Modern Homebrew Recipes (48 page)

AMERICAN DUBBEL BROWN

I once wrote an article about fusion beers, or beers that tried to combine two styles to create something new. With this recipe, I decided to put my own suggestions into practice, and transplanted a Belgian
dubbel
grain bill into an American brown ale recipe.

Style:
Hybrid Style (New BJCP Style, Experimental)

Description:
The malt flavors of a Belgian
dubbel
with a New World hop combo.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

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

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

149°F (65°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

90 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

68°F (20°C)

Sensory description:
Rich malty base with caramel, dark fruit, and light nutty, chocolate. Fruity and citrusy hop aroma and flavor. The bitterness is moderate and tempered by the malty depth.

Formulation notes:
The grist is similar to a Belgian
dubbel,
except it includes extra chocolate malt to make sure it’s a brown ale. The hops are a modern combination of citrus and tropical fruit.

Variations:
If the citrusy notes aren’t to your liking, try substituting Amarillo for the Cascade. If you want to try something even more unusual, try to use hops with spicy or peppery characteristics to compensate for using American instead of Belgian yeast. Try to have the hops fill in the spicy and fruity notes normally derived from Belgian yeast. If you want to dry out the finish more to make it seem more Belgian, add a pound (454 g) of white sugar.

CLASSIC AMERICAN PORTER

My wife enjoys Yuengling Porter, so I tried to come up with a recipe in the same style. Yuengling still brews this beer, but it represents a much older style of Porter that existed before the craft beer revolution. This style is sometimes called Pennsylvania Porter or Northeast Porter.

Style:
Historical Beer (New BJCP Style)

Description:
A dark, lagered porter in the style of historical Pennsylvania porters.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

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

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

152°F (67°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

60 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

50°F (10°C) 2 weeks

32°F (0°C) 8 weeks

Sensory description:
Smooth, balanced bitterness with a roasted and slightly sweet flavor. Moderate body with some residual sweetness to offset the roast.

Formulation notes:
Tried for a basic grist but with some dextrinous grain for more mouthfeel. The corn gives a rounded sweetness more than a straight corn flavor, while the debittered dark malt provides that roasted flavor without the burnt aspects. It tends to be a sweeter beer, so the IBUs are restrained and crystal malt is used. Use a relatively neutral lager yeast and lager the finished beer.

Variations:
Add some blackstrap molasses (1 tablespoon, at most) or brewer’s licorice (maybe a half stick). If a more burnt flavor is desired, try a few ounces of black malt. For amore rustic and grainy beer, use US six-row instead of two-row base malt.

TOM FITZPATRICK’S LAST SAISON

Tom Fitzpatrick was a homebrewer, a beer judge, and a friend. He passed away unexpectedly on Easter Sunday 2013, and I wrote a tribute to him in
Zymurgy.
He had been working hard to perfect the
saison
style, and most agree that he had nailed it. With the help of some friends in his Urban Knaves of Grain homebrew club, I was able to get his notes and brewing records for the beer. I published that version in
Zymurgy.
This is my reinterpretation of his recipe using some unusual techniques. I’m sure Tom would have approved (as long as the beer tasted good).

Style:
Saison (standard, pale) (Classic BJCP Style, Experimental)

Description:
A dry, spicy
saison
with great balance; uses an unusual mash technique and unconventional hops. Finished at 1.002 without using additional sugar.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

Plain RO water in the mash

0.5 tsp CaCl
₂
and 0.25 tsp CaSO
₄
in mash

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

Mash technique:

Round-trip continuously variable mash

Mash rests:

Start mash at 153°F (67°C), begin recirculating while allowing to cool naturally to 140°F (60°C).

Once mash hit 140°F (60°C), begin slowly heating while recirculating. Stop at 170°F (77°C).

168°F (76°C) 5 minutes

Kettle volume:

8 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

75 minutes

Final volume:

6 gallons (23 L)

Fermentation temp:

73°F (23°C)

Sensory description:
Bitter, bready, spicy along with lemony citrus note. Pale amber-gold color, clear, with an initial Pils malt flavor. The dryness accentuates the bitterness but it still has some body and comes across as balanced. It has what most people would call a ‘Belgian’ taste to it.

Formulation notes:
I changed the original hops from Perle and Willamette, choosing to go with Apollo instead (described as having a grapefruit, orange, citrus quality, spicy, and clean bittering. I also made some grain substitutions, and changed the recipe to match my normal processes. The biggest change was using what I call a
round-trip
mash schedule: starting with a high temperature, letting it cool while it recirculates, then ramping it back up high. My target FG was 1.007 but what I actually hit was 1.002. I knew there would be doubters, so I took a picture of the hydrometer.

Fig 10.1: Tom Fitzpatrick’s Final Saison finished at a very dry 1.002.

Variations:
See my original recipe in
Zymurgy®
(September/October 2013, page 7) for another version. If I were to play with this recipe at all, I might explore whether any additional spices bring anything new to the beer. The yeast, rye, and hops already add quite a bit of spice, so I’m afraid pushing this too far will make the flavors clash. Using some Apollo hops late or even as a first wort hop addition might also create some pleasant aromatics.