Marchfest Vortex Riff

Yet another riff on the Vortex but pretty far from the original with a different grain bill, different hops and different yeast! Picked some fresh hops just before brewing. Came to just over 400g, I’ve divided by 5 for dry equivalent but these were already quite dry as late season hops so that should be conservative. I also chopped them with scissors to make the lupulin more accessible and hopefully enhance the hoppiness. Add them all over the last 5 minutes of the boil. Did a 25 minute hops stand with the post boil pellet hops added also. Didn’t do any chill before hops stand so may get a bit more bitterness than the numbers indicate.

For pellet hops I went with Pacific Gem for bittering, Necteron and The Bruce (a blend of Nelson Sauvin, early-season Motueka, late-season Pacifica, and mid-season Pacific Jade.)

I went with Kveik yeast to handle the warmer than usual pitching temp.

Brew date: 28th March 2026
strike water: 20L @ 73°
mash start: ~ 68°
sparge water: 12L @ 80°
water additions added to sparge water – gypsum, CaCl
koppafloc @ 15 mins
30 min boil
Gravity after mash: 9.2 Brix = 1.037
Hops stand –25 mins starting at 98° going down to 73°
OG: 10.4 Brix = 1.042
Chilled wort to 22.5° and pitched yeast dry

Fermentation active next morning.

Fermented @20°,  15-20psi during peak fermentation
Bumped up to 26° around day 5
Dry hopped: day 6, re-pressurised to 15 psi

Started Cold Crash: day 12
Kegged: 11th April (day 14)

FG: 1.010

Style Information

Name: Extra Pale Ale
Recipe Type: All Grain

Grains & Extracts

Name Amount Notes
Pilsner 3 kg
Gladfield Munich Malt 0.55 kg
Wheat Malt 0.45 kg
Gladfield Toffee Malt 0.4 kg
Gladfield Gladiator (Dextrine) 0.3 kg
Gladfield Sour Grapes 0.3 kg

Hops

Name Amount Alpha Acid % AAU Time Notes
Pacific Gem 0.025 kg 13.7% 0.3425 30
Nectaron 0.01 kg 12.3% 0.123 5
The Bruce blend 0.01 kg 9.6% 0.096 5
Nelson Sauvin 0.08 kg 11.5% 0.92 2.5
Nectaron 0.04 kg 12.3% 0.492 0
The Bruce blend 0.04 kg 9.6% 0.384 0
Nectaron 0.05 kg 12.3% 0.615 0
The Bruce blend 0.05 kg 9.6% 0.48 0

Adjuncts

Name Type Use Amount Time Notes
Calcium Chloride Water Agent Boil 0.0033 kg 0
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) Water Agent Boil 0.0063 kg 0
Lactic Acid Water Agent Boil 0 kg 0

Yeasts

Name Amount Notes
Lallemand LalBrew Voss Kveik Ale

Mash Steps

Name Step Type Step Time Temperature
Saccharification Rest Infusion 45 68 C

Boil

Amount: 24.15 liters
Water Description:
Time: 30 minutes
Target Batch Size: 23 liters

Profile

Estimated OG: 1.050
Estimated FG: 1.013
Estimated ABV: 4.80%
 
Actual OG: 1.042
Actual FG: 1.010
Actual ABV: 4.20%
 

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