Special Beer Review: Heady Topper

A friend was out east recently, and brought me back a can of Heady Topper! I've never had this legendary beer before, so I thought I would really slow down and savor the experience by doing a formal tasting. Here it is!

I disobeyed the directions on the can, and poured most of the contents into a glass. I left a bit in the can, though, and talk about the distinctions at the end of the post.

• Appearance
• Hazy light gold beer, with a thick and sticky cream-colored head that leaves some fine lacing on the glass.
• Aroma
• Piney and slightly dank aroma, with a hint of peach/apricot behind it. As the beer settles down, the aroma is milder.
• Flavor
• Definitely hop-forward, with a smooth and well-rounded bitterness that ramps up as I drink it. The hop character is quite resiny and piney. I don't pick up much in the way of other flavors, but that might just be my palate. Malts are in the background; I can't say anything in particular about them.
• Mouthfeel
• The beer has a medium body, with a slick mouthfeel; it really coats the tongue. I'm guessing that must be the hops.
• Overall
• This beer definitely lives up to the hype, although I am curious how I would view it in a blind tasting. The hype is probably part of the experience, and definitely set me up to want to enjoy it. It's interesting reading reviews on Beer Advocate and places like that...there is a very subjective element (I think the technical term is "BS"). Really...passionfruit and cracker alongside 20 other flavors? I suppose...

Is it that different in the glass versus from the can? Not in flavor, certainly. I perceive the aroma as different, but I think that's largely because of the metallic aroma from the can itself. This shifts the overall aroma more towards the citrusy side--very interesting, but definitely not a "real" character of the beer.

Pannotia White IPA

During my European travels last year, I sampled a heavenly brew called Vergött White IPA, brewed by Birrificio Artigianale Lariano of Dolzago, Italy. It was my first time encountering a White IPA, which is essentially a Belgian wit ramped up with hops. In my memory, the brew was crisp, tart, and citrusy--a really fun combination of flavors and aromas. Upon my return to the United States, a little more research turned up additional information on this burgeoning style. I tracked down some bottles of Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA, which was good, but just a little heavier and sweeter than my own tastes and as compared to my memories of the Italian beer. So, I set off to create a new recipe that would bring together the best of all worlds. I have no idea how it will turn out, and I suspect it may get iterated through a few batches.

This was the first batch where I used yeast cultured on my new stir plate. The yeast was culturing for around 24 hours when I pitched it, looking to be at high krausen. Also, it was my first time working with pilsner malt.

Per my usual custom, I am naming this IPA after a supercontinent--Pannotia this time around.

Pannotia White IPA

• 7 lbs. Pilsner (Weyermann) malt
• 3 lbs. white wheat malt
• 1 lb. flaked wheat
• 8.10 g gypsum (added to boil)
• 1.73 oz. whole Cascade hops (first wort hopping and 90 minute boil; 2014 crop, estimated 4.29% alpha acid)
• 1 oz. whole Cascade hops (first wort hopping and 90 minute boil; 2013 crop, estimated 2.61% alpha acid)
• 0.35 oz. bitter orange peel (added for last minute of boil)
• 0.15 oz. coriander seed (lightly crushed, added for last minute of boil)
• 3 oz. Citra hops pellets (added at flame-out; 13.2% alpha, 3.7% beta)
• 1 oz. whole Cascade hops (added at flame-out; 2013 crop, estimated 2.61% alpha acid)
• Belgian Wit ale yeast (WLP400), prepared 24 hours in advance with 1.5 L starter
• 3 oz. Citra hops pellets (14 days dry-hop, 13.2% alpha, 3.7% beta)

Anticipated statistics

• 1.059 o.g., 1.010 f.g., 6.5% abv
• 50.2 IBU
• 3.7 SRM

Procedure

• I mashed in with 3.5 gallons of water at 159°. The mash stabilized at ~147° within 5 minutes, which was a little on the cool side for my taste. So, I added 1 gallon of ~185° water, stirred it a bit, and got the mash  to 151° within a minute. The mash still measured 151° after 10 minutes and 149° after 40 minutes.
• I drained the mash tun, collecting ~3 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.064. The hops were in the kettle starting at this point. Note that I adjusted the alpha acid for the calculations based on the age of the hops, using the hops aging tool in BeerSmith.
• For mash-out, I added 3.5 gallons of water at ~185°.
• All told, I collected 7 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.045. This works out to ~74% efficiency.
• I added the gypsum and brought the wort to a boil. Because I used pilsner malt, which is supposed to have a higher susceptibility to DMS production, I boiled for a total of 90 minutes.
• One minute before flame-out, I added the coriander and bitter orange peel. At flame-out, I added the Citra hops pellets (contained in a mesh bag) as well as the whole Cascade hops.
• I cooled the wort down to ~70°, transfered to the carboy (aerating with the Venturi pump along the way), and pitched the yeast (starter and all).
• This beer was brewed on Monday, April 6, 2015. Starting gravity was 1.057, just a touch below my predicted gravity (1.059). This is likely due to a slightly lower boil-off rate. Total volume was 5.25 gallons. I placed the carboy in my fermenting chamber, and set the temperature controller for 70°.
• In less than 12 hours, the fermentation was proceeding quite vigorously. Score one for using a starter!

Pannotia White IPA at high krausen