Brewing Pliny the Elder style West Coast IPA and 4 Bitterness Factors

[@pourliver]

Will definitely give this one a try! Being from Canada, I couldn't bring back a lot of US (Vermont) beers back home and haven't had the chance to try a Pliny the Elder. Been trying a few home made West coast, and the bitterness have been lacking, thanks for the pointers!

[@secretlevel5951]

Thank you! I'm a big fan of Heady as well, that one is on the to-brew list for sure.

[@ElementaryBrewingCo]

Great looking beer!!! Just found your channel, keep it up! Love the content, cheers 🍻

[@secretlevel5951]

Thank you! Your vids have been a big inspiration.

[@TheVindalloo]

Looks fantastic. Do you have any advice on lowering PH after fermentaion is done? My Imperial Brown is too high and I think its affecting the flavour.

[@secretlevel5951]

I mostly lower it for hoppy beers are the dry hops tend to raise it when added in higher volumes... I'm not too sure if you're going to achieve the same effect in a brown, but if you share the recipe and your tasting notes I'm always happy to provide some feedback!

[@TheVindalloo]

@@secretlevel5951 The beer is still carbonating in my fermzilla. My first taste was maybe a bit premature. First chocolate and caramel then bitter and a stringent. Could have been a bit early, I'm terribly inpatient. Can't post recipe link in comment, YT doesn't allow it

[@andrewbarker1190]

With the massive dry hops, what sort of package volume are you getting? I know you said your initial volume was a gallon out...but what's the fermentor batch volume and the resulting keg volume? Do you dry hop loose?

[@secretlevel5951]

I haven't kept track of exact volume, but I usually get 5.25 gallons when I start with 6. However, that's counting the yeast, trub, and 10-13oz of hops. The hops really compact down after you cold crash and only take away a few pints... If I can lose a pint of beer and make the flavor explosive vs mediocre, then by all means I'm doing it! Yes - I dry hop loose, then just use a floating dip tube.

[@andrewbarker1190]

@@secretlevel5951 there are times, with Verdant and dry hops where I have 5L of trub. So just a couple of pints is really good.

[@billnova1]

I’ve been thinking about lowering my ph to 5.0 also how did you calculate 2ml to get you there ? Thanks

[@secretlevel5951]

Definitely give it a shot. I used Brewfather to calculate how much extra lactic acid it'd take to bring my mash to 5.0 instead of 5.3.

[@Invalido99]

What kind of fermenter is that?

[@secretlevel5951]

It's a Fermonster! But I drilled holes in the lid to convert it to be able to handle a little bit of pressure for closed transfers. Check it out: www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/turning-your-fermonster-into-a-complete-closed-transfer-system-for-cheap.680992/

[@Invalido99]

@@secretlevel5951 cool, great idea. Bit how do you use it during fermentation? Do you still have an airlock that fits on the quick disconnects or do you have a spunding valve?

[@secretlevel5951]

@@Invalido99 it's actually way simpler than you think! I just hook up a gas disconnect with a small blow-off tube into sanitizer. It's pretty similar to fermenting in corny kegs.

[@Invalido99]

​@@secretlevel5951 did you go for the 7 gallon fermonster or should the 6 gallon one be sufficient?

[@secretlevel5951]

@@Invalido99 I used the 7 gal since I brew 3-5 gal batches, but I think the lids are all the same so you can go with 6 gallon version if you want! Might be tight on headspace for 5 gal batches though.