Raspberry Ginger Mead

In September of 2009 I made a mead, more appropriately a melomel, but like the previous post regarding metheglin, I insist on referring to this as a Raspberry-Ginger Mead. Actually, melomel, as a term for any fruit mead doesn't bother me as much as the endless terms for variations of honey wine because it is inclusive of many fruits. This recipe was the AHA 2002 National Mead Day recipe, taken from the AHA website.

I carbonated most of the honey wine in bombers and left a handful of corked wine bottles still, bottling after 3 months in secondary. In retrospect, I should have carbonated less of the batch and left this in bulk fermentation longer as it was harsh for well over a year. The carbonated portion was less pleasant than the still portion for a longer period of time but turned out very nice at two years in the bottle. I gave most of the batch away as Christmas presents and whittled away at the rest of it over time, checking on its maturation every so often.  I usually break a bottle out for holiday's when the family is together, and that is the case today with Thanksgiving.

I don't usually make labels for my homebrew but I try to if it is given as a gift, especially if it is going to be a gift that is aged. The Raspberry-Ginger Mead has a picture of my little sister, Lacey, the Viking, wearing a horned helmet in the gift shop at Edinburgh Castle.

Russian Plum Kolsch

My friend Chassie picked up some Russian Plums at the farmers market in September and gave them to me to make something out of. I originally planned to make a tart with the plums but in a moment of weakness, I pitted them and put the fruit in the freezer while I set out to make a kolsch to add them to. I don't know anything about Russian Plums and I think they may actually be what I have known as an Italian Prunes/Plums, which they closely resemble. The fruits, which were smaller than your average grocery store plum, but larger than the wild tart plums I grow, were very sweet and delicious. I have found that I prefer Kolsch as a base beer for fruit more than I do a wheat beer. The prickly nature of the tight carbonation and lightness of the body lets the fruit snap in your mouth kind of like a pop rock.

The result is a dry, crisp, slightly tart beer. This could have benefited from a little honey. Before it was carbonated there was a delightful plum flavor that disappeared in the bottle. This batch was sort of a mess as my bottle capper broke half way through bottling and I had to empty a bunch of bottles back into a fermenter until I got to Fort Collins to get a new capper. I suppose 15 years is a good career for a red baron capper.

Russian Plum Kolsch Recipe:

Specifics:
5.25 gallons
OG 1.046
TG 1.011
SRM 4.92
IBU 24.3
60 minute boil

Grain:
6.25 lbs. Pilsen
2 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.25 lbs. Honey Malt
.25 lbs. Golden Naked Oats
.25 lbs. Carapils

Hops:
.5 oz Northern Brewer at 60 min
.5 oz Saaz at 30 min
1 oz Saaz at 5 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch

Extras:
3 lbs. Russian Plums, pitted, frozen and thawed to secondary

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 150. Batch Sparge. Drew 7 gallons of preboil wort and boiled down to 5.25 gallons. Cooled to 65 and pitched yeast. Primary fermentation at basement room temp 60-70. Added thawed, pitted plums to secondary and moved to fridge at 55F for 3 weeks a few days later when space in fridge opened up.

Milk Wine Tart

I collected almost two cups of boozy cheese curds when I racked the Milk Wine a few days ago and after some thought about how to use them, I settled on a tart. I love making tarts, either sweet or savory or a combination of the two--like the tomato, olive, onion, and caramel tarte tatin, that is a favorite around here in the summer. The milk wine curds had a loose ricotta consistency along with a tart/sweet taste that I thought would be nice with lemon and mint.  There is an addition of Gjtost, which is a peanut butter colored Norwegian goat cheese that is sweet to taste. There is no substitute for Gjtost, which is known as "ski cheese," so just skip it if you can't find it. I had a piece of leftover dough that I shaped like a lemon and dyed yellow to resemble a lemon--and it did, before it was baked. Oh well.

The tart is rich and surprisingly still a little boozy, even after baking. I would guess the curds to have been aproximately 30 Proof. If I made this again I believe it could be improved by squeezing excess liquid out of the curds and toning down the lemon additions, but overall it was a good use of the milk wine curds. 



Boozy Milk Wine Curds



Milk Wine Tart Recipe:

Ingredients:

Pastry

1.5 Cups flour

3 tbs. Sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

6 tbs. cold butter, cubed

1 egg beaten with 1.5 oz vodka (can substitute water)

*Like any pastry add liquid or flour to get desired consistency

Filling

2 C milk wine curds from milk wine recipe (or substitute ricotta)

4 oz Cream Cheese

4 oz Gjtost (ski cheese--sweet Norwegian goat cheese)

3/4 C sugar

1 tbs cornstarch

2 lemons zest only

1 lemon juice only

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs beaten

2 tbs dried lemon balm

2 tbs dried mint leaf

Process:

Pastry

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix dry ingredients in food processor

Add Butter and pulse until it looks like course meal

Transfer to bowl and mix beaten egg and vodka

Turn onto floured counter and knead until proper consistency

Form into disc and refrigerate wrapped in parchment paper

After resting in fridge for 1 hr, roll out apx. 11'' to fit over 9'' pan

Trim excess, prick with fork and return to fridge for 15 minutes

Cover crust with form fitting foil and cover with beans or pie weights

Bake apx. 10 minutes until pastry begins to dry

Remove beans and foil and return to oven for apx 10 minutes until bottom is dry

Pour in filling and bake until set (apx. 35 min)

Filling

Mix curds, lemon juice, vanilla, cream cheese, ski cheese, lemon balm, mint, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and eggs. If using ski cheese, use processor to incorporate. Pour into pastry shell and bake at 350F.

Orval 3

Orval is truly one of life's pleasures and a beer that I have tried to brew now three times. Orval was referred to in Brew Like a Monk as "God's Homebrew," and I find this extremely apropos with it's vast complexity and unique brewing process. I don't generally try to clone beers but Orval is my exception and I enjoy brewing it probably more than any other beer I make. Trying to make a classic and extremely unique trappist beer while adding brettanomyces and dry hops to secondary before lagering (at 55F) it for a bit makes for a fun brewing process.  Orval's uniqueness is amplified by it being at least two distinctly different beers as it ages in the bottle. When young, there is a slight funk and noticeable dry hops. As Orval ages, the hops dwindle and the funk increases. The same is true for my homemade versions, which have become one of the beers I enjoy drinking most. I haven't been able to get the carbonation of commercial Orval down yet but it should be highly carbonated, even for a trappist beer.


 

Abbaye d'Orval

Liquid candy sugar is added to the cold wort at the brewery, which I have not tried and will attempt to remember the next time I brew this. I have added sugar to the kettle at 20 minutes in the past but did not with this batch.  WLP 510 Belgian Bastogne is reportedly the Orval primary yeast but I have never come across it and generally use whatever Belgian yeast is available. Orval uses Styrian Golding, Strisselspalt, and Hallertau hops, which I try to stick to but I don't always have all three and this round I didn't have the Strisselspalt's. I  have used pellet and whole flower hops for dry hopping, both with success. Flower hops in secondary is cleaner but you really lose a lot of liquid, so it is wise to adjust for the loss. I have always used Wyeast 5112, Brettanomyces Bruxellensis with good results. I am planning to try a version with the WLP 670, American Farmhouse Ale yeast the next time I am able to find it. Finally, I put the carboy into the fridge for secondary fermentation at 55F, for a few weeks.

Orval III Recipe:

Specifics:

Batch Size: 5.25 gallons
OG: 1.063
TG: 1.016
SRM: 11.35
IBU: 33.7

Grain:
6 lbs. 2-Row
4 lbs. Pilsen
1.25 lbs. Carapils
1.25 lbs. Munich 10L
.25 lbs. Caramel 60L

Hops:
1 oz Styrian Golding at 60 minutes
.5 oz Hallertau at 60 minutes
.5 oz Styrian Golding at 30 minutes
.25 oz Hallertau at 30 minutes
.5 oz Styrian Golding at 5 minutes
1 oz Styrian Golding dry hop added to secondary fermenter

Yeast:
Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes to primary fermenter
Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis to secondary fermenter

Notes:
Sach rest at 149F, batch sparge. Cooled wort to 60F and pitched Wyeast 3522. Ramped temp up to 79F over 5 days then transferred to secondary fermenter--adding 1 oz Styrian Goldings and Wyeast 5112 (brett b). Move fermenter to fridge and set to mid fifties for 3 weeks and bottled with 1 cup corn sugar.

Milk Wine



Milk Wine, what I started with

 I read of a recipe for "milk wine" in Leon Kania's book, The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible, and thought I would give it a try. It sounds akin to Kefir but closer to Kumis (Koumiss), which is traditionally made from the milk of a mare. Kania provides a tale of Father Engell from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, who after having a vision telling him to turn whey to wine, brewed milk wine from powdered milk drawing the ire of the Royal Mounted Police. When living in Southeast Alaska, I spent quite a bit of time in Whitehorse, as it was the nearest place to buy underwear, deodorant, and other such necessities. The book is itself a fun read, and provides some interesting ideas for making wine out of what is available. The brewing information is however somewhat primitive, rustic, and dated (pub 2000). Definitely a a good read for "how to do it" without a LHBS and before Northern Brewer and $7.99 shipping. I wasn't brewing when I lived in rural Alaska a couple of years after this book was published but I can only imagine how creative and resourceful one had to be prior to modern convenience and likely still today. Homebrewing in Wyoming isn't all that easy either. The nearest homebrew shop to my Alpine, WY, home was an 8 hr round trip drive to Salt Lake City and neither UPS or FedEx would deliver to my mountain home. I have a LOT of complaints about my current LHBS, but I try to bite my lip because I am just happy to have one even if he is only open one hour a day if open at all.

Back to milk wine. Milk contains lactose, which is not fermentable and enzymatic action is required to convert the milk sugar to a fermentable sugar--much the same as mashing is required to convert the starch in grain to maltose. This was traditionally done in some very disgusting methods but is now achieved by using a lactate digestive aide or lactose free milk. Anymore, lactose free milk is widely available and cheaper than buying enzymes. The process can also be started from whey while making cheese, and if this turns out I may try that route the next time I make cheese. I am also thinking up some flavored versions such as adding dates or almonds if this isn't disgusting.
Tasting Notes Here:

Milk Wine Recipe: Koumiss



Racked Wine and Curd

 Specifics:
Batch Size: 1 Gallon
OG: 1.110

Ingredients:
2 Qt Lactose Free Milk
2 Qt Water

2 lbs. Cane Sugar

Yeast:

Red Star Premiere Cuvee (blue packet)

Process:

Dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil. Cool to room temp add to milk. Pitch yeast and fit with air-lock. After apx. one week, curd and whey will separate--at this time, strain through fine mesh bag, reserving the liquid for further fermentation. The curd can be eaten as alcoholic cheese curds, rinsed and consumed, or discarded. After secondary is complete, rack and bottle.

Notes:

Made on 11/4/11 by myself. OG is 1.110. Poured into 1g glass jug. Fermentation started almost immediately.



Boozy Milk Wine Curd

 11/16/11 The curd and whey have separated in the jug and fermentation has slowed but is still noticeably active. I poured the wine into a bucket lined with a fine mesh bag, squeezing out whey. I then poured the liquid through a strainer into a clean jug. Racking a one gallon batch is a pain in the ass but using the sanitized bag and pouring the wine worked really well. I reserved a good amount of curds and they are somewhere between ricotta and cottage cheese--except boozy and a little sweet. I will try to think of a good application for the curd before it goes bad.

Platinum, Calories & Seasonal Offerings

I was amused to read that Anheuser Busch was releasing a new stronger version of Bud Light. According to AB, the stuff will hit shelves nation wide on January 30, 2012--which, not so coincidentally is the week prior to the super bowl. Any guesses on how many Bud Light Platinum commercials AB shoves down our throats during the game? I am setting the over/under at 5. Here are some specifics from AB's website:

With a slightly sweeter taste, higher alcohol by volume (6%) and signature cobalt blue glass bottle, Bud Light Platinum provides beer drinkers an upscale light beer option as a companion to their social agenda...There are opportunities for light beer to expand into new occasions, and we think Bud Light Platinum is the beer to take us there...Bud Light’s ability to innovate and its social personality makes it the ideal brand to introduce Bud Light Platinum to a growing number of image-conscious beer drinkers.

Wow! Not sure where to start. Well, I am a sucker for interesting bottles, so I am happy to hear they are using the cobalt blue and maybe they will not be twist-off's, so I can fill them with delicious homebrew after my brother-in-law undoubtedly drains a case of them during his next visit. You know it's good stuff when one of the three selling points is the "signature cobalt blue bottle." The other two highlights of the beer are sweet taste and high alcohol. Eerily similar to AB's description of its malt liquors. Here is how AB describes their "high end" malt liquor.

Hurricane High Gravity, a high end malt liquor, offers a very full-bodied flavor with a smooth, sweet finish.

Is Bud Light Platinum a high end light malt liquor? Much like the light beer designation, malt liquor labels are at the brewers discretion. Is it really a light beer? By American standards, light beers are low calorie beers and Bud Light already has the highest caloric value at 110/12oz, compared to Coors Light (102) and Miller Lite (96). Platinum will have 137 calories, just under Budweiser at 145.

It's all marketing isn't it? I suppose all beers have a "social personality" and while there are likely "a growing number of image-conscious beer drinkers," it is strange to have that kind of advertising speak presented so directly to me. I am used to being tricked into buying something, not having it presented to me as if I were having a bourbon lunch with Don Draper. Will you make Bud Light Platinum, "...a companion to your social agenda"?

The real question here is how do they do it? How do they take that many carbohydrates out of the equation but keep the ABV that high? Platinum is not being brewed at the AB brewery 30 miles south of me in Fort Collins, so I won't have the opportunity to take a tour and ask a tour guide. Who knows how much they would tell me, I think methods for achieving low carb beer are tightly held trade secrets. I have never met a homebrewer who was concerned about caloric values in his/her beer, so it is likely a moot point for most of us, but I still want to know. I suppose AB uses a highly attenuating yeast strain and lets the fermentation process go longer than the norm, both of which would likely lower the carbohydrate levels. I know that in Bud Select (99 calories) and Select 55, AB doubles the time the beer spends in the brewhouse.  Truth is, all of the above beers leave a lot to be desired in a beer as far as I am concerned, which makes New Belgium's Skinny Dip all the more amazing. Skinny Dip, brewed to have an identical to Bud Light, 110 calories, was an enjoyable beer.

Platinum appears to be replacing Bud Light Golden Wheat in the AB family and I doubt it will be missed by too many. There are however, folks who become extremely upset when breweries discontinue or change their seasonal specialties. Case in point, this year New Belgium began offering new seasonal beers and like anything else people can't get anymore, the consensus is that the old offerings were better. This past summer, Skinny Dip was replaced by Somersault a much easier drinking beer with soft notes of fruit. My buddy George was pissed because he was a fan of the 110 calorie Skinny Dip, but Somersault comes in at a respectable 130 calories. This winter, 2-below, which was a dry-hopped and malty winter warmer, was replaced by Snow Day. The new winter brew utilizes Midnight Wheat, a new malt that I have been wanting to try. Snow Day is noticeably hoppier than it's predecessor but is quite drinkable. Now, the word on the street is that Mighty Arrow, the pale ale offered in spring will be replaced by another pale ale called Dig. On the heals of that news it has been confirmed by the brewery that Hoptober, a golden ale with 40 IBU's will be replaced next year as well.

There is a wave of backlash when a familiar seasonal is replaced but I personally like the variety and the opportunity to try something new outweighs the ability to sit down with an old friend. To New Belgium's credit, they maintain that the looked over seasonal's are likely on vacation and may reappear in a few years.

As much as I embrace new seasonal beers, it can be frustrating when a long loved product is discontinued as evidenced by my decade long letter campaign to Kraft pleading with them to bring back the Jello Pudding Pop.

Pierre Celis & Rhubarb Wit

Unbeknown to me, Pierre Celis, passed away earlier this year on April 9, 2011. At the time I was brewing a string of wits, including a sour wit, an imperial wit, a rhubarb wit, and a couple of traditional versions. It can be said that I enjoy drinking wit beer in the summer and I get all sorts of excited about brewing the style every spring. Beer enthusiasts and thirsty college coeds drinking Blue Moon on spring break owe a debt of gratitude to Pierre Celis for single handedly pulling witbier of the Hoegaarden region from the dustbin of history. A decade after Pierre's neighbor closed the last wit brewery in Belgium, he revived the style based largely on the process learned from his neighbor ten years earlier. Pete Slosberg (Pete's Wicked Ale), wrote a fantastic and touching ode to his friend Pierre Celis here, which is very much worth a read. Pete relates a story he learned about the now celebrated first batch of Pierre Celis in the mid-60's.

It turns out that when Pierre decided to start his brewing company, he utilized his recipe for making witbier from his neighbor, Mr. Tomsin, the last maker of witbier before it disappeared. Mr. Tomsin fermented his wort in wooden fermenters. Over time, the particular yeast(s) for his beers would stick to the wood and spontaneously ferment the next batch of wort. This, curiously, was not known to Pierre. When Pierre first made his own witbier, he used a metal fermenter and didn’t add yeast, because Mr. Tomsin never had. Well, guess what: Pierre’s first batch didn’t work!

What do you know? I found this not only humorous but reassuring as a homebrewer when one of the true legends of brewing could make such a mistake when starting out. Come to think of it, my first brewing experience was helping my father with a partial mash raspberry wheat in the mid-90's. After hydrating the dry yeast I dumped the slurry right into the hot wort--killing the yeast obviously.

Pete Slosberg's story about Louis Tomsin's technique makes one wonder what the fabled Belgian wit style tasted like prior to its resurrection by Pierre Celis? I have brewed white beers with countless variations in mashing process and ingredients and don't always adhere to tradition in my recipes, as shown in the rhubarb wit recipe below--However the more I stray from Pierre Celis, the more I get an itch to try making a beer like the original beer Pierre learned from his neighbor decades ago. The result is my brewing an array of wits in the spring time.

Early in the spring I am all sorts of jazzed to get down to brewing with things from the garden and the first thing to ripen is the rhubarb. I don't enjoy eating rhubarb much and it seems like most folks with a patch in the yard are willing to give it away. Rhubarb is better in beer than it is in jam or pie and if you have a little piece of garden to spare, throw in some and it will come back every year with little/no care. Another plus for growing your own rhubarb is that it grows everywhere. I saw a plant in Alaska that was touted as the world's largest rhubarb plant. My only recommendation is to keep an eye on it and pick before it bolts. Rhubarb can always be frozen until you are ready to use it in your brew.

Last year I cooked down a good amount of rhubarb in two batches. Rhubarb turns to mush after just a few minutes in a soup pot. The first batch I cooled and but in a gallon bag and stuffed it into the freezer. The second batch I cooked down and thoroughly strained it reserving the juice. I transferred the hot wort onto the frozen block of pulp and juice in a bucket to help cool and used the bucket as primary fermenter. I also added a pint on homemade orange/rhubarb marmalade. When I racked to secondary I added two quarts of rhubarb juice. The result was a wonderfully tart, purple beer. This year I wanted to make a little cleaner beer, so I left out the fruit addition to primary, adding only 2 quarts of strained juice to secondary. The result was a yellow beer instead of purple, filled with bits of rhubarb pulp. It is a much less tart beer where the rhubarb is slightly noticeable in the finish. This years version is more approachable with a nicely rounded flavor and a little hint of caramel that must have come from the Golden Naked Oats. I think next year I will be brewing both variations, but for a truly rhubarb beer don't skip both rhubarb additions, not to mention the marmalade--although not necessary.

I used an adjunct mash although I only had one pound of unmalted wheat, but I wanted to continue trying to get my witbier mash procedure down.

Rhubarb Wit Recipe:

Specifics:
Batch Size: 5.4 gallons
OG: 1.048
TG: 1.012
SRM: 4.54
IBU: 16.7
Adjunct Mash

Grain:
3 lbs. Pilsen
3 lbs. White Wheat Malt
1lbs. Oat Malt
1 lbs. 6-Row (adjunct mash)
1 lbs. Unmalted Wheat (adjunct mash)
.5 lbs. Golden Naked Oats

Hops:
.5 oz East Kent Golding at 60 minutes
.5 oz Hallertau at 20 minutes
1 oz Hallertau at 5 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

Extras:
1 oz Coriander (crushed) at 5 minutes
2 oranges (zest only) at 5 minutes
2 g Chamomile (dried flowers) at 5 minutes
2 Quarts Rhubarb Juice to secondary (additional 2 Qt. cooked frozen rhubarb optional to primary)
1 pint orange/rhubarb marmalade to primary

Specifics:
Brought malted grains to 122F for protein rest in mash tun. Heated unmalted grain and 6-row on stove top to 122F for 15 minutes then raising to 147F for 20 minutes. Raised adjunct mash to boil for 15 minutes--adding to mash tun to reach sacharrification rest at 148F for 60 minutes. Batch sparged at 172F for 20 minutes.

Sake

I'll try making any sort of booze once but I will not brew sake twice. It was a huge pain in the ass and a long and tedious process for something that I like but not 5 gallons like. I should have stuck with the smaller batch recipes that are out there but I thought as long as I was going to go through the ordeal, I may as well make it worth my trouble. Well, it was a lot of trouble for 5 gallons of sake that I never drink.  I won't relive the experience by documenting my process but if you really want to make sake, The Mad Fermentationist outlined his adventure with sake brewing here. I got most of my assistance from the website, Homebrew Sake, and it looks like they now have video instruction. You can also purchase koji spores from this website. I think I ordered mine from Midwest Brewing Supplies. 

I bottled most of the Sake white and cloudy. This is the kind of sake I like, with Momokawa Opal Nigori being my favorite at Japanese restaurants. Sake, when left white with more rice solids, is referred to as Nigorizake (Nigori), it is higher in alcohol content and must be rolled to mix before opening. I left all of the rice beer still, not carbonating any. After continued racking of the sake to clear, I bottled the remainder. I gave away bottles to my friends that would take them. I finally decided I was wasting bottle space, so I ran 2 gallons of the clear stuff through a "magical apparatus" that condensed the sake to Shochu. I have a Korean sister, Juny, who brings me bottles of the Korean version, called Soju, and I thought it would be neat to let her try some home made rice liquor. She was impressed, saying that Korean's don't make their own Soju because it is too much work. I made two spice blends, adding them to two jars of diluted Shochu and added home canned peaches to two jars of Shochu, one with syrup, one without. I also left a little plain. I didn't record the specific herbs in one blend, but it tastes remarkably similar to Fernet. The other blend had mullen leaf, hibiscus, and mint.

In the end, Sake is a helluva commitment and unless you really love sake I wouldn't recommend it. If you are just really interested and want to understand the process, I would recommend brewing a small batch of one to three gallons. Be sure to start a journal with daily instructions for yourself throughout the lengthy process and keep good notes. If I hadn't made a daily outline of my sake duties I would have became extremely lost in the process.

The sake itself is pretty good and similar to the Opal Nigori I spend too much on while spending too much on sushi--but it doesn't have the same appeal at home for some reason. It smells like rice milk and although there is a tinge of alcohol heat, it is very smooth. Maybe the next time I make Asian food at home I will line the nigori up with a light homebrew and serve home made sake bombs? When I say sake, you say bomb!

Orange Ale's

Earlier this spring while brewing a string of wits, I thought, why not make a beer not accented by orange, but an orange beer? To balance with the heavy citrus addition I thought the beer should be malty and along the lines of an amber but a lighter hop and heavy malt profile. The beer turned out excellent and was one of the highlights of summer beer around here, so I decided to make it again as a heavier spiced version for the holidays. The grainbill is a little muddled but it worked so well that I wanted to use it again--however, i needed to make a few substitutions--resulting in an even more muddled grainbill. That being the case, I think if you wanted to do something similar, just use your amber recipe and follow the hop and spice additions. The first version with American Crystal and Cascade hops was a really nice blend. For the second go, I don't have either of those hops around so I went with a Continental attempt at something similar, bittering with Czech Premiant (7.1 AA) and then following nearly the same hop schedule with Hallertau and Saaz. In the end, the IBU's, SRM, and gravity are approximately the same and I am hoping for a similar but more heavily hopped version. Here are both recipes...

Orange Ale Recipe:
Specifics:

Batch Size: 5.25 gallons

OG: 1.057

TG: 1.014

SRM: 15.58

IBU: 31.2

60 minute boil

Grain:

6 lbs. 2-Row

2 lbs. Ashburn Mild

1 lbs. CaraRed

1 lbs. CaraWheat

.5 lbs. Vienna

.5 lbs. Golden Naked Oats
.5 lbs. Caramel 80
.25 lbs. Carapils

Hops:
.5 oz Cascade at first wort
.5 oz Cascade at 60 min
1 oz Crystal at 30 min
1.5 oz Crystal at 15 min
2 oz Crystal at 5 min

Yeast:
WLP 008 East Coast Ale Yeast

Extras:
6 Oranges (zest only) at 5 min
1.5 oz Coriander (crushed) at 5 min

Notes:
Sach rest at 156F. Collected 7 gallons of preboil wort and reduce to 5.25 gallons over 60 minutes.

Orange Ale II Recipe: Spiced Holiday Version
Specifics:

Batch Size: 5.25 gallons
OG: 1.055
TG: 1.014
SRM: 14.31
IBU: 33.4
90 minute boil

Grain:
6 lbs. 2-Row
1.5 lbs. Ashburn Mild
.5 lbs. Caramel 80
.5 lbs. Golden Naked Oats
.5 lbs. Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. CaraRed
.5 lbs. Melanoidin
.25 lbs. CaraWheat
.25 lbs. Munich 10L
.25 lbs. Munich 20L
.25 lbs. Carapils

Hops:
.5 oz Czech Premiant at 60 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 30 min
1 oz Saaz at 15 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 15 min
1 oz Saaz at 5 min

Yeast:
Safbrew S-33

Extras:
6 Oranges (zest only) at 5 min
1.25 oz Coriander (crushed) at 5 min
5 Pods Green Cardamom (crushed)at 5 min
1 g. Grains of Paradise (crushed) at 5 min
1 tsp. Powdered Ginger at 5 min
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg (fresh ground) at 5 min
1 tbs. Tamarind (wet) at 5 min
2 g. Mint Leaf (dried from garden) at 5 min
1 tsp Ground Clove at 5 min
3 Star of Anise Pods (crushed) at 5 min
1/8 C Apricot Brandy to Secondary
1/2 C Triple Sec to Secondary

Notes:
Brewed 11/3/11 by myself. The high temp for the day was in the twenties and there was a fairly strong wind blowing that made things even colder and wreaked havoc with my boil. I conducted a nearly two hour boil to get 5.25 gallons, waiting to make first hop addition until 60 minutes remaining. At least the sun was shining. Tasting Notes

Indian Summer Ale

September was absolutely beautiful here in Wyoming as it is by far the best month of the year in this area. Daytime temps in the 60's or low 70's and nights in the mid 40's--it can't be beat, especially with all of the fall activities going on. I had a gorgeous day off during September and I decided I would brew. Without any thought of what to brew I settled on the idea to combine a blonde summer type of beer full of honey and flowers with a malty, fall-like, Marzen style beer.

The beer turned out to be very drinkable and they go down a little too fast. The honey, accentuated by the heather is noticeable. This is a not a standout beer but it did encapsulate the turning of summer into fall through beer styles nicely.

Indian Summer Ale Recipe:

Specifics:

5.25 gallon batch

OG: 1.044

TG: 1.011

SRM: 5.75

IBU: 28.4

Grain:
3 lbs. Maris Otter
2.5 lbs. Pils
1.0 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Golden Naked
.5 lbs. Vienna
.25 lbs. Oat Malt
.25 lbs. Melanoidin

Hops:
.5 oz Northern Brewer at 60 min
.5 oz Northern Brewer at 20 min
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 20 min
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 5 min

Extras:
.25 lbs. Honey at 20 minutes
.25 lbs. Wheat DME at 20 minutes
2 oz Heather Tips at 5 minutes
2 oz Chamomile Flowers (dried from garden) at 5 minutes
1 oz Indian Coriander (crushed) at 5 minutes
1 g. Grains of Paradise (crushed) at 5 minutes

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 156F. Drew nearly 7 gallons of pre-boil wort and boiled to 5.25 gallons. Cooled to 70F and pitched yeast. 20 days in pimary and 15 in secondary.

Octoberfest 2011

It was a little late in the season to be starting an Octoberfest when my friend Chassie asked me if I would brew a beer for her Halloween party. I didn't have time to lager a beer but I did have a pouch of Kolsch yeast and thought I would make a cheater version. Hopefully there is enough left over from the party to give some to my buddy Matt, who would probably drink Marzen's or Alt's everyday if he could.

The beer turned out with a nice blend of bittering hops and malt. This could be described as a malty California Common without finishing hops. Actually, the beer would be a better all around ale with some aroma/flavor hops. In retrospect I would have rather be drinking an Alt right now, but the beer is good in its own right. I think I will employ hybrid yeasts to cheat on lagers in the future, they are easier to use, quicker, and are forgiving at higher temperatures. I will try over the next few months to brew a few traditional lagers with hybrid yeasts as an experiment. 

Octoberfest 2011 Recipe:

Specifics:
5.25 gallon batch
OG: 1.053
TG: 1.013
SRM: 10.97
IBU: 27.9
60 minute boil

Grain:
4 lbs. Pils
2.5 lbs. Munich 10L
.5 lbs. Golden Naked Oats
.5 lbs. Oat Malt
.25 lbs. Biscuit
.25 lbs. Carapils
.25 lbs. Carawheat

Hops:
.75 oz Nothern Brewer @ 60 min
.5 oz Saaz @ 30 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 158F. Drew nearly 7 gallons of wort and boiled to 5.25 gallons. Chilled to 65, pitched yeast. Primary at ambient basement temp 60-70 for 7 days. Secondary in fridge at 55F for 21 days.

Summer Blondes

I wanted to recap a couple of my favorite summer beers this year, which both shared the same grainbill--A Honey Lilac Blonde and a Chamomile Blonde. The beers were a good example of how two beers can share the same recipe, including yeast, and be remarkably different. Who doesn't like a blonde during the summer? "Put the Beach Boys on I want to hear 'Help me Rhonda, Awww Put the Beach Boys on I want to hear 'Help me Rhonda!" (Chuck Prophet).

During the late spring I raided all of the lilac bushes in the yard and stripped them of their fragrant purple and white flowers which I added to the end of the boil. I used a lot of flowers and was surprised how much wort they soaked up. The lilac beer also differed from the chamomile in that it received a pound of clover honey to secondary. The honey helped bring out the floral addition and really brought the lilac to the forefront of the beer.

I harvested a lot of chamomile this year after running short for brewing purposes last year and after a particularly good haul of the little flowers I set out to brew a chamomile blonde. I added heather tips, sweet gale, grains of paradise, and coriander along with a huge amount of fresh flowers at the end of the boil, followed by an extremely strong chamomile tea added at bottling. The beer was refreshing and finished with a nice dose of the juicy fruit flavor that chamomile imparts. When I do this beer next year I will dry all of my chamomile before using, it goes so much further when dry and I feel like I wasted a lot of flowers by using them fresh.

Chamomile Blonde Recipe:

Specifics:

5.25 Gallons
OG: 1.051
TG: 1.013
SRM: 7.23
IBU: 22.8
Single Infusion @152F
Batch Sparge
60 minute boil

Grain:
7 lbs. Pilsen
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Munich 10L
.5 lbs. Naked Golden Oats
.5 lbs. Carapils
.25 lbs. Caramel 20L

Hops:
1 oz Crystal @60 min
.5 oz Crystal @ 20 min
.5 oz Saaz @ 20 min
.5 oz Crystal @ 5 min
.5 oz Saaz @ 5 min

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Extras:
2 quarts (loosely packed) fresh chamomile flowers @ 5 minutes
1 pint (loosely packed) dried chamomile flower tea added at bottling
1 oz Sweet Gale at 5 minutes
2 oz Heather Tips @ 5 minutes
1 g Grains of Paradise @ 5 minutes
3 g Indian Coriander at 5 minutes

Honey Lilac Blonde Recipe:

Specifics:

5.25 Gallons

OG: 1.051

TG: 1.013

SRM: 7.23

IBU: 22.8

Single Infusion @152F

Batch Sparge

60 minute boil

Grain:

7 lbs. Pilsen

1 lbs. White Wheat Malt

1 lbs. Munich 10L

.5 lbs. Naked Golden Oats

.5 lbs. Carapils

.25 lbs. Caramel 20L

Hops:

1 oz Crystal @60 min

.5 oz Crystal @ 20 min

.5 oz Saaz @ 20 min

.5 oz Crystal @ 5 min

.5 oz Saaz @ 5 min

Yeast:

Safbrew T-58

Extras:

2 oz Heather Tips at 5 minutes

2 oz Chamomile Flowers-dried- at 5 minutes

2 g Coriander (crushed) at 5 minutes

1 g Grains of Paradise

4 quarts (compacted) fresh Lilac flowers at 5 minutes

.5 lbs. clover honey to secondary

Chokecherry Kolsch II

My friend Jesse, made a Kolsch with chokecherry juice a few years ago and I liked it so well that I set myself to picking chokecherries last August and made a fantastic batch of slightly purple, ruby beer that was absolutely delightful. It took two quarts of juice to make, which is quite a few chokecherries to pick and run through the food mill, so I canned another two quarts of juice to use at a later time. Unfortunately, a terrible hailstorm cleaned out the chokecherries this year and the birds took what was left. It was a down year around here for all the berries and fruit trees even without the brutal hailstorm and I ended up with a fraction of the apples, raspberries, plums, and strawberries of a normal year with cooler summer temperatures. I resorted to the canned juice to remake the memorable kolsch but I ran into trouble when I added the chokecherry juice to secondary fermentation. It seems the heat in the canning process caused the juice to turn cloudy and the beer never cleared to give the beautiful appearance of the previous beer and also imparted a slight nutmeg flavor. Anyhoo, the second attempt is still a good beer but it is lacking the brilliant appearance and overall pleasantness of the first batch. Since chokecherries are not commercially produced I will have to wait until next August to try this one again, but I plan on freezing extra juice instead of canning it next year.

If you have chokecherries in your area, this is a worthwhile beer to make and is probably the best use I can think of for the astringent, tart little things.

Chokecherry Kolsch Recipe:
Specifics:
5.25 gallons
OG 1.053
TG 1.013
SRM 3.3 before juice addition
IBU 19.3

Grain:
9 lbs. Pilsen
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Carapils



Food Mill

 Hops:
1 oz Hallertau @ 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau @ 5 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch

Extras:
2 quarts fresh chokecherry juice

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 149F. Collected 6.5 gallons of wort and boiled to 5 gallons. Primary fermentation at 65F, transferred to secondary adding 2 quarts of fresh chokecherry juice. Left at room temp for a few more days to let yeast work on juice then put into fridge at 55F for 3 weeks.