Stygimoloch Bock 2025

Posted on by

One of my favorite recipes has been Stygimoloch Bock, which looms large in my mind for its rich maltiness and drinkability. Somewhat surprisingly, then, my records show that I brewed this only twice before, in 2019 and 2020. Time for another batch!

The recipe is pretty well locked in, so I made only the smallest of adjustments. I swapped out the Caramel Munich 60L by Briess for CaraMunich by Weyermann, to get a 100% German malt bill. I also used Perle for the bittering hops (versus Magnum or Mt. Hood in previous versions) and swapped in Diamond lager yeast. So, I suppose that means it’s a very different recipe in some ways across versions, but the malt is the core here, and the proportions on that are fairly unchanged.

Stygimoloch Bock 2025

  • 9 lbs. Munich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 5 lbs. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 8 oz. CaraMunich II (Weyermann)
  • 4 oz. melanoidin malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 oz. Carfa Special III malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 1.15 oz. Perle hop pellets (6.3% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. Diamond lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 152°, full volume mash
  • 1.068 o.g., 1.017 f.g., 6.8% abv, 23 IBU, 16 SRM
  • Claremont tap water, with carbonates knocked back by addition of 6.5 mL 88% lactic acid, to hit target parameters of 44 ppm Ca, 8 ppm Mg, 89 ppm Na, 50 ppm sulfate, 110 ppm Cl, 20 ppm bicarbonate.

Procedure

  • I neutralized the carbonates in the tap water with 6.5 mL of 88% lactic acid in 7.65 gallons of water, along with a half of a Campden tablet to take care of chloramines.
  • I heated the water to 159° and added the grains, holding at a mash temperature of 152° for 60 minutes, with recirculation.
  • After 60 minutes, I raised the mash to 168°, held it there for 10 minutes, and then removed the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.4 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.055, for 64% mash efficiency.
  • In order to raise the gravity a bit, I brought the runnings to a boil and boiled hard for 15 minutes before adding the hops.
  • Once the hops were added, I proceeded with 60 more minutes of the boil, adding finings per the recipe.
  • After boiling for a total of 75 minutes, I turned off the heat, and chilled down to 72° before transferring into the fermenter and cooling down to 50°. It took around 3 hours before I pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 18 January 2025. Starting gravity was 1.067.
  • Starting fermentation temperature was 50°; I raised it to 51° on 21 January, and then to 60° on 10 February 2025. I cold crashed to 34° on 13 February 2025.
  • I pulled the beer to room temperature on 17 February 2025 to make room in the fermentation chamber, and then kegged it on 18 February 2025, with a non-closed transfer.
  • Final gravity was 1.020, for 6.3% abv.
  • I cold conditioned the beer until 26 March 2025, when I put it on tap. The beer was brilliantly clear at this point.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear, deep amber beer, which pours with an ivory head of moderate persistence. It’s simply gorgeous!
  • Aroma
    • Toasty dark bread crust and dark fruit aroma in addition to rich maltiness. Clean yeast profile, hops perceptible.
  • Flavor
    • Rich maltiness with bread crust quality alongside that. Moderate bitterness, but the malt is definitely the center of attention.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-full body, moderate carbonation, smooth finish, with only a slight lingering bitterness. Slightly dry, but not cloying.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This recipe is a winner! It’s a perfect beer to close out the winter months and welcome cool spring afternoons and evenings. I wouldn’t change a thing about it at this point.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Old Speckled Hen Homage

Posted on by

As a semi-mass-market English ale, Old Speckled Hen is one of my favorites. I think it’s mainly due to the name and associated nostalgia of my early days of better beer exploration, but in any case it’s something I come back to from time to time. A decade ago, I attempted a clone, which turned out okay but not great. This beer has been kicking around in my head ever since, and I even buy a bottle (or can) from time to time. It’s a legitimately enjoyable beer! Given that continued fascination, it was time for another attempt.

My new version is based on two recipes posted online, somewhat different from the previous template I used. The current edition leans into a more complex malt bill, reducing the previous substantial addition of crystal 120 and adding a major addition of crystal 40. I also used this as a chance to try out a dry version of WLP066 (London Fog Ale Yeast), which seemed to target much of what I was looking for in yeast character. A constant is the use of Maris Otter as the base malt, along with Lyle’s Golden Syrup to provide another flavorful fermentable.

Old Speckled Hen Homage

  • 9.5 lb. Maris Otter pale ale malt (Thomas Fawcett)
  • 1 lb. crystal 40 malt (Great Western)
  • 3 oz. caramel 120 malt (Briess)
  • 11.4 oz. Lyle’s Golden Syrup (added to boil)
  • 1 oz. Challenger hop pellets (5.6% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. East Kent Goldings hop pellets (5.4% alpha), 20 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. East Kent Goldings hop pellets (5.4% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. London Fog ale dry yeast (WLP066)

Target Parameters

  • 1.054 s.g., 1.013 f.g., 35 IBU, 10 SRM, 5.3% abv
  • Full volume mash with 60 minutes at 156° and 10 minutes at 168°; 60 minute boil
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet added

Procedure

  • I heated 7.35 gallons of water to 162°, adding a Campden tablet to remove chloramines. I added the grains with 5.5 mL of 88% lactic acid, and let them mash at 156° for 60 minutes. Next, I raised the mash temperature to 168° for 10 minutes and then pulled the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.046, for 73% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the mash to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled to 70° before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I brewed this beer on 24 December 2025. Starting gravity was 1.052; I am fermenting at ambient, around 65°.
  • I kegged the beer on 7 February 2025, adding 2.5 oz. of corn sugar to the keg dissolved in 0.5 cup of boiling water.
  • I let the keg sit for around 2 weeks before chilling down to ~35° until a free space opened up on my keezer.
  • Final gravity was fairly high, at 1.019, for 4.4% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • A very clear, light amber beer, which pours with a thin ivory head that quickly subsides. It’s a bit lighter in color than the original inspiration.
  • Aroma
    • Caramel notes are most prominent, with a little bit of candy, and a touch of light fruitiness behind that.
  • Flavor
    • Caramel and malty notes are at a moderate level. Medium-high bitterness. The hops, especially in initial tastes, have a woody and moderately herbal quality, in addition to a touch of earthiness. I don’t particularly care for the herbal notes here. I’m guessing they are coming from the hops; it doesn’t match EKG, so perhaps the Challenger is the culprit?
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderate carbonation, medium body, smooth and slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is definitely closer to what I want for an Old Speckled Hen clone, but the hops need a rework. I would probably ditch the Challenger and lean in on EKG entirely, or find another hop to sub in. The herbal notes I get here are more than I care for, but not something that totally wrecks the beer; it’s just not to my personal taste. It might be something with this lot of EKG (if that’s the true culprit), because I didn’t have that concern previously. The malt and yeast all do well, although I might go 50/50 on the crystal 40 and crystal 120 in order to round out the malt profile and deepen the color. I love the gentle fruitiness on the yeast and also how it dropped so clear. This is a very pretty beer!
  • Overall
    • 6/10

Hop Water v1.0

Posted on by

I enjoy hop water as a non-alcoholic option, but it can be pricey and sometimes even hard to find at my usual grocery store. With my hop stash, it should be easy to make at home, right? There are plenty of recipes for hop water out there (e.g., in the March/April 2024 Zymurgy), but most of them require you to make a keg’s worth and carbonate in the keg. I don’t really have the space for that (beers are the primary thing in my keezer!), and I don’t really want 2, 3, or 5 gallons of hop water that may or may not taste good. For carbonated non-alcoholic beverages, I’m a huge fan of making concentrates that can then be purpose-mixed by the glass (see my tonic syrup and soda syrup recipes).

Photo by Donovan Kelly on Pexels.com

I’ve been keeping an eye out for just this kind of recipe, and recently saw one on the NABeer reddit forum. It fit my most important criterion–a recipe that could be made as a concentrate and mixed with sparkling water–and also gave very specific directions. So, I made some slight adjustments and crafted a batch! The recipe is below.

Hop Water v1.0

  • 500 mL of tap water, heated to 170°
  • 5 g of Centennial hop pellets
  • 1 tsp. of white sugar
  • 1 tbs. of freshly squeezed lime (or lemon) juice
  • carbonated water (12 oz. per serving, approximately)

Procedure

  • I put the white sugar into my Pyrex, and then set my pour-over coffee setup (carefully washed to reduce coffee aroma) on top of the Pyrex.
  • I put the hop pellets inside a tea bag, set inside the pour-over coffee setup. Then, I slowly poured the water over the hop pellets, stopping once I had collected around 500 mL of hop water concentrate.
  • Next, I poured the hoppy goodness into a mason jar, closed it up, and set it in an ice bath to chill. This ice bath isn’t required, but I was impatient and wanted to sample my hop water quickly!
  • Once the concentrate was chilled, I added the lime juice, shook it all up well, and then got ready to serve.
  • To prepare a serving, I mixed 1 shot (~30 mL) of the concentrate with 12 oz. of carbonated water.

Initial Impressions

This is pretty respectable hop water! It’s not overly sweet, and the hoppy bitterness and aroma come through prominently. A recipe on Zymurgy called for 2 oz. of hops cold (1 oz. each of a hop like Citra and Centennial) steeped overnight for a 1 gallon batch, so I might try that to see how it compares.

I’m going to use this as a jumping-off point for some variants — I would like to try a “dip-hopped” version, and I’ll definitely attempt a version with a greater amount of hops. It will be fun to explore this new world, and I’m so glad I have found a hop water I can mix as I need it, without having to tie up a keg.

AHA Next Steps…Vision and Priorities

Posted on by

The AHA’s re-launch as a 501(c)(3) is apparently well underway. I think “they” (the founding board) have done an excellent job in communication and transparency so far, with a newsy update on the website, forum Q&A, and upcoming virtual town hall. In my opinion, we’ve seen more transparent communication about AHA in the past month than I’ve seen in the past decade. Serious kudos to the founding board for enabling this. At least so far, it feels like things are heading in a good direction, and that there is a genuine attempt to move along from “how we always did things,” the bane of so many organizations.

Photo by vedanti on Pexels.com

AHA has now posted and invited comment on its draft vision statement, as follows:

We celebrate, educate, and promote the art, science, and joy of fermentation, championing a united community of today and tomorrow’s homebrewers.

As I submitted to AHA, I really like this version of the vision statement. My initial (half-comprehended) take was that this was way too broad, but I think the use of “homebrewers” at the end brings the vision back to AHA’s roots while also allowing a big tent for fermentation in the future.

AHA also provided their draft strategic priorities, as follows:

1) Organizational Strength & Health
2) Knowledge & Learning
3) Community, Collaboration & Competition

My submission to AHA: I have no significant feedback on these; all are on-target and appropriate. I think my main curiosity is what they envision being encompassed within each. Organizational strength and health is a logical first priority, as AHA gets its feet under itself. I view #3 (community, collaboration, and competition) as essential for strength and health. What is AHA’s value proposition now, and how does it engage new members and retain old members? Members who are invested and feel like they have a voice will continue their membership and also be more open to philanthropic support. There will need to be some additional thought around how to shift member culture from the “old way” (minimal communication, little engagement in decision-making, one big in-person event annually, homebrewers viewed implicitly are primarily useful for marketing craft beer, philanthropy something we do for other organizations) to a new way that encourages dialogue, creates meaningful opportunities for participation in decision-making, creates a community where as many people as possible feel like they have a voice, where they have a connection, and all in a way that gets people to think about chipping in a little extra support for AHA. This is a culture shift — but one I think AHA can do! The transparent communication is a HUGE first step; keep up that great work!

Let There Be Rauch!

Posted on by

Smoked beers can be nice as an occasional treat (especially in the winter), and I have made a few over the years. One classic style that has escaped my brew log to date, however, is rauchbier. I remember trying one years ago, from a fellow homebrewing paleontologist, and it is still one of the most memorable beers I have ever sampled! The combination of smoke and maltiness was unlike anything I had tried previously, and the beer lives on in my memory, well over a decade later (and probably closer to 15 or 20 years now).

After years of thinking about rauchbier but never making one, I was spurred into action by Dan Jablow’s article (“Making Friends With Smoked Beer”) in the November/December 2024 issue of Zymurgy. He included a 1 gallon recipe called “Let There Be Rauch!”, and the approach seemed simple enough. So, I scaled it up to 5.5 gallons and adjusted the hops slightly to move the bitterness level into the higher end of the style’s range in the BJCP guidelines.

Let There Be Rauch!

  • 5 lb. beechwood smoked malt (Weyermann)
  • 3 lb. Munich light malt (BESTMALZ)
  • 3 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 1 lb. Caramunich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 WhirlFloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. SafLager West European Lager dry yeast (Fermentis S-23)

Target Parameters

  • 1.054 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 29 IBU, 11 SRM, 5.2% abv
  • Full volume mash with 60 minutes at 154° and 10 minutes at 168°; 60 minute boil
  • Water built from RO and tap water to hit target water parameters of 59 ppm Ca, 4 ppm Mg, 29 ppm Na, 56 ppm SO4, 88 ppm Cl, 52 ppm CaCO3, RA=-2

Procedure

  • I collected 2.5 gallons of tap water (with Campden tablet) and 5 gallons of RO water, with 3 g CaCl and 2 g gypsum, to hit the target water parameters.
  • I heated the strike water to 161° and added the grains to hit a mash temperature of 154°. I added 2 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH. I held the mash at 154° for 60 minutes, with recirculation, before I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes.
  • Upon removing the grains, I had a total of 6.6 gallons at a gravity of 1.045, for 68% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil and added finings and hops per the schedule.
  • After 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat, did an initial chill to ~70°, and then transferred the beer to the fermenter. I chilled it further to 52° before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 24 November 2024, with a starting gravity of 1.055. I fermented the beer at 54°, and let it free rise to 60° on 3 December 2024.
  • I cold crashed to 35° on 5 December 2024, and kegged the beer with a closed transfer on 8 December 2024. The beer had a very nice and subtle smoke flavor/aroma.
  • Final gravity was 1.018; this works out to 4.9% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Beautiful! It is a brilliantly clear light amber beer, with a creamy and persistent off-white head
  • Aroma
    • Bready malt with a touch of toastiness at a moderate level, a medium level of smoke–almost lightly bacony, Very pleasant balance.
  • Flavor
    • Bread crust and malty flavor at a moderate level; smoky flavor, somewhat bacon-like, at a medium level. Moderate hop bitterness with a slightly spicy quality. The smoke balance is perfect against the malt; not overwhelming at all, but pleasantly alongside each other!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium carbonation, medium body, only slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • It’s not often I nail something on the first batch, but this is just a great recipe! It dodges the peaty phenolics of some versions, and is both interesting and drinkable. I am pleased!
  • Overall
    • 10/10