I’m addicted to hops. No seriously, I have a problem. I’m a sucker for finding and trying different varieties. If I’ve never brewed with it, I want to. If it’s some new experimental variety and hard to come by, I need it. Enter Medusa™, the multi-headed neomexicanus hop native to Colorado and New Mexico. Ever since I heard about this ultra rare hop, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. I finally did, hit the link to keep reading!

History

Hop History

I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Neomexicanus hops are a different variety of the plant, Humulus Lupuls, than the one we all know and love. Today’s hops are typically a hybrid of Humulus Lupulus Lupulus and Humulus Lupulus Lupuloides. Neomexicanus is neither, but derived from the same North American Ancestry as Lupulodies. It’s my understanding this hop was found growing wild and hop farmer CLS Farms, took on the project to grow them commercially. They have been largely unavailable as the entire crop(s) were bought up by Sierra Nevada. See this article from fellow blogger and homebrewer, for more history around neomexicanus hops.

My History with Medusa™

I first heard about this hop back in September of 2016 when I got a email newsletter from Northern Brewer (Although, it appears I also got the same email in May of 2015). They were selling the hops excursively in a pre-built cream ale kit. I wasn’t really intrigued in the kit or the cream ale. I really just wanted the hops themselves.

At any rate, I didn’t act quick enough and missed the kit. I read later that they sold out in ~6 hours. The search went on for a few days with no additional hops to be found.

Fast forward to February 28th, 2017. I got a text from my friend and professional brewer that he had just received a 44lb box of Medusa™ hops from BSG CraftBrewing. The hunt was back on. I scoured the internet and thought I had finally hit the jackpot. One online retailer claimed they had them in stock and they were order-able. I proceeded to order a pound. Sadly, the following day I received a cancellation notice and full refund. The hops were not available.

March 15, 2017 was the day I finally struck gold. An email newsletter from my favorite hop supplier, Yakima Valley Hops, arrived in my inbox. They had Medusa™ in stock, in limited quantities. I nearly jumped out of my seat and quickly ordered a pound. The search was over. They arrived just a few days later, ready for my enjoyment.

The Recipe

When I was debating what kind of IPA I wanted to brew with these hops, I had a few tried and true recipes I contemplated using. I knew this was going to be a New England style, so that narrowed it down quite a bit. One receipe, was the ever famous “Northeast” Style IPA over at Homebrew Talk. I have used this grist and hopping schedule various times with Single Hop beers with great success. However, being a neomexicanus hop, I had to stick with a recipe I used on a similar pseudo-neomexicanus single hop beer I brewed almost a year and a half ago. The recipe was created by Ed Coffey in an attempt to clone Tired Hands Hop Hands. Ed typically uses the grist and hopping schedule for other hop experiments, in particular the pseudo-neomexicanus hop I mentioned earlier was none other than HBC-438, aka Ron Mexico. (The link for the HBC-438 recipe is here.)

That beer being one of my favorites that I’ve brewed and the fact I had just received 10lbs of Quaker Quick Oats, it seemed perfect.

Modifications

Just a few minor things.

Added 8oz of White Wheat. I had it on hand and wanted to use it up. It should provide some additional head retention as well.

My hop additions were substantially larger. I feel the larger additions provides the juiciness i’m looking for in this style of beer.

I split my Dry Hop addition in two. The second addition being slightly larger than the first.

My water profile was slightly different. RO water treated to Ca 136 | Mg 13 | Na 0 | SO4 108 | Cl 199. Estimated pH of 5.31

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 6.1 gal 60 min 40.3 IBUs 5.9 SRM 1.064 1.014 6.5 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pale Ale Malt, Northwestern (Great Western) 11 lbs 78.57 Oats, Flaked 2.5 lbs 17.86 Wheat Malt, White (Rahr) 8 oz 3.57 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Nugget 0.8 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 13.5 Medusa 3 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Medusa 3 oz 20 min Steep/Whirlpool Pellet 4.5 Medusa 3 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 4.5 Medusa 4 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 4.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature London Ale III (1318) Wyeast Labs 73% 64°F - 74°F Mash Step Temperature Time Mash In 150°F 60 min Notes Steep/Whirlpool for 20min at 175F. Adjust water profile to Ca 136 | Mg 13 | Na 0 | SO4 108 | Cl 199

Brew Day/Fermentation

As per usual the brew day with the Grainfather was largely uneventful.

I started by preparing my mash and sparge water. The RO water is treated with Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salts in order to reach the desired profile mentioned above. I was shooting for 200:100 Chloride to Sulfate with a mash pH of 5.31.

Next, I mashed in when the Grainfather notified me via the Connect App that it had reached the appropriate temperature. After 60 minutes, I sparged with the treated water and moved onto the boil. One thing I did notice with this large amount of flaked oats in the mash, the sparge took nearly an hour and a half. Rice Hulls or a quick Protein rest in the 113°F-138°F range should help the sparge next time.

The boil was pretty straight forward as well. I added a small first wort charge of Nugget after the sparge was completed. I then added a Whorfloc and Yeast Nutrient with 15 minutes left in the boil. With 5 minutes left in the boil a hefty amount of Medusa was added.

Once the boil was finished, I chilled the wort down to 175°F and tossed in another large charge of Medusa™ and continued to whirlpool for 20 minutes. Once the whirlpool was completed the wort was chilled down to 66°F and sent into a fermenter.

Surprisingly, I nailed my OG. I had been having some problems with larger grain bills on the grainfather, so I was a bit surprised when the refractometer registered 1.064. However, my volume was off. I only had around 5.5 gallons of wort and knowing how large of a dry hop I was going to be adding, I decide to take the OG hit and top up the missing half gallon with untreated RO water. This brought my OG down to 1.060 .

The wort was then aerated with pure O2 for 60 seconds and a pack of London Ale III (1318) was pitched around 66°F. The fermenter was moved to the basement to ferment with an ambient temperature of 66°F.

Fermentation took off and hit high krausen just 24hrs later. The first dry hop charge was added shortly after high krausen, around 48hrs after fermentation started. The second dry hop charge was added 96hrs after the first. Lastly the beer was kegged on 4/10, 10 days after brew day and carbonated. FG was 1.014, 6% ABV.

Tasting Notes

Today is May 1st and I’ve been drinking this beer since about April 13th. (I know, 3 days after kegging) As per usual, the notes below will be based on the glass i’m drinking right now, on May 1st.

Appearance: Pours a hazy orange with a frothy 3/4″ off white head. Head settles to a solid 1/8″ off white film. Plenty of lacing is present as the head settles.

Aroma: Tons and tons of Guava and Apricot.

Flavor: Follows the nose. Huge amounts of juicy guava, apricot and other tropical fruits. Medium to low bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, medium to low carbonation. Soft and silky smooth.

Overall: it’s a fantastic beer. The hop reminds me a lot of the other neomexicanus hop I’ve brewed with, HBC 438. I get nothing but pure guava and various other tropical fruits.

Other Notes

In the short few weeks this beer has been on tap, I’ve consumed tons of it. I absolutely love this beer and this hop. I think my transferring methods could use some work as the beer was much brighter and more intense the first week or so. I recently found out, that since the hop has a super high myrcene content it would likely do better with a lower whirlpool temperature (147°F or lower). This would also aid in keeping those volatile oil’s intact. The one thing I’ve read about this hop and other neomexicanus hops in general is their dankness. I get zero dankness from this hop.

I did send a growler of this to my professional brewer friend and his comment was that it was “Very strawberry forward”. I didn’t get strawberry, but everyone’s pallet is different. He also mentioned, he enjoyed the beer but wasn’t as in love with the hop.

Another friend, who was lucky enough to try the other neomexicanus beer I brewed stopped by to tasted this one. He mentioned it was similar, but different. My assumption was that was due to the same grist being used for both beers. He enjoyed it, but as per usual, was more intrigued with my Dorado XPA.

At the end of the day. The only thing I can think to change, If anything, try a lower whirlpool temperature or split the whirlpool additions in two and do two separate additions. One addition at 172°F and the second at the lower 147°F. Sadly, who knows when i’ll get to try this again. The hops seem to be sold out, yet again.

Thanks for reading, Prost!