Admiral IPA No.4
I've brewed some good Admiral IPA beers in the past; versions one and two were a great success. Unfortunately then came the dreaded infection that ruined version three.
Not one to stay knocked down I've decided to return to this style and brew another IPA showcasing Admiral hops with a couple of others in the mix to play a supporting role.
Starter
My last brew used Brewlab Sussex yeast and I have a jar of overbuilt starter in the fridge that I could have used but I've decided to get another yeast on rotation and this time it's going to be White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast. This one has a reputation both for quality and very high flocculation and I've never used it before so it'll be a new experience for me.
As is always the case I got my starter going on the Tuesday evening before Sunday's brewday. I made it up to 1.5 litres with 0.5 litres being earmarked to be stored in the fridge for next time and the remaining litre to be pitched into the wort on Sunday.
The WLP002 yeast fermented out extremely quickly and appeared to be done after just 24 hours on the stir plate.
WLP002 is famous for clumping up like this when it's done which is certainly a helpful visual aid for working out when it's finished. I gave it an extra 12 hours so after a total of 36 hours I separated off 500ml to keep for the next brew and left a litre in the fridge for the brew on Sunday.
Brew day
The hops that will accompany Admiral this time are Pilgrim and Willamette. The flavour descriptors for Pilgrim include deeply fruity, spicy, yet unusually pleasant lemon/grapefruit aroma with flavour characteristics including verdant berries and pears. This sounds like a good pairing for the orange and tangerine that you get from Admiral.
Willamette is one that I've used many times before and is in fact one of my favourite supporting hops. It has a spicy, herbal subtle flavour that sets off the fruitiness of hops like Admiral really well. It should work well in this brew.
Recipe Specifications
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Date: 23 March 2025
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 12.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 39.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:95 Mg:16 Na:9 SO4:120 Cl:121
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type %/IBU
29.97 L Tesco Ashbeck Water -
3.70 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent -
2.70 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent -
2.50 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent -
1.10 ml Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent -
4.900 kg Crisp Plumage Archer (4.0 EBC) Grain 95.1 %
0.250 kg Extra Light Crystal (100 EBC) Grain 4.9 %
0.80 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.60 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.50 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Sparge) Water Agent -
15.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 19.4 IBUs
15.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7.0 IBUs
15.00 g Pilgrim [8.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5.3 IBUs
15.00 g Willamette [5.10 %] - Boil 10.0 mi Hop 3.1 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining -
20.00 g Admiral [11.60 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 2.2 IBUs
20.00 g Pilgrim [8.80 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 1.7 IBUs
20.00 g Willamette [5.10 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 1.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.150 kg
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 24.97 L of water at 71 C 67.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5.00 L water at 75.6 C
Brew day went off as planned with no unexpected hitches and I managed to collect the expected 24 litres of wort into the fermenter after chilling down to 22C with my immersion chiller in about 10 minutes.
I was happy to see that the OG was exactly 1.047 as planned. WLP002 has a reputation for not attenuating as much as other yeasts so I added a couple of points on to my normal recipe to cater for this.
I was able to pitch the yeast immediately and the fermenter is now in the brew fridge set at a constant 20C for the next couple of weeks.
Kegging day
I left this one in the keg for three weeks and then kegged it. The final gravity was 1.010, giving an ABV of 4.9%. Given that my usual FG for all yeasts is in the 1.005 to 1.007 range I can confirm that WLP002 finishes slightly higher, which is consistent with its reputation.
I'm much happer with the appearance of this one in the sample jar. It is just as clear as I was getting before my clarity problems started happening and lends weight to my theory that last time it was the yeast that was the issue.
I now have sample jars of both Brewlab Sussex and WLP002 in the fridge and I think that I'll be sticking with WLP002 and ditching the Sussex yeast for my next half dozen or so beers.