The Brew
I’d been curious about Strata for a while but hadn’t used it. Rather than throw it into a blend and lose track of what it was actually contributing, I built a single-hop IPA around it to get a proper read on the variety. One hop, clean grain bill, Pomona to stay out of the way. If I didn’t know what Strata tasted like after this batch, I’d have no excuse.
300g in total, across the boil, a 75°C whirlpool, and a 150g dry hop.
How It Went
Brew Day
Mashed in with 16.5L at 66°C on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4, 60 minutes, mashed out at 76°C, then sparged with 16L at 76°C. The grain bill was Gladfield American Ale as the base (4.2kg), Munich for body and depth (1.2kg), and Supernova for a bit of colour and malt character (0.4kg). Water treated with calcium chloride (4g), Epsom salts (2g), gypsum (1g), and lactic acid (3ml).
Boil ran 75 minutes. Strata at 60, 20, and 10 minutes, then 60g into the whirlpool at 75°C for 20 minutes. The lower whirlpool temp keeps more of the aroma and less of the harsh bitterness, which made sense for a batch built around understanding the hop. Pre-boil 29L, post-boil 25L, 24L into the FermZilla. OG came in at 1.065, on target.
Fermentation
Primary at 18°C. Pomona got going quickly, as it does, and was already easing toward the dry hop window by day three. Triggered the dry hop at 1.018: 150g of Strata, timed to let any remaining activity and hop creep clean up together. Temperature raised to 20.5°C then 22°C for a diacetyl rest and cleanup phase, then crashed to 3°C before transfer.
The Result
Transferred to keg on 14 August, 12 days after brew day, via closed transfer. Keg only on this batch. Carbonation target 2.4 volumes CO₂, carrying over fermentation pressure and conditioning in the keg.
Sampled at packaging. Medium aroma intensity with fruity notes leaning toward berry, and a dank hop character underneath: that combination of pleasant fruit and something a bit more earthy and resinous that I find really appealing. Full malt body, good bitterness, clean and west-coast leaning. No faults. Strata delivered.
Next Time
Running it solo as a reference brew was worth doing. The berry-fruit and dank character came through clearly and I feel like I properly understand what this hop brings now. I’m curious whether pushing the dry hop bigger would amplify the character further, or whether 150g is about right for this format. Pomona at day three on the dry hop keeps working; I’ll keep triggering it by gravity rather than calendar.
