Knowledge Is Power is our new beer series to increase flavor intensity and develop and improve the complexity of our beers. We want to translate scientific findings into liquid story experiences you can enjoy.
In Knowledge Is Power #1 we brewed a hazy IPA with coriander seeds. By doing that we want to enhance the hop aroma and add multiple layers to the hop profile of our beer without being dominant in its own aroma. For reasons of comparison we brewed the same IPA without coriander seeds at the same time.
Malts: Pilsner malt, Chit malt
Hop varieties : Citra, Centennial
Specialty: Coriander seeds
We are always on the hunt for findings to improve our beers and our knowledge about it. India Pale Ale became a sort of a synonym for this craft beer movement and this beerstyle experienced a huge alteration over the last decade. , apparently reaching its upper limit in terms of innovation and making new breathtaking experiences. The possibility to communicate with every creative brewery in a global network — besides all the benefits of it — seems to be responsible for an evolving lack of uniqueness due to shared techniques and processes. This is the brewers side. One the other side we see a customer who craves for a certain flavor in a narrow range in his IPAs while demanding for new, innovational creations on a daily basis just to drink it once. From a brewers perspective the availablity of different hop varieties — and therefore different IPAs — is too big to not meet the needs and, simultaneously, the Time-to-Market-Window is too small to be able to work on new and reasonable creations without to be scared to be left behind.
With our Knowledge Is Power-Series we want to reach the next stage, the next level of brewing IPAS to hopefully escape from the hunt of different single brewed IPAs every month . This Knowledge Is Power-Series is not restricted to IPAs only, but for this certain style we have already a lot of different ideas and pre-development-work going on right now.
In the end of the day we want you to be part of this story to be able to gain as much knowledge as possible for all of us!
Our first beer of this series is an IPA brewed with coriander seeds. We think we don’t need to mention that putting coriander seeds into a beer is a worldwide novelty and we are the first ones who come up with this idea. Coriander seeds and brewing beer share an old history with different beer styles like Gose or Witbier which are known for their distinctive flavor profiles generated by the infusion of coriander seeds during the brewing process. And just because of that, we’ve thought that coriander seeds would be the perfect fit for the first edition of this series.
Some of the components (Linalool and Geraniol to be specific) which are responsible for the characteristic aroma of coriander seeds are also found in some of our favorite hops we are using for IPAs.
In this case we want to use the coriander seeds to increase the amount of linalool and geraniol solved in the unfermented wort and finished beer. Also with biotransformation during active fermentation playing its part, higher geraniol-levels means higher beta-citronellol levels in the finished beer.
All three components work well together and seem to have a significant impact on the perception of citrussy and fruity aromas. Increased levels of Linalool, Geraniol and Beta-Citronellol should increase the intensity of these desirable aromas without being just a hoppy witbier. The coriander seeds were infused in the whirlpool at a rate of 0,05 kg per hl.
So our goal is to improve the over all hop profile, creating a greater flavor stability and to gain some complexity without the possible disadvantages of even higher hopping rates to get amped up levels of these three components into the finished product. By saying this, the focus is on the hop profile. We do not want to let the coriander seeds shine. Think about a spice mixture like curry or garam masala, where different ingredients create almost a new unique flavor.
The survey about this series helps us to accumulate a huge amount of impressions and feedback while having fun drinking these beers. It is also to be understood as a part of the naming of this series. A better knowledge of our favorite beverage can only be achieved when we all are able to share our experiences, thoughts and impressions. We welcome you to be part of it!
You will find the QR-Code to this survey on every Knowledge Is Power-Can and every keg has a card with the QR-Code on it as well, in hope to get as much feedback as possible no matter if you are drinking it from the can or draft in your favorite bar. 🙂
Principal literature for this beer: Takoi, Itoga et al. 2010 — The Contribution of Geraniol Metabolism
