Rauchbier 2012

Any fellow brewers reading through my posts would quickly realize I tend to brew more ales than lagers. For those not familiar with the difference, ale yeast is a top-fermenting yeast that tends to work best at warmer temperatures, whereas lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast that tends to work better at cooler temperatures. Ale yeast tend to contribute more flavor to the finished beer (e.g. esters) whereas lager yeast generally contribute less flavor resulting in a "cleaner" fermentation. Because of the cooler temperatures, lagers ferment slower than a typical ale so they can tie up your equipment a little longer. They also require bigger starters for a healthy clean fermentation, so they can cost a little more to make. That said, I do enjoy a lot of lager styles and particularly the one I'm brewing today, a Rauchbier.

Rauchbiers are similar to Marzen/Oktoberfest beers, so they tend to be malt focused. The major difference is Rauchbiers use smoked grains and the smokiness carries through to the finished product which can be good or bad depending on how much you like or dislike smoked foods.

I've brewed two Rauchbiers in the past, the first of which was fantastic but the second one suffered from a horrible case of chlorophenols. Chlorophenols can manifest themselves as band-aid-like flavors and aromas. They don't age out and humans are pretty good at detecting them even at very low levels. There can be various causes but chlorine in the brew water is a common one especially when paired with smoked grains which are phenolic by nature. If you plan to brew this style it can't be stressed enough, you need to treat your brew water to remove chlorine. There's nothing worse than finding out after 6+ weeks of nursing this thing along that you've ended up with band-aid beer. Carbon water filters, pre-boiling your brew water, and Campden tablets are a few ways to remove chlorine. It's pretty easy to prevent so just take the time to do it.

This recipe is loosely based on the Rauch Me Gently recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. I've adjusted the grain bill slightly to adjust for my efficiency (typically around 85%) as well as availability of grain from my LHBS. I was planning on using Weyermann Rauchmalt but the LHBS was out so I went with Cherry Wood Smoked Malt from Briess. In my experience this malt imparts a lot more smoke flavor than Weyermann's beechwood smoked malt, so I'm only using 1.8 pounds. I also cold-smoked 2.8 pounds of Weyermann Pilsner malt over hickory that I'll be using in this recipe.

4.2 # Weyermann Pilsner
1.8 # Briess Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
2.8 # Weyermann Pilsner Malt (home-smoked with hickory)
1.5 # Weyermann Munich II Malt
0.625 # Weyermann Cara Munich III Malt
0.2 # Weyermann Melanoidin Malt
1.7 oz Briess Black Patent Malt
1.5 oz Hallertau (60 minutes)
0.5 oz Hallertau (10 minutes)
(2 packs) Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager in a 1.57 liter starter
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Whirlfloc

Mash at 154F for 60 minutes. 90 Minute boil.

Ferment at 50F. This yeast is known to produce a bit of diacetyl, so it's best to perform a diacetyl rest after primary fermentation is complete to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves. To do this, raise the temperature from 50F to about 60F for 1-2 days. After the diacetyl rest, lower the temp to 40F for the lagering period. Allow it to lager for at least 4 weeks before bottling/serving.

Brewing Notes
No notable issues on this brew day. Color is a beautiful reddish amber. It started snowing around noon which made me really thankful for the ability to brew in the garage. The ground water temps have dropped to the high 40's, so I was able to chill the batch down to about 59F pretty quickly. A couple hours in my ferm chamber and the wort was down to pitching temp of 50F. I tasted a small sample and it's got a noticeable but smooth smokey character that seems very balanced with the malt profile. I can't wait for this one to be ready. Efficiency was about 83%. This seems to be about where I've settled in +/- 1%. That's with using a .045" gap on my grain mill.

Update 12/26/2012
I've got a couple inches of krausen this morning so things are progressing nicely. It's also worth mentioning, this brew may not quite fit the BJCP guidelines for a Classic Rauchbier since it uses a blend of cherry and hickory smoked malt rather than beechwood smoked malt. When smoking meat, different woods will create different flavors in the meat so I'd expect the same with smoked malt. Case in point, peat smoked malt should be used in very small quantities as it can result in a very harsh smokey character. On the other hand, some rauchbiers are made with up to 100% beechwood smoked malt. Despite the fact that this recipe doesn't use beechwood smoked malt, I think it will still be close enough to enter as a Classic Rauchbier in a BJCP-sanctioned event.

Update 1/3/2013
Fermentation seemed to be slowing so I checked the gravity and I was down to 1.017, so real close to finishing. I started ramping up the temp for the diacetyl rest.

Update 1/7/2013
I dialed the temp down to 40F the evening of 1/5/2013 to begin the lagering phase. A couple things surprised me with this beer. First was how quickly it fermented to terminal gravity. It just goes to show how important proper yeast pitching rates are, especially with lagers. I think this is the first time I have used two yeast packs and made a starter for a lager.

The second was the level of smokiness in this beer. The cherry smoked malt is smooth but intense. I originally bought 2.8 pounds for this recipe but scaled it back to 1.8 after eating some of it and realizing how smokey it was. The home-smoked hickory is more subtle by comparison and the combination of the two should add a level of complexity. This one is still in the fermenter but I'll probably transfer it to a keg soon for the remainder of the lagering period.

Update 2/9/2013
I put this one on tap for Superbowl Sunday and I think it turned out very well. It ended up having a much more subtle smoke character than I'd expected. It's noticeable but very smooth which may be why it seems more mellow/subtle. I'd guess it's at a level that would appeal to more drinkers than if the smoke character were more intense. 

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Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine

Today I'm brewing a pretty strong beer based on an English Barley Wine. I've brewed a couple beers in the 8% ABV range, but never an actual barley wine and never a bourbon flavored beer. I can't remember the brewery, but one of the best beers I had at the 2011 GABF was a Makers Mark Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine. A little while back I ordered some bourbon barrel chunks from MoreBeer so I'll be using them to add oak and bourbon flavors in this beer. Since it will be fairly high ABV, I'll be bottling it instead of kegging, and I'll probably put it in 12 oz bottles rather than 22 oz bombers. I'll see how it goes at bottling time, but I may end up fortifying this with a little extra bourbon. Oh and I decided to name it Mannish Boy Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine because I was listening to some Muddy Waters while brewing this beer. The recipe is as follows:

16 # Crisp Maris Otter
2 # Hugh Baird Carastan 35L
2.75 oz Fuggles 60 min
2.25 oz Fuggles 15 min
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings 0 min
2.00 oz Bourbon Barrel Chunks in secondary
Whitbread Ale yeast cake (from an Arrogant Bastard clone)
Whirlfloc
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient

Mash at 155F for 60 minutes. Pull the first gallon of runnings and boil vigorously for about 45 minutes while you collect the next 6-ish gallons of wort. Return the concentrated wort to the boil kettle (along with the 6-sh gallons) and bring to a boil. Boil time is 90 minutes.

Ferment at 65F raising the temperature to 75F over a week.

Brewing Notes
The brew day went well. I was expecting a post-boil gravity of around 1.107 and ended up with 1.120. I believe this is because I forgot to set the timer when I was boiling the first runnings. I suspect I boiled for around an hour rather than the intended 45 minutes so the first runnings were more concentrated than I'd planned. I'm hoping I can get this beer to fully attenuate because with an O.G. of 1.120, I'll be pushing the limits of the yeast. I can't wait to see how this turns out. The Arrogant Bastard clone that the yeast came from had a very active fermentation; so active that I spent about an hour cleaning out the ferm chamber in preparation for this beer. This time I hooked up a blow-off tube just in case we have another extremely active fermentation.

Update 11/19/2012
So far so good, there's at least an inch of krausen this morning. I bumped the temp up about a half a degree.

Update 11/27/2012
I measured the gravity with my refractometer on 11/25. It was showing as 17.6P down from 28P. This should equate to something in the neighborhood of 1.043 and a current ABV of 10.23%. I gently roused the yeast today to try to get the gravity to drop to around 1.030. The temp in the ferm chamber is currently 74F.

Update 11/30/2012
This one is down a few more points to approx 1.039 today. I still want it to get down to at least 1.030...I know it's going to be rich and a bit sweet, but I don't want it to be syrupy. I'll let it go for a few more days then check the gravity again. I'm hoping to get it on the bourbon barrel chunks within a week or so.

Update 12/5/2012
It really seemed like this brew had stalled out at 1.039 so I added some WLP099 Super High Gravity Ale Yeast a couple days ago along with a dose of yeast nutrient. Just checked and I'm down to 1.032 (about 11.7% ABV). Hopefully within a few days we'll be below 1.030.

Update 12/23/2012
This seems to have finished just a hair above 1.030. I went ahead and added the bourbon barrel chunks today. They smelled amazing going in...lots of vanilla character. I'll probably pull a sample in a week and see how it tastes.

Update 1/7/2013
Pulled a sample today to taste and check the gravity. The bourbon barrel chunks have added some nice complexity. There's definitely some nice vanilla notes. Alcohol is noticeable and warming, but not hot. Speaking of alcohol, the gravity has fallen to around 1.019 for an ABV of 13.53%. Hop bitterness is a little lower than I was shooting for but I think this is still going to be an amazing barleywine. I picked up 375ml bottle of Maker's Mark Bourbon Whiskey to fortify this beer. I'll probably let it go about another 2-3 weeks then rack to a keg and add the bourbon to taste...probably starting with about half a cup.

Update 2/24/2013
This has been chilling in a corny keg for a while now. I pulled a sample and it's at 14.24% ABV. It has some great flavors going on...vanilla, caramel, oak...very complex. There's some residual sweetness but it's not cloying. Bitterness seems appropriate for the style as well. This is surprisingly smooth especially considering the high ABV, I was hoping to bottle this today, but the carbonation seems a bit low, so I'm going to up the pressure a bit for a few days (I'm force carbing). By the way, I went with a half a cup of Makers Mark. This seems like about the right amount because it seems to enhance the vanilla flavors but doesn't dominate the beer.

Update 3/12/2013
This went in the bottle yesterday. I'll probably age it at least for a couple months before cracking one open.

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Flanders Red #3

I bottled Flanders Red #1 last weekend so I figured I might as well get started on another batch. The recipe for today is based on the DewBrew Flanders Red recipe from the BYO website. I made some slight modifications with the grain bill but nothing too crazy. Same as the previous two batches, this one will use Wyeast's Roeselare; I think I found the last one in town which is good, but it's a little older than I'd prefer. I saved the yeast cake from the first Flanders and I'm going to be pitching that along with the "fresh" pack of Roeselare. I suspect there isn't much if any viable sach cells in the yeast cake, but I imagine the other strains and bugs are still alive, so we'll see what happens. My expectation is this batch is likely to sour more quickly than previous batches.

3.3125 # Crisp Maris Otter
3.3125 # Weyermann Pilsner Malt
2..375 # Weyermann Vienna Malt
2.375 # Flaked Maize
0.5# Castle Special B
21 grams Aged homegrown hops (60 minutes)
Wyeast 3763 Roesalare Blend (no starter)
1.0 oz Oak cubes (French Medium Toast) soaked in a couple ounces of Cabernet Sauvignon**

**I also have the oak cubes from batch #1.  They'll be added as well but likely won't contribute any oak flavor.  They're primarily being added to help inoculate this batch with the bugs that were in batch #1.

Mash at 122F for 20 min, at 145F for 40 min, and at 162F for 40 min.  Mash out at 168F.
Boil is 90 min.  Fermentation will be done at ambient temperature in my utility room, so around 70-72F.  Normally I'd put it in my ferm chamber for a week or so then move it, but the ferm chamber currently holds an Arrogant Bastard clone.

Update 11/30/2012 - I don't know if it has something to do with the grain bill (flaked maize?) or the fact that I re-pitched the cake from Flanders #1 into this, but it seriously cloudy right now. This version is quite a bit lighter than Flanders Red's #1 and #2 so the cloudiness makes it look more orange than red. Fermentation has slowed quite a bit but there's still a layer of foam about 3/4" thick on top. It looks more like krausen than a pellicle but I suppose it could be a mix of the two. My Oud Bruin has something similar going on. I probably won't bother pulling a sample until April of 2013.

Update 1/11/2013
My beer fridge is in the utility room along with my sours, so I tend to peak in on them at least once a week. A couple weeks ago I'd noticed the krausen/pellicle had almost completely fallen and it looked like a lot of the yeast had dropped out of suspension too. The brew was looking more red and less orange. Not long after that, the krausen/pellicle rose back up along with a lot of yeast so it's back to the orange color. Here are some pics of my Oud Bruin compared to Flanders #3. They both looked very similar a couple weeks ago, but you can see here that #3 has a lot more krausen/pellicle floating on top.

Side by side comparison

Update 2/24/2013

I added 1 ounce of Cabernet soaked oak cubes today. Also the krausen has completely dropped again, even more than the Oud Bruin in the picture above. As I mentioned above, the oak cubes from batch #1 went into this brew but it was more for inoculating purposes rather than for oak flavor contribution. On a related note, I picked up another fresh pack of Roeselare yesterday as I'm planning on starting another batch within a week or so. I also ordered some hops from Hopsdirect over the weekend including some aged hops for making sours. Aged hops aren't absolutely necessary with sours, but these were cheap so I figured I might as well pick some up.

Krausen has dropped again

Update 4/6/2013
Pulled the first sample today and it's surprisingly tart given the young age. It's not as tart as #1 or #2 but it's much more tart than my Oud Bruin that's two months older than this Red. The flavor doesn't quite as complex as #1 and #2 and the color is much lighter. It's also still fairly cloudy but it should clear given more time. I'm beginning to think I might try some blending between this and the Oud Bruin. Oh, the refractometer read 9.8P today.

Update 1/7/2015
Pulled a sample today and it's come along nicely. Tartness level is very nice. There is a bit of acetic character, but I don't think it's too high. This will probably get bottled this weekend.

Update 8/9/2015
The Beehive Brew-Off wrapped up today. This beer took gold for 23B Flanders Red. Flanders Red #2 took gold last year, so I'm pretty excited #3 took it this year and I have high hopes for #4 next year.

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