brew

Black sheep of the family

Dark in this case is more of a reddish brown. The aroma has plenty of dark fruit mixed in with yeast notes. The flavors are much the same with fruitier yeast and fairly minimal sweetness. The finish has just a touch of bitterness and isn’t overly dry – not sweet by any means but just mild. The body is medium, tops, rather than heavier and the alcohol is just slightly warming rather than harsh and aggressive. The result is quite drinkable perhaps trending towards dangerously so. My only complaint is I wish it were a bit more complex. On a less compressed brewing schedule, aging and refermenting in the bottle might serve this one well.

This recipe had one of the lengthiest grain bills I’ve ever seen. The base was twelve and a quarter pounds of pilsner and two and half pounds of Munich but then came a parade of specialty malts: thirteen ounces each of special B, caramunich, and aromatic malt as well as seven ounces each of white wheat and melanoiden. In case there weren’t enough fermentables, another thirteen ounces of cane sugar went into the boil as well as two and a quarter ounces of Hallertauer. Note-taking on this particular brew day was inept so I don’t know exactly what the gravity was. The estimate for the recipe was 1.103. I’m quite certain that it came in lower than that – it doesn’t taste that strong. My guess would be somewhere in the mid 80s. The yeast used was WLP540 Abbey IV. A 80F+ fermentation temperature was recommended but seasonally impractical. That may have impacted the yeast flavor development (or lack thereof).

A bockier shade of wheat

Like dunkelweizen but bigger is one hell of a stylistic sales pitch, so I have high hopes. It’s more brown than black with the characteristic cloudiness of a wheat beer but surprisingly minimal head retention. The issue could be under carbonation. Aroma is very moderate with a little bit of wheat beer spiciness and a hint of alcohol. The latter is mild in the taste as well rather than hot/solventy. The spice is stronger in the taste and skews much more towards clove than banana. I don’t get much sweet at all; certainly not the deep dark fruit and raisin flavors. There’s nothing in the way of hops so the overall effect is bready malt flavor with the distinct taste of wheat and classic weiss yeast notes. This beer is like a bigger, darker weiss beer without being a richer weiss beer. The body is heavy but there’s not much behind it. Having that thickness without a greater depth of flavor feels like a missed opportunity.

The principal malt in this beer is 8.25 pounds of dark wheat. The bock-side base malts are 4 pounds, 2 ounces pilsner and 1 pound, 10 ounces of Munich. Rounding things out are 6.6 ounces each of Caramel 40 and Special B along with 3.3 ounces of pale chocolate malt. Mash temperature and time was normal despite the large percentage of wheat, but the pilsner required a ninety minute boil. Just under an ounce and a half of Hallertauer went in at the sixty minute mark. Unlike lager bocks, this one need an ale yeast for flavor. We used WLP300 Hefeweizen. Efficiency was not great and OG came in at 1.070 – just barely in style but well below predicted. The 1.018 finish was spot on.

Pumpkin colored; spice flavored

For 21A we chose an autumn appropriate pumpkin beer. I have mixed feelings about the style as I think the pumpkin part is mostly a gimmick. I don’t think it contributes much flavor at all. Skipping the pumpkin and calling it a harvest spice ale seems more accurate. All that said, nomenclature disputes needn’t diminish a tasty brew. The nicely orange beer has a great spicy aroma with plenty of ginger and nutmeg. As predicted the taste does not include pumpkin but the spices are delicious. There’s not much sweetness or what is there gets overpowered by the initial burst of spice (but not in a bad way). The finish has a touch of bitter the cuts through the lingering ginger for a mild aftertaste. This would be an outstanding session beer. Medium body, middling ABV, and flavorful without being big, bold, and palate-battering.

Our wort started with nine pounds of Maris Otter, a half pound each of caramel 40 and aromatic malts, and a quarter pound of special roast. Plus, of course, the requisite pumpkin: five pounds of the canned, pureed variety. After a ninety minute mash and a sixty minute boil with 1.2 ounces of East Kent Goldings it reached an OG of 1.046. Right before flameout we added the spice blend: half a teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of ginger, and an eight a teaspoon of both nutmeg and all spice. We fermented with WLP002 English Ale yeast to fit the overall UK ingredients theme. The finish was drier than anticipated at 1.010 but the guidelines for this style are wide open. It’s more or less impossible to miss.

Bitter Brown Toffee

Back stateside the next beer is an American Brown. A maltier, darker beer is built on 8# of US pale ale malt. The brown part comes from a sizable (for a darker roast) 6 oz dose of chocolate malt, 6 oz of caramel 40, 3 oz of Victory, and 3 oz of caramel 60. American means hops but this one is heavier on flavor and aroma hops than bittering hops. A mere 0.60 oz of Horizon hops went in at 60 minutes, but then we added 1 oz of Amarillo at 15 minutes and another 1.75 oz of Amarillo at flame out. Trusty old WLP001 was the yeast chosen to do its job and stay well in the background. We hit our measurements nicely at both ends with OG 1.050 and FG 1.010.

It’s brown which is a plus – the ones with the color right in the name make it a dead giveaway should you screw up. Head retention is surprisingly decent after two plus weeks in a growler. There are hops in the nose but not as much as expected. The aroma is more on the earthy side than citrus or floral and sweet grain scent is clearly present too. The up front flavor has a strong toffee that I’m not very fond of but the hop bitterness catches up quickly enough to add balance. The finish is almost all bitterness with an earthy, resiny taste matching the aroma. I also get a bit of nuttiness that I associate with brown ales. If I made this again I’d reduce the caramel malts to mellow the toffee flavor and switch to American “C” hops of some kind(s) for a more classic US bitterness.

Littlest big ale on the agenda

Well three Belgians in a row is quite the change of pace. This recipe is similar to some earlier brews yet the expected flavors are very different so it should be a showcase for how yeast strains impact the end result. The base malt was 9# of pilsner along with 6 oz each of wheat malt and aromatic malt. As with other pils beers it boiled for 90 minutes and the hop addition was 1.25 oz Hallertauer at 60. We also added 1.25# of cane sugar to boost the alcohol and dry the finish. Where this one parts ways with previous pilsner plus hallertauer recipes is with WLP500 Trappist Ale yeast. The OG was 1.068 and FG was a nice dry 1.006. That checks in at a boozy 8.2% ABV. I guess it is the Belgian Strong category but the weakest of the set isn’t exactly weak.

This “blonde” is pushing the boundaries of orange and sports a spicy aroma promising lots of yeast based tastes. The initial flavor is surprisingly mild with light fruit flavor and hints of bitter. However, as it finishes the spice notes leap to the forefront. Rather than simply being dry the finish is all yeasty citruspepperbelgium (I like that better than “not banana/clove”). The hefty dose of alcohol is nearly undetectable; I don’t get any harshness or heat at all. This would be a phenomenal year-round style – it’s light and spicy enough to be refreshing but also complex and warming enough for a winter evening.

Saison sans spice

The saison has an unassuming nose and the first flavor term that comes to mind is weird. It’s acidic and just bordering on sour but not quite there. Rather than spicy I find it fruity. The finish is dry with a bit of bitterness but still nothing spicy. Otherwise there’s not much hop presence. I don’t think I’d identify this as a saison in a blind taste test, but looking over the style guidelines it might be my expectations that are miscalibrated. The pepper flavor I associate with the style is definitely missing, but the tart and fruit that I find weird is apparently appropriate. Perhaps a higher fermentation would yield more of the spicy notes.

The recipe is properly old world with a base of 8# 6oz pilsner. Ten ounces each of wheat and munich malts as well as 2oz caramunich round out the mashables. We also added 13oz of white sugar to the boil to encourage a drier finish. This one was a 90 minute mash and boil. The boil part is typical with pils but I was a bit surprised at the longer mash; normally that seems to go along with mildly flavored beers. An ounce and half of Hallertauer at sixty minutes and three-quarters more at flameout are in charge of bitterness. 1.064 OG was very close to target. We fermented with WLP565 Saison yeast and made a point of putting the fermenter in a warmer part of the house. FG clocked in at a nice dry 1.008.

Wheat a la Begium

This spiced ale has one of the odder ingredient lists thusfar. Malt was straightforward enough with 4.75# of Pilsner, 4.5# of wheat malt, and 4 oz of Munich. This one actually called for rice hulls to keep the mash manageable. We used a three stage mash with a 15 minute protein rest, an addition of boiling water to get to a 150s mash temperature, and then one more addition at the end to reach mash out temp.  An ounce of hallertauer at sixty minutes is simple enough but the five minute additions were more interesting. We tossed in 1.5 oz of fresh orange zest, 0.4 oz ground coriander, and a gram of dried chamomile from cutting open herbal tea bags. Gravity at the end of a ninety minute boil was 1.053; fermentation was with WLP 400 Belgian wit yeast.

The wit looks great with wonderful, wheaty head retention. The coriander is strongly present in the aroma along with hints of citrus. The flavor is similar except I find the sweet orange taste is a bit more forward. Bitterness is very close to none. I think the chamomile comes through in the finish and the aftertaste but that could be only because I know it’s there. I really like the alternate take on a wheat beer. It’s crystal clear as opposed to the cloudiness of a hefe and much more delicately spiced.

St Louis Style H20

Beer flavored water, take two. Once again it’s American two row and flaked rice weighing in at just over 7# and 1.75# respectively. It was a ninety minute mash followed by a ninety minute boil with 0.75 oz of hallertau hops at sixty minutes. This recipe is practically identical to the lite American lager with a bit more gravity and a bit more hops. Yeast was also the same: WLP 840 American lager. OG was exactly on target at 1.046 and after primary fermentation plus lagering it finishing at 1.010.

This pale golden beer looks perfect. I can see straight through it with great clarity. It tastes like very nearly nothing. Up front is a light touch of sweetness, the finish dries away, and that really is everything. The style guide actually say strong flavors are a fault. The situation almost merits a Douglas Adams style anti-simile. The beer tastes exactly like an IPA doesn’t. I guess the brew process was well executed, but now that we’ve been through several subtly flavored styles I’m less impressed by the result. Basic clean flavors are a baseline expectation now rather than an appreciated sign of solid technique.

Pleasant Pub Pint

Our first entry in category eight! The British base malt was 6.5# of Maris Otter and flavor malts were 6 oz caramel 120 and 3 oz special roast. Run of the mill mash and boil wound up a hair over style with a gravity of 1.042. The hop schedule was nothing but East Kent Goldings: an ounce at sixty minutes and another half ounce each at thirty minutes and one minute. Rounding out the English ingredients was WLP 002 ale yeast.

A nicer golden color than I expected; there’s a bit of caramel in the aroma but it doesn’t come through strongly in the taste. The hop aroma is earthy and perhaps even just a little bit minty. The overall flavor is decidedly more bitter than I expected. In fact, I don’t think there’s much in the way of complementary flavors – starts bitter, finishes bitter. There’s a decent amount of body for such a moderate beer. All in all a pleasant little session beer. I now feel like I have a great idea what kind of bitterness EKGs impart.

Ah, pigfest. That magical time of year when piles of pork and accompanied by gallons of home brew.

Summer Lite

The first beer was a Munich Helles. It consisted of eight pounds of Pilsner malt with half a pound of Munich and half a pound of melanoiden. An even ounce of Hallertauer at sixty minutes was the only hop addition although the boil do run for ninety. Unlike some of the other lighter brews this one only called for a sixty minute mash. Post-boil the gravity was a slightly high 1.054. For a change of pace we used Wyeast #2308 for the lager fermentation. My overall impression was a clean, grain based flavor with a mild and pleasant fruitiness. I think that’s also a character of the grain since we’ve used Hallertaeur so many times in mild beers. If hops contributed that note it’d be present in more of them. I suppose the yeast is also an option but I don’t normally think of lager yeasts as overly flavorful. Similar to the blonde ale, it’s not mind blowing flavors but a great balance still makes for a tasty beer. It’s light and refreshing but there’s enough flavor to be interesting and enough nuance that it’s not simply sweet. Unlike with the blonde, this time around the sun was shining properly, too, which definitely suits the flavor profile.

Caramel color & flavor

Next was an American Amber. Despite being an American style the recipe called for an English base malt. We used 7.5# of Maris Otter along with 13 oz Munich, 10 oz Caramel 40, and 6.5 oz each of Victory and Caramel 120. Hops however were definitely not English: 0.75 oz Horizon at the start of the boil, the 0.25 oz each of Cascade and Centennial at 10 minutes and another 0.25 oz each of the C’s at flame out. Gravity was close to target at 1.056 and we fermented with WLP 001. This was the youngest beer of the set (20 days from brewing to tap) and I wonder if it would round out a bit with time. I found the amber extremely sweet. In a vacuum I like the caramel note but here it’s too much. A little funky earthiness comes through from the hops but any citrus or floral flavors get obliterated. More bitterness might bring things in line. It looks nice at least and the flavor isn’t wrong per se just tilted way too far towards malt.

Bohemini

The day’s other lager was a Bohemian Pilsner. The grain bill was an appropriate 9.75# of the namesake malt with 10 oz of Carapils. After that was Saaz, Saaz, and more Saaz. It takes a good bit with such a low alpha. The boil was ninety minutes with 1.50 oz of Saaz and 0.50 oz of Hallertauer at sixty. Therein ends the non-Saaz: we added two more ounces at 30 minutes, then another at 10 minutes, and yet another at flame out. Efficiency was a bit overboard and gravity clocked in at hefty 1.070. I enjoyed tasting this side by side with the Munich Helles because the largely pils-based lagers wound up at very different places. Hops are much more prominent here with a spiciness that changes the entire impression. The sweetness is largely checked but the finish is still crisp. No lingering bitterness follows the initial spice. I prefer the Helles, but I do appreciate having the hops contribute a clear flavor; in so many styles they have a mere complementary role.

Un-randalized version

Our fourth beer was an American IPA – another hop forward beer with far more alphas in the party. American two row was the backbone (10# 10 oz) along with caramel 20 (13 oz), Munich (10 oz), and caramel 40 (3 oz). The bittering hop was an ounce of Chinook at sixty minutes, and then there were a series of flavor hops bunched towards the tail end: an ounce of Centennial at ten minutes, an ounce of Simcoe at five, and an ounce of Amarillo at flame out. The 1.068 OG was right on style and on target. This was somehow the day’s only representative with WLP001 California Ale yeast. The finished beer is on the more moderate side of hoppy and could probably pass for a pale ale. The balance still definitely leans bitter and is decidedly American but not necessarily bursting with citrus. The Chinook and maybe the Centennial add a earthy flavor and the Simcoe gives a unique pine taste; not that resin/oil feel but heavier than a grassy/floral flavor. Malt takes a backseat but there’s enough for decent body. Serving the beer through a Randalizer of mostly Simcoe brought the hops up another notch and more in line with where I think it should be. Mixing a couple varieties of hops in the output line may have been even better.

Ich bin ein saeur

Last, and certainly not least, was the Berliner Weisse. This might be the oddest recipe we’ve attempted yet. The grain bill was a tiny six pounds: 3.5# of pilsner and 2.5# of wheat malt. A longer, cooler ninety minute mash fit with the idea of light and clean. Hops were an ounce of Hallertaeur at fifteen minutes – the catch is, that was also at the beginning of the boil. The wort only spent fifteen minutes in the kettle. Despite that we managed to hit a gravity of 1.046 meaning a session ale in most cases but arguably an imperial berliner. We added both European Ale yeast (WLP 011) and Lactobacillus (WLP 677) to the primary fermenter. When we racked into the keg after primary the beer had a seriously salty flavor that made us think something had gone awry. But the finished beer was incredibly light and delicate. I’d be more inclined to call it tart than out and out sour. It’s quite refreshing as it is but having tried a few more berliners since that racking day a little more salinity might be welcome. I think it’s the palest brew we’ve made yet and on-tap carbonation adds to the appearance as well as lightness. For a purposely infected beer I’m surprised that the only flaw is overly mild flavors as opposed to off notes.