Dog Days of Summer

One of the most intriguing things for brewers tends to be new hop varietals. We have been intrigued by Strata hops and their supposed pungent hemp like character, so we decided to pair them with a tropical variety that we have used a lot and are quite familiar with - Galaxy. The Dog Days of Summer is lighter, crisp, pale ale designed to quench your thirst on a hot summer day. 

When we were designing this recipe we decided to try and keep this beer relatively simple in the grain bill. We added American 2 Row, Flaked Oats for body, and some Flaked Maize to bring the beer to a crisp finish. 

The Grain was as follows

8lbs of 2 Row

1lb of Flaked Oats

1lb of Flaked Maize

That was it, the beer was designed to showcase the hops and provide a clean light malt profile as a backdrop. 

We mashed in at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour and let time do it's magic. After the hour was over we recirculated the wort and collected into our boil kettle. 

For a hop profile we decided to do a very small bittering charge at 60 minutes with .25oz of Simcoe Hops and a 10 minute addition of the remaining .75 oz of Simcoe. This was able to net us about 25 IBU's and give us a lighter hop bitterness. 

For the whirlpool hop we went with 2 oz of Strata Hops and 1 oz of Galaxy Hops at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. 

We boiled for 60 minutes, whirlpooled and dropped our temperature to 90 degrees to pitch our yeast. 

Which brings us to the next major variable in this brew, Loki Yeast from Imperial. We decided to use the Kveik strain and ride high on our fermentation temperature. The idea was to try and really push for those tropical esters from the yeast during fermentation. This yeast was also a beast, as it basically was fermented out from 1.046 to about 1.012 in 3 days. After 7 days we were at 1.006 and held there until 10 when we kegged our beer.

Our dry hop charges were on 2 separate days, day 3 we dropped an ounce of Strata and an ounce of Galaxy. On day 7 we did also dry hopped with an ounce of each. 

Appearance

A slightly cloudy light gold color with a long lasting white head. Retention on this beer is crazy, about 10 minutes later it still has a slight head on it. 

Aroma

One of our friends described this beer as having a "dirty pineapple" aroma. Or as they stated pineapple mixed drink. We think it has a pineapple smell but also has a dankness, which might be what they described as "dirty."  This is most likely from the Strata Hops which are supposed to give a dankness to a beer. In having a few different beers with Strata, one last night in fact, it definitely has a specific flavor and smell that other hops do not have. 

Taste & Mouthfeel

This beer is light and crisp right up front when you take a sip. It doesn't feel heavy or have any creaminess. The body is thin, but exactly what you want on a hot day. It has a nice pineapple and subtle orange flavor that finishes with a medium bitterness. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, this beer was an open door for using Strata hops for us. Most likely we will make a 100% Strata beer this summer and might have to make an update on our thoughts on the hop. This one will be in the keg for the Dog Days of Summer that are upon us. Don't forget to follow s on Instagram @twoshepherdsbrewing

Front Porch Rocker

For our first recipe post we have decided to go with a beer we recently made for summer. The inspiration for this beer was to make a clean tasting beer with a subtle but bright hop profile that could be enjoyed on a hot summer day. We decided to make a Kolsch Style Ale with South African Hops. A South African Kolsch, if you will. A true Front Porch Rocker.

For a malt profile we wanted to go with something that was going to be simple but also have just a hint of grainy flavor. We decided to go with a grain bill of 82% Pilsner malt, 10% Vienna malt, 5% Acidulated Malt to control ph, and 2.5% corn sugar to promote the crispness we were aiming for. 

As a result the grain bill looked like this.

8lbs Pilsner Malt
1lb Vienna Malt
.5 lbs Acidulated Malt
.25lbs Corn Sugar

Our base water profile is as follows. All numbers are in PPM.

Ca⁺²      55

Mg⁺²     8

Na⁺        18

Cl^-          39

SO₄^-2    7

HCO₃^- 2.3

We added 4 grams of Calcium Chloride and 10 grams of Gypsum. This pushed our Chloride to about 100 and our Sulfates to around 150. This allowed for the bitterness to shine a little bit more, and add to the crispness we were looking to achieve. 

We were aiming for 152 degrees but ending up mashing in at 150.6 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes, recirculated a few times until we had clear wort and then sparged into the brew kettle. In order to save time, we try to heat the wort as it is being collected into the kettle. 

We ordered this past years South African Hop yield from Yakima Valley so we decided to use all four varieties that we had on hand. 

We used 1 oz of Southern Aroma at 15 mins left in the boil. 

At 180 degrees we dropped the four different types of SA hops for the whirlpool. We did not stop and hold the temperature at 180, but continued to cool to pitching temps because it started to rain. 

At day 3 into fermentation we dropped in 1 oz of each of the SA hops for a single charge dry hop.

The hop summary is as follows.

1 oz	Yakima Valley - Southern Passion	Pellet	11.2	Whirlpool	min	8.39
1 oz	Yakima Valley - African Queen	Pellet	10	Whirlpool	min	7.49
1 oz	Yakima Valley - Southern Aroma	Pellet	5.8	Whirlpool	min	4.34
1 oz	Yakima Valley - Southern Promise	Pellet	10.4	Whirlpool	min	7.79
1 oz	Yakima Valley - Southern Aroma	Pellet	5.8	Boil	15 min	11.74
4 oz	South African Varieties	Pellet	10	Dry Hop	3 days

Yeast nutrient and whirlfloc tabs were both added with 10 minutes left in the boil. 

Since we chose to make a Kolsch Style Ale we went with Imperial Yeasts Dieter Strain. Since this is a Kolsch Style yeast, and a Kolsch style beer we figured that we would get cleaner profile with it. There is a caveat to this because we did not condition this beer at lager temperatures after fermentation. 

The beer was fermented at 62 degrees Fahrenheit for the entire time. Cold crashed at 38 degrees for 48 hours, and then kegged. Carbonated at 30 psi for 48 hours and then turned down to 10 psi for serving. 

Tasting Notes.

Appearance

The beer pours a slightly hazy straw color. It isn't completely opaque as you can see your fingers through the glass. Looks more like a dry hopped ale than a traditional Kolsch. Almost glows a little bit from the brightness of the color. It has a very white head that has a good amount of retention and lacing as the beer is being consumed. 

Aroma

The malt character shines through and has a slight sweetness on the nose. A hint of citrus is present but does not over power the malt character. 

Taste & Mouthfeel

A nice lime zip at the beginning of the beer gives way to a grainy sweetness that finishes with a mild bitterness and almost white wine like character. This beer has more body than a traditional Kolsch and feels a bit fuller on the palate. 

Final Thoughts

As far as experiments go, this wasn't crazy by any means but is a good interpretation of the style of beer we like to drink. At 5.2% it is easy to drink, and has enough character to keep you going back for another sip. Kolsch style ales are sort of forgotten most of the time it seems. With a little tweaking and some dry hops we think this shows a new age twist on classic style. Don't forget to follow s on Instagram @twoshepherdsbrewing

Welcome

For the last year or so my friends and I have been tossing around the idea of starting a blog to go along with our brewing adventures. We have been dragging our feet but have finally put this together. We have been brewing collectively as “Two Shepherds Brewing” for the last five years and been brewing individually for over a decade. We are just a few guys who love brewing, learning, and experimenting with new ideas and styles. We will be sharing our brew days, thoughts, and recipes along the way. Hopefully through this blog we will be able to share our passion with you. Don't forget to follow s on Instagram @twoshepherdsbrewing