Homebrew Review - Galaxy

Firstly a big thanks to Scott, who kindly supplied the hops and the recipe for this one, all the way from Oz. Brewed at the beginning of October, the recipe for this one is here.

I split the batch into two and bottled half and stuck the other half in a keg. Gravity was 1.046, slightly under what was expected, but the beer is certainly no worse for it.

It pours a lovely golden colour, with decent carbonation producing a bright white head which laces the glass nicely. It's a cracking looking beer, but it sadly lacks the hop aroma I was expecting. It wasn't dry hopped, but I anticipated more from the good whack of late hops.

Galaxy

Initially, I was underwhelmed with the taste, but in fairness I was drinking the beer quite cold. Having raised the serving temperature a tad, the beer came to life. Even so, it's still a delicate number, no massive hit of peach, passion fruit or mango. More a gentle caress, with sweet herbal notes added in.

The more I drink it, the more I like it. I think my initial problem was that I was expecting something truly hoppy. With the bulk of the hops added from 10 minutes onwards, I guess that was never going to be the case.

As such, the beer makes much more sense as a summer drinker, but for now it gives me a nice low-gravity option over the Porter and IPA that were also recently brewed.

Ultimately it's a good beer, but I also liked the promise of the similar beer I brewed where the Galaxy hop was combined with Nelson Sauvin, although that brew wasn't without it's issues either. I reckon there's a really good beer somewhere between the two, which offers plenty of promise for a summer beer next year.

EDIT: A day after writing this review (of the kegged beer) I sampled one of the bottles. The beer was fresher and more vibrant, for sure. Although still a delicate number, the Galaxy aroma is definitely present in the bottled version and it drinks a nicer beer. I think the co2 in the keg might be responsible for masking a bit of the aroma. 25/11

Brewday - Galaxy 03/10/2013

I hadn't originally planned to be brewing today, but pressure of work means it will be at least another two weeks before I'd get a further opportunity. I can't afford to wait that long as my homebrew stocks are relatively low in terms of what's available to drink.

I usually brew a winter ale at this stage of the season, but as my last two brews, the Porter and the HG Pale Ale, will need a bit of time to mature, I'm in dire need of a small beer that I can get ready quickly to bridge the gap. Looking at the ingredients I have available, I've decided to do another beer using the Galaxy hops my friend in Australia was kind enough to send.

This will effectively be his recipe. A single hop beer, with the majority of the hops added late in the boil. Although it leans more towards being a summer beer, I think a golden, 'easy-drinker' to sit alongside the robust porter and the stronger pale ale sounds exactly what I need at the moment.  The winter ale will have to wait until next time.

To ensure I have sufficient hops to replicate the Australian recipe, I've reduced my batch size for this brew and while the grist isn't exactly as per the original script, I've used what I've got to hand.

Galaxy

Pale Ale

Type: All Grain	Date: 03/10/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 45.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 53.13 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Elite 45L Brew
End of Boil Volume 48.88 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 45.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 76.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7500.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 78.9 % 1400.00 g Caramalt (Thomas Fawcett) (29.6 EBC) Grain 2 14.7 % 330.00 g Maize, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 3.5 % 270.00 g Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC) Grain 4 2.8 % 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 13.9 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 - 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 4.6 IBUs 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.5 IBUs 40.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs 2.0 pkg US West Coast Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M44) Yeast 10 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 21.1 IBUs
Est Color: 12.2 EBC

Looking forward to this one...

Homebrew Review - Galaxy

It's been a while since I reviewed one of my brews and the recipe for this one didn't get posted on the blog. It was brewed at the time I was having Internet problems, hence the omission.

Bottle Conditioned 

I set out to make a low-gravity, hoppy pale ale. The grist consisted of 90% Marris Otter, plus about 5% each of Carahell and Carared, for no other reason than to use up some leftover malt from previous brews.

As for the hops, a friend of mine in Australia was kind enough to send me some Galaxy hops. He also sent me a recipe for a single-hop beer, which will be my next brew. For this one, I used the Galaxy in combination with Nelson Sauvin, with equal additions at 60mins, 20mins, 7mins and at switch-off.

Gravity was 1.042 with Beersmith predicting IBU's at 30. As is my usual M.O. I bottled half the batch and the other went into keg. The keg is long gone.

It pours nice and clear, with a bright white head which soon disipates to a small ring, but does continue to lace the glass. Aroma is what you might expect. Galaxy is known for a 'fruit salad' aroma and that's exactly what's here; pineapple, mango and the like.

Initial taste is similar to the aroma, but the beer soon dries the palate, leaving quite a harsh bitterness. It was always a bitter beer, even from the keg, but as the beer was brewed towards the end of May, this bottle is now past it's best, the beer having dried out significantly (something I've found previously when using US05 yeast).

But overall, it's a promising beer. Very clean, and if overlooking the current dryness, it's a lovely summer quencher. Enough promsie to brew again, although I'd change the yeast and probably rein back the hops a little, to prevent the bitterness from totally dominating this small beer.