Crux Australis

This American wheat beer with hops from down under is a near-perfect summertime beer!

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)

OG: 1.049

FG: 1.012

IBUS: 18

ABV: 4.9%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

4.5 lb (2 kg) American 2-row malt 4.5 lb (2 kg) Wheat malt

8 oz (227 g) rice hulls (if you’re prone to stuck mashes/sparges)

HOPS SCHEDULE

1 oz (28 g) Sorachi Ace [14% AA] at 5 minutes 1 oz (28 g) Motueka [7% AA] at 5 minutes

YEAST

Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) Yeast

DIRECTIONS

Mill the grains and mix with 2.8 gallons

(10.7 l) of 163°F (73°C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge the grains with 4.4 gallons

(16.8 l) and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 l) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, following the hops schedule.

After the boil, chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 60°F (16°C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast.

Ferment at 60°F (16°C) for 2–3 weeks. Upon completion of fermentation, crash the beer to 35°F (2°C), then bottle or keg and carbonate to approximately 2 volumes.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

I thoroughly appreciate the irony of using New Zealand/australian hops in what is ostensibly an American beer, but the flavor fit is just too good to ignore. You’re aiming for a clean, grainy background flavor overlaid with the bright citrus flavors of the hops in a clean fermentation profile. Don’t get too cute with the grist and don’t feel any need to rush the fermentation.