Back in 2014, our brewer Stu Grant was a lowly (albeit prolific!) homebrewer, cutting his teeth learning the characteristics of different hops. An Aussie hop called Vic Secret had just been released and quickly became a favourite. This decade-long fascination with that hop has culminated in our new flagship IPA, Hush Hush.
A new Tasmanian craft beer is born, Hush Hush IPA:
We've dubbed Hush Hush a "modern IPA" because stylistically it sits somewhere between a hazy IPA and something a little more West Coast. Juicy hop flavours and a soft mouthfeel, but plenty of resiny hop character too and a nice dry finish.
If this sounds like your kind of Tasmanian made craft beer head over to our online store and buy a carton of Hush Hush and share the joy of our latest creation.
All Australian hops:
Like many Australian hops, Vic Secret has an incredibly potent tropical fruit aroma but also an exquisite piney character (think: freshly cut Christmas tree) generally only seen in American hops.
Opening a fresh bag of Vic Secret pellets is one of brewing's little pleasures, but trying to bring exactly that aroma to a beer is one of its greatest challenges.
With Hush Hush, we finally feel like we've managed - at least in part - to capture the passionfruit and pine needle character of Vic Secret in an IPA, and we are very proud to bring that beer to you now!
How we brew Hush Hush IPA at Miners Gold Brewery:
Our brews are made right here in Tassie at the Miners Gold Brewery. We use a simple malt bill of pale malt, oat malt and light crystal malt, and ferment with the characterful Verdant yeast. The way that we've layered the hop additions is a result of many iterations of this recipe over the last 3 years.
It begins with a mash hop addition, which for us adds an earthy bitterness and may unlock some aroma potential. After that, there are no hop additions until the end of the boil, where we quickly cool down the wort before adding a large dose of hops for an aroma steep.
Then there are two dry hop additions: the first during active fermentation when yeast enzymes are able to unlock further aromatics. The second and largest dry hop addition is after fermentation has died down and we've dropped the temperature of the beer. Along with Vic Secret, we use a small amount of another delicious Australian hop, Eclipse, to add a touch of juicy citrus.
MALTS=
Pale malt, oat malt, carapils, light crystal
HOPS=
Vic Secret (80%), Eclipse (20%)
YEAST=
Verdant IPA
OG 1.057, FG 1.012, IBUs 33, ABV 6.0%
Total hops= 14g/L
