"Juicy" Pale Ale (100% Galaxy)

Since my New England style IPA turned out so well I wanted to brew it again. Although the beer was very drinkable, it did clock in at around 7.3% ABV, which made drinking a lot of it while remaining functional difficult. I was curious if I could replicate that beer at a lower ABV. Along those lines, I’ve been curious to see if the New England style IPA is due to the yeast, the grain bill, or the hops, as has been much analyzed in beer forums. I’m personally on the side of the type of hops and when they are added that provides the “juicy” flavor and aroma. I also think that the yeast is providing much of the body that is talked about for this style and the hazy appearance.

To test my theory I changed a few things from my juicy IPA recipe. Obviously the lower ABV will affect aspects of this beer so it’s not a true comparison, but I can still get a pretty good idea of what is different and what’s the same. I also changed the hops and went with a 100% Galaxy hopping schedule. The grain bill is built more off of what I would think to be a West Coast style, yet the hops are fruitier than traditional West Coast style IPAs. I chose to use the same yeast and bittering addition, yet I removed the fermentation hop prior to pitching yeast and added a late dry hop after fermentation. I felt that my NE IPA could have used more aroma, which I think it lacked because it didn’t have a traditional dry hop. I’m also not sure what if anything the fermentation hop prior to pitching did for the beer.

What I’m looking for in the end is a similar hazy beer, which is dry but has a fluffy full mouthfeel, with low bitterness and more fruity hop flavor and aroma.  Will a different grain bill affect mouthfeel and hop flavor?

Beer Stats

Batch size: 5.5 Gallons

Boil time: 60 minutes

Est Original Gravity: 1.050

Measured Original Gravity: 1.046

Measured Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV: 4.45%

SRM: 9.8^o

IBU: 39

Grain Bill

5lbs Briess Pilsner malt

2lbs Pale Ale malt

2.75lbs Maris Otter

1lb – CaraRed

0.33lb - CaraPils

0.5lbs Acid malt

Hop Schedule

60 minutes – Hop Extract – 2 ml

30 minutes – Whirlpool - Galaxy – 1.5 ounce

15 minutes – Hopback – Galaxy – 1.5 ounce

12 Days - Fermentation hops – Galaxy – 1 ounce (added after 4 days of fermentation)

7 Days – Dry hops – Galaxy – 2.5 ounces

Mash Schedule

155^oF single infusion for 60 minutes

Yeast

Slurry from NEIPA 1318 London ale III

Notes:

5/20/16 – Brewed by myself. Using RO water I added 5 grams of CaCl and 0.5 grams of gypsum to the mash. Mash pH was 5.25 and my target was 5.28. Sparged with RO water. Wort chilled to 78F and oxygenated with pure O2 for 60 seconds, then placed in chest freezer for 4 hours to chill to 60F. Yeast pitched after additional chilling.

6/1/16 – Added fermentation hops

6/4/16 – Removed from chest freezer to finish out fermentation

6/6/16 – Added dry hops

6/11/16 – Placed in chest freezer to cold crash

6/12/16 – Racked to keg and set pressure at 25psi

6/14/16 - Reduced pressure to 10 psi for serving