New hop variety, a true lemon and a tweak to the steeping process. So let me break it down, The hop variety first. I am a big fan of SMaSH IPA’s and have brewed 3 or 4 batches, my favorite are the batches made with Mosaic hops. The beer is heavily dry hopped and my freezer was holding several ounces of Mosaic hops, therefore batch II was made with Mosaic hops. Next, the lemon to add acidity to the steeping water. I had a list to grocery shop this morning so I added a “real” lemon…..and yes it was tart and acidic. When it came to steeping I chose to go with a dry hoping approach at room temperature for 24 hours, then chill and filter into the Growler for carbonation.

Patience…. I need to be patient, patient enough to wait out the process and if it all works out savor the hoppy essence. I was patient and I will need to tweak my recipe. A bit more hop flavor came through but…..the hops were old and poorly sealed up so I suspect they oxidized. I do have a stash of many pouches that are still sealed and will be smarter with batch number 3.

I picked the brain of the head brewer at my local Brewery, DECA, and I will follow his advice offerings. It will entail getting a good pH meter……I need one don’t I ??????? I will also order some citric acid to help zero in on the right pH…..somewhere around 3.5 and 4.0.

Paused mid blog draft and made batch II and it was miserable. Batch III is underway today and I am better prepared. I have my pH meter, citric acid and hops that are still sealed from the supplier……Batch II failure I am attributing to a pouch of left over hops from the SMaSH Mosaic IPA I made a long while back. The taste and aroma of the hops was woefully missing form that batch, although I did drink nearly 1/2 of the 1 gallon batch.

Already a few lessons learned, my “spring water” is about 7.15 pH……so, with the one gallon of spring water I added one teaspoon of citric acid…….It dropped the pH to 1.8……way overshooting the 3.0 to 3.5 I was aiming for……dilution was the solution but wow…….I would have never guessed…..I finally got it up to 3.18 pH and will call that good. I dry hopped at room temperature for 4 hours and 45 minutes. Hop aroma was prominent. I ran the liquid through cheese cloth and then chilling it. The “Growler Werks” mini keg is also chilled. The chilled temperatures aids in force carbonating the batch. Colder liquids absorb the carbonation more quickly.

So…….finally tasting and testing. Second glass today, March 13, one day after my 73rd Birthday and it was a pleasant gift. I did not use lemon juice, just the citric acid and 6 grams of Centennial Cryo hops. Glass one was good , the hop aroma and taste was just enough but…….I added a little lemon wedge and it went to damn good…..

Can’t wait for warmer weather…..cool weather is lingering I am not complaining but……this Hop water will be a great hot weather thirst quencher. Batch 4 …..hmmmmmm what will I tweak next….any suggestions?

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop