Mandarin IPA

[Bob_Loblaw]

Hi All

After opinions on this recipe. I originally wanted to copy the Flying Dog "Bloodline" Ale, but have now branched onto something different as Blood Oranges are not cheap and I can get my hands on some mandarins for free.

My default yeast is US-05, but I'm wondering if there is anything else I can use to really let the fruit flavour shine. Looking for something that will almost knock your head off with flavour.

It appears CraftBrewer is out of Centennial so I may sub Galaxy in for it.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Mandarin IPA

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 20 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 32 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.036
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 6.2%
IBU (tinseth): 56.47
SRM (morey): 8.67

FERMENTABLES:
4.3 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (76.8%)
0.8 kg - German - Munich Light (14.3%)
0.25 kg - German - CaraMunich I (4.5%)
0.25 kg - Flaked Wheat (4.5%)

HOPS:
20 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 28.88
15 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 7.52
28 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 20.06
35 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days
35 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days
50 g - Mandarin Peel, Type: Fresh, AA: 0, Use: Boil for 10 min

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 66 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 20 L, Mash In
2) Infusion, Temp: 76 C, Time: 10 min, Amount: 20 L, Mash Out
3) Sparge, Temp: 78 C, Amount: 12.5 L, Sparge
Starting Mash Thickness: 4 L/kg

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
200 g - Mandarins Fresh, Type: Flavor, Use: Secondary

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: Yes
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 81%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 12.22 - 25 C
Fermentation Temp: 18 C

 

[Radshoes]

maybe dry hop with some Mandarina Bavaria hops as well?

also you might be able to get hops from other places than craft brewer?

another site sponsor is hoppy days - they may have it.

and trust me I have no affiliation with hoppy days at all apart from getting warnings for trolling their thread h34r:

 

[Gigantorus]

Bob,

Other hops worth considering are the Experimental Grapefruit Hops, as well as the Mandarina Bavaria. Have used both these and they are excellent for imparting citrus flavour.

Have done a few citrus infused brews in the past year. My learnings are:

Grapefruit IPA (I modelled this on the Boneyard Grapefruit IPA which uses zest of 5 ruby grapefruit): I used the zest of 6 ruby grapefruits and this was about right. I also added the zest from one lime and one lemon, for added boost. All was added 5 mins before flameout, and then at flameout left sit for 15 mins before chill down of wort.

Tangerine Pale Ale: I used the zest and juice of 6 tangerines and it turned out nice, albeit very cloudy from the juice. Zesting the tangerines was a chore, as the skin is quite soft. The juice makes everything sticky - so be ready for that. Tangerine gives a better flavour profile than mandarin, as tangerine is cross-bred mandarin with grapefruit. Bit more zing. Mandarin becomes a very dank flavour after it hit the hot wort.

The zest of 5 or 6 grapefruit sounds like a lot - but it isn't. But your secondary addition will certainly give it some flavour. Are you boiling this before you add to secondary? Only ask as fruit skins do have wild yeasts on them, and the wrong yeast can infect your brew.

Plan on doing a partial-mash American Pale Ale soon and will use 6 ruby grapefruit again.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Are you boiling this before you add to secondary? Only ask as fruit skins do have wild yeasts on them, and the wrong yeast can infect your brew.

Plan on doing a partial-mash American Pale Ale soon and will use 6 ruby grapefruit again.

Cheers,

Pete

Hi Pete

I plan to freeze the mandarins and then add the flesh and juice to secondary. The skins will only be used for zest in the boil. Thanks for the tip on the zest @5min - will amend accordingly.

Cheers

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

maybe dry hop with some Mandarina Bavaria hops as well?

also you might be able to get hops from other places than craft brewer?

another site sponsor is hoppy days - they may have it.

and trust me I have no affiliation with hoppy days at all apart from getting warnings for trolling their thread h34r:

Okay - I live on the Gold Coast so might try ibrew for the Centennial. I'll definitely look up the Mandarina Bavaria Hops too.

Cheers

 

[indica86]

I put 56 grams of lime zest in a wheat beer a few months ago.
Used HEAPS of limes for that.
Was really nice actually.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I have an overflowing bucket of mandarins waiting for this brew.

 

[Gigantorus]

Bob,

I'm sure others have mentioned about being careful with adding the white pith of the citrus - it will add a lot of bitterness. Some have avoided this by cutti8ng the wedge segments out of the citrus thus leaving the white pith behind.

Attached is the Boneyard recipe in case someone was interested (AG, Extract and K&K).

Cheers,

Pete

View attachment Boneyard - Grapefruit IPA Recipe.pdf

View attachment Boneyard-Grapefruit-IPA-Recipe.pdf

 

[yankinoz]

Okay - I live on the Gold Coast so might try ibrew for the Centennial. I'll definitely look up the Mandarina Bavaria Hops too.

Cheers

I use Mandarina Bavaria quite a lot, though mostly in blonde ales and lagers and usually at knockout (cooling fast to 80C and then standing before further chilling). The mandarin is strong and holds up well in cold conditioning, more so than with Challenger and other hops known for tangerine flavour and aroma.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Bob,

I'm sure others have mentioned about being careful with adding the white pith of the citrus - it will add a lot of bitterness. Some have avoided this by cutti8ng the wedge segments out of the citrus thus leaving the white pith behind.

Attached is the Boneyard recipe in case someone was interested (AG, Extract and K&K).

Cheers,

Pete

Yep - have definitely read about that. I reckon half of my Saturday will be spent carefully zesting the mandarins.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Have made a few adjustments based on the feedback. I also figure that 200g of Mandarin flesh is not enough so I've upped that to a kilo:

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 6.2%
IBU (tinseth): 61.84
SRM (morey): 8.67

FERMENTABLES:
4.3 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (76.8%)
0.8 kg - German - Munich Light (14.3%)
0.25 kg - German - CaraMunich I (4.5%)
0.25 kg - Flaked Wheat (4.5%)

HOPS:
30 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 28.59
20 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.6, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 9.46
20 g - Experimental Grapefruit, Type: Pellet, AA: 16.6, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 23.79
50 g - Mandarin Peel, Type: Fresh, AA: 0, Use: Boil for 10 min
40 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days
70 g - Experimental Grapefruit, Type: Pellet, AA: 16.6, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days



OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 kg - Mandarins Fresh, Type: Flavor, Use: Secondary

 

[Gigantorus]

Yep - have definitely read about that. I reckon half of my Saturday will be spent carefully zesting the mandarins.

Excellent. Yeah they are soft little buggers. Tangelos are similar. I originally used a zesting tool but then changed to a microplane, which was way quicker. Good luck. The recipe looks great as well. Should be a tasty brew.

You've changed my mind for me - my next brew now either a grapefruit pale ale or IPA.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Brew day went reasonably well yesterday:

Prep -

• I had to use about 15-20 (lost count) Mandarins to get the 50g of zest. Fortunately I have a lot of them free from the mother in law's tree.
• I peeled and segmented 1kg of Mandarin flesh and put it in the freezer until it's time

The Brew:

• The zest gives off an incredible smell when it goes into the boil and this amazing crackling sound
• Unfortunately I came up 11pts short on OG and 1.5L over on wort in the fermenter so I may have measured my water incorrectly. This will now be more of a Mandarin Golden Ale than an IPA and ABV will be around 4.5-5%
• I was looking for a slightly darker tone so maybe some more munich next time.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I carbed this up two weeks ago and tried it last weekend.

Tasting notes:

- The Mandarins were quite tart and I tasted the juice before it went into secondary and it was definitely not sweet. This does come through in the finished product but is not unpleasant
- The aroma is pure mandarin and very nice
- The cascade clashes a little I think with the other flavours. Next time I would rely on a single hop and the fruit

Photo below

I fined with gelatin in the keg as I was a little rushed in getting this on tap, so this is as clear as I got it. I think with all the juice in there it's probably as clear as you could get it anyway. Overall I am happy with the outcome. Very drinkable and it went down very well at the Splendour pre-party at our place.

 

[Lionman]

I carbed this up two weeks ago and tried it last weekend.

Tasting notes:

- The Mandarins were quite tart and I tasted the juice before it went into secondary and it was definitely not sweet. This does come through in the finished product but is not unpleasant
- The aroma is pure mandarin and very nice
- The cascade clashes a little I think with the other flavours. Next time I would rely on a single hop and the fruit

Photo below

I fined with gelatin in the keg as I was a little rushed in getting this on tap, so this is as clear as I got it. I think with all the juice in there it's probably as clear as you could get it anyway. Overall I am happy with the outcome. Very drinkable and it went down very well at the Splendour pre-party at our place.

Nice work. The obvious hop would be Citra wouldn't it? Should compliment the real citrus well and it doesn't have as much of the complex spicy notes of Cascade.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Nice work. The obvious hop would be Citra wouldn't it? Should compliment the real citrus well and it doesn't have as much of the complex spicy notes of Cascade.

Yeah I wanted Citra, but couldn't get it at LHBS so went with the Grapefruit/Cascade combo

 

[Lionman]

Yeah I wanted Citra, but couldn't get it at LHBS so went with the Grapefruit/Cascade combo

It's in short supply at the moment I think. I managed to get hold of some for a Torpedo IPA clone I'm planning but my local didn't have any. 2016 crop should be coming in soon hopefully.

Galaxy is another fruity option too, one of my favourites.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I was also reading about the use of citric acid in lowering mash ph and the zesty citrus notes it can give the final product.