This is a new recipe that I've been wanting to work on. I had a guava IPA in Chicago a few years ago, $18 for a 22 ounce bottle. I had two, they were that good. For this first attempt, I wanted to make sure there was enough malt backbone for the fruity flavors of the Citra hops and the guava, so I used some Munich malt. I also added a little Crystal malt to make sure there was some residual sweetness, which should help promote the guava. Wheat for head retention, of course.
The guava is actually a guava paste I found on Amazon. It's from Brazil, and comes in 1 kg blocks. The Brazilian name is "goiabada", and is actually a popular dessert there. In English speaking countries, it's also known as "guava cheese". The ingredients are just guava and sugar. It's pretty tasty as is. I thought it would be like honey, something to add at the end of the boil, but it didn't actually melt in a couple of quarts of hot wort. I put it in a blender with some hot wort and blended until smooth. I poured it back into the boil kettle through a strainer, but all I got was a few hops and a couple of pea-sized pieces of guava. Having never used guava paste before, this batch is really an experiment to see how it works. Pure guava nectar is almost impossible to find.
This is a 5 gallon batch.
Other notes --
I had meant to use Crystal 60, but I was out, so I used Crystal 10 instead.
Only Citra hops in this. As far as I can tell, that's all that the brewery in Chicago used in theirs. It's a real fruity smelling hop, so it should compliment the guava nicely.
The 158F mash temp is again to retain some residual sweetness. Hopefully, not too sweet.
Actual OG was 1.070.
| Batch Size | 5.576 gal | Boil Size | 8.076 gal |
| Boil Time | 90.000 min | Efficiency | 70% |
| OG | 1.071 | FG | 1.019 |
| ABV | 6.9% | Bitterness | 74.8 IBU (Tinseth) |
| Color | 8.3 srm (Morey) | Calories (per 12 oz.) | 237 |
Fermentables
Total grain: 18.000 lb
| Name | Type | Amount | Mashed | Late | Yield | Color |
|---|
| Pale Malt (2 Row) US | Grain | 11.500 lb | Yes | No | 79% | 2.0 srm |
| Munich Malt - 10L | Grain | 3.500 lb | Yes | No | 77% | 10.0 srm |
| Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L | Grain | 1.000 lb | Yes | No | 75% | 10.0 srm |
| Guava paste | Sugar | 1.000 lb | No | Yes | 82% | 10.0 srm |
| White Wheat Malt | Grain | 1.000 lb | Yes | No | 86% | 2.0 srm |
Hops
| Name | Alpha | Amount | Use | Time | Form | IBU |
|---|
| Citra | 13.8% | 1.000 oz | First Wort | 90.000 min | Leaf | 32.1 |
| Citra | 13.8% | 1.000 oz | Boil | 60.000 min | Leaf | 27.3 |
| Citra | 13.8% | 1.000 oz | Boil | 10.000 min | Leaf | 9.9 |
| Citra | 13.8% | 1.000 oz | Boil | 5.000 min | Leaf | 5.4 |
Misc
| Name | Type | Use | Amount | Time |
|---|
| Irish Moss | Fining | Boil | 1.000 tsp | 15.000 min |
Yeast
| Name | Type | Form | Amount | Stage |
|---|
| Wyeast - American Ale II | Ale | Liquid | 0.528 cup | Primary |
Mash
| Name | Type | Amount | Temp | Target Temp | Time |
|---|
| Conversion Step, 68C | Infusion | 5.313 gal | 177.268 F | 158.000 F | 60.000 min |
| Final Batch Sparge | Infusion | 4.897 gal | 186.363 F | 165.200 F | 15.000 min |
Notes
Guava paste didn't dissolve in hot wort, so put it in the blender with some hot wort until it was smooth. Poured it back into the boil kettle through a strainer, only caught some hops and a couple of pea sized pieces of guava paste.
Dry hop with 1 oz Citra in secondary.
Updates:
April 10, really violent fermentation! It's not often that I get a blow off with a 6.5 gallon fermenter.
April 11, fermentation has slowed, but is still quite active. I tasted a small sample, it's still somewhat sweet, but the guava and the hops seem to be in a nice balance.
April 20, finally down to 1.016, so kegged it. I think some adjustments are in order:
- Bump up the Munich. There isn't enough malt backbone.
- Bump up the guava. There is some guava flavor, but not quite enough.
- Replace the 60 minute Citra with Magnum, and increase the amount. It's not quite bitter enough to offset the sweetness.
- Drop the crystal. I don't think it needs the added sweetness.
- Maybe go with London Ale III instead of American Ale II? I don't think the fruitiness from the American Ale II is needed, the London Ale yeast is more neutral flavored.
