100% Brett Trois IPA

I have always wanted to brew an all Brett fermented beer, but just never had gotten around to it. I guess one reason was I have always associated these beers with a fairly long turn around time. So I always seemed to put it off in favor of something else.

That recently changed. I was checking out a post from a fellow home brewer, Meta Brewing, on an all Brett fermented IPA. After reading the post and reading everything else I could find on the concept, I dove right in by moving this to the top of the brew schedule.

The beer itself is really two experiments in one for me. It is my first attempt at all-brett fermentation. And second it is my first beer to forgo any hops in the boil. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of hops in this brew, but all come at flame out and later.

Thanks to Luke (Meta Brewing) for the inspiration and tips. I used his grain bill, and ideas around hop schedule to come up with the following.

TROIS IPA (((¿0 IBU?)))

American IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 6/19/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.50 gal	Brewer: Michael & Tim
Boil Size: 13.25 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) -BCS 460
End of Boil Volume 11.00 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 76.1 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 23 lbs 2.9 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 % 2 lbs 14.4 oz Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.0 % 1 lbs 7.2 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.0 % 1 lbs 7.2 oz Pale Wheat Malt (German) (2.3 SRM) Grain 4 5.0 % 2.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Flameout (Steep15.0 min) Hop 5 0.0 IBUs 7.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Aroma Steep 15 min (add 15 mins after flame out)  Hop 6 0.0 IBUs 2000ml starter BRETTANOMYCES BRUXELLENSIS TROIS (White Labs #WLP644) Yeast 7 - 7.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs 5.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

Updates:

6/23  - Brew day went pretty smooth. OG was a little higher than expected, since we only got 11 gallons into the fermenter. We were expecting 1.064 and hit 1.068

Pitched the Trois from a 2000 ml starter that had been going 4 and a half days. I basically went about doing the same process I do for an ale starter except I did it for several more days than normal. It did not take long for the fermentation to take off.

6/28 - Gravity at 1.020 interesting flavor

7/2 - Things have really slowed down. Gravity is only down to 1.019. I would expect something lower than this. I guess I need some patience. Sample tasted amazing. No noticeable sweetness and just an in your face blast of mango and pineapple flavors. Can't wait to get the dry hops in!

7/4 - Added 7 oz of Mosaic hops to the fermenter. The smell that came out of the fermenter when I opened it was absolute tropical fruit heaven! Just floored me how fruity the smell was.

7/11 - Added 5.5 oz of Nelson

7/18 - Transfered to kegs. FG is 1.015

7/22 - Tasted a little yesterday. Still under carbed at this point. No bitterness at all. Tastes very fruity. I will do a full review in a week or so.

8/4 - I entered this beer into the Specialty Ale category (23) in Utah's 5th Annual Beehive Brew off. It took first place with a score of 41 in a field of 24 entrants.  In the special ingredients field I specified 100% Brett fermentation with Brux Trois. No boil additions and all hops at flameout or later. I also mentioned no fruit was in the beer. Even though I had an IPA in mind when I brewed this I did not call out a base beer. I felt it would probably be harmed in the judging if I did.

Judges were split on the hop schedule. One judge thought it needed more hops in the background to balance the beer. The other said it was spot on and an earlier hop addition would harm the beer.

After drinking this beer I tend to side with the argument for some boil addition hops. If for no other reason because I know what it tastes like without them. It would also push this beer into an amazing Brett beer that I could truly call an IPA.

80 Acre Hoppy Wheat Clone

About a week ago I came across Boulevard Brewing's 80 Acre Wheat beer. I immediately fell in love with it. I am not a big fan of wheat beers, but this one just tasted great to me. With a heat wave in full effect, the desire to brew something similar was high. I checked out some different threads as well as Boulevards website to come up with a clone recipe. It helps that Boulevard is pretty open about the beers ingredients.

It is a pretty simple recipe. There is only one small bittering addition. I used CTZ, but it really doesn't matter what is used as long as you get something like 12-16 IBUs (Boulevard lists this as a 20 IBU beer). All of the rest of the hops, and there are a ton, come at flame out or later.

The calculations below come from Beersmith. In my opinion that program doesn't handle flame-out hop additions well. I guarantee that you are going to pick up some IBUs from a large flame-out addition like the one below.

At flame out we added close to 14 oz of Cascade hops and let things stand for 15 minutes. When we started chilling the temp was 190.

The finishing touch to this beer will be a half pound more of Cascade and a half pound of Nelson Sauvin as dry hops. It will give this beer the aroma of a fine IPA, but will come off more or less like a slightly hoppy and quite citrusy wheat beer.

80 Acre Clone (Hoppy Wheat)

American Wheat or Rye Beer

Type: All Grain	Date: 6/30/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 gal	Brewer: Michael & Tim
Boil Size: 23.59 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 70 min	Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) -BCS 460
End of Boil Volume 21.00 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 20 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 75.6 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 24 lbs 10.4 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 62.2 % 8 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.2 % 7 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 3 17.7 % 1.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 16.3 IBUs 13.80 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 15.0 min Hop 5 0.0 IBUs 4.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 - 8.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 7 0.0 IBUs 8.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

Mash Profile
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Saccharification Add 13.39 gal of water at 163.9 F 153.0 F 60 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 15.96gal) of 168.0 F water
UPDATE 7/10 -This beer has been in the fermenter for 10 days at a constant temp of 67. I did not check the gravity, but I am sure that fermentation is complete. I added a whole pound of hops to the fermenter today. 8 oz of Cascade and 8 Nelson Sauvin. I plan on letting it go 4-5 days before kegging. 7/14 - Kegged this one today. Tasted and looked a lot like grapefruit juice. I will give it a week of keg conditionaing before tasting again.

Simcade Pale Ale Brew Day in pictures

Last weekend we brewed up a Pale ale with Simcoe in the boil, and cascade at flameout and in the hopback. The beer will also be dryhopped with cascade hops.

Mash in                                                                                          Mash out

BIAB Series- Micro-batch #1- The Embrouiller

I typically brew 15-20 gallon batches. Occasionally I will brew ten if I am doing something with really high gravity or experimental. My system really will not allow me to go much smaller than that. In addition, brewing on this system is a bit of an undertaking and commitment. Add to that if the outside temperatures are sub zero. Unfortunately where I live I am currently dealing with freezing temps. My last brew session was in 9 degree weather. That's 9 Fahrenheit.

So on this Holiday I was thinking about brewing, but the thought of pulling everything out in freezing cold was  killing my motivation. If I was going to brew I needed to do it inside and on a tiny scale!

To make it a little more interesting, I challenged myself to only use things I had on hand, including equipment.

I have a big box of remnant malts. It's full of 1-10 pound bags of various malts. I also have a freezer full of hops so no problem there. My choice of yeast was limited to exactly one kind... Wyeast 1581 Belgian Stout. Not a bad yeast to be stuck with if you ask me!

So I was obviously going to brew something Belgian but I mostly had base malts on hand. I thought about something super simple like a Patersbeir, but I was able to dig up a few things to make something a bit bigger.

The following are things I was able to pull together for the Embrouiller, a Belgian Dark Strong ale.

The Embrouiller

Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Type: All Grain	Date: 1/21/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.00 gal	Brewer:
Boil Size: 4.5 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: 8 Gallon BIAB
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (3.5 SRM) Grain 1 75.5 % 2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 20.1 % 6.0 oz Golden Naked Oats (10.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.8 % 1.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 0.6 % 0.50 oz Aurora (Super Styrian) [10.30 %] - Boil 50.0 min Hop 5 23.4 IBUs 0.50 oz Aurora (Super Styrian)[10.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 12.2 IBUs 1.0 pkg Belgian Stout (Wyeast #1581) Yeast 7 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.088 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.087 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity: ?
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.3 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 35.5 IBUs	Calories: 297.0 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 9.3 SRM (I think it is slightly darker than this est)

Now I had my ingredients, but I still needed a way to mash my grains and boil. I have a round 5 gallon cooler which I could use to mash, but I did not want to hijack the cooler by adding a ball valve and braid to it. Then I found it... a beat to hell 8 gallon aluminium pot that my wife acquired someplace. Yeah, aluminium would not be my first choice, but it was my best and only option. It would be perfect for mashing and boiling if I could find a way to lauter in it.

Heating mash water

The obvious method to lauter seemed to be BIAB or Brew In A Bag. Essentially it is a no sparge, all grain, one pot brewing method. All I needed to accomplish this was a large mesh bag. So I did end up purchasing one item to complete the days brewing. I ran down to the home depot and bought a 2 pack of 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bags. The cost was under 3 dollars.

Any extract brewers take note. I just upgraded extract brewing equipment to all grain brewing equipment for $3.00. There is no reason not to do this!

My double crushed grain after doughing in.

The bag is made to fit in a five gallon bucket. It has elastic around the top. This fit very snugly on my kettle. I was a little worried it would fall down, but it never moved. The mash went very smooth and I maintained my mash temp much easier than I expected.

With the 8 gallon pot I targeted a full boil 3 gallon batch of beer. I don't even think I could recirculate 3 gallons of wort in my main system. If one were to do 5 gallon stove top BIAB, you would need a 10 gallon kettle, or you would have to top up with water after your boil (don't do that!).

I only ran into one issue today. I wasn't able to boil on my lame electric stove. Well maybe I could have but I ran out of patience. So in the end I did go outside to use a burner to boil the wort. For chilling I just left my pot out in the snow and sub zero temps. It took just over an hour to cool off to pitching temp.


I hope this is the first of many small batches of beer from the labs of Revival Brewing. And so begins my BIAB micro-batch series.

My tiny 3 gal better bottle and The Embrouiller.

Look at that little guy! It just barley fit on the burner.

Impériale Dubbel Bruin

With today possibly being the last pleasant weekend day of the year, I decided I would get something brewed.

My Belgian black honey ale was ready to go into secondary so I wanted to pitch on the left over yeast cake. The yeast is WLP530 or Westmalle yeast (also used by Achel and Westvleteren). So it was clear whatever I brewed would be in the Belgian style.

After some back and forth I decided to use Achel Bruin Extra 9.5° as the inspiration. This is a beer that really doesn't fit into a predefined style. It basically an imperial dubbel, also called an Abt, quad, or quadrupel, so it would fall into the catch all Belgian specialty category. Achel is one of the coolest Trappist brewers in my opinion. While they are a commercial brewery, they are tiny in comparison to some of the others. They sell most of their beer at a cafe at the Monastery. Monks actually have a had in brewing here too.

I used much of the information found in the book by Stan Hieronymus, "How to brew like a monk". Here the general ingredients as well as mash process is reveled. The beer uses pilsner and chocolate malt, dark candi syrup, and Saaz hops.

I tried to match the grain ratio as closely as possible. I also used the same mash process and temps. I ended up doing a no sparge step mash of 118° (15 mins) | 143° (20 mins) | 163° (40 mins) | 173° (10 mins)

Had to use gravity to be able to do the step mash. I used direct heat on the kettle to maintain temps while recirculating back through the mash tun

 
Instead of using all early addition Saaz, I used Pearle and Tettnang hops. I used one pound of date sugar instead of the candi syrup. This is really just finely chopped and dried dates... but it is sweet and has a very nice flavor.

Date Sugar

Only 2.5 hours after pitching on the WLP530 yeast cake and it is already bubbling away like mad. The following morning my bucket looked about ready to explode. I quickly set up a blow off tube in order to divert a disaster. I am usually fine without one when I ferment 5 gallons in a 7.5 gallon bucket, but not this time.

Ingredients
Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
14.00 lb	Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)	Grain	90.3 %
0.50 lb	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	3.2 %
1.00 oz	Pearle [7.50%] (90 min)	Hops	25.9 IBU
1.00 oz	Tettnang [3.90%] (20 min)	Hops	7.6 IBU
1.00 lb	Date sugar (5.0 SRM)	Sugar	6.5 %
1 Pkgs	Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530)	Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.091 SG (1.062-1.075 SG)	Measured Original Gravity: 1.090 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.021 SG (1.010-1.018 SG)	Measured Final Gravity: TBD
Estimated Color: 19.6 SRM (10.0-14.0 SRM)	Color [Color]
Bitterness: 33.5 IBU (15.0-25.0 IBU)	Alpha Acid Units: 2.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 9.2 % (6.0-7.5 %)	Actual Alcohol by Volume: TBD

"HB" Kölsch

Yet another style of beer that originated in Germany. Production of this beer is centered near Cologne. It is a close relative and a direct competitor to Alt. Düsseldorf and Cologne are neighboring cities, and there has been fierce rivalry in the past between the two. There are reports of violence breaking out for ordering the wrong kind of beer in the wrong city. True or not, it is not an issue these days although for the most part if you live in Cologne you drink Kölsch exclusively and vise versa.


Kölsch is fermented at even cooler temps than Alt and use no dark malts and far less hops. It was essentially created by ale brewers around Cologne to compete with pilsners. Kölsch is usually less hoppy than a traditional pilsner and can even be on the sweet side. 

This Kölsch uses the exact same yeast as my Alt. It is quite light and clean, but does have some esters present that you would not get in a true lager. I fermented this in my temp controlled fridge at 55. I lagered it at 35 for a couple weeks before kegging and then bottling. I was attempting to create a beer that was similar to the standard HB or Hofbräu lager. I think this comes pretty close even though it  uses an ale yeast.

There is not much of this stuff left, so I figured I would document it here.  












Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal     
Boil Size: 6.02 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 4.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Mash temp: 150

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
8.00 lb        Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)             Grain        80.0 %       
1.00 lb        Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)                     Grain        10.0 %       
0.50 lb        Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        5.0 %        
0.50 lb        Munich Malt (5.0 SRM)               Grain        5.0 %        
2.00 oz       Crystal [3.50%]  (60 min)                 Hops         25.2 IBU     
1 Pkgs        German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029)    Yeast-Ale 

Berliner Weisse - Sour wheat

 

This is an historical style. It was a hugely popular style in 18th and early 19th century Northern Germany. It had many brewers and was referred to as the Champagne of the North by Napoleon. Today it is a living dinosaur with just 2 breweries around Berlin still making it.

Nowadays it is almost unheard of to drink it without Schuss, or a shot of flavored syrup. Typical choice is red (raspberry) or green (woodruff). Also most Berliners if they drink it at all drink it from a straw.

  

In it's more natural form Berliner Weisse is almost colorless. It normally consists of 50% pilsner malt and 50% malted wheat. It is very low alcohol (~3.0) and very low hop levels (<8 IBUs). It gets a tart flavor from using lactic bacteria along with yeast during a long fermentation.

This Berliner Weisse took 3rd place in the Belgian specialty/Sour beer category of the recent Beehive brew off. It is 60/40 mix for pilsner and wheat malt and is notable for the short 15 minute boil rather than the standard 60-90 minutes. I created a starter for the ale yeast, but pitched it 1 day after pitching the lactobacillus. I pitched those bugs at around 95 degrees.

Aroma- White grapes, flowery, sourness, no hops

Appearance - straw, no haze, head dissipates but still clings

Flavor - Tartness, low wheat character on finish, white grapes, ends with good balance, no hops.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 4.00 gal     
Boil Size: 4.26 gal
Estimated OG: 1.033 SG
Estimated Color: 2.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 5.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
3.00 lb       Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)             Grain        60.0 %       
2.00 lb       Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                 Grain        40.0 %       
0.50 oz       Tettnang [4.50%]  (15 min)                Hops         5.7 IBU      
1 Pkgs        European Ale (Wyeast Labs #1338)          Yeast-Ale                 
1 Pkgs        Lactobacillus Delbrueckii (Wyeast Labs #53Yeast-Ale

Braggot/Belgian Ale project update #2

Yesterday I kicked off one of my most ambitious brew sessions to date.  21 pounds of barley, 11.5 pounds of honey, and 1 pound of candi syrup. Not to mention the assortment of hops, yeasts, and specialty herbs. At the end of the day I had created 5 gallons of 1.081 Belgian specialty ale, and 2- 2.5 gallon carboys of 1.117 braggot.

The day started by brewing up 13 gallons of wort. I split that into two kettles and started on the beer first. You can see the entire recipe below.

I guess the main thing of interest here is the caramelized honey. I know many people think caramelizing honey is a sin, but I just wasn’t looking for a real strong honey presence. I used honey malt for that flavor. I hope the caramelized stuff will add some interesting flavors beyond just caramelizing up some sucrose. It should be interesting to see how it works with the Belgian candi syrup.

The braggot started out with an outline of what I wanted to accomplish, but no concrete plans. I had 2 oz of chamomile, 4 oz meadowsweet, and an assortment of hops. I don’t really have a ton of info on using these herbs so the plan was to taste as I went.

I have seen the chamomile wheat recipe in Sam Calagiones extreme brewing book. In that recipe you add it at the start of the boil. That seems like the opposite of what you might do with a fragrant and flavorful herb. But I went ahead and added half an ounce at 45 mins. I also added 2 ounce of meadowsweet and half an ounce of magnum hops at that time. Once this got to boiling the kettle smelled wonderful.



Warming up the honey

 

At 30 mins I was planning on adding 1 ounce of pearle hops and the other 2 ounces of meadowsweet. Before adding I gave it a taste and it was not very pleasant. So I skipped adding anymore meadowsweet and just put the hops in. With 5 mins left I added the 1.5 ounce of remaining chamomile. The 9 pounds of honey went in at flame out.

The flavor in the finished wort was really nice; the bad flavor I had tasted earlier had been covered up or changed with the addition of the honey and chamomile. The IBUs might seem high, especially since one goal was to try to keep this authentic to the period. However I got to thinking about how long this will be aging, and with standard hop degradation I figured this level would work out ok.



The results



Bee Juice (working title) (Braggot) Type: All Grain Date: 10/17/2010 Batch Size: 5.00 gal Ingredients Amount ItemType % or IBU 7.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)Grain37.5 % 1.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)Grain7.5 % 1.00 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)Grain5.0 % 0.50 lb Special B Malt (60.0 SRM)Grain2.5 % 0.50 oz Magnum [15.00%] (45 min)Hops26.0 IBU 1.00 oz Pearle [7.6%] (15 min)Hops15.0 IBU 0.50 oz Chamomile (Boil 45.0 min)Misc 2.00 oz Meadowsweet (Boil 45.0 min)Misc 1.50 oz Chamomile (Boil 5.0 min)Misc 9.50 lb Honey (1.0 SRM)Sugar47.5 % Split 5 gallons into two carboys 1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028)Yeast-Ale 1 Pkgs Old Ale Blend W/Brett (Wyeast #9097) Beer Profile Measured Original Gravity: 1.117 SG SGMeasured Final Gravity: ?? Estimated Alcohol by Vol: ~13 % Bitterness: 41.0 IBU Est Color: 11.0 SRM

Belgian Black Honey Strong Ale (Belgian Specialty Ale) Type: All Grain Date: 10/17/2010 Batch Size: 5.00 gal Ingredients Amount ItemType% or IBU 7.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)Grain 55.6 % 1.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)Grain 11.1 % 1.00 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)Grain 7.4 % 0.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)Grain 3.7 % 0.50 oz Magnum [15.00%] (60 min)Hops 24.5 IBU 1.00 oz Glacier [7%] (30 min)Hops 20.5 IBU 2.00 lb Caramelized Honey (60.0 SRM)Sugar 14.8 % 1.00 lb Candi Syrup, Dark (80.0 SRM)Sugar 7.4 % 1 Pkgs Abby Ale (White Labs #WLP530)Yeast-Ale Beer Profile Measured Original Gravity: 1.081 SG Measured Final Gravity: ?? SG Estimated Alcohol by Vol: ~7.8 % Bitterness: 45.0 IBU Est Color: 27.1 SRM

3661494a-1071-4dc1-8e4e-718c4e57ab7d

1.03.01

Altbier

This is another style of beer that originated in Germany, this one near Düsseldorf. It is truly an ancient style, but only got its current name when the Pilsner revolution hit in the mid 1800s. Alt literally means old, and the name was given to distance itself from the new lagers that were sweeping Europe at the time. It is argued by some that this is the oldest continuously brewed style of beer in existence.

Alt is copper or amber in color with a white to off white creamy head. It is usually brewed with Pilsner malt base and smaller amounts of Munich and Vienna malts. It is fermented on the cool side (55°F - 65°F) which gives it lager like qualities. Also contributing to the lager quality is longer than normal conditioning at lower temps. However, a top fermenting ale yeast is used. One key characteristic of an Alt is a higher than average hop rate. The style range is 30-60 IBUs.

This alt was brewed using a traditional 2 step decoction mash. This was how brewing was done before the invention of the thermometer and malting of barley was less consistent. It is essentially the removing and boiling of portions of the mash (the mixture of crushed grain and water). When the portion of boiled mash is returned to the main mash it serves to raise the overall temperature. Knowing the volume to pull out and boil brought consistency to the mashing process and lead to repeatability in brewing even though they had no idea what the temperature of the mash was.

This beer leaves out the pilsner malt and uses munich malt and pale malt in almost equal proportions as well as a tiny bit of debittered black malt for color. It uses all German hops and yeast for an authentic recreation. The IBUs are on the low side so the next time this gets brewed I plan on making sure I get them much higher. All in all a clean ale that can be compared to a very smooth amber ale.

Recipe: OctoberAlt
Style: Dusseldorf Altbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal     
Boil Size: 7.44 gal
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 14.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 34.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
6.50 lb       Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                     Grain        55.3 %       
5.00 lb       Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)          Grain        42.6 %       
0.25 lb       Carafa II (412.0 SRM)                     Grain        2.1 %        
1.00 oz       Pearle [7.50%]  (60 min)                  Hops         21.5 IBU     
2.00 oz       Tettnang [4.70%]  (15 min)                Hops         13.4 IBU     
1 Pkgs        German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029)    Yeast-Ale                 


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Single
Total Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
----------------------------
Name               Description                         Step Temp     Step Time    
Protein Rest       Add 23.50 qt of water at 126.6 F    122.0 F       35 min       
Saccharification   Decoct 9.96 qt of mash and boil it  155.0 F       45 min       
mash out dec       Decoct 7.15 qt of mash and boil it  170.0 F       15 min       
sparge             Add 23.00 qt of water at 170.0 F    170.0 F       10 min       
 

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

As the name suggests this is a high gravity style. ABV is in the 8-11% range and the style is pretty open for interpretation. Today it is mostly brewed by Trappist and Abby breweries. What’s the difference? A Trappist beer is made in the monastery by monks that follow strict rules. Today there are only 7 such Trappist breweries. The most well know is Chimay and the oldest is Westmalle. Abby beers are made in commercial breweries and are licenced to use the names of monasteries. They attempt to recreate the styles of beers that were or still are brewed in the monastery. Some well known examples are Leffe and Grimbergen.

With this style the alcohol can be well hidden or in your face. The body can be medium to heavy. The hop profile can range from 20 - 35 IBUs. Some versions tend to be dry (or as Belgians say “more digestible”). The differences and variations in this style will become apparent when comparing commercial styles such as Chimay Blue to Gulden Draak. All should have some fruity esters from moderate to strong, and can contain raisin, plum, dried cherry, fig or prune notes. Spicy peppery like phenols may also be present. All versions contain a significant amount of sugar in addition to rich malts. This style never uses any spices. Everything you smell and taste will come from the sugars, malts, and yeast that were used.

Alcohol by Vol: 9.6 %
Bitterness: 25.5 IBU
Est Color: 17.0 SRM

This BDS is still an infant really. It is probably about 3 months old and will only start to peak at around 12 months. It is intensely fruity with a lot of raisin and fig aroma and flavor. The hop level is low and the 9.6% ABV is very well hidden. In producing this 4 gallon batch 14 pounds of malt, 1 pound of homemade inverted amber candy sugar and 1 pound of Belgian amber candi syrup was used.

This is an ABV bomb! If you’re a Belgian fan, Bottoms up, but beware!