Author: Matt Waldron

Currently recognized as one of the most popular hops to come out of Australia, Galaxy is lauded for the strong passionfruit, peach, and citrus character it imparts in beer, which has landed on the favorites list of professional and homebrewers around the world. Unfortunately, Galaxy can a difficult variety to for a brewer to get their hands on, as it is currently only grown in Australia.

Alpha: 12 – 16%

Beta: 5 – 7%

CoH: 32 – 42% of alpha acids

Oil: 3 – 5 ml/100g

Myrcene: 33 – 69%

Humulene: 1 – 2%

Caryophyllene: 7 – 9%

Farnesene: 2 – 4%

Linalool: 0.2 – 0.6%

Geraniol: 0 – 0%

ß-Pinene: 0.6 – 0.9%

Parentage: male Perle crossed with female tetraploid (J78)

Given the growing love for Galaxy hops, I was pretty excited to use them in them single hop beer and how it was received by blind tasters.

| MAKING THE BEER |

To make sure the hop character would shine, I brewed a basic American Pale Ale recipe using only 2 base malts with multiple additions of Galaxy then fermented it with a clean ale yeast.

Galaxy Pale Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 87.4 IBUs 3.5 SRM 1.052 1.009 5.7 % Actuals 1.052 1.015 4.9 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pilsner (2 row) (Gambrinus) 6 lbs 54.55 Pale Malt, Maris Otter 4 lbs 36.36 Carapils (Briess) 1 lbs 9.09 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Galaxy 28 g 60 min First Wort Pellet 16.8 Galaxy 14 g 10 min Boil Pellet 16.8 Galaxy 14 g 5 min Boil Pellet 16.8 Galaxy 60 g 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 16.8 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

I began my brew day by collecting the full volume of water and getting it on the stove to heat to my target strike temperature, during which I measured out and milled the grain.

Once the water was to the right temperature, I transferred it to my cooler MLT then stirred in the grains to hit my intended mash temperature.

I returned a couple times during the 60 minute rest to give the mash a good stir.

This batch would be my first using a Chapman UniVessel Brew Tank, a convenient piece of equipment that serves as both a boil kettle and fermentation vessel. Once the mash rest was complete, I began collecting the proper volume of sweet wort.

I then placed the UniVessel on my stove and quickly brought it to a rolling boil with hops added at the times listed in the recipe over the course of an hour.

When the boil was finished, I performed a 15 minute hop stand before chilling the wort to a few degrees warmer than my current groundwater temperature.

A hydrometer reading revealed I nailed my target 1.052 OG.

The wort was still warmer than I prefer, so I sealed the UniVessel and moved it into my cool chamber where it would remain overnight to finish chilling. The following day, I pitched the yeast.

I noticed vigorous activity in the airlock that evening indicating fermentation had kicked off. By the following week, activity had slowed down, so I took an initial hydrometer reading indicating a 1.015 FG. This seemed a bit high to me, so I let it sit another 3 days and checked again– still at 1.015 FG. Not sure what happened, but the beer looked and tasted fine, so I cold crashed, fined with gelatin, and got it kegged up.

After a period of burst carbonation followed by a few days in my keezer at serving pressure, the beer was clear, carbonated and ready for serving!

| METHOD |

Participants were instructed to focus only on the aromatic qualities of the beer before evaluating the flavor. For each aroma and flavor descriptor, tasters were asked to write-in the perceived strength of that particular characteristic on a 0-9 scale where a rating of 0 meant they did not perceive the character at all while a 9 rating meant the character was extremely strong. Once the data was collected, the average rating of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled and analyzed.

| RESULTS |

A total of 20 people participated in the evaluation of this beer, all blind to the hop variety used until after they completed the survey. The average aroma and flavor ratings for each descriptor were plotted on a radar graph.

Average Ratings of Aroma and Flavor Perceptions

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being most prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Citrus Citrus Tropical Fruit Tropical Fruit Stone Fruit Floral

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Onion/Garlic Berry Spicy/Herbal Onion/Garlic Berry Spicy/Herbal

When asked to rate the pungency/strength of the hop, the majority of tasters perceived it as being quite strong.

Tasters were then instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

Finally, participants were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the hop character on a 1 to 10 scale.

My Impressions: Southern Hemisphere aroma hops have a special place in my heart and I was very eager to see how my hop-focused recipe would display this legendary lupulin champion from down under. I was not disappointed! The brew screamed hop character, possibly a bit much for sensitive palates, but perfect for mine. The booming tropical fruit and citrus notes jumped out to the nose and followed through in the flavor. Hints of resin with a touch of catty dankness blended in well, but I perceived a grassy note in the nose and aftertaste as well. If I were making this for show, I’d keep the charmingly simple but supportive Maris Otter and Pilsner grist, but use a cleaner bittering hop while saving the Galaxy for late boil and dry hop additions.

| CONCLUSION |

Based on reactions to this hop from participants in this trial, I’d have to say that Galaxy comes as advertised, living up to its reputation for being a big fruit bomb. Notes of citrus, passion fruit, peach, and mango dominate the senses like a basket of ripe fruit at home but spirited by the glass from a strange, far away land. While I get the feeling Galaxy isn’t the cleanest of bittering hops, I would not worry too much about using it in a pinch. Overal, this beer was a crowd-pleaser with a character that’s right along the lines of other modern hops such as Citra and Mosaic. Big, bold, and uniquely flavorful, Galaxy is sure to appeal to a large range of the drinking audience.

If you’ve used Galaxy hops, we’d love to hear from you, please share your thoughts and experience in the comments section below!

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