Summer Light

Summer Light — a lower-gravity IPA built around a Light Lager/American Ale base with a four-variety NZ hop set. The first full pressure-carbonation workflow test using LalBrew New England East Coast Ale, documenting the counter-pressure filler operation under a real brew condition.

Grain Bill

Three malts totalling 6.0 kg: Gladfield Light Lager (46.7%) and American Ale (43.3%) split roughly 50/50 for a clean, highly fermentable base at a lower colour; Gladfield Golden Oat (10.0%) adds body, head retention, and a subtle oat smoothness. The Light Lager dominant base keeps the colour pale and the malt character neutral, letting the hop set carry the beer.

Hops

Four NZ varieties across nine additions, 270 g total:

• Nelson Sauvin (60 g): 10 g at 60 min + 50 g dry hop — white wine, gooseberry, tropical
• Nectaron (100 g): 10 g at 60 min, 40 g at 30 min + 50 g dry hop — pineapple, passionfruit
• Motueka (60 g): 10 g at 10 min + 50 g dry hop — lime, tropical
• Riwaka (50 g): 30 g at 10 min, 20 g whirlpool + 50 g dry hop — passionfruit, citrus

Equal 50 g dry hops across all four varieties at day 4, total 200 g dry hop. The combination builds a layered tropical-citrus aroma with distinctive NZ character from each variety.

Fermentation

LalBrew New England East Coast Ale at 20°C in the FermZilla. A temperature-controller error cooled the fermenter to 12°C before catching and resetting to 20°C — a lesson about preset checks before pitch. Dry hop added day 4, spunding valve closed, temperature raised to 21–22°C rest. Cooled to 1°C and gas-assisted carbonation before bottling.

Packaging & Tasting

Bottled 2024-03-08. Tasted at bottling: very tasty with strong aroma and a balanced hop profile. A possible sanitizer note when very fresh; counter-pressure filler operation improving with stable outlet-valve control. First successful full pressure-carbonation bottling.