New Spruce Experience

This is a pretty straight forward, Azacca heavy, hoppy pale that I added foraged spruce tips to post-boil.  The hops schedule resembles those of my recent “juice”, or New England, or hazy pales/IPAs, but the grain bill forgoes the flaked grain adjuncts.  As with most of my recent quick turn-around beers, this brew underwent dry hopping (and in this case the addition of the spruce tips) in primary.  I then cold crashed the beer in a chest freezer before kegging.

Recipe and tasting notes follow:

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal): 6.0
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.50
Anticipated OG: 1.044
Anticipated SRM: 2.0
Anticipated IBU: 12
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80%
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain

89.47% — 8.50 Lbs. 2-Row (US)
10.53% — 1.00 Lbs. White Wheat

Hops

0.30 oz. Azacca (Pellet, 13.6% AA) @ 60 min. (First Wort)
7.00 oz. Azacca (Pellet, 13.6% AA) @ 20 min. (Whirlpool)
2.00 oz. Vic Secret (Pellet, 15.5% AA) @ 9 days (Dry hop)
1.00 oz. Azacca (Pellet, 13.6% AA) @ 9 days (Dry hop)
4.20 oz. Citra (Pellet, 13.7% AA) @ 5 days (Dry hop)

Extras

1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min.

Yeast

Imperial A24 — Dry Hop

Water Profile

Seattle
1.60g Calcium Chloride
3.00g Gypsum

Mash Schedule

Single infusion – 60 min @ 156F
Mash out — 10 min @ 170F

Notes

Brewed on 08.08.18 with Gregory & Jensen

08.12.18 — Added the first round of dry hops to primary during active fermentation

08.16.18 — Added the second round of dry hops & the spruce tips to primary

08.20.18 — Cold crashed the carboy in the AM then kegged the batch in the PM and put into kegerator

08.21.18 — Hooked the keg to pressure and set it at 12PSI

Tasting Notes — 10.01.18 (on draft)

Unfiltered, pale straw color in appearance (looks more orange in photos), but not overly hazy.  Moderate white head stand that dissipates.  No lacing.  Spruce is dominant on the nose with undertones of grapefruit, mango, and Fruitstripes gum.  Spicy-Earthy spruce up front on the palate, gives way to juicy guava-like tropical notes.  Mandarin orange pith and resinous pine notes meld on the bitter, off-dry, lingering finish.

Calculated OG: 1.045
Calculated FG: 1.008
Approx. ABV: 4.80%