Throughout my Hop Therapy series I’ve been experimenting with different adjuncts. I’ve used Wheat Malt, Golden Naked Oats, and Flaked Oats. So I’ve been wondering which one produces the best Session IPA.
Hop Therapy #13 and #14 only differ in one ingredient and were brewed 7 days apart. The difference being #13 used Golden Naked Oats and #14 used Flaked Oats.
Much to my surprise the end product was much more different than I expected.
Unfortunately I didn’t have the forethought to take pics of both that would show the difference. HT13 cleared up completely. Not sure if that was the result of golden naked oats or a process difference. Not that I care about haze, but HT14 stayed hazy until it kicked. Interesting…
Besides appearance most preferred HT13 to H14. I think the body on HT13 was bit more full…. I preferred HT14, but I was in the minority. Either way both beers were decent and I’m not sure this experiment proved anything 🙂
My only conclusion is that a session hazy will be good as long is you use a pale malt for the base and at least two decent hops at flame out / dry hop. Whether you use read/white wheat, flaked oat, golden naked oats or whatever to supplement the malt bill it doesn’t really matter. They all add body and a creamy texture. The star of the show is the hops. Which ever allows the hops to shine the most is the winner in my book.
Next up… HT15 🙂