Tag Archives: tastings

Dog Days Pilsner

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As the summer reached its peak of heat near the end of August, pilsners were always on my mind. There’s nothing more refreshing than sitting out on the patio at the end of an afternoon, with a Willi Becher of freshly poured pilsner. I find that a good pilsner with some character can also work as a fall beer…basically, a classic German pils is the year-round beer in my world!

So, during the Dog Days of Summer, I crafted this Dog Days Pilsner recipe. I kept the malt bill super simple, with pilsner malt and a touch of CaraPils to round out the mouthfeel. Although I often go for a SMaSH-type strategy for hopping, this time I wanted to build up some layers of hop character. Finally, I wanted a little more yeast character, so went with the White Labs’ Oktoberfest/Marzen recipe, instead of my usual W34/70. Those strategies paid off nicely in the end!

Dog Days Pilsner

  • 9.5 lb. Pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 6 oz. Carapils malt (Weyermann)
  • 4 oz. acidulated malt (BestMalz)
  • 1 oz. Sterling hop pellets (7.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz hop pellets (5.3% alpha), 20 minute boil
  • 0.55 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (3.2% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 WhirlFloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. Octoberfest/Marzen lager yeast (WLP 820), in 1.75L vitality starter

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 4.1% abv, 3 SRM, 37 IBU
  • Infusion mash, 155°, batch sparge; 60 minute boil
  • Claremont water, adjusted with lactic acid and gypsum to achieve 66 ppm Ca, 30 ppm Mg, 81 ppm Na, 107 ppm SO4, 90 ppm Cl, est. 30 ppm HCO3; alkalinity 25 ppm, effective hardness 65 ppm, RA -40 ppm

Procedure

  • The morning of my brew day, I spooled up a 1.75L vitality starter for the yeast, and ran it on my stir plate.
  • To prepare my water, I added 9 mL 88% lactic acid to 8.25 gallons of tap water along with a Campden tablet, and then 4g gypsum. This was done to knock out the carbonates and approximate a target of 66 ppm Ca, 30 ppm Mg, 81 ppm Na, 107 ppm SO4, 90 ppm Cl, est. 30 ppm HCO3; alkalinity 25 ppm, effective hardness 65 ppm, RA -40 ppm.
  • I mashed in with 3.5 gallons of water at 162°. Mash temp was a bit low at 151.5°, so I added 3 quarts of water at 178°, to hit 155.5°. I added 0.75 mL of 88% lactic acid to the mash, to lower pH to an estimated target of ~5.45.
  • After 60 minutes, I added 0.75 gallons of water at 185°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed and then collected the first runnings. I added the remainder of the sparge water, and collected second runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings at 1.043, for ~77% efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and kettle finings per the schedule. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled down to 85° with my cooling coil. I transferred to the fermenter and cooled the rest of the way (~52°) in the fermentation chamber. This final chill took around six hours.
  • I gave the wort a 30 second blast of pure oxygen, and then pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 15 August 2020, and started fermentation at 54°.
  • I raised the temperature to 56° on 31 August, 58° on 2 September, and then 60° on 4 September. I held it at 60° for 12 hours, and then started the downward trend. It was at 57° on 5 September, 50° on 6 September, 45° on 7 September, 40° on 8 September, and 35° on 9 September. The final step was down to 32° on 10 September, and I held it there until kegging on 26 September 2020.
  • The final gravity was 1.011, down from 1.049, for 5.0% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Clear, just shy of brilliant. Light gold color, with a fine and persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Moderate level of malt aroma comes through, with a grainy sweet character. The hops come across amazingly, with a moderately prominent floral quality.
  • Flavor
    • Moderate grainy-sweet malt character–just gorgeous! The bitterness is moderately high, with a clean and slightly herbal character.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderately light body, with a crisp and slightly dry finish and moderate carbonation.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a really nice pilsner. The aroma and malt character are perfect. I can’t think of much I would change with this one, other than letting it lager a touch more before it goes on tap. In the last part of the keg that I’m on right now, it’s looking really nice!
    • My typical German pils recipes are on the upper end of bitterness for the style (37 IBU here, versus 40 max in the BJCP guidelines). At some point, I should probably play around with recipes at the lower end of the IBU spectrum…
  • Overall
    • 9.5 / 10 (slight ding for initial clarity)

Kveik Pale Ale

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It happened…I’ve given in to a brewing trend, and am trying a recipe with kveik. As you’ll see in some upcoming posts, I’ve in fact tried a few kveik recipes at this point. This is my first one, and admittedly not my favorite.

red package of yeast from Omega Yeast, Hornindal Kveik strain, with cartoon of cat on front
Kveik culture from Omega

For those not familiar with it, kveik is essentially a Norwegian farmhouse ale culture, with a rich cultural history that has likely been over-analyzed by those outside of the original neighborhoods where the yeast originated. I’ve been intrigued by their stated qualities of fermenting cleanly in excess of 90°, which almost sounds too good to be true. It wasn’t, in the end!

The recipe is inspired by a kit recipe from Atlantic Brew Supply, with major adjustments to pretty much everything. Many of the kveik-centered recipes out there are super-high alcohol, and that just doesn’t interest me. Session ales forever! I looked around at a few different kveik strains, and Hornindal from Omega seemed to hit the balance of a citrusy character that I wanted. I went with my usual session pale ale strategy of Vienna plus some Munich and a little crystal malt. For the hops, I grabbed a South African experimental variety, U1/108, from my local homebrew shop.

Kveik Pale Ale

  • 8 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 lb. Munich light malt (Chateau)
  • 0.5 lb. Crystal 40 malt (Great Western)
  • 0.75 oz. Magnum hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet
  • 1 oz. African Experimental U1/108 hop pellets (15.0% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. African Experimental U1/108 hop pellets (15.0% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
  • 3 oz. African Experimental U1/108 hop pellets (15.0% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 pkg. Hornindal Kveik (Omega OYL-091)

Target Parameters

  • 1.043 s.g., 1.011 f.g., 4.3% abv, 6 SRM, 41 IBU
  • Infusion mash, 156°, batch sparge; 45 minute boil
  • Claremont water, with Campden tablet to remove chloramines and 2 g of gypsum added to boil kettle.

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 3.25 gallons at 168°, to hit a 158° mash temperature. I also added 4 mL of 88% lactic acid to the mash, to adjust pH.
  • The mash temperature was down to 156° after 45 minutes. At this point, I added 1.5 gallons for the first sparge, which raised the temperature to 162°. After 10 minutes, vorlaufed and collected the first runnings. Next, I added 3.6 gallons for the second sparge, with a vorlauf after 10 minutes.
  • In total, I collected 7 gallons with a gravity of 1.039, for 77% mash efficiency.
  • In the kettle, I added 2 g gypsum, and the broil everything to a boil. I boiled for 45 minutes, adding hops and other items per the schedule.
  • After flame-out, I chilled the wort to below 185° and then added 1 oz. of whirlpool hops. Hops were between 175° and 180° for 10 minutes. Then, I continued chilling.
  • After I chilled the wort down to 90°, I let it settle for 1 hour and then transferred to the fermenter and pitched the kveik.
  • The fermenter showed minor activity within 6 hours, and vigorous bubbling within 18 hours. At this point, I measured ~85° degrees for fermenter temperature, with 80° degrees ambient in the garage. I started fermentation on September 5, and fermentation seemingly was done by 9 Sept 2020.
  • I kegged the beer on 13 September 2020, adding dry hops in a baggie at that time. As has been my usual practice lately, I did a mixture of keg priming and force carbonation, targeting 2.7 volumes of CO2. I added 2.8 oz of corn sugar dissolved in one cup water for this first stage, and after a week topped up the CO2 using my cylinder.
  • Final gravity is 1.017, for 3.6% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • A hazy gold beer, with a pillowy, fine, and very persistent white head
  • Aroma
    • Aroma is malt-centered, very bready and showing a bit of caramel. Hop aroma is surprisingly low.
  • Flavor
    • Very hoppy, with a slightly rough bitterness. The malt in the background has a bready and toasty quality.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Light bodied, slightly astringent finish, probably from the dry hops. Moderately high carbonation.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Not with this particular hopping regimen. The malt character is fine, and the yeast character is fantastically clean for having been fermented at high temperature, but the hops just don’t do it for me. I wonder if it’s a combination of the hop variety with the low starting gravity, so that the hops aren’t balanced more by the malt. I also think I overhopped on the dry-hopping, so I can’t blame it all on the hop variety. Honestly, the beer was far better before I added the dry hops! That said, I’m super impressed by the yeast, and harvested a ton for use in some upcoming batches.
  • Overall
    • 4/10

Claremonter Weisse 2020

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As summer and summer temperatures drag on here in southern California, I’m spending my brewing energy on light, flavorful, and refreshing beers. This often means lagers, but sometimes it’s nice to play on the sour side of the street. A few years back, I brewed an award-winning Berliner Weisse, which tasted fantastic. I’ve been wanting to revisit that style and that recipe for awhile, and finally made some time this summer.

For my 2020 brew, I rolled with a similar recipe to my 2016 version, except for the sour pitch. Last time, I used Omega Labs OYL-605 lacto blend. This time around, I had a satchet of Lallemand’s Wildbrew Sour Pitch, which had already been opened for my Raspberry Belgian. Not wanting to waste a good culture, I made the decision to use this instead. I didn’t have to make a starter, which was a nice bonus. I switched in 2-row for pilsner malt, to up the malt character a little for such a low gravity beer. Finally, for the main fermentation, I made the very minor substitution of US-05 instead of WLP001.

Claremonter Weisse 2020

  • 2.25 lb. premium 2-row malt (Great Western)
  • 2.25 lb. pale wheat malt (Weyermann)
  • 2 oz. rice hulls
  • 0.5 pkg. Wildbrew Sour Pitch dry culture (Lallemand)
  • 1 tsp. Fermax, 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 8 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. Amercan Ale Yeast (US-05)

Target Parameters

  • 1.031 s.g., 1.007 f.g., 3.2% abv, 3 SRM, 5 IBU
  • Full volume, no-sparge infusion mash, 152°; 10 minute initial boil, kettle sour; 60 minute secondary boil with hops, nutrients, and finings
  • Claremont water, unadjusted

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 4.8 gallons of water at 155°, to hit 151° in the mash. I added 2 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust mash pH.
  • After 20 minutes, the mash was down to 149°. After 60 minutes of total mash time, I vorlaufed and collected the runnings. I only had a gravity of 1.026, for 65% efficiency.
  • I boiled for 10 minutes, chilled the wort down to 102°, and added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to bring down the pH. Then, I added 5 g of Sour Pitch culture, and let it sit on a heating pad for ~100° temperature maintenance. This was started on 24 July 2020.
  • After 24 hours, I sampled the wort. It wasn’t quite tart enough yet, so I decided to let it go another 24 hours. When I sampled it on 26 July 2020, it was less tart than expected, but I figured 48 hours at 100° was enough time for the bacteria to work their magic.
  • I boiled the soured runnings for 60 minutes, and added the hops and other finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I chilled the wort and transferred it to the fermenter.
  • Starting gravity was 1.031, with ~3.25 gallons into the fermenter on 26 July 2020. I started fermenting at 66°.
  • I moved the beer to ambient temperature on 8 August 2020, to let it finish up.
  • I kegged the beer on 13 August 2020, putting it in one of my 2.5 gallon kegs. I added 3.95 oz. of corn sugar for natural carbonation, sealed it up, and let it sit for awhile.
  • Final gravity was 1.008, down from 1.031, for 3% abv. At the time of kegging, the beer had a gorgeous floral aroma, almost like orange blossom honey.
  • I checked on the natural keg pressure over a few days, as the keg sat at ambient temperatures. On 21 August (8 days post kegging), the keg had hit 32 psi (~2.4 volumes of CO2). On 23 August, the keg had hit 40 psi (~2.8 volumes of CO2). I gave it another day or two, there was no change in pressure, so I put the keg in the lagering chamber and topped up the carbonation level.
  • I measured the final pH at around 3.6.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pale straw color and hazy, with a creamy white head that completely subsides after a few minutes.
  • Aroma
    • Tart, citrus blossom aroma, with a bit of floral honey. Really pleasant! There is a bit of a raw bread dough character behind all of it.
  • Flavor
    • Lemony tartness dominates, with the doughy malt character in the background. The level of sourness is moderately high, and it is a clean sour. I don’t really pick up any hop notes, which is expected given the low level of hopping.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Crisp and dry, but not astringent. Effervescent and highly carbonated, with a light body that makes this very easy to drink.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! This isn’t a style I want all of the time, or in massive quantities, but it’s really nice every once in awhile. This is a different take on the beer from the 2016 version I made, as expected with a different sour culture. It seems a bit less sour, but is still really nicely balanced. The aroma really is fine on this one, and a true highlight of the beer.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Summer Helles

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I’ve been trying to get out ahead of my lagering schedule, by having a few lagers in the pipeline at a time. A minor, but consistent, flaw in my lagers has been that they have a slight haze when first put on tap. I primarily suspect that’s because I just don’t give them enough lagering time. Typically, they might be only 4 or 5 weeks post-brewing, with perhaps only two weeks at most of cold conditioning (<35°) prior to tapping. That’s just not enough time. I’m also not (usually) inclined to rush things with gelatin, because it’s another potential point of oxidation on what are often fairly delicate beers. If I’m going to all the work of making a lager, I want it to taste just as great at the start of the keg as at the finish of the keg!

So, this summer I’ve been working to build up a backlog of beer to allow a bit more time for full conditioning. It’s not always successful–“Mow the Damn Lawn, Farke” was on tap only two weeks after kegging–but I’ve certainly gotten better.

For a recent lager brew, I decided to chase after the elusive Munich helles style. They have notoriously delicate malt character, and are seemingly the cause of endless jousting on brewing forums (particularly when the low oxygen brewers get involved). I made my first attempt three years back, and it was alright, but nothing to write home about. The malt character needed some work.

For this round, my base recipe followed Gordon Strong’s helles in Modern Homebrew Recipes, with some modifications for ingredients on-hand as well as process. I did a shorter step mash schedule, skipping the 131° rest in the original recipe and going straight to 148° for the first rest. I also used W34/70 instead of a bock yeast, with a repitch of the yeast cake from my Tremonia Lager. I didn’t have Belgian aromatic malt on hand, so I used Carahell instead. Also, I used Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets instead of US Vanguard, a rare case as of late in which I am using the German variety instead of American hop equivalents!

Summer Helles

  • 8.75 lb. Pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 lb. Munich light malt (Chateau)
  • 0.25 lb. Carahell malt (Weyermann)
  • 2 oz. Carapils malt (Briess)
  • 1.55 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (3.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • Saflager W34/70, repitch of yeast from previous batch

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 o.g., 1.008 f.g., 17 IBU, 4 SRM, 5.0% abv
  • Full-volume infusion step mash, 40 minute rest at 148°, 15 minute rest at 158°, 15 minute rest at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, alkalinity neutralized by 88% lactic acid

Procedure

  • For my 4 gallons of initial strike water, I added 3.6 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize alkalinity, along with a Campden tablet.
  • I mashed in at 155°, to hit a 147.8° mash temperature. I added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust pH. The mash was down to 145° after 25 minutes.
  • 45 minutes after the initial infusion, I added 6.25 quarts of near-boiling water to raise the mash temperature to 157°. The water was added over a 5 minute period. After 15 minutes, the temperature was down to 154° or so.
  • At this point (~60 minutes into the mash), I added the rest of my hot water (~3 gallons) to hit a final mash rest of 167°.
  • After 10 minutes, I vorlaufed and collected the full volume of runnings in the kettle. I got 7.1 gallons at a gravity of 1.041, for 77% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and finings per the schedule.
  • After a 90 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled down to ~75°, before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I let the fermenter chill the rest of the way down to 50°, and gave it a 30 second burst of pure oxygen before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 24 June 2020, with a starting gravity of 1.047.
  • The first week of fermentation was at 50°, and I let the fermenter free-rise to 54° on July 1. I let it further rise to 58° (July 3) and 60° (July 4), before chilling to 55° (July 5), 50° (July 6), and then 45° and 40° over an 8 hour period (July 7). I chilled further to 35° (July 8) and 33° (July 9), and let it lager on the yeast at that temperature until kegging.
  • I kegged the beer on July 24, using a closed transfer followed by force carbonation. The beer was pretty clear, but not perfectly clear at this point.
  • Final gravity was 1.008, down from 1.047, for 5.2% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pours with a beautiful, full white head, that is quite persistent. Pale gold in color and very clear, but just a touch off of brilliant. It’s a gorgeous beer!
  • Aroma
    • Malty and ever-so-slightly sweet, with a touch of hop spice.
  • Flavor
    • Full maltiness, with a really pleasant and rounded character. A clean but firm bitterness; I would say the bitterness tilts towards medium/medium-low, with a slight spice character. The bitterness could be notched back very slightly, but not by much.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderate carbonation, with a smooth and slightly dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! This is a really enjoyable recipe, and I feel like it nails the malt character quite well. It’s a much better version of a Munich helles than my last one, and it definitely benefited from a longer lagering time than I often get. I might edge the bitterness back a tiny bit. Also, I will probably play around with malt brands and hop varieties in future version, but the proportions and balance are pretty much right where I want them. This is a refreshing late summer lager!
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Mow the Damn Lawn, Farke

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golden beer with frothy white head in clear glass, held by hand

This is probably one of the most memorable homebrew recipe names out there, at least for me. “Mow the Damn Lawn,” by Annie Johnson, took the gold medal at the 2013 National Homebrew Competition, and helped propel Johnson to 2013 Homebrewer of the Year. It’s intended to be a flavorful but highly drinkable “lawnmower beer,” and I’ve wanted to brew it for some time now! And what better time to do so than a SoCal summer?

The original recipe is posted at the Homebrewers Association website, and I made a few minor modifications for ingredients on-hand. I left the basic malt bill unchanged, with ~80% 2-row and ~20% flaked rice. I subbed in Mt. Hood as an American version of Hallertauer, and used a re-pitch of Que Bueno Imperial Yeast L09 instead of an American lager yeast (WLP840). So, it’s not exactly the same beer, but I think it’s certainly close to the spirit of the recipe. I’ve thus augmented the recipe name slightly, to emphasize that any flaws are mine and not the original recipe designer’s.

Mow The Damn Lawn, Farke

  • 8.5 lb. 2-row premium malt (Great Western)
  • 2 lb. flaked rice
  • 2 oz. rice hulls
  • 1 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4.6% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 repitch of Que Bueno yeast (Imperial Yeast #L09)

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 o.g., 1.008 f.g., 15 IBU, 3 SRM, 5.0% abv
  • 148° infusion mash, 60 minutes, batch sparge
  • Claremont tap water, alkalinity neutralized by 88% lactic acid, with CaCl added to the boil, to produce final profile of 54 Ca, 17 Mg, 7 Na, 50 SO4, 118 Cl, 25 HCO3, 49 hardness, -49 RA

Procedure

  • To 9 gallons of local tap water, I added 8 mL of 88% lactic acid and 1/2 Campden tablet. This knocked total alkalinity down to 25 ppm, based upon a quick water test.
  • I heated 3.75 gallons of water to 157°, and mashed into hit a target temperature of 149°. I added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust pH.
  • After 60 minutes, I added 1.4 gallons of water at 185°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings.
  • Next, I added 3.75 gallons of water at ~185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the rest of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 7.65 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.039, for 79% efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the schedule.
  • After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat, chilled, transferred to the fermenter, and chilled the rest of the way, down to ~48°.
  • Once the beer was chilled, I oxygenated with pure O2 for 30 seconds and pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 20 June 2020, and fermented at 49° for the first 5 days. There was fermentation activity visible within 12 hours, and really vigorous activity during the first few days.
  • I notched the fermentation chamber up to 50° on 25 June 2020, and let it free rise to 54° on July 1. I let it rise to 58° on July 3, and then 60° on July 4. Over several days, I dropped to 55° (July 5), 50° (July 6), 45° and then 40° (July 7), 35° (July 8), and 33° on July 9.
  • I kegged the beer on 17 July 2020; it was still pretty hazy at this point. Final gravity was 1.010, for 4.7% abv. I conditioned at 33° for a few weeks, before putting the beer on tap.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Nearly brilliantly clear, medium yellow in color, with a tall, creamy, and persistent white head. The head on this is seriously amazing–almost too amazing, because it takes a bit to pour a full glass of this stuff.
  • Aroma
    • Fresh, grainy aroma, with just a little bit of spicy hop note behind that. Very clean yeast character.
  • Flavor
    • Malty sweet flavor at the forefront, with a wonderfully rounded malt profile. The hop level is fairly even against the malt, and the hop level is just bitter enough to keep the beer from being overly sweet. The finish has a subtle bitterness to it, without being too much.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, moderate carbonation. Crisp finish without being too dry. Carbonation could be a bit higher for the style, but it does lose a little bit when poured .
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! This is a very flavorful light lager, that is incredibly easy to drink. This accolades for this recipe are indeed deserved. The only thing I might change, and this is a bit of a personal preference, would be to dial back the 2-row to both lighten the flavor a touch more and also reduce the alcohol level. I really would like this as a sub-4.5% beer. It would be interesting to try this with W34/70 or the American lager yeast in the original recipe, which I suspect would dial back the malt character a touch versus the Mexican lager yeast that I used here.
  • Overall
    • 9/10