Super Sesh Bros

Beer of the Month Program

May 2019  – Super Sesh Bros

One of the best parts about making beer (aside from drinking it) is the social aspect. Brewers love to swap recipes, discuss what well or horribly wrong in their brews. We thought it would be a fun idea to start a beer conversation here. We’re going to make a beer every month here and encourage other brewers to make it as well. In the end, we’re hoping we can share our opinions and experiences with the recipe and crowd-source some improvements. The recipes will be easy to make and we will gladly assist new home brewers in the production of these beers. They will all be 5.5 gallons in size. We find that after fermenting and racking a 5.5 gallon batch turns into a standard 5 gallon batch pretty quickly.

At the start of every month we will post the recipe in store, as well as on our website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We will also have a set price for the recipe that will include a discount of up to 25%!

Super Sesh Bros

Pale Ale – 5.5 Gal – OG 1.041 – FG 1.002 – ABV 4.7% – IBU 18 – SRM 2.5

Ever since our first version of Super Sesh was released in January 2019 we have been hard at work iterating on this simple, but delicious recipe. Batch after batch was attempted, enjoyed, and then improved upon. We took meticulous notes and studied hard. Ultimately, we came up with a triumvirate of beers for the month of May. Yes, we simply could not decide which version of Super Sesh 4.0 we liked best, so we decided to do them all. What we have here are three beers that have the same grain bill, the same yeast, and the same boiling hops. What is distinct about each of these beers is the dry hop. These beers have double the dry hops from the original Super Sesh. The extra dry hops give the beer more aroma and flavour without adding any bitterness.

Each of these beers, while similar in construction, taste quite different from each other. The Simcoe version (Connor’s favourite) really pumps up the grapefruit aroma and flavours. It’s crisp and well balanced. The Citra version packs a … citrus punch. Lastly, the Mosaic batch has big notes of dankness, along with tropical fruit and bubble gum. It also has a slightly, marijuana-ey aroma to it – that’s probably why its Devon’s favourite!

Just like the original Super Sesh, this beer is low carb and great for all the dad bods out there. Once again, we want our brewers to utilize the Amylo 300 to allow the fermentation to finish at a nice low SG.

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Ingredients (All available at our shop)

Grains

• 2 Row x 7.0lbs
• Flaked Rice x 1.5lbs
• Carahell x 0.2lbs
• Acidulated x 0.2lbs

Boiling Hops

• Simcoe (13% A.A.) 1oz @ 10 min

Dry Hops

• Simcoe or Mosaic or Citra 2oz @ start of fermentation
• Simcoe or Mosaic or Citra 2oz @ 3 days into fermentation

Yeast

• S-04

Extras

• Irish Moss (1 tsp for last 15 minutes of boil)
• Dry Malt Extract (0.4 cup for priming at bottling)
• Amylo 300 (3ml or 1/10th oz at fermentation)

Important Tips on Brewing

• For this kind of hoppy beer, we like to add ½ tsp to gypsum to the mash water (only if using Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener, or Waterloo tap water)
• Be extra cautious when it comes to cleaning! Once you have stopped boiling your wort everything that gets in contact with the beer MUST be sanitary.
• The temperature of your mash is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. Not being in the 146-155f range can drastically affect your beer. Make sure you correct the temperature ASAP once all of the grain has been added to the mash.
• Oxidization: Airspace is always something to consider. When undergoing primary fermentation airspace is needed so that the beer can bubble up and ferment vigoursley without leaking out of the container. The fermentation creates a layer of CO2 that remains in the pail due to the airlock. Once primary fermentation is over and the lid has been opened, the layer of CO2 dissipates and oxygen replaces it. At this point airspace can ruin your beer.
• Before bottling, make sure you use a priming calculator (many can be found online) to verify the amount of sugar that needs to be added.

Instructions

Mashing -> converting the grain into a fermentable liquid.

• Bring 6 gallons of water in your brew pot to 155°F. This is our strike temperature. Turn off the heat to the pot.
  1. If you’re using Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, or Cambridge water – we recommend adding ½ tsp of gypsum to the water. Gypsum really brings out the hop aroma, especially with the kind of water we have in our region. Simply just add the ½ tsp and stir it in.
• Wrap the muslin/nylon bag around the brew pot and slowly pour all the milled grains into the bag. Stir them in while adding to prevent clumps. The addition of grain should drop the temperature down to 150-155°F.
• We want to mash the grain at 153°F for 60 minutes. It is very important to hold the temperature at 153°F. If the temperature rises above 155°F it hurts the fermentation, or if it dips below 149°F it can lead to a thinner tasting beer.
  1. The first 15-30 minutes are essential for the success of your brew. The temperature HAS TO BE IN THE RANGE OF 150-155°F. Sometimes adding the grain to the strike water does not lower the temperature enough, in this case add a little bit of cold water to bring the temperature down. Cover the pot with your lid and let it sit.
  2. Most brew pots will be able to maintain 153°F without adding heat for 20 minutes, we recommend checking the temperature every 15 minutes, and if it drops add more heat to bring it up. We recommend opening the lid and using a thermometer in the liquid.
• After 60 minutes, bring the temperature of the mashing grain up to 170°F and hold for 10 minutes. This is our mash out.
• Time to remove the grain. Lift the bag full of grain out of the brew pot. Let the liquid in the bag dribble into your wort. Once that is done, put the bag inside of a brewing pail, or another empty pot. There will be about 4 gallons of wort in the brewpot, we need to get it to 6 gallons before we can begin the next stage.
• Run warm water through the grains in the bag, aim for 170°f – let it run through the grains and add to the brewpot. Add until you reach 6 gallons.
  1. PSA: It is natural to think that the grains need to be squeezed to get all of the liquid out of them, DO NOT DO THIS. Aggressively squeezing the grains will lead to tannin extraction and a doughy taste in your beer. Lightly pressing the bag is fine, but do not try to squeeze every last drop out.

Boiling -> Hop addition time

• Bring 6 gallons of your wort to a rolling boil, set a timer for 60 minutes, continue to keep the wort boiling (212°f) and uncovered. There won’t be any hop additions until near the end, so relax and have a beer while it cooks.
• With 15 minutes left in the 60 minutes add the Irish Moss. If you’re using an immersion wort chiller, add that too.
• With 10 minutes left in the boil add the 1oz of Simcoe.
• When the timer goes off, take the pot off of heat.
• Now it’s time to cool the beer down to 75°f (20-25°c) as quickly as possible.
  1. We love using a wort chiller for this, it can get the beer down to temperature in 20-30 minutes. Otherwise, you can immerse the brew pot in an ice bath or wait it out. The longer it takes, the greater the risk of infection

Fermentation -> Turning the wort into beer

• After the boil is done it is time to be extra careful in regard to sanitation. We recommend using a no-rinse sanitizer called Starsan. Mix ¼ tsp of it with water in a 500ml spray bottle. Before we touch any part of the beer we spray it with Starsan.
• Transfer the cooled wort into your fermenting pail or carboy. Run it though a strainer to catch any hop or grain residue.
  1. It is also an important time to take a hydrometer reading. It should be around 1.041 give or take a few points.
• Your choice of fermentation vessel is important. During primary fermentation, it will bubble up quite a bit, you want to be sure there is airspace for it to work away. Otherwise the pressure of it will push out the airlock.
• Make sure the wort has been cooled to at least 25c!!! Adding yeast at a higher temperature will likely kill it.
• Once the beer is in the fermenter, add the S-04 yeast, and 3ml of Amylo 300 (1/10^th of a 1oz shot glass), and 2oz of your chosen dry hop (your choice of Citra, Mosaic, or Simcoe) Ferment at 18-21°c.
• After 3 days of fermentation, it is time to add the second round of dry hops. Remove the rubber bung of your fermentation vessel and pour in two ounces of your chosen dry hop (Citra, Mosaic, or Simcoe). Let the beer ferment for another week.
• Once the 10 days are up, it’s time to take a hydrometer measurement. It should read 1.004 give or take a couple of points. (We’ve consistently hit a final gravity of 1.000 for our Super Sesh Bros.) It is now time for the next step.
• Lately, we have been of the opinion that racking into a carboy is a largely superfluous step. Especially for a beer like this, with lots of big hop aroma and flavour – it is best to get this in the bottle early. So, after 10 days of fermentation, it is time to proceed to the bottling step.

Bottling -> We’re getting close to Beer Time now.

• It’s now been 10 days since we first started brewing. Rack the now fermented beer into a bucket.
• At the same time, mix the priming sugar with 300ml of boiling water and add to the beer. Stir it in VERY gently.
• Rack the beer into your bottles or growlers. Then, let them sit for 2 weeks at room temperature. Chill and enjoy!