Modern Homebrew Recipes (43 page)

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Step mash, mashout, crystal malts and dark grains added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

144°F (62°C) 60 minutes

158°F (70°C) 15 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (32 L)

Boil length:

90 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

72°F (22°C)

Sensory description:
Reddish color, clear, with a wine-like acidity and a toasty, fruity, cherry profile. The beer starts bready, toasty, and malty with supportive bitterness and complementary esters, but then dries out and shows more acidity. The finish is tart and crisp with the fruity notes blending with the acidity.

Formulation notes:
The 3763 blend is intended to mimic the Rodenbach fermentation profile (the Rodenbach brewery is in the town of Roeselare). Give the yeast blend plenty of time to work and to develop the sourness (at least a year), since it contains a blend of an ale yeast, a sherry yeast, two
Brett
yeasts, and both
lactobacillus
and
pediococcus
bacteria. It’s meant to be a complete
lambic
-like fermentation experience in one vial. I like it because it will not only provide the necessary attenuation and sourness, but will also develop a nice cherry flavor that is often characteristic of the style. The chocolate wheat malt is primarily for color adjustment; using a little bit of something dark will give a reddish hue. The rest of the grist is focused on toasty, rich malt flavors, the corn adds a rounded sweetness, and the crystal malts add to the dark fruit character.

Variations:
Rodenbach used to make a version called Alexander that had cherries in it. An obvious pairing would be tart cherries (or even dried cherries). You can even blend it with tart cherry juice (or syrup, if you want the beer to be sweeter). Rodenbach is matured in wooden casks, so if you want a bit of wood character to the beer, use medium-toast French oak chips. You don’t want a huge wood character, so taste frequently and don’t let the wood get too prominent. The tannin from the wood is one of the factors that makes people think this beer is similar to red wine.

ALISON

Remember how I said I sometimes name beers after people who do something memorable when drinking the beer? At a work party at my wife’s office, Alison took a liking to this beer but didn’t fully grasp how strong it was. Among the more amusing things she did later was arm-wrestle the (male) host of the party and win. I like to think the beer had something to do with it, although her impressive biceps may have also been a factor.

Style:
Belgian Tripel (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
A classic
tripel
in the style of Westmalle Tripel. Dry, bitter, and strong with a spicy and hoppy nose. Highly carbonated, and dangerously drinkable. Could lead to demonstrations of feats of strength. Should probably be saved for Festivus.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

0.5 tsp CaCl
₂
and 0.5 tsp CaSO
₄
in mash

Mash technique:

Step infusion, mashout, no sparge

Mash rests:

131°F (55°C) 10 minutes

140°F (60°C) 10 minutes

145°F (63°C) 40 minutes

158°F (70°C) 20 minutes

168°F (76°C) 10 minutes

Kettle volume:

8 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

75 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

68°F (20°C)

Sensory description:
Delicious Pils malt flavor with a dry finish and high carbonation. The hops also add fruity, spicy, and floral notes, and complement the yeast nicely. The yeast strain produces a peppery, spicy, and fruity quality.

Formulation notes:
I used Sterling hops instead of the more traditional Saaz, since they often seem fresher at my local homebrew shop and their AA% is higher which means adding less vegetal content to the boil. If you can get fresh Czech Saaz, they are wonderful in this beer. Step mash and add sugar for attenuation. The best
tripels
start low and finish low so they have the right dryness. The same attenuation won’t taste the same if the FG is too high. You can drop the OG (and the FG) even lower if you think this finishes too big (it’s a little higher than a Westmalle) by cutting out a pound or two of the Pilsner malt while keeping the sugar the same. Using the
round-trip
mash program in
Tom Fitzpatrick’s Last Saison
recipe in
Chapter 10
could also give you a lower FG.

Variations:
I provided a more modern
tripel
recipe in
Brewing Better Beer
, in the style of
La Rulles Tripel
. This same beer will taste different with other yeast strains, or fermented at different temperatures. My second favorite is White Labs WLP510 Bastogne. If you want to be a hipster, you can add an ounce or two of debittered black malt in the mashout and create a Black Tripel (that’s a joke …). You can also dry hop the beer more to be more like an IPA. The style also lends itself to being fermented with
Brett Brux Trois
(White Labs WLP644) as the primary yeast strain, which produces a very dry and fruity beer. Finishing the original beer with
Brett Bruxellensis
(like White Labs WLP650) will give it more of an Orval feeling (if you want to go that route, swap the primary yeast for White Labs WLP510 Bastogne yeast).

9. SPICED BEER RECIPES

“He who controls the spice, controls the universe!”

—Baron Harkonnen in Frank Herbert’s
Dune

I like creating spiced beers because I enjoy cooking and creating flavor combinations. When creating a spiced beer recipe, I start by envisioning the final beer, and how each spice provides a distinct contribution to the flavor. That line of thinking is very similar to recipe formulation in general, but spices add another dimension of variety and complexity. Most of the beers in this section are cold weather beers, suitable for the fall and winter holidays (in the northern hemisphere at least).

My only warning when brewing spiced beers is to avoid adding raw spices to finished beer. Lightly toasting the spices helps to extract important essential oils, and really makes the flavors bloom. Avoiding an extended cold steep reduces the potential for harsh tannins and other undesirable flavors. I normally steep the spices at the end of the boil in a mesh hop bag, or make a tea from the spices and blend it in after fermentation is complete. Sometimes I use both methods: a post-boil steep to get most of the flavor and then some spiced-tea additions to tweak the taste of the final beer.

This collection of recipes includes some of my favorite seasonal beers, including several Belgian Christmas ales inspired by classic commercial examples. Many Belgian seasonal specialties are simply stronger (2% ABV higher, on average), darker, more full-bodied versions of flagship beers. Some will have additional spicing, although Belgians don’t typically smash you over the head with spices. The best spices are subtle and noticeable, although not necessarily individually recognizable or identifiable. When making Belgian-influenced beers, think about a well-blended final product, not making sure everyone knows what spice you used.

Personal preferences with spicing can influence your recipe design as well. Try to make a blend that you find personally pleasing, and that complements the underlying beer. Stronger, darker, and sweeter beers can take more spice before it gets overwhelming. Sometimes, in larger beers, I will increase the spicing since I know I will be aging the beer, and also know that spices can lose potency over time as bitterness and alcohol intensity subsides.

•
Christmas Beer
– It is fun to have a Christmas beer to take to holiday parties. Darker, stronger versions work well with spices, and have the flavors of holiday desserts and the aromatics of the season.

•
Pumpkin Ale
– My goal with this beer is to brew pumpkin pie in a glass. The problem with many pumpkin beers is that all you taste is spice. This one has pumpkin flavor, and also adds the flavors of the pie crust and optionally, some vanilla ice cream.

•
Llamarada Stout
– Inspired by a Chilean espresso drink with honey and smoked chile pepper, this recipe pairs a foreign stout with those flavors. The name means
bursts of flame
.

•
Kokonut Stout
–This foreign stout is best made through blending and tasting. The flavor of the coconut pairs beautifully with the dark flavors of the base beer.

•
Spiced Belgian Strong Ale
– The first of my selection of Belgian winter ales, this recipe pairs warming spices with a rich Belgian dark strong ale.

•
Christmas Saison
– A strong, dark
saison
with spices. This beer balances flavorful malt with the fruit contributions from spices, hops, and yeast.

•
Belgian Christmas Beer
– A fruity and strong Belgian ale spiced with bitter orange and thyme. This beer is malty with layers of dark fruit complexity.

•
Silent Night
– A Belgian barleywine-style strong ale that uses a significant amount of honey. As warming as your favorite blanket on a cold winter night.

•
Winter in Antwerp
– A darker, spiced version of a Belgian pale ale. Pairs vanilla and cinnamon with biscuity, fruity, and caramel malt flavors.

•
Spiced Bière de Garde
– The dark malts of a
bière de garde
paired with hops and spices. Warm-fermented as a lager to produce a fruity but smooth flavor profile.

CHRISTMAS BEER

This has been a favorite style of mine since I won my first best-of-show with a Christmas beer at the Ohio State Fair. The recipe for the fifth batch I ever brewed is in Brewing Better Beer. This version is one I have been making more recently, and has a richer, more complex malt profile, increased strength, and a slightly stronger spice balance than the original recipe.

Style:
Winter Seasonal Beer (New BJCP Style, Experimental)

Description:
A moderately strong, chewy, malty Christmas ale with seasonal spices.

Ingredients: