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Jeff Hardesty of Narrow Gauge Brewing Company (Florissant, Missouri) shares this homebrew-scale recipe for their sour IPA brewed with lactose and cassia bark, dry hopped with Citra and El Dorado, and aged on blackberries and vanilla beans.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.077
FG: 1.025
IBUs: 30
ABV: 7%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
8.6 lb (3.9 kg) Golden Promise
1.4 lb (635 g) malted oats
1.3 lb (590 g) flaked oats
1.3 lb (590 g) unmalted wheat
3.4 oz (96 g) acidulated malt (for mash pH adjustment)
HOPS AND ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
1.4 lb (635 g) lactose at 10 minutes
1.3 oz (37 g) Citra [12.2% AA] at 2nd whirlpool for 5 minutes
1.3 oz (37 g) El Dorado [15% AA] at 2nd whirlpool for 5 minutes
0.4 oz (11 g) Chinese cassia bark at 2nd whirlpool for 5 minutes
2.7 oz (77 g) Citra [12.2% AA] at dry hop for 5 days
2.7 oz (77 g) El Dorado [15% AA] at dry hop for 5 days
0.7 oz (20 g) Chinese cassia bark at dry hop for 5 days
0.25 oz (7 g) vanilla beans for 5 days
9 lb (4.1 kg) blackberries for 5 days
YEAST
Omega Lactobacillus Blend
Omega British Ale IV
DIRECTIONS
Mash the grains at 155°F (68°C) for 45 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge the grains to obtain 6 gallons (23 l) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes. For the lactose, remove the kettle from the heat, stir in the lactose, return the kettle to the heat, and bring it back to a boil for the remaining 10 minutes.
Do not introduce the whirlpool hops at the first whirlpool, as they will inhibit the Lactobacillus blend. Pre-acidify the wort to a pH of 4.5, then chill the wort to 95°F (35°C) and pitch the Lactobacillus blend. There’s no need to hold the heat at 95°F (35°C), but don’t allow it to drop much below 75°F (24°C). After a pH of 3.2–3.3 is obtained, reheat the wort to 180°F (82°C) and follow the hopping schedule for the second whirlpool. After the whirlpool, rest for 15 minutes, then chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 66°F (19°C). Aerate the wort and pitch the British Ale yeast.
Hold fermentation at 68°F (20°C) for 24 hours once signs of fermentation are visible. Allow the temperature to rise to 70°F (21°C) during the remainder of fermentation, following the dry-hop schedule. After adding the vanilla and blackberries, allow the berries to ferment out at 70°F (21°C).
BREWER’S NOTES
This beer was a fun one to create and one of our first regular-rotation sour IPAs. The recipe is pretty interchangeable with fruit as it is designed to be like a cobbler. We have brewed a peach version (Momotaro) and a sweet-cherry version (Mazzard) as well. We used different hops in those beers in order to complement the fruit.
Listen Up! Tune in to the Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® podcast episode 96 for more of Jeff Hardesty’s process and technique for hazy and sour IPAs. beerandbrewing.com/podcasts