Modern Homebrew Recipes (47 page)

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:

156°F (69°C) 60 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:

70°F (21°C)

Sensory description:
Toast, caramel, and biscuit malt flavors with a firm bitterness. Caramel and dark fruit with some nutty roast. Spicy and estery hops combine with the vanilla and cinnamon flavors to give a fruity, spicy, and sweet impression. Stronger than a typical pale ale, but not a huge beer.

Formulation notes:
A Belgian pale ale recipe scaled up in size, with the addition of malty components, an increase in the amount of crystal malts, and some additional malts (dark Munich, Special B, chocolate malt) for darker flavors. The general balance is kept the same, but the beer is larger and finishes at a higher gravity. The spices are meant to complement the malt and evoke the spirit of the season.

Variations:
Nutmeg would be another compatible addition, either in combination with the vanilla and cinnamon (or replacing the cinnamon). Using cinnamon oil instead of cinnamon can give it a red-hot candy kind of flavor. The beer could also be made at a higher strength, scaled up to the 8–10% range, but I’m not sure I’d spice that version. I’d first want to see what alcohol-related flavors were present, and then maybe think about adding some spices post-fermentation.

SPICED BIÈRE DE GARDE

A dark, spiced
bière de garde,
inspired by Jenlain Noël. It’s a stronger dark beer with bitter orange peel and allspice, which give impart a special character when combined with the French hops.

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

Description:
A stronger dark
bière de garde
spiced with bitter orange peel and allspice.

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, crystal malts added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

156°F (69°C) 60 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:

64°F (18°C) primary

34°F (1°C) lager

Sensory description:
Toast and caramel malt richness with restrained bitterness and a dry finish make this a malty but easy to drink beer. The flavor is enhanced with deep fruity accents and a smooth but somewhat chewy palate. The spices are noticeable since the yeast is not producing any competing flavors. There is a pleasant but light herbal-floral hop aroma and flavor in support.

Formulation notes:
A richer and darker
bière de garde
that emphasizes the malt and fruit components. The bitterness is set at a level to keep the beer from seeming sweet or cloying, but still decidedly malty. The spice complements this type of malt richness. The use of lager yeast keeps it smooth and adds to the fruitiness with the warmer fermentation.

Variations:
Can be made as a bigger beer. The spices can be changed or omitted. I like the idea of star anise, fennel seed, or other licorice-like spices with this beer. Could also go a completely different direction and
play up the chocolate component, which would still pair well with orange flavors. Or swap out the orange peel for dried cherries or other dark fruit that could mimic some of the malt flavors. Trying to develop Port-like flavors would be a fun exercise, too.

10. EXPERIMENTAL BEER RECIPES

“You can’t make experimental work by copying past work.”

—Trey Parker, South Park co-creator

Even though I’m known for being the principal author of the BJCP Style Guidelines, I actually like to brew beers that don’t fit into defined styles: variations on a style, historical recreations, or beers made using non-traditional brewing methods. I could have fit these beers into other sections of this book, but I decided to give them their own space since they are related by their unusual or unexpected twists. I’m not saying
all
of these beers would be entered in an Experimental category in a BJCP competition, but they are fairly different than other recipes for these styles.

•
Summer Rye
– A recipe that uses nothing but post-boil hops to demonstrate that hops added after the boil can still impart bitterness.

•
American Dubbel Brown
– An experiment in creating a hybrid beer using the malt flavors from a Belgian
dubbel
in an American brown ale.

•
Classic American Porter
– An attempt at recreating a historical beer: the smooth and lagered porter (it’s something along the lines of what Yuengling produces today).

•
Tom Fitzpatrick’s Last Saison
– A tribute to a dear friend who passed away much too young, this recipe uses a creative mash technique that produces a highly attenuative wort.

•
Vienna Hefeweizen
– A darker, maltier version of a German
weissbier
without being as dark as a
dunkles weissbier.

•
Robust Cream Ale
– Who says flavor is bad in a light beer? This one pushes the boundary on style by adding a little toasty malt flavor and a late hop character, but I wanted something a little more interesting.

•
Gordian Strong Ale
– A scaled-up version of my Belgian Pale Ale from
Brewing Better Beer
(and a collaboration brew I did with Andy Tveekrem of Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland).

•
Dark Saison
– A non-traditional
saison
that uses the flavors of Belgian dark strong ale.

•
Light Mild
– A very sessionable beer; quite hard to find, even in England. I drank this all afternoon one day while watching the football playoffs with a friend, and barely felt it at the end of the day. This is a style not included in the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines, so that would cause it to be categorized as an experimental or historical beer.

•
Sterling Bitter
– Non-traditional grain bill and hop varieties create a delicious English golden ale.

•
Australian Pale Ale
– The sparkling beer from Australia finally gets respect in the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines. Now can you Aussies please stop harassing me? This recipe uses a combination of Australian hops and yeast along with some creative malt blending to simulate the profile of Australian malt.

•
Grodziskie
–
Grätzer
by any other name, this smoked wheat beer from Poland is becoming quite popular as a specialty beer in the summer.

SUMMER RYE

I brewed this beer as an experiment to demonstrate that post-boil hop additions can contribute significant IBUs. Compare this to the hopping used in some of the American Blonde Ales earlier in the book. This beer uses nothing but post-boil hops, but tastes like it has around 25 IBUs. Combined with an unusual hop variety, this made for a fascinating beer.

Style:
Alternative Grain Beer (New BJCP Style, Experimental)

Description:
Fruity, spicy, and grainy, with a full body and clean fermentation profile. Uses an unusual hopping technique along with New Zealand hops.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

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

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Step mash

Mash rests:

131°F (55°C) 15 minutes

151°F (66°C) 60 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

90 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

66°F (19°C)

Sensory description:
Clear, with a deep gold color. Fruity nose, with a big fruity-spicy and grainy flavor on the palate. Intriguing combination of hops and esters. Medium bitterness. Dry finish.

Formulation notes:
I like using rye malt rather than flaked rye; it’s less gummy in the mash, and doesn’t seem so heavy and thick on the palate. The hops steep for 20 minutes after the end of the boil. Most recipe software says this results in zero bitterness, but to my palate it was equivalent to hops added with 15 minutes left in the boil (about 25 IBUs). I picked the hop variety because it was unusual, and because it was reported to have a clean bitterness with a spicy, floral, citrus quality.

Variations:
You might prefer to use fruitier yeast, like Wyeast 1272 or Wyeast 1335. Substitute any other hops, but try to use the same quantity as this recipe. You don’t have to go the spicy route; you can try fruity or citrusy. I’d avoid hops with abundant resin smell and taste, as that character clashes with the graininess of the rye.