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