Brew Day: Manchild II

"Can you bring a keg on my birthday?"

Fermenting in chest freezer with Johnson Controller.
Its important to use a bud light koozie to insulate your probe.

Damn right I can.  Since its the end of May in Florida, I initially leaned towards a light 4% pale ale.  But I've had many of these recently that are just too damn bitter.  Its really hard to get enough body and residual sugars into a 4% beer with tons of high alpha hops.   I decided to beef up the old Manchild recipe, and switch up the hops.

I really like simple grain bills these days.  This recipe uses the Firestone Walker approach to pale ale malt bills.  American 2-row + Munich + light-medium crystal = good.  Its a little more interesting and less "flabby" than going with 100% Marris Otter or other UK pale malts.  For hops,  whatever you can get that is from the US and starts with C is good.  Throw in some amarillo, simcoe, or mosaic and I'm happy.









Manchild II

Volume:  6 Gallons
Original Gravity:  1.052
Finishing Gravity: 1.012ish
IBU:  37 using rager formula
SRM: 6.4

Grist


12 lbs American 2 Row
  1 lbs Light Munich
 .5 lbs Carastan

R.O. Water
1 tsp Calcium Chloride
1 tsp Gypsum

Mashed at 151 F

Hops

14 g Willamette   - 5.2 % AA  -  60 minutes
28 g Cascade     -  8.1% AA -    30 minutes
28 g Amarillo      - 8.0% AA -    10 minutes
28 g Centennial   - 10% AA -     10 minutes

28 g Amarillo - Dry Hop 7 days

Yeast

Wyeast 1056 in a 1.5L starter for 24 hours - Fermented at 64 F for 2 days.  66 F for maturation and dry hopping.

NOTES: I forgot the whirlfloc.  Will use isinglass to try to drop the yeast and haze.

Brew Me, I'm a Beer Recipe: Pater's Pils

I've been craving a dry, fruity, peppery, floral Belgian pale beer lately. No commercial offerings available in my area fit the bill. This is why I got into brewing in the first place.

My idea, German pils hops, American pale ale hop schedule, and a blend of saison and Trappist yeast. I'll update the White labs and Wyeast numbers later. The Trappist (WY 3787) should finish up any residual sugars after the finicky saison yeast (WY 3724) starts misbehaving.

For the malt, American pale ale malt. Low in protein, and a great backdrop to showcase the yeast and hops. I just brewed a Helles that would be fantastic sans the DMS. I'm staying away from pils malt until I can upgrade my chilling, or the ground water gets cooler. (85 f in FL) I boiled the crap out of that beer for 90 minutes. What a shame.

Not sure when I'll get around to brewing this. Stay tuned.

Brew Day (upcoming): Norebo

My buddy from Michigan loves Oberon.  It seems like that is the beer of choice for 20 somethings in MI.  I stayed away from wheat beers early on in my beer drinking days.  I didn't like how they were always served with an orange slice. Seemed kind of gimmicky.

I finally tried Oberon last year and was delightfully surprised.  Its pretty much a bohemian pilsner mixed with an american wheat beer. Extremely flavorful and refreshing at the same time.  The signature Saaz flavor really won me over. Its got a great malt character thanks to the yeast. It reminds me a lot of Terrapin's beers, and their house ale strain is the Wyeast 1272 American Ale II. So I'll give that one a spin. The beer is also firmly bittered, but doesn't have any harshness. I'll go with soft water and 35-40 IBU's

I find myself wanting to make more beers for specific people now a days. IPA for dad, porter for my brother, and now Oberon Clone for my buddy.  I sent an email to the good people at Bell's. No response yet, but after reading a few posts from people that got responses and tasting the beer recently, this recipe should get me close.





Norebo - 


6 gallons - 75% Efficiency - 60 Minute Boil - 7 Gallons Pre-Boil

OG: 1.058
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 37
SRM: 5.4

Grist:

5 lbs American 2-Row
6 lbs Wheat Malt
.5lbs CaraVienne
1 lbs Munich 10L

Mash at 152 F

Hops:

1 oz Crystal - First Wort Hop
1 oz Saaz - 45 Minutes
1 oz Saaz  - 20 Minutes
1 oz Hersbrucker - 20 Minutes

Yeast:

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II - at around 65 F


UPDATE:


It seems Bell's has a stock response.  I read this exact same language that someone else had received. I can't blame them.  Its cool that they respond in the first place. As for the hop schedule. A number of people describe a citrusy aroma and flavor. I swear I've tasted it when this beer is fresh and on draft. But the couple I've tried recently scream Saaz and Hersbrucker. Maybe the slightest hint of a suggestion of an american noble type triploid with some citrus in the background. Crystal and Chinook would fit the bill. I kind of have a hunch that there might be a kiss of Cascade in there. Haven't decided what to do with the recipe yet. I'll keep you posted.

Here is the Bell's Oberon Home Brew Recipe stock response:

There are certain things about our recipes that we keep close to the vest, but I can offer some guidance. The malt bill is relatively straightforward: stick with 2-row base malt and a decent portion of wheat, something in the 40-50% range. Wheat can stick a little, so use as much of that range as you can within the limitations of your lauter tun; adding rice hulls can help improve the flow. A touch of caramel malt will be all the color you need usually. Aim for a target original gravity of around 1.056 and moderate fermentability. The ABV should be just below 6%.

Oberon uses several hops, but the signature varietals are Hersbrucker & Saaz. Target roughly 30 IBUs. Don’t be lured into using coriander or orange peel: Oberon is spice-free.

You can culture yeast out of one of our bottles if you're comfortable with that; it's certainly the preferred option for a solid flavor match. Otherwise, the local homebrew supply shops around here have found that most people looking to clone one of our recipes lean towards ale strains with a straightforward ester profile & good attenuation.

I hope this information helps. Good luck with the brewing!

Sincerely,

Josh Smith

Marketing Coordinator

Bell's Brewery, Inc.

Brew Day: Man Child

I've been working on a recipe for a 4th of July party my brother is hosting. I've been on a hop kick recently as my columbus hops in the backyard are starting to plump up. So the idea is to brew something you can drink a lot of (its for a party after all) but is packed with citrusy hop flavor with a bit of "dank" pine and resin. So I want to keep it under 5% abv and keep the bitterness down.  I've got 2 oz each of Zythos and Falconer's Flight in the freezer. I think I'll supplement that with an ounce each of Columbus and Simcoe late in the kettle.

Despite the size of the beer I want to keep the body nice and full.  All those hops and a dry finish can get kind of abrasive. So I think I'll mash super high (156 F) and add some carahell and crystal 60. Just enough to give a nice mouthfeel but avoid too much caramel flavor. I'm also thinking of adding a pound of torrified wheat. It should provide a boost to the body and help make the head last. I've never used it but thats what all the suppliers claim. Shouldn't hurt anything.

Here is the Recipe:


6.25 Gallons

OG: 1.047
FG:  1.012
SRM: 6.8

EST ABV: 4.4%

IBU: 39

8.5 lbs Marris Otter
1.0 lbs Toriffied Wheat
0.5 lbs Carahell
.25 lbs Briess C-60

Mash Salts: RO water + .5 tsp gypsum + 2 tsp CaCl

1 oz Columbus - 10 minutes - 13% AA
1 oz Simcoe - 10 minutes -12.2% AA
2 oz Zythos - 10 minutes - 11.6% AA
2 oz Falconer's Flight - Dry hop

Boil Salts: 1 tsp epsom salt + 1 tsp CaCl

1300 mL starter of White Labs Oh-Oh Seven at Ocean Eleven.(WLP007)

By the way. I hope the Heat lose.