johnlittle.com

I just discovered this website for brewers.

Check it out.

Tons of great information.

My good friend Michael Johnson alerted me to Miller Lite’s new commercial:

I just saw a TV ad for Miller Lite explaining why their beer tastes so awesome – they add hops not once, not twice, but an unbelievable three times during the brewing process! That’s right, their beer is TRIPLE HOPPED! I always wondered how they were able to jam pack so much flavor into their beer, and now I know. Now, if we can only find out how many fractions of an ounce they add per addition, then maybe we too can make beer as rich, robust, and flavorful as Miller Lite!

and I found it on youtube. Wow, not once, not twice but three times. Amazing!

Seriously, what’s truly amazing is that they think beer consumers are idiots.

I’ve been meaning to post more of my recipies from time to time. Here’s the basics for a Premium American Lager I brewed on 12-30-2006. It was a 6 gallon batch. That’s also not a pic of my beer. I haven’t gotten that organized yet!

• 100% German Pilsner mashed at 152F for 60 minutes (1.25q per lb.) to reach 1.056 OG
• 20 IBUs Hallertauer Mittelfruh at 60 minutes
• 4 IBUs Hallertauer Mittelfruh at 15 minutes
• 1 teaspoon Irish Moss at 15 minutes
• 1/2 teaspoon Wyeast nutrient at 15 minutes
• Primary fermentation with 600 billion cells Saflager 34/70 at 53 degrees
• Diacetyl rest at room temperature for 1 day
• Lager 4 weeks at 40F
• 2.5 volumes CO2

Here’s a good article about one of the 2007 Sam Adam’s Longshot Competition winners. Thank you Sam Adams for recognizing how important homebrewing is to the craft brewing industry. And congratulations Rodney Kibzey. more info here.

Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), April 6, 2008 Sunday, Pg. B5

Give that man a beer
Joe Gray, Chicago Tribune

Rodney Kibzey of Lombard, Ill., got hooked on making beer during a brewery tour in Milwaukee a few years back.

“The aroma hit me,” said Kibzey. For six years he has been home brewing in his garage and entering contests. Last year his efforts paid off in liquid gold.

Kibzey won the Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest with his weizenbock, a dark, German wheat beer. The beer was recently released as part of Samuel Adams LongShot six-pack, which includes three bottles of Kibzey’s beer, emblazoned with a stylized image of him, and three bottles of a grape pale ale created by Lili Hess, a Sam Adams employee.

Read more…

I’ve decided to post another recipe of a past beer I’ve brewed that turned out pretty good. By the way, it’s not easy to come up with a criminal law theme for each beer name, but Bad Faith Budejovice works ok. The first German Pilsner I brewed was on November 4, 2006, at the Rocket City Brewers 2006 Fall Big Brew. I only entered this beer in 3 competitions before I ran out, and it scored above a 30 in each of the 3 competitions, but only won one ribbon… a 3rd place.

• (39) Peach State Brew-Off (2/24/2007) – Third Place
• (43) Bluff City Brewers Homebrew Extravaganza (4/21/2007)
• (31) BrewMasters Open (5/12/2007)

Nevertheless, I loved the beer, and the next time I brew it, I might not change a thing (On second thought, every beer can be made better, so I need to try to improve it). It was really crisp, bitter and dry, and I think the White Labs Budejovice lager yeast gave it an especially distinctive character. Here is the ProMash Session. The recipe is very close to the 2006 AHA National First Place German Pilsner brewed by Joe Formanek, 2006 AHA Ninkasi Award winner, of Urban Knaves of Grain in Illinois. I made minor changes to the hops, gravity, fermentation temperature and post-primary lagering schedule.

100% pilsner malt, single infusion mashed at 152F, for a post-boil gravity of 1.059
30 IBUs of Perle at 60 minutes
10 IBUs of Hallertauer Mittelfruh at 30 minutes
2-3 IBUs of Czech Saaz at 15 minutes
3-4 IBUs of Hallertauer Mittelfruh at 2 minutes
2 oz. of Czech Saaz at 0 minutes
Irish Moss at 15 minutes
White Labs WLP802 Czech Budejovice Lager at 53F for primary fermentation
FG=1.009
Lagered at 36F in corny keg for an unknown amount of time

I’ve never made a Berliner Weisse before, but the style is on my short list of upcoming brews. In the end, I’m interested in experiencing the beer straight and with raspberry syrup and woodruff syrup as noted in the BJCP guidelines. GermanDeli.com is one of the only sites I’ve been able to find that sells the syrups.

A regional specialty of Berlin; referred to by Napoleon’s troops in 1809 as “the Champagne of the North” due to its lively and elegant character. Only two traditional breweries still produce the product. In Germany, it is classified as a Schankbier denoting a small beer of starting gravity in the range 7-8°P. Often served with the addition of a shot of sugar syrups (“mit schuss”) flavored with raspberry (“himbeer”) or woodruff (“waldmeister”) or even mixed with Pils to counter the substantial sourness. Has been described by some as the most purely refreshing beer in the world.

Update: Since there’s a $25 minimum order on germandeli.com, I decided to get myself this great German Beer Apron.

You can look at it this way, or that way.
I like studying it this way while trying to come up with a recipe.

Malt

• Low to medium grainy, corn-like or sweet maltiness may be evident (although rice-based beers are more neutral).
• Yellow to deep gold color. Substantial, long lasting white head.
• Moderate to moderately high maltiness similar in character to the Continental Pilsners but somewhat lighter in intensity due to the use of up to 30% flaked maize (corn) or rice used as an adjunct.
• Slight grainy, corn-like sweetness from the use of maize
• Maize lends a distinctive grainy sweetness.
• Rice contributes a crisper, more neutral character.
• exhibiting the native American grains available to German brewers who initially brewed it in the USA.
• Refreshing, but with the underlying malt that stands out when compared to other modern American light lagers.
• They worked with the ingredients that were native to America to create a unique version of the original Pilsner.
• OGs of 1.050-1.060 would have been appropriate for pre-Prohibition beers while gravities dropped to 1.044-1.048 after Prohibition
• Six-row barley with 20% to 30% flaked maize to dilute the excessive protein levels.

Mash

• Medium body and rich, creamy mouthfeel.
• A version of Pilsner brewed in the USA by immigrant German brewers who brought the process with them when they settled in America.
• Water with a high mineral content can lead to an inappropriate coarseness in flavor and harshness in aftertaste.

Hops

• Medium to moderately high hop aroma, often classic noble hops.
• substantial offsetting hop bitterness [vs. the maize sweetness]
• Medium to high hop flavor from noble hops (either late addition or first-wort hopped).
• Medium to high hop bitterness, which should not be coarse nor have a harsh aftertaste.
• exhibiting the native American hops available to German brewers who initially brewed it in the USA.
• Refreshing, but with the underlying hops that stand out when compared to other modern American light lagers.
• They worked with the ingredients that were native to America to create a unique version of the original Pilsner.
• Corresponding IBUs dropped from a pre-Prohibition level of 30-40 to 25-30 after Prohibition
• Native American hops such as Clusters, traditional continental noble hops, or modern noble crosses (Ultra, Liberty,Crystal) are also appropriate.
• Modern American hops such as Cascade are inappropriate.

Fermentation

• Clean lager character, with no fruitiness or diacetyl.
• Bright clarity.
• No fruitiness or diacetyl.
• Should be smooth and well-lagered.
• A version of Pilsner brewed in the USA by immigrant German brewers who brought the process and yeast with them when they settled in America.

Serving

• Medium to high carbonation levels.

JZ says the recipe he gives here is not the perfect recipe, like John Curtis’s awesome beer brewed at Barleys, using a complex process and complex recipe. Curtis uses extra ingredients and uses very specific methods.

JZ didn’t have all the ingredients John Curtis uses and is lazy (which implies that John Curtis does a decoction mash).

A Roggenbier is like a Hefe or Dunkleweizen that uses rye instead of wheat.

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6 gallons, 1.054 OG, 18 IBUs
6.25 rye
3.50 munich
3.00 pils
1.00 caramunich
2 oz. Carafa Special II

154F mash, or step mash w/protein rest 130 (15 min).
Tettnang for bittering, .87 oz, 4.9%, 17.1 IBUs, 60 minutes
Saaz for flavor, .33 oz, 3%, 1 IBU, 15 minutes

WLP300 or Wyeast 3068
fermenting at 62F will produce a balance of banana/clove
It is a myth that fermenting cooler produces more clove and warmer produces more banana

JZ admits slightly underpitching yeast is probably ok, but prefers to pitch proper amount

Flasked Rye is non malted

John Curtis’ may have had a combo of Flasked Rye and Malted

errata
275 calculated IBUs good for IIPA
but will only get around 100 IBUs of bitterness
will get lots of flavor and aroma

Here’s a tragedy. First, I spent $70 for a 55 lb. bag of Munich. I normally by bulk in group orders, and a bag costs around $25-30. But it wasn’t time for a group order, and I really wanted to brew this, so I went ahead and paid the extra. I wanted a really high gravity, 12 gallon, 100% Munich, triple decoction, Dopplebock, so I used the entire bag. The triple decoction took a very long time, and it was very hot outside. I scalded my elbow, but otherwise everything went as planned. Until I was ready to chill the wort. Here’s where the tragedy begins. I intended to use a pump and counter flow chill. I plugged the pump into a power strip so I could switch the pump on and off (the pump doesn’t have a switch, just a cord). But the power strip wasn’t working, so I reached down to unplug the pump from the power strip, so I could plug the pump directly to the outlet. I should’ve known better than to grab the cord and pull, but I did it anyway. When I did, the cord separated from the plug, and I’m left with a useless pump. I started to freak out because I was at minute 0 of the boil and thought I needed to chill right away. I should have just turned the flame back on and boiled longer while I fixed the pump. But I ran in and grabbed an immersion chiller that hadn’t been used in 3 months. I wasn’t thinking straight and automatically assumed that putting the IC in the hot wort would be enough santitization. What I didn’t take into account was that this IC really should have been at least cleaned first. In retrospect, I realize it was covered with months worth of tiny particles from the garage in Huntsville and the basement in Auburn. There must have been gazillions of bacteria, probably especially lactobacillus. The wort fermented down very well, but it was sour. A dumper. A tragedy.

This is from the 7/16/06 (or so) Brewing Network Jamil Show concerning American Brown Ales. But there’s often other general brewing information, during listener emails for example, not necessarily related to the beer style that is going to be discussed.

Notes

• cynmar.com is a good place to buy autoclavable, polypropelene containers, good for yeast storage
• the American Brown Ale style originated in Texas
• commercial versions tend to be more malty w/bitterness and a touch of hop flavor
• homebrew versions tend to be more hoppy/dry, almost a chocolate/roasty version of an IPA
• Mike McDole wins alot of gold medals and his is a hoppier and drier, almost a Southern English Brown Ale just bigger
• my thought: would an ABA/SEBA be a good partigyle combo
• wide range in this style
• homebrew OGs go up around 1.070
• Mike’s recipe: 16P, 62 IBUs, 90 minute boil, 18-19 SRM
• See bonjour for Mike’s recipe
• 75-80% pale 2-row (JZ uses English, Mike uses American… JZ says American is probably better so you don’t end up too malty)
• 4% chocolate malt (or JZ uses 3% chocolate and 1% pale chocolate)
• 6% wheat (or JZ uses 3.5% wheat and 2.5% Victory)
• 7% Crystal 40L (JZ uses 6% Crystal 40L and 2% Crystal 60L)
• Crystal 120L gives a roasted caramel burnt character
• Crystal 60L gives a cooked caramel but not burnt character
• Crystal 20L gives a sweet caramel character
• Mash the ABA at 152-154 (Mike uses 152-153, can do 155-156 for rich dextrin character like Moose Drool)
• use WLP001, Wyeast 1056, or US-56 (aka US-05)
• ferment at 67-68F
• Mike’s hops -> Norther Brewer hops: 15.3 HBUs mash hopping, 15.3 HBUs at 60 minutes, 10.2 HBUs at 15 minutes
• Mike’s hops -> Cascade hops: 16 HBUs at 10 minutes and 17.2 HBUs at 1 minute
• Mike’s hops -> Centenial hops: 45 HBUs
• JZ’s hops -> Horizon or Magnum for clean bittering, 9.5 HBUs
• JZ’s hops -> 2 oz Amarillo pellets at 15 minutes
• JZ’s hops -> 3 oz Amarillo pellets at 0 minutes
• JZ wouldn’t necessarily enter his in a competition but likes to drink it
• There is an excellent discussion of bittering vs. flavor vs. aroma hop additions at approximately 10 minutes from the beginning or 10 minutes from the end, I forget which… didn’t make notes