Monch is a New Zealand Pale Ale designed to highlight the unique flavour and terroir of New Zealand Grown hops. Brewed with Canada Malting Superior Pilsen and White Wheat malts, we created a light, soft base to really showcase the hops. We used a thiolized lager strain from Omega yeast called Lunar Crush to unlock these sulphur compounds called thiols that are one of the key aspects of New Zealand White Wines and Hops. The added benefits from having a larger quantity of thiols in the beer is that the shelf life is extended by a significant margin.

We sourced all of our hops from NZ Hops through their Canadian distributor Charles Faram Canada. We used three hop varieties using techniques both old and new to provide unique and desired contributions. In the boil we used a large quantity of Wai-iti hops. This hop variety is a descendant of Hallertau Mittelfrüeh and is incredibly low in alpha acids. Using a technique found commonly in Czech Pale Lagers, we dosed a large quantity of this low alpha hop variety at the start of our boil to contribute a delicate but rounded bitterness. Our target was around 15 IBU. We then added another large addition into the whirlpool to showcase the unique aromatic profile of this hop, commonly described as stone fruit.

Fermentation was conducted at the upper range of temperature for Lunar Crush and proceeded without much delay. We used ALDC to ensure that our product was free from diacetyl and that we could stick to our dry hopping schedule without any hindrance. Once we reached terminal gravity, we dry hopped with a unique New Zealand hop called Moutere (pronounced moo-te-ree). This was a hop variety we had conducted tests with previously that we knew provided hints of mango and really complimented thiols. After two days, we cooled the beer to 8c and conducted the second dry hop, this time with the iconic New Zealand varietal, Nelson Sauvin. From our experiences, Nelson Sauvin walks that fine line of gooseberry-grapefruit and diesel. The NZ Hops Nelson Sauvin however, stayed on our preferred side of that spectrum – the fruity one. A few days later, the beer was cooled to 0c and transferred to brite awaiting packaging.

We are thrilled with the overall result of this beer. The Nelson Sauvin was the cherry on top when it comes to our flavour profile. The aromatics are that of a crazy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc but with an absolute truckload of other fruit. The beer is dry with a delicate bitterness and ultimately, it’s incredibly sessionable.

Details:

• Mash

  • Malts

    • 400kg Canada Malting Superior Pilsen (lot ID 75678)

    • 100kg Canada Malting White Wheat Malt (lot ID 75674)

    • 25kg Great Western Malting Dextrapils (lot ID 100785)

  • Salts

    • 500g Calcium chloride

    • 250g Calcium sulphate

    • 100g Magnesium sulphate

  • Other

    • 400mL Lactic Acid 88%

• Kettle

  • Salts

    • 100g Sodium chloride

  • Other

    • 200mL Lactic Acid 88%

    • 70g Yeast Nutrient

    • 120g Whirlfloc

  • Hops

    • 5kg NZ Hops CY22 Wai-iti at start of boil (lot ID 22109-1)

    • 5kg NZ Hops CY22 Wai-iti at start of Whirlpool (lot ID 22109-1)

• Brew Process

  • We utilized a single infusion mash with a target rest temperature of 64C. We used 19.7hL of water in the mash and hit 64.8C. After 30 minutes, we raised the mash to 72C before resting for 5 minutes prior to vorlauf. Our mash pH during this was 5.38.

  • Our first runnings were 16.5P, slightly above our target of 16P. We sparged with 15hL of 80C water. Our last runnings were at 3P right at our cut-off.

  • At kettle full we were at our target pH pf 5.40 and above gravity at 11.2P (target 10.5P). Our volume at this point was 28hL We then added our lactic acid and salt additions to bring our boil pH to where we wanted to start at, sub 5.20. Once our boil officially started, we added our first hop addition, starting a 60 minute countdown.

  • At the 15 minutes remaining mark, we added our yeast nutrient and whirlfloc, careful not to cause a boil over. At the end of the boil we were at 27hL and well above gravity (11.9P). We diluted by adding 2hL of HLT water to bring our volume up to 29hL as we started the whirlpool. We then added our second hop addition.

  • After a 10 minute whirlpool and a 15 minute rest, we began our cast out, targeting 14C. However our ground water was incredibly warm and could not get below 22C.

  • Our cast out stats were 11.2P (target 11P), 5.23 pH (target 5.15 pH), 22C (target 14C).

• Cold Side

  • Ingredients

    • Lunar Crush - Propped in fermenter by side-streaming wort from a previous batch of beer.

    • ALDC (alpha acetolactate decarboxylase) - enzyme that converts diacetyl pre-cursors.

    • 10kg NZ Hops CY22 Moutere (lot ID 22445-1)

    • 10kg NZ Hops CY22 Nelson Sauvin (lot ID 22042-1)

    • Citric Acid

  • Fermentation Process

    • Despite the warm cast out temperature, we continued along, adding 50mL of ALDC during cast out directly into the fermenter within the first 5hL.