My beers recently have had one common thread running through the recipe: the brew store didn't have have what I was looking for, so I made it up there in front of the sacks of grain, reusing the yeast, and whatever hops happen to be left over in the freezer. This week's beer was supposed to be a stout, but the brew store I visited in Lansing, Michigan had everything I needed and more except for roasted barley. I haven't been brewing a long time, but everything I've read about stout is that without roasted barley, you have something that would be called something other than stout.
I've done a lot of pale ales this summer, mostly because it's pretty easy to come up with a recipe on the spot, but I feel like it's something I'm getting decent at. And again, of all I've read, beer nerds say that if you can't brew a good pale ale, you aren't yet brewing good beer. So, while standing there at the Red Salamander (again, good beer store, minus the roasted barley), I decided on another pale ale.
Pappy Pale Ale
Fermentables-
2 Row Pale Malt- 7 pounds
20L Crystal- 8 ounces
80L Crystal- 8 ounces
Roasted Barley- 8 ounces
Hops-
Nugget- .5 ounces- 60 minutes
Nugget- 1 ounce- 15 minutes
Nugget- .5 ounces- Knockout
Yeast-
Yeast Sludge from the previous two batches
Mash Schedule-
149/167- hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.046/1042/1.010/4.2%
The highlight of this brew day was undoubtedly getting to brew with my dad. This is, after all LaVoy Boys Brewing, and this was the first opportunity that there have been multiple LaVoy's at a brewing session. In principal my dad was treating it as a chance to see a more experienced brewer brew, and I was treating it as a chance to show off a little, but really we both wanted to brew up some beer as father and son. It was miserably hot (90 in the shade, probably closer to 105 next to the burner), but it was probably my funnest brew session ever.
The beer itself: straight up pale ale. Two row. Two types of Crystal malt (because as Randy Mosher says: when one malt would be good, two would be better), and a decent amount of the leftover roasted barley. Nugget hops are pretty high alpha acid, so I think a subtle roastiness will give it a nice backbone.
I have no idea if my readings were accurate at all, as my dad pointed out that I took the sample with the crud from the yeast cake, so I was probably closer to the 1.046 that I had targeted than I thought.
Next up, I'm going to do a couple of Saisons, as I've been itching to brew one. I think I'll probably order a lot of my stuff online to be sure I can do what I want. Then will be the yearly sour beers, one with fruit. Then some darker ales. I can't wait.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
IPA Insanity!
Last year was marked by a distinct lack of hops in a lot of my beers. Partly, it was due to THE GREAT HOP SHORTAGE OF '08 (NO!), but I think it was mostly due to my being a fairly new brewer. I was loathe to make something undrinkable because I just plain hopped the shit out of it.
This year I'm much more comfortable with my hopping rates, pairings, and also with how I'm using the malts to balance that. My first IPA this year was absolutely fantastic. I've given a few out to taste, and it's gotten some pretty rave reviews. Of all my beers, I would feel comfortable putting that one on a shelf in a store right now.
IPA 2
Fermentables-
Maris Otter- 9 lbs
Crystal 90- .125 lbs
Brown Malt- .125 lbs
Flaked Barley- 8 ounces
Hops-
Willammette- .5 oz- First Wort Hopped
Willammette- 1 oz- 60 minutes
Vanguard- 1.5 oz- 15 minutes
Vanguard- 1.5 oz- 5 minutes
Vanguard- 1 oz- Dry Hopped
Mash-
151/165- hot water infusions
Yeast-
Wyeast 1968 London ESB- yeast cake from the Come Hell or High Water Ale
Gravity- Target/Actual-/Final/ABV
1.055/1.055/1.014/5.38%
The grain bill in this one turned into another attempt to use up what specialty malts I had. I forgot to get some Crystal 60, and I used up all my Crystal 90, which turned out to be less than half of what I had planned on using. So, I pressed the Brown Malt into service. Roasty flavors in IPA's are not completely out of place, but I went with a really light hand on it. Maris Otter: what can I say? I would use it in every ale if I could. While my first IPA this year was a high alpha acid brew, this one used some pretty low versions, but with a very respectable 42ish IBU's. I'm hoping for more of a spicy hoppiness in this one, where the first one was more fruity. The London ESB yeast fermented last week's batch super quick, and the Chinook hops were right up front in that one, so I think this one will be really good.
I'm really hoping to get in a couple of Saison's before the weather turns cooler, although it hasn't been real hot in Chicago this summer. But I'm torn between that and maybe getting in one more fun late summer ale on this yeast cake before I do some darker ales in September and October. We will see.
This year I'm much more comfortable with my hopping rates, pairings, and also with how I'm using the malts to balance that. My first IPA this year was absolutely fantastic. I've given a few out to taste, and it's gotten some pretty rave reviews. Of all my beers, I would feel comfortable putting that one on a shelf in a store right now.
IPA 2
Fermentables-
Maris Otter- 9 lbs
Crystal 90- .125 lbs
Brown Malt- .125 lbs
Flaked Barley- 8 ounces
Hops-
Willammette- .5 oz- First Wort Hopped
Willammette- 1 oz- 60 minutes
Vanguard- 1.5 oz- 15 minutes
Vanguard- 1.5 oz- 5 minutes
Vanguard- 1 oz- Dry Hopped
Mash-
151/165- hot water infusions
Yeast-
Wyeast 1968 London ESB- yeast cake from the Come Hell or High Water Ale
Gravity- Target/Actual-/Final/ABV
1.055/1.055/1.014/5.38%
The grain bill in this one turned into another attempt to use up what specialty malts I had. I forgot to get some Crystal 60, and I used up all my Crystal 90, which turned out to be less than half of what I had planned on using. So, I pressed the Brown Malt into service. Roasty flavors in IPA's are not completely out of place, but I went with a really light hand on it. Maris Otter: what can I say? I would use it in every ale if I could. While my first IPA this year was a high alpha acid brew, this one used some pretty low versions, but with a very respectable 42ish IBU's. I'm hoping for more of a spicy hoppiness in this one, where the first one was more fruity. The London ESB yeast fermented last week's batch super quick, and the Chinook hops were right up front in that one, so I think this one will be really good.
I'm really hoping to get in a couple of Saison's before the weather turns cooler, although it hasn't been real hot in Chicago this summer. But I'm torn between that and maybe getting in one more fun late summer ale on this yeast cake before I do some darker ales in September and October. We will see.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Come Hell Or High Water Ale
My plan this weekend was to do a Saison. The warm weather is perfect for just letting a fermentation take off without worrying about how warm it gets. The trouble was that when I got to the brewing store Saturday afternoon, they didn't actually have a single ingredient that I had gone in there to purchase, the most devastating of which was the yeast. My Saisons last year were all done with regular Belgian Ale yeasts, but this year I really was looking to brew them with a true Saison yeast to see how they improved.
Faced with this crushing defeat, standing in front of the disappointingly empty racks shelves where grain usually sit (lots of specialty malts, but very little base malts), I decided that come hell or high water, I was going to brew on Sunday. I came up with the following recipe:
Officially: CHOHW Ale
Fermentables-
Muntons Mild Ale- 5 lbs
Maris Otter- 2 lbs
2 row pale- 1 lb
Victory Malt- 8 oz
Crystal 90- 4 oz
Black Patent- eh...oz. I used up whatever I had left. I think it was about .125 oz
Hops-
Chinook- .5 ounces- 60 minutes
Chinook- 1 oz- 15 minutes
Chinook- 1.125 oz- 1 minute
Yeast-
Wyeast 1968- London ESB
Mash
154/168- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.049/1.050/1.015/4.59
The thing I'm most excited about with this beer is the yeast. Most of my regular American Ales I've done have been done with the same yeast strains (one from White Labs and one from Wyeast, but I think from the same brewery). I've never used this London ESB before, and while Chinook hops wouldn't normally be your first choice with this strain, I had some that needed to get used, and it seemed like a fun thing to do. It was also my first chance to try out hopping a pale ale with an eye toward super charging the hop flavors by doing most of the hop additions later in the boil. The grains were mostly chosen from what they still had at the store, and what I had left over in my pantry that needed to get used up (i.e., the single pound of regular 2 row pale malt, and all of the specialty grains).
I liked the way my Stonebridge Pale Ale turned out earlier this year with the higher mash temperature to make the beer seem bigger, so that definitely informed my mashing decisions. I plan on kegging this beer for use at a BBQ or party in our garden later this summer, so regular readers of my blog (all three of you) can start kissing up to me now if you want to be invited. Joking.
Faced with this crushing defeat, standing in front of the disappointingly empty racks shelves where grain usually sit (lots of specialty malts, but very little base malts), I decided that come hell or high water, I was going to brew on Sunday. I came up with the following recipe:
Officially: CHOHW Ale
Fermentables-
Muntons Mild Ale- 5 lbs
Maris Otter- 2 lbs
2 row pale- 1 lb
Victory Malt- 8 oz
Crystal 90- 4 oz
Black Patent- eh...oz. I used up whatever I had left. I think it was about .125 oz
Hops-
Chinook- .5 ounces- 60 minutes
Chinook- 1 oz- 15 minutes
Chinook- 1.125 oz- 1 minute
Yeast-
Wyeast 1968- London ESB
Mash
154/168- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.049/1.050/1.015/4.59
The thing I'm most excited about with this beer is the yeast. Most of my regular American Ales I've done have been done with the same yeast strains (one from White Labs and one from Wyeast, but I think from the same brewery). I've never used this London ESB before, and while Chinook hops wouldn't normally be your first choice with this strain, I had some that needed to get used, and it seemed like a fun thing to do. It was also my first chance to try out hopping a pale ale with an eye toward super charging the hop flavors by doing most of the hop additions later in the boil. The grains were mostly chosen from what they still had at the store, and what I had left over in my pantry that needed to get used up (i.e., the single pound of regular 2 row pale malt, and all of the specialty grains).
I liked the way my Stonebridge Pale Ale turned out earlier this year with the higher mash temperature to make the beer seem bigger, so that definitely informed my mashing decisions. I plan on kegging this beer for use at a BBQ or party in our garden later this summer, so regular readers of my blog (all three of you) can start kissing up to me now if you want to be invited. Joking.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tripel
And finally the tripel. If you've never had this style of beer, you are seriously missing out. In principle, it's a big refreshing beer. The Belgians are big on talking about digestibility in their beers. Which is to say, something you can sit down and eat with as opposed to something that would fill you up all on it's own. The tripel is sort of the culmination of that, as it's something you sort of NEED to eat a meal with. The style inherently contains a lot of sugar which makes it really high in alcohol. If you sit down after a long day in the garden with a few of these and no food, you can get yourself pretty drunk really fast.
But again, that's not really the point. Beer, while refreshing and fun on it's own, is best enjoyed with food. I continually see articles in Bon Appetit where people are mentioning beer more and more in food pairings. And there are some foods that just pair better with beer than with wine, so it makes sense that you would start to see this. According to Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, it's a good style for game birds and gamy hams like prosciutto. I am psyched about having this beer with a nice big dagwood type ham sandwich in August on the picnic table.
On to the recipe!
Tripel-
Fermentables-
Belgian Pilsner- 8 lbs
Vienna Malt- 2 lbs
Belgian Aromatic- 4 ounces
Carapils- 4 ounces
Clear Homemade Candi Sugar- 2 lbs- put in the boil at 45 minutes
Hops-
Kent Goldings- 4.6- 1 ounce- 60 minutes
Chinook- 13- .25 ounces- 13 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388- Belgian Strong Ale- yeast cake from Single and Dubbel batches
Mash-
149/167- hot water infusion with a decoction mashout
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.069/1.064/1.006/7.61%
The grain bill of a tripel is geared toward being able to stand up to the large amount of sugar that's going into the beer. That sugar ferments completely, so you need good stuff on the front end to make sure it's got a bit of malt and body to hold up under all that alcohol. Good Pilsner and Vienna malts are perfect for this. The Vienna especially is going to leave a little something that the yeast can't convert. The Kent Golding hops as a bittering addition are a traditional tripel ingredient. The Chinook not so much. I was kind of inspired by Chris, my neighbor who brews for Three Floyds, after talking to him about my single to try some unconventional hop additions. I probably should have done a little more research about the hop pairing of Goldings and Chinook (in truth, I didn't do any research at all), but homebrewing is about experimentation, and the Chinook addition is a tiny one at 1/4 of an ounce, so I don't think it will impart too much harshness. I added the sugar during the boil. Some people have been advocating adding it to the secondary, but I kind of like the idea of getting a little character from what happens when the sugar is a part of the boil.
The gravity came out a little low. I think if there is one aspect to my brewing that I have not really been able to get a handle on yet, it would be evaporation rate. I was unaware of how much volume would be added from the two pounds of sugar syrup, along with the relatively imprecise measurements on the side of my kettle for volume (I basically took a metal file and marked the side as best I could for the 3 to 7 gallon marks). This can get really imprecise when you put multiple whole hop additions in the kettle, along with the immersion chiller and the hop screen. Definitely something I plan on working on. In the end, I collected 5.5 gallons of beer into the carboy, which made my gravity almost the same as with the dubbel. The good news is that there was an extra pound of sugar in there, so I should get the divergence I was looking for from the two beers.
But again, that's not really the point. Beer, while refreshing and fun on it's own, is best enjoyed with food. I continually see articles in Bon Appetit where people are mentioning beer more and more in food pairings. And there are some foods that just pair better with beer than with wine, so it makes sense that you would start to see this. According to Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, it's a good style for game birds and gamy hams like prosciutto. I am psyched about having this beer with a nice big dagwood type ham sandwich in August on the picnic table.
On to the recipe!
Tripel-
Fermentables-
Belgian Pilsner- 8 lbs
Vienna Malt- 2 lbs
Belgian Aromatic- 4 ounces
Carapils- 4 ounces
Clear Homemade Candi Sugar- 2 lbs- put in the boil at 45 minutes
Hops-
Kent Goldings- 4.6- 1 ounce- 60 minutes
Chinook- 13- .25 ounces- 13 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388- Belgian Strong Ale- yeast cake from Single and Dubbel batches
Mash-
149/167- hot water infusion with a decoction mashout
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.069/1.064/1.006/7.61%
The grain bill of a tripel is geared toward being able to stand up to the large amount of sugar that's going into the beer. That sugar ferments completely, so you need good stuff on the front end to make sure it's got a bit of malt and body to hold up under all that alcohol. Good Pilsner and Vienna malts are perfect for this. The Vienna especially is going to leave a little something that the yeast can't convert. The Kent Golding hops as a bittering addition are a traditional tripel ingredient. The Chinook not so much. I was kind of inspired by Chris, my neighbor who brews for Three Floyds, after talking to him about my single to try some unconventional hop additions. I probably should have done a little more research about the hop pairing of Goldings and Chinook (in truth, I didn't do any research at all), but homebrewing is about experimentation, and the Chinook addition is a tiny one at 1/4 of an ounce, so I don't think it will impart too much harshness. I added the sugar during the boil. Some people have been advocating adding it to the secondary, but I kind of like the idea of getting a little character from what happens when the sugar is a part of the boil.
The gravity came out a little low. I think if there is one aspect to my brewing that I have not really been able to get a handle on yet, it would be evaporation rate. I was unaware of how much volume would be added from the two pounds of sugar syrup, along with the relatively imprecise measurements on the side of my kettle for volume (I basically took a metal file and marked the side as best I could for the 3 to 7 gallon marks). This can get really imprecise when you put multiple whole hop additions in the kettle, along with the immersion chiller and the hop screen. Definitely something I plan on working on. In the end, I collected 5.5 gallons of beer into the carboy, which made my gravity almost the same as with the dubbel. The good news is that there was an extra pound of sugar in there, so I should get the divergence I was looking for from the two beers.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Dubbel
The Belgian Dubbel is probably one of my favorite styles to drink, and to brew. It's got everything in it, although to be fair, probably not a hop head style. The malts are upfront, the Belgian yeast gets free reign to express itself, and there's the signature dark candi syrup to boost the alcohol and keep it light. Seriously. If you stuck me on a deserted island for the rest of my life, and the only beer I had access to was Chimay Red, I'd probably be cool with that.
Also: I really enjoy using Special B for some reason.
Fermentables-
Belgian Pale Malt- 7 lbs.
Munich Malt Dark- 2 lbs.
Special B- 12 oz.
Aromatic- 4 oz.
Homemade Candy Dark Candi Syrup- 1 lb.
Hops-
American Kent Goldings- 1 oz.- 60 minutes
Mount Hood- .875 oz.- 14 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale- yeast cake from the Belgian Pale Ale batch
Mash-
151/165- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV-
1.059/1.062/1.012/6.56%
There are a few departures from the previous versions I did. I changed the Vienna malt to Dark Munich which should give it a hint of roastiness along with a little extra color (my previous versions turned out orange as opposed to a deep brown that I had been shooting for). New hops, new yeast, but the best part was the sugar. Belgian candi sugar at a homebrew shop is tremendously expensive (something like $5 for a pound), and the candi syrup that they use in Belgium is even worse (more like $9). I've read up quite a bit about it, and every source seemed to say that these were basically cooked up versions of regular sugar that you can buy at the grocery store for a few bucks for a five pound bag. In Brew Like a Monk, Stan Hieronymus even talked to a brewer who had an analysis done by Archer Daniels Midland, and they told him it was regular sugar, so just buy sugar. So I cooked this one up myself. The result so far: I am never buying sugar at the homebrew store again. It took a little longer to cook up than I was expecting, but I got a nice dark color out without roasting it. All for less than a dollar.
A very successful brew day, and I'm very much looking forward to tasting this. My last one I did for Thanksgiving last year didn't have as much time in the bottle to condition, so I want to see what the yeast can do with a proper long storage period.
Also: I really enjoy using Special B for some reason.
Fermentables-
Belgian Pale Malt- 7 lbs.
Munich Malt Dark- 2 lbs.
Special B- 12 oz.
Aromatic- 4 oz.
Homemade Candy Dark Candi Syrup- 1 lb.
Hops-
American Kent Goldings- 1 oz.- 60 minutes
Mount Hood- .875 oz.- 14 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale- yeast cake from the Belgian Pale Ale batch
Mash-
151/165- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV-
1.059/1.062/1.012/6.56%
There are a few departures from the previous versions I did. I changed the Vienna malt to Dark Munich which should give it a hint of roastiness along with a little extra color (my previous versions turned out orange as opposed to a deep brown that I had been shooting for). New hops, new yeast, but the best part was the sugar. Belgian candi sugar at a homebrew shop is tremendously expensive (something like $5 for a pound), and the candi syrup that they use in Belgium is even worse (more like $9). I've read up quite a bit about it, and every source seemed to say that these were basically cooked up versions of regular sugar that you can buy at the grocery store for a few bucks for a five pound bag. In Brew Like a Monk, Stan Hieronymus even talked to a brewer who had an analysis done by Archer Daniels Midland, and they told him it was regular sugar, so just buy sugar. So I cooked this one up myself. The result so far: I am never buying sugar at the homebrew store again. It took a little longer to cook up than I was expecting, but I got a nice dark color out without roasting it. All for less than a dollar.
A very successful brew day, and I'm very much looking forward to tasting this. My last one I did for Thanksgiving last year didn't have as much time in the bottle to condition, so I want to see what the yeast can do with a proper long storage period.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Single- Belgian Pale Ale
This beer is the first in my Gay Beers 2009 series. As I said in my last post, my plan is to do three successive beers on the same yeast, each getting stronger and bigger. It's a page out of Ted's book, and he brews some damn good beers, so I'm guessing it'll be a success. I'm not bothering with names for these, so this one is simply called the Single.
The Single-
Fermentables-
Belgian Pilsner Malt- 6 pounds
Munich Malt- 2 pounds
Cara Pils- 8 ounces
Belgian Aromatic- 8 ounces
Hops-
Fuggles- 1 ounce- 60 minutes
Simcoe- .875 ounces- 15 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale- pitched straight from a smack pack
Mash-
151/168- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.049/1/052/1.011/5.38%
I was so pumped to start brewing my Belgian beers this year. I love the spicy beery deliciousness they bring to my belly. I hadn't brewed this style before, so I turned to Michael Jackson (the other one) for most of my recipe notes. Pilsner Malt for most of the gravity. Munich for a little extra kick, sweetness and color. Cara Pils for some body, and Aromatic for...umm, I forget, but I'm sure it'll add something. My plan was to use Fuggles all the way through (more on that in a minute), but I'm interested to see what the Belgian yeast will do with the Simcoe's, which are really a classic western IPA hop. And of course, the lovely yeast. I am always so impressed with what flavors and aromas a Belgian yeast can squeeze out of what you throw in a carboy. I picked the Strong Ale yeast partly because I hadn't used it before, and partly because the successive beers I'll be making with it will be pretty high octane, especially the tripel. Lower pitching rates tend to add esters to a beer, so I deliberately pitched without a starter to maximize the effect.
Most of brewing at this point is a lot of waiting around, which is great, because there is loads of free beer, and that means there's plenty of time for drinking some while I'm watching the beer brew itself. Most of what needs to be done is in the last fifteen minutes. I had been waiting for a repair guy to show up at the house for several hours, and of course, he decided to pull up 18 minutes before the end of the boil. I was dry hopping an IPA, and had two varieties of hops on my table. Of course, instead of throwing 1 ounce of low alpha acid spicy Fuggles in at the fifteen minute mark, I threw in 7/8 of an ounce of high alpha acid fruity Simcoe. Needless to say, I was pretty upset for about an hour. Which is when I ran into Chris from Three Floyds. While our dogs sniffed each others backsides, we discussed the recipe, and my mistake. His response was that is exactly the sort of thing they would do at his brewery. Apparently, Fuggles and Simcoe go well together, and are complementary when blending. So there you go. Happy accidents.
Next up: The Dubble
The Single-
Fermentables-
Belgian Pilsner Malt- 6 pounds
Munich Malt- 2 pounds
Cara Pils- 8 ounces
Belgian Aromatic- 8 ounces
Hops-
Fuggles- 1 ounce- 60 minutes
Simcoe- .875 ounces- 15 minutes
Yeast-
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale- pitched straight from a smack pack
Mash-
151/168- Hot water infusions
Gravity- Target/Actual/Final/ABV
1.049/1/052/1.011/5.38%
I was so pumped to start brewing my Belgian beers this year. I love the spicy beery deliciousness they bring to my belly. I hadn't brewed this style before, so I turned to Michael Jackson (the other one) for most of my recipe notes. Pilsner Malt for most of the gravity. Munich for a little extra kick, sweetness and color. Cara Pils for some body, and Aromatic for...umm, I forget, but I'm sure it'll add something. My plan was to use Fuggles all the way through (more on that in a minute), but I'm interested to see what the Belgian yeast will do with the Simcoe's, which are really a classic western IPA hop. And of course, the lovely yeast. I am always so impressed with what flavors and aromas a Belgian yeast can squeeze out of what you throw in a carboy. I picked the Strong Ale yeast partly because I hadn't used it before, and partly because the successive beers I'll be making with it will be pretty high octane, especially the tripel. Lower pitching rates tend to add esters to a beer, so I deliberately pitched without a starter to maximize the effect.
Most of brewing at this point is a lot of waiting around, which is great, because there is loads of free beer, and that means there's plenty of time for drinking some while I'm watching the beer brew itself. Most of what needs to be done is in the last fifteen minutes. I had been waiting for a repair guy to show up at the house for several hours, and of course, he decided to pull up 18 minutes before the end of the boil. I was dry hopping an IPA, and had two varieties of hops on my table. Of course, instead of throwing 1 ounce of low alpha acid spicy Fuggles in at the fifteen minute mark, I threw in 7/8 of an ounce of high alpha acid fruity Simcoe. Needless to say, I was pretty upset for about an hour. Which is when I ran into Chris from Three Floyds. While our dogs sniffed each others backsides, we discussed the recipe, and my mistake. His response was that is exactly the sort of thing they would do at his brewery. Apparently, Fuggles and Simcoe go well together, and are complementary when blending. So there you go. Happy accidents.
Next up: The Dubble
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Gay beers
If you've seen the movie "In Bruges," you will know exactly what "gay beer" stands for. If you haven't seen it, you should (this means you Grandma).
In the film, one of the main characters keeps referring to Belgian beers as gay beers, and his beloved English Pale Ales as regular beers. Truth is, the gay beers are the best beers (I know of at least 7 Germans who will be seriously disappointed by that statement, but it's true). My buddy Ed said before I brewed my first beer something to the effect that brewing is all about making a nice environment for your yeast. Belgian beers are about the character of the yeast driving the flavor and aromas more than any other. And despite the strict nature of the guidelines for beers in general, I feel like I have the most freedom to experiment with these.
Brewing here is highly contingent on temperature control of fermentation, of which I have none. So it's all seasonal. Belgian yeasts have a tendency to be able to deal with higher temperatures, so it is the time of year where Brauerie LaVoy turns into Brasserie LaVoy. Where I go from making Bölkstoff to making something a bit finer.
I'm going to do my gay beers in two parts. Ted has been doing series of beers with the same yeast, and I will try something similar here. The first part will be a series of Abbey style Belgian Ales, a single, a dubbel and a tripel. The second will be a series of Saisons. Some of what I'll be doing will be building on what I've done before. I've done a couple of dubbels, and a couple of Saisons. The overall approach will change a bit. Instead of expensive candi sugars from the home brew store for the higher octane brews, I will be using sugar concoctions that I cook up on my stove. I'm going to experiment with some different grains for the Saisons, especially with spelt (which is an heirloom varietal of wheat).
Needless to say, I am really excited about this. I was driving Kerry crazy last week mulling over whether to start these beers last weekend or not. I decided to wait, because I wanted to be fully ready for these. GAY BEERS!
In the film, one of the main characters keeps referring to Belgian beers as gay beers, and his beloved English Pale Ales as regular beers. Truth is, the gay beers are the best beers (I know of at least 7 Germans who will be seriously disappointed by that statement, but it's true). My buddy Ed said before I brewed my first beer something to the effect that brewing is all about making a nice environment for your yeast. Belgian beers are about the character of the yeast driving the flavor and aromas more than any other. And despite the strict nature of the guidelines for beers in general, I feel like I have the most freedom to experiment with these.
Brewing here is highly contingent on temperature control of fermentation, of which I have none. So it's all seasonal. Belgian yeasts have a tendency to be able to deal with higher temperatures, so it is the time of year where Brauerie LaVoy turns into Brasserie LaVoy. Where I go from making Bölkstoff to making something a bit finer.
I'm going to do my gay beers in two parts. Ted has been doing series of beers with the same yeast, and I will try something similar here. The first part will be a series of Abbey style Belgian Ales, a single, a dubbel and a tripel. The second will be a series of Saisons. Some of what I'll be doing will be building on what I've done before. I've done a couple of dubbels, and a couple of Saisons. The overall approach will change a bit. Instead of expensive candi sugars from the home brew store for the higher octane brews, I will be using sugar concoctions that I cook up on my stove. I'm going to experiment with some different grains for the Saisons, especially with spelt (which is an heirloom varietal of wheat).
Needless to say, I am really excited about this. I was driving Kerry crazy last week mulling over whether to start these beers last weekend or not. I decided to wait, because I wanted to be fully ready for these. GAY BEERS!
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