Due to the nature of an inefficient 2 vessel system, I usually aim a little higher for gravity in kettle and then dilute a little as I’m transferring to tank. This is a useful trick if you want to consistently hit ABV on a core range beer, but that isn’t really an issue for me anymore.

However, it has an extra bonus (or defect, I guess) of lowering the efficiency of the alpha acid isomerisation, as the higher the sugar density the more difficult it is to convert the hop oils into their more bitter isomer. The reason this is a bonus is because it means more hops need to be used, so all those other flavour components get up, to levels where they are a bit above threshold.

So as I was doing this, I realised that I didn’t really want to add in some water at the end. I wanted a bigger, boozier red for the new year. I thought the yeast I had set aside might struggle a bit with the extra sugar. Looking around, I had some of that Novalager stuff (because of all the other beers this month), and they said it was good for up to 18c, crazy hot for a lager yeast.

I wouldn’t suggest this strategy, but I just wanted to see what would happen. I let them both smash it out at 18c, and to be honest - you couldn’t even tell.

Mosaic and reds are such a fantastic combination. Red ales are the ultimate pairing with barbecued meat, and the citrus, tropical and pine notes of Mosaic just fills in the gaps between the caramel and date/fig character of the malt bill.

This beer has Mosaic t90s at the start of boil and at 10min, Mosaic incognito at flameout, more t90s in the dry hop and then a little terpene at transfer. Not in quantities to overpower, but just enough to give a smooth curve and complexity to the flavour. Complexity is often an issue with these single hop beers, but I think this one stands up to the malt bill very well.

Enjoy.