The Brew
Notes from this batch are limited, so what follows is what I recorded and remember from the time.
Earlier in 2023 I brewed the Big O NEIPA, which pushed the grain bill and hop load fairly hard. This was the recalibration: a more balanced approach with a lower overall volume and a dialled-back hop schedule, while still going in with a large dry hop. The varieties changed too, landing on Citra, Riwaka, and Superdelic across the boil and dry hop. The idea was to find a more drinkable middle ground without losing the hazy hop expression. It apparently worked well enough that this approach carried forward into the Summer Light series.
How It Went
Brew Day
Mashed in with 17.5L at 66.6°C on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4, 60 minutes, sparged with 15L at 78°C. The grain bill centred on Gladfield Pilsner (4.7kg) with Munich, Big O Malted Oats, Flaked Wheat, and a small addition of Aurora. Water treated with calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, Epsom salts, and lactic acid.
Boil ran 75 minutes. Moutere went in early for bittering, then Citra, Riwaka, and Superdelic in layered additions at 30 and 10 minutes. After flame-out, a hop-stand at 80°C before chilling. Pre-boil was 29L, post-boil 27L, and 26L made it into the FermZilla. The higher fermenter volume was likely a less vigorous boil on the 35L reducing evaporation. OG came in at 1.062, right on target.
Fermentation
Primary in the FermZilla at 18°C, raised to 20°C once fermentation stabilised.
Day 4, the dry hop went in: 70g each of Citra, Riwaka, and Superdelic, 210g total. The RAPT pill immediately showed what looked like a gravity shift, which was mildly alarming until I worked out what was happening. The hop matter floating on the surface changes the pill’s tilt angle and skews the reading. Once the hops absorb liquid and sink, the reading returns to where it was tracking before. Not a fermentation issue, just something to know when reading the pill during an active dry hop. The beer finished around 1.009.
The Result
Bottled 13 January 2024, 14 days after brew day. Priming was 140g dextrose dissolved in 200ml boiling water, stirred through before bottling and capping. Carbonation target 2.4 volumes CO₂.
Sampled at packaging, so early impressions only. No obvious faults. The hops came through clearly: strong aroma, well-balanced flavour, present and hoppy but not aggressively bitter. Tasting notes from this period are limited; the palate documentation was a work in progress.
Next Time
The RAPT pill dry-hop artefact is worth keeping in mind: wait for the reading to stabilise before acting on any apparent gravity movement when hops are freshly in. Also worth degassing a bit earlier in the process to reduce trub disruption near the end of transfer.