Recipe: Still Classy (low ABV Hydra hazy)

Recipe Name: Still Classy
Yeast: Hydra

This recipe is an adaptation of a beer I've made a few times, usually using Vermont or Cerberus or a blend of both. It felt fitting to update it to use our new Hydra yeast, which is a hybrid of those two strains and perfect for low-alcohol hoppy beers. 

What do we call these beers, by the way? Session IPAs? Micro IPAs? Low ABV IPAs? I dunno. It's a hard target to hit (most end up too dry and astringent) but I'm really liking what brewers are pulling off with Hydra. 

The name is inspired by Bellwoods' Stay Classy, a classic in the hoppy-but-low-abv arena in Ontario. However it hadn't been brewed for a few years. When we were close to releasing Hydra, we reached out to them to pitch the idea of bringing Stay Classy back, and they obliged! But Stay Classy is now sold out so if you want an endless supply of tasty micro IPA, you've got to brew it yourself ;-)

I've also used Barn Owl malt here because I love that we have a high quality floor malting facility in Ontario and I think their malt is delicious. Make sure to support them!

Given its parents, Hydra is pretty good at biotransforming terpenes, which results in enhanced citrus aromas in beer. For hop-forward beers, I like using hops like Bravo in the whirlpool that are high in citrusy biotransformable precursors. I also think Simcoe is great as a whirlpool addition (Simcoe + Vermont = the fabled peach aroma). I wanted some tropical fruitiness and citrus in the dry hop and like the pairing of Equanot and Mosaic. I'm not sure what Bellwoods uses but this combo works nicely in this type of beer! 

This recipe should scale well to commercial sizes, but if you're looking to make a micro IPA and not sure of the details, we're always happy to help. 

Author: Richard Preiss

Beer Style (BJCP): ??

Batch Size: 25L 

Original gravity: 1.032

Final gravity: 1.010

ABV (predicted): 2.9% 

Apparent attenuation: 68% 

IBU: 22 (Tinseth)

Color: 2.9 SRM 

Fermentables (4.5 kg): 

2.32 kg - Barn Owl Pale Malt  (69%) (substitution - pale ale malt) 

1.03 kg - Barn Owl Red Wheat Malt  (31%) (substitution - any wheat malt) 

Water profile: Guelph (hard)

Ca 119 Mg 38 Na 65 Cl 150 SO 156 HCO3 350

Mash profile: 

Medium fermentability

67 °C - 60 min - Temperature

78 °C - 15 min - Mash Out

Water additions :

Guelph water is naturally very high in chlorides so I tend to add a bit of gypsum. Most brewers have softer water and may add calcium chloride instead. If your water is low in magnesium, add a small amount of epsom salts (MgSO4) if you are adding a high rate of calcium chloride. 

Mash - 9.5 ml - Lactic Acid 88%

Mash - 1.8g - Gypsum (CaSO4)

Sparge - 2.5 ml - Lactic Acid 88%

Sparge - 0.4g - Gypsum (CaSO4)

Target wort pH of 5.3-5.4 
 

Hops/boil: 

28 g each - Bravo, Mosaic, Simcoe Cryo - Whirlpool 
28g each - Bravo, Equanot, Mosaic - Dry hop (3 days) 

Fermentation profile: Cool out to 22°C and pitch 1 homebrew pouch Hydra. Dry hop when it gets to 1.016, and it should drop down to 1.010 or so within 2-3 days. Crash and transfer when it has passed a forced diacetyl test. 

Brewfather link