We’re shipping up to Nelson

When it comes down to it, I’m really just a backyard brewer… There’s not checking of mash pH, the grain bill is weighed out ‘near enough’, fermentation control is lacking and ‘shock horror’ I use my local tap water without filtering.  So far I’ve been pretty lucky with the results, either that or this homebrew thing is tollarent to my bad behaviour.  This weeks brew is case in point….

I’ve always been incredibly fond of Saisons, to me it is the beer style which can incorporate the widest variety of flavors – you can go hard on the hops, push the temps for fruity/spice or keep it clean and mellow for a ‘lawn mower beer’.  This blog already has one of my previous [experiences], here we are pulling out a recipe for one of the first beers I brewed – I call it, ‘Sauvin Saison’.  What I really enjoyed about this beer was how well the ‘wine’ from the sauvin hops mellowed with the peppery spice of the yeast, lets see if I can recreate it with this batch.

23L        OG 1.060      21 IBU

2.3 kg Pilsner Malt

1.4 kg Pale Malt

900 g Munich Malt

900 g Wheat Malt

500 g Table Sugar (sucrose)

120 g Dark Crystal

14 g Nelson Sauvin @ 20′, 10 and 5′

28 g Nelson Sauvin @ 7 days

Nothing fancy in the mash, rest @ 66C for 90′, sparge @ 77C.

Talking about my fermentation (or lack thereof) – anyone familer with Dunedin weather at this time of year will appreciate this isn’t the best time to attempt to brew with French/Belgian yeast strains.  Again I’m using a dry yeast, this one has an optimum working temp of 26-32 C, there are a few things I have done to try and get around this – 1) I’ve pitched the yeast at ~35C and rehydrated in water previously, considering 23L is a decent amount of thermal mass this should ensure temp >20C for the next few days 2) A nice blanket has been wrapped around the fermentor and its sitting in the hot water cupboard 3) I’ve added sucrose to the wort, this should provide some easy initial sugars for the yeast to eat, once a ferment starts it should create its own heat.  This pales in comparison to a proper fermentation chamber but it should give me a fighting chance.

Current beer stocks are ok, I’ve finished the last of the mild (which tasted better and better after a bit of conditioning) and there is 3/4 of a crate of PaleAle, 3/4 of a crate of Stout and 1 crate of Dunkelweizen left.  Kinda sick of bottles, need to go to kegs….

Beamishish Tasting Notes

This one is just starting to come into its own.  Beamishish has come out somewhat different to what I expected, with all the choc malt I was expecting a sweet cocoa overload, but instead it is sympathetic to its dry irish stout roots.  Tasting is similar to Dawsons version (from which this was taken) but I’m missing the toffee fruit he describes, my use of dry yeast lets me down in showing this dynamic.

Aroma

Lots of roast coffee/choc on the nose, completely lacking any esters here.

Appearance

Black with a garnet in the light, has dropped clear and there is a nice, slightly brown, creamy head to pour with.

Flavour

Nice roast sharpness to start off, mellows into a choc and finishes with a bittersweet note.  Dissapointing that I’m missing the creaminess I like in stouts to balance the solid flavours from the malt.  Thinking this would be a brilliant base for a milk stout.

Mouthfeel

Definately on the light-medium for a stout, lacking creamy character (poor).  Carbonation is nice a low.  Astringency is definately there, the lack of body/cream makes this not quite as smooth as it should be (though a good drinker)

Impression

My notes may sound worse than this beer is, it would be perfect if it had the mouthfeel to balance out all of the solid appearance of the malts.  We’ve got the dark, roast, bitter, but not the creamy I like in a stout.

Homegrown Pale Ale Tasting Notes

So I’ve been terribly slack with keeping up with these blog posts.  This brew has come with a big surprise, being a homegrown hop of unknown variety I was kind of expecting something dank and grassy.  The name of this beer should be re-labelled as ‘Passion Pop’ because the dominant flavour (somewhat one-dimensional) is most certainly passionfruit…  I’m starting to be a bit more ‘snobbery’ in what I brew, as although they are acceptable beers (as approved by 3rd parties) I find myself nitpicking for what I can do better….  Also noticed that since changing from BIAB to a cooler mash tun the brews are coming out thinner and cleaner, need to bump up the mash temps a touch to get back a bit more mouthfeel.

Aroma

Big whiff of passionfruit in the nose doesnt deny what this brew is all about.  When freshly poured this verges on overpowering with a slight ‘sick’ smell similar to what lacto can cause in sour beers.  Very slight sweetness from the malt but you need to hunt to find it.

Appearance

Amber and very hazy (mmm hops).  Pours with a nice stiff head which disappears quickly

Flavour

The passionfruit hits you with the first sip and rolls across the palate.  I wouldn’t call this bitter at all, the malt finish makes this a very sweet, fruity beer (and a bit girly)

Mouthfeel

Quite a light body in this one, I would hope for a bit more but it just isnt there.  Carbonation slightly on the low side for what you would want though there is a bit of tingle on the tongue towards the end of a mouthfull

Impression

Surprising how this has turned out.  Fruity and light makes this an extremely sessionable beer, pity its not something I can do during the summer (homegrown and all).  Think next year I’ll brew this with more english style to bump up the mouthfeel and bring in the malt

‘Trigo Oscuro’

I love the smell of decoction in the morning…. it smells like…. victory….

Yes it is time for another classic style, this time I’m going with a Dunkelweizen, a beer which combines the attributes of two recent brews – a Dunkel and a Hefeweizen.  The recipe is taken from Jamils ‘Brewing classic styles‘, and as always it has been modified to accommodate the malt selection I have from Gladfield Malt.  We’ve also got a new brewing supplies shop in Dunedin (nice to see some choice/competition), so this is from my first trip to ‘Brewphoria‘, the staff in there are good value (doing a brew in the back of the shop when I was there) so I might just make it the local.  I’ve also decided to push the recipe sideways, the bittering charge will come from some of the homegrown, dried hops I have in the freezer.  We’re only after ~11 IBUs so guessing that the AA % I have with the leaf is ~4% I hopefully should get it in the ballpark…

23L

3.1 kg Wheat Malt

1.4 kg Munich Malt

900 g Pilsner Malt

330 g Dark Crystal Malt/ 30 g Shepherds Delight Malt NB: This is a sub for Special B

60 g Light Chocolate Malt NB: This is a Sub for Carafa II

~28g of homegrown leaf hops @ 60’

Mash in with 15L @ 50C (strike at 55C) rest for 25′.  Pull 4.5L of heavy mash, decoct and add to main mash to raise to 62C, rest for 20′.  Pull 4L of heavy mash, decoct and add to main mash to raise to 67C, rest for 60′.  Lauter, then double batch sparge with 2x 10L @ 77C.

I did have some trouble with a stuck sparge (possibly go with my BIAB in the next wheatbeer), and after a bit of faffing around it affected my efficiency.  OG @ 1.052 (targeting 1.060).

Fermenting at 20C with WB-06 yeast – trying to go for more of a clove influence, 12 hrs in it is bubbling like crazy.

Beamishish

I think my first exposure to homebrewing as we know it today is the fantastic blog and YouTube series ‘Chop and Brew’, it is ‘Beamishish‘  from this series that we draw todays inspriation.  The protagonist in the Beamishish story is also one of my favorite beer bloggers – Michael Dawson who you can find on The Beer Engine Blog.  He regales the story of Beamish as a drop enjoyed while studying abroad.  I myself have no innate relationship to this experience, I just like stout….

The weather is starting to advise us that stout season is arriving, a few cold southerlies have required a lit fire and I feed a frost in the next week or two will kill my hop bines.  Moreover, I’ve got my annual trip to go duck hunting in a month or so, this should certainly go down a treat in the evenings after a days hunting.

Like most recipes on this blog, I’ve adapted the grist to match what I can source locally from Gladfields Malt and subbed out the European hops for a single high AA% charge of Pacific Jade.

20L      OG:1.046      IBU:31

3.2 kg Pale Malt

400 gms Light Chocolate Malt

300 gms White Wheat Malt

300 gms Dark Crystal Malt

20 gms Pacific Jade @ 60′

Mash rest @ 65C for 90′, double batch sparge of 77C

Fermenting at 18C with SO4

P.S You cant brew a stout without a ‘Hot Scotchie’

HopMadness Pale Ale

I’ve been quite impressed with my hop bines this year, I moved about 6 months ago when these were first starting to sprout (they are in their second year) and quickly planted them along the fenceline.  I has been a cracker summer and one of them really took off (the other is really in too shady of a spot), this has yielded over 600gm of dried leaf and a large bucket of wethops which I used for todays brew.  Harvest time took a bit of effort but investing in some child labour I got them all picked in half a day….

Todays recipe is pretty standard fare for a PA – Ale Malt, some Munich/Dark Crystal for a bit of guts and some acid malt to bump up the efficiency.  I had some Nelson Sauvin pellets left around to use for the bittering charge and saved the wet hops for flavour/aroma

23L    OG: 1.057                         IBU: Dunno

4.40 kg Pale Malt (Gladfields)

600 g Munich Malt (Gladfields)

300 g Dark Crystal Malt (Gladfields)

150 g Sour Grapes Malt (Gladfields)

Rest @ 67C for 90′, double batch sparge with 72C

15g Nelson Sauvin @ 60′

10g Nelson Sauvin @ 15′

6 handfuls of wet hops @ 15′

Rest of the wet hops @ 0′

Fermenting @18C with S04, really keen to see how these hops turn out as I have no idea as to the variety

Hobbit Hooch Tasting Notes

So this one sat in the primary for close to 4 weeks and we are 2 weeks into bottle conditioning – this beer is changing day to day and is certainly getting better.  I’m afraid to say that I may have let the temp during the early stage of the ferment to get a little bit high (22ish) and there is a little bit more fruity ester apparent than I would like for the style, but letting a glass sit for a while this subsides to level which is more pleasant.

Aroma

Some  grape fruityness on the nose, but after time this mellows with a faint malty caramel remaining.

Appearance

Mahogany colour, creamy white head which disappears rather quickly, carbonation is mild and all perfect for this style of beer.

Flavor

Mild caramel with an underlying reminder of brown toast, slight molasses finish with a subtle roast.  A small amount of fruit is apparent, hop bitterness barely there.

Mouthfeel

Light/medium mouthfeel, surprising for something of such low gravity.  The rolled oats makes this also slightly slick, not astringent at all.

Impression

Malt accentuated and really drinkable.  Reminds me of something I could (but cant…) order from the cask at the local english-themed pub.

‘Dunkel Down’ Tasting Notes

FG: 1.012 (OG:1.054)

5.5% ABV

Aroma

Pretty mellow on the nose, there is some malt sweetness/richness, I get chocolate roast and toffee.  Possibly a faint hop aroma but barely noticeable.

Appearance

Has a copper/ruby hue in the light, has settled almost clear.  Creamy head though it is a little under-carbed at this point.

Flavour

Very deep and complex malt flavour (oh how I love Munich).  I get lots of roast, a hint of chocolate and can almost make out dark fruits (I’m thinking stewed plums), the toffee sweetness lingers but balances well.  Hops barely there but has enough to balance the malt.

Mouthfeel

Body is ‘medium-full’, there is a solid amount of mouthfeel, possibly a touch much, would like this to finish a bit lighter – though it is early in its conditioning and was fermented with an ale yeast.

Overall Impression

Very happy with this one, extremely drinkable and surprisingly quenching for something with so much body.  I like the Munich malt complexity, almost as if you identify a new flavour with each sip. Not sure if the Carafa added anything with this.  Will hold onto a bottle and brew in the future with a traditional lagering regime to compare.

My one cool beer story…

So this is my one chance to state my claim as a beer snob (though I often have Speights/Steinlager in my fridge, so does that count) and I am going to take the chance to tell the tale.

Back in 2011 (and well before I got into homebrewing/craft beer) I was 2 years in my PhD.  Through many fortunate circumstances I took a trip (with the rest of the research group) to northern California for a conference.  Now the venue of the conference was ~20min down the road from Santa Rosa and the hotel ran a bus into there each night so you could go out for dinner.

One evening we had just finished dinner and Santa Rosa and went off to find somewhere for a drink prior to catching a ride back to the hotel.  So we came across this brewpub called “The Russian River Brewing Company”, you know where this is going….

I have hazy memories of really enjoying the ‘hop punch’ of Pliny the Elder, but being a touch repulsed/surprised at the sourness of Beautification.  It was several hours later (somewhere in the am…) that we finally stumbled out, after consuming goodness knows how many pitchers of high IBU IPAs and sour beers.  Not only was the beer great (though I was not quite educated enough to appreciate it) but the environment of the ‘brewpub’ experience was super cool.

Turns out we ended up missing our ride back, and I starting writing a presentation for the conference at like 3am.  Felt a bit under the weather at the podium…

It wasn’t until a few years later I realised how big of a deal that night out in Santa Rosa was….

Hobbit Hooch

In my journey of brewing ‘traditional styles’, I surely must consider something from my own mother country – though I believe it was 4 or so generations since a member of my family was born in ‘Jolly ol’ England’.  Today we are looking at a style which once was extremely popular but now is more or less extinct when it comes to large commercial brewing – an English Mild.

When we think of ‘mild’ these days, it implies a ‘weak’, ‘low alcoholic’ beer.  However in the 1800s it meant that the beer was relatively young (rather than aged) and fresh.  This was a beer for the masses and for many years was the most popular style across the UK, not the case any more.  Within the BJCP guidelines a mild has an OG:1.30-1.038 with an ABV of 2.8-4.5%, so we are talking a ‘session’ beer here.

With such a low OG, I really needed to consider good quality ingredients as I don’t have a lot body to hide any mistakes.  9 times out of 10 I buy my ingredients from one of two places – the ‘local’ The Dunedin Malthouse, or Baylands Brewery.  This time everything is from Baylands, totally because the malt/hops they provide always seems to be so much fresher than anywhere else – I assume that the brewery side of things ensures a good ingredient turnover rate, so nothing is left to go stodgy.

The inspiration of this recipe comes from two places – ‘Early Grey Mild’ from TheMadFermentationist (one of the best brewing blogs out there, and an old Brewing TV episode where they brew ‘Belladonna Took’s Oaked Mild’ (hence the hobbit reference).  So this is probably more of the ‘early grey’, but where I have subbed in toasted rolled oats (see pretentious discussion below) rather than the ‘Simpsons Golden Naked Oats’.

Being conscious of using local ingredients, I’m using rolled oats from Harraways and Sons, this is now the only rolled oats mill left in NZ (once there was 1/2 doz) and not only did I used to live ~500m down the site I also know a few members of the team.  To toast I simply spread ~200g out on and oven tray and put into a 200C oven for 20min (mixed halfway through), this should add a bit extra to the depth and was the main influence from the BTV recipe.

23L  OG:1.038  14 IBU

3.40kg Maris Otter

200g Toasted Rolled Oats

110g CaraRye

110g Dark Crystal

60g Roasted Barley

42g Czech Saaz @ 60′

Simple mash – 67C for 90min, sparge as you so desire….

All in all it was a pretty simple brew day, currently fermenting @ 18C with a British ale yeast.  I’ll leave this in the primary for ~2 weeks then bottle condition…

Edit: Tasting notes added