for something like Galaxy or Mosaic. Centennial stays, Amarillo will make way for something else.

I haven't updated on my new rig at this stage, I'm still dialling in the process for it, but there'll be a post at some stage. Mike over at themadfermentationist.com is actually using a similar style of brewing, which is cool, and shows the process can produce good beers.

I brewed an Oatmeal Stout, the weekend just been. In association with those who fought to for this great country, I have named it the Fallen Solider (Anzac biscuits use Oats, so that my excuse anyway). I toyed with the idea of adding coconut to it, but I don't think I will.

Last post said I wasn't sure what to brew, so I brewed an imperial Red IPA, or an american Strong Ale to some, with Centennial, Chinook and Zythos. I created this beer based on a strong following for Arrogant Bastard Ale (which I'll get to try in about 6 weeks) and a beer here by Panhead Brewery, called the Vindicator Strong Ale, which uses said hops, where as the AB only uses Chinook. I used Special B and Caramunich II for special malts Nice and Simple.

Until Next time (I'll try to be more pro-active, promise)

Primary1(Plastic): Fallen Soldier Oatmeal Stout

Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}

Primary3(Bretts/Sours): {Nothing}

10 Litre PET Carboy #1: {Nothing}

Sour#1(Wide Mouth Glass): Guts & Glory Flanders Red

Sour#2 (PET Carboy): Gracy and Glory Sour Blonde
Barrel: Hail Caesar Oud Bruin Ale
Bottled: Chch Homebrew Club Barleywine / Braggot Ale / Secret Crusade American Stout / Night Crawler Imperial Stout

Keg1: Fresh Hop Nelson Brown
Keg2: Bad Wolf Belgian IPA III (550)
Keg3: Silent Guardian Red IPA (Panhead Vindicator Variation)
Next Beer to Brew: Original Sin II Split two ways