2016 Munich Helles - Small Batch

For the second half of my double-header brew day I'm brewing a Munich Helles. This is also a 2.5 gallon batch. Per the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, here are some of the vital stats for the style:

History: Created in Munich in 1894 at the Spaten brewery to compete with pale Pilsner-type beers. Currently the most a popular style in Southern Germany.

Overall Impression: A clean, malty, gold-colored German lager with a smooth grainy-sweet malty flavor and a soft, dry finish. Subtle spicy, floral, or herbal hops and restrained bitterness help keep the balance malty but not sweet, which helps make this beer a refreshing, everyday drink.

Comments: A fully-attenuated Pils malt showcase, Helles is a malt-accentuated beer that is not overly sweet, but rather focuses on malt flavor with underlying hop bitterness in a supporting role. Export examples can quickly lose some of the rich malt character that often suggests sweetness. Helles in Munich tends to be lighter in all aspects than those outside the city, which can be more assertive with more body, flavor, and hop character.

And the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

5.0# German Pilsner
6.0 oz German Munich
2.0 oz Melanoiden
1.0 oz Carapils
4.53g Hallertauer (FWH)
9.07g Hallertauer (45 min)
0.25 Whirlfloc
0.25t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
WLP838 Southern German Lager

To 6 gallons RO water:
2.9g Gypsum
4.4g Calcium Chloride
2.4g Chalk

Mash at 145F for 10 min, 150F for 50 min, 168F for 10 min, 90 min boil, chill to 50F, raise to 55F over 5 days

Update 2/29/2016
I took this beer up to 65F for a diacetyl rest for a couple days and have been ramping it down to lagering temps over the past week. Quite a bit of the yeast has dropped out and it's pretty bright right now. I'm going to try to get it kegged and fined this week. That should give it almost a month to condition before I have to drop it off for Lagerpalooza 2.

Update 2/29/2016
I managed to get this beer kegged after work tonight. Fined in the keg with gelatin, it'll sit cold and under CO2 pressure until I'm ready to bottle my entries.

Update 3/11/2016
I pulled a sample today. It has dropped crystal clear and is a really nice beer. This is a beer I'd probably brew again, at least for the warmer summer months.

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2016 German Pils -Small Batch

I think I've brewed more lagers in the past year than I have in all my previous years of homebrewing combined. Today is a double batch brew day with a couple of small batch lagers (2.5 gallon).  First up is a German Pils. Per the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, here are some of the vital stats for the style:

History: Adapted from Czech Pilsner to suit brewing conditions in Germany, particularly water with higher mineral content and domestic hop varieties. First brewed in Germany in the early 1870s. Became more popular after WWII as German brewing schools emphasized modern techniques. Along with its sister beer, Czech Pilsner, is the ancestor of the most widely produced beer styles today. Average IBUs of many well-regarded commercial examples have dropped over time.

Overall Impression: A light-bodied, highly-attenuated, gold-colored, bottom-fermented bitter German beer showing excellent head retention and an elegant, floral hop aroma. Crisp, clean, and refreshing, a German Pils showcases the finest quality German malt and hops.

Comments: Modern examples of Pils tend to become paler in color, drier in finish, and more bitter as you move from South to North in Germany, often mirroring the increase in sulfate in the water. The Pils found in Bavaria tend to be a bit softer in bitterness with more malt flavor and late hop character, yet still with sufficient hops and crispness of finish to differentiate itself from a Helles. The use of the term ‘Pils’ is more common in Germany than ‘Pilsner’ to differentiate it from the Czech style, and (some say) to show respect.

And the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

4.25# German Pilsner
14g Perle (60 min)
7g Hersbrucker (15 min)
7g Hersbrucker (1 min)
.25 Whirlfloc
.25t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
WLP830 German Lager

To 6.0 gallons of RO water:
2.4g Gypsum
1.7g Epsom Salts
2.9g Calcium Chloride

Mash at 147F, 90 minute boil, chill to 50F, raise ferm temp to 55F over 5 days

Update 2/29/2016
I took this beer up to 65F for a diacetyl rest for a couple days and have been ramping it down to lagering temps over the past week. Quite a bit of the yeast has dropped out and it's pretty bright right now. I'm going to try to get it kegged and fined this week. That should give it almost a month to condition before I have to drop it off for Lagerpalooza 2.

Update 2/29/2016
I managed to get this beer kegged after work tonight. Fined in the keg with gelatin, it'll sit cold and under CO2 pressure until I'm ready to bottle my entries.

Update 3/11/2016
I pulled a sample today. It has dropped very clear. Compared to the Munich Helles, it's definitely more hop focused than the more malt focused Helles. Very nice beer, but I'm glad I only made a small batch.

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Pre-Prohibition Lager

Today I'm doing a small batch (2.5 gallon) Pre-Prohibition Lager. The recipe is pretty basic and while bold compared to modern Light American Lagers, it's still a very delicate beer with no place to hide flaws or off-flavors. If you haven't thoroughly cleaned your equipment in a while (run a brush through your tubing, disassemble ball valves, etc.), it's not a bad idea to do it before brewing this type of beer.

I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of most lagers, but sometimes it is nice to have an easy drinking beer on hand, especially if you have some friends that prefer the cleaner character associated with lagers. Here's the history and description for the style from the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines:

History: A version of Pilsner brewed in the USA by immigrant German brewers who brought the process and yeast with them, but who had to adapt their recipes to work with native hops and malt. This style died out after Prohibition but was resurrected by homebrewers in the 1990s. Few commercial versions are made, so the style still remains mostly a homebrew phenomenon.

Overall Impression: A clean, refreshing, but bitter pale lager, often showcasing a grainy-sweet corn flavor. All malt or rice-based versions have a crisper, more neutral character. The higher bitterness level is the largest differentiator between this style and most modern mass-market pale lagers, but the more robust flavor profile also sets it apart.

Here's the recipe as I'm making it today.

3 # 10 oz Pale 6-Row
14 oz Flaked Corn
2 oz Cara-Pils
0.61 oz Cluster (60 min)
0.20 oz Cluster (10 min)
1/4 Whirlfloc
1/4 t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Wyeast 2007 Pilsen Lager

Step mash: 30 min at 122F, 45 min at 158F, mashout at 168F for 10 min. Chill to 48F then ramp up to 52F over 48 hours. Perform a diacetyl rest when fermentation is nearly complete. Cold condition in the keg near freezing for a month or so.

Water Profile

To 6 gallons of RO water

• 0.48g Gypsum
• 0.12g Pickling Salt
• 1.32g Epsom Salt
• 0.48g Calcium Chloriden
• 0.48g Baking Soda
• 0.24g Chalk

*I decided to add 7.4 oz of Chit malt to this recipe even though it didn't call for it. This is due to the slightly reduced efficiency I saw on my fist run with my new small batch setup. I also bumped up my total water from 5 to 6 gallons as I was a little low on water during the first run.

Brewing Notes
It seems that I can expect about 73% mash efficiency with my mini-mash tun. Not bad, but quite a bit less than my full-size.  I did a couple things different on the second run with my mini-mash tun/small batch setup. I bumped up the total water from 5 gallons to 6 gallons. This ensured I had enough water left in the HLT that I was able to fire the HLT element during the mash to maintain sparge temps. This also ensured I had plenty of sparge water on hand. I used my lid from my full size mash tun to recirculate the mash liquid to the top of the grain bed this time. It worked better than laying the hose across the grain bed.

A couple really nice things with this setup, I'm able to bring the small volume up to a boil very quickly.  Post-boil, I'm able to chill down to pitching temps very fast.

Very bright wort pre-boil

Update 1/26/2016
I did a diacetyl rest at 60F for a few days. On 1/24 I started ramping the temp down. I'll drop it to around 38F then rack it to a keg for fining and lagering.

Update 9/6/2016
This beer ended up taking a gold medal at 2016 Beehive Brew-off and is probably the highest score I've ever received on an entry (47). The funny thing is the same beer did not do well at all at Lagerpalooza earlier this year (scored 24). Not to sound like a poor loser, but I felt like the judges at Lagerpalooza really didn't understand the style guidelines (or the difference between corn flavor from the use of corn and DMS). The same beer scored 34 at NHC right after Lagerpalooza, with no mention of the "issues" identified by the Lagerpalooza judges. It just goes to show, judging is subjective and mistakes are made, so don't get let one person's (or set of judges') opinion bring you down.

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Classic Rauchbier

Today I'm doing my first small batch (2.5 gallon) on my mini-mash tun. The recipe for today is a Classic Rauchbier. I haven't brewed a Rauchbier in quite a while. I still think the first one I made years ago was the best and the batches since then have been mediocre at best. One of them even had a horrible chlorophenol problem. I'm hoping this one turns out as good as the first batch did.

The recipe today consists of equal parts Munich and Rauchmalt with a little bit of Melanoidin tossed in to add some malty complexity. A touch of Carafa III adds a bit of color. One thing I've learned about yeast is pitch big with lagers. This will help ensure a healthy fermentation and a nice clean finished beer. For thus recipe, I used one smack pack in a 1L starter on my stir plate. Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today.

2.25 # Avangard Dark Munich II
2.25 # Weyermann Rauchmalt
7.0 oz  Weyermann Melanoidin Malt
0.5 oz Carafa III Dehusked (lauter)
0.62 oz Hallertau (60 min)
0.21 oz Hallertau (5 min)
1/4 Whirlfloc
1/4 t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

Mash at 154F for 60 min. Chill to 46F then ramp up to 52F over 48 hours. Perform a diacetyl rest when fermentation is nearly complete. Cold condition in the keg near freezing for a month or so.

Water Profile
To 5 gallons of RO water:

• 1.0g Gypsum
• 1.2g Epsom Salt
• 2.6g Calcium Chloride
• 1.0g  Baking Soda

First runnings into boil kettle

Brewing Notes
Things went fairly well with this brew session. The silicone hose returning to the top of the mash worked ok, but tended to sink into the grain rather than lay on top. I'll try to figure out something that will work better.

One other thing, my HLT heating element was exposed once I transferred mash water, so I couldn't fire the element to maintain temps for the water that would be used in the sparge. It's not a huge deal because I ran it through the HEX while sparging and it kept the temp right at 168F.

One last issue, the amount of deadspace under the false bottom is a much greater proportion when brewing 2.5 gallons verses 5 or 10 gallons. My efficiency dropped to a hair under 77% and I think it was partly due to the deadspace.

A couple things that went better than expected...a 2.5 gallon batch gets to boiling and chills much faster than 5 and 10 gallon batches. I started the whirlpool and within what seemed like a couple minutes, the temp was down to 67F. A little bit longer and it was 50F. This will sit overnight in the fermenter in my ferm chamber, then I'll pitch the yeast in the morning.

Probably one of the smallest grain additions,
14g of Carafa III

Update 1/26/2016
I did a diacetyl rest at 60F for a few days. On 1/24 I started ramping the temp down. I'll drop it to around 38F then rack it to a keg for fining and lagering.

Update 2/16/2016
I put this on tap over the weekend. Smokiness definitely comes through, but you still get the malt characteristic pf the style. It's more subtle than Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, but there's no mistaking that it's chock full of smoked malt.

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Rood Mélange 2016

It seems like I'm brewing sour beers half the time lately. I have some non-sour lagers queued up in the not too distant future, but my first batch for 2016 is yet another sour. Today I'm brewing a sour red ale based on the red base recipe from The Rare Barrel. This one will be fermented with Mélange - Sour Blend from The Yeast Bay. This is a blend I've never used before, but I'm excited to try it out. Per TYB:

Mélange is our most varied mix of fermentative organisms, intended for use in the production of sour beers in which a balance of funk and sourness is desired. This blend contains two Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolates, Saccharomyces fermentati, five Brettanomyces isolates, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus delbreuckii and Pediococcus damnosus.

For most of my sours I use aged hops. This time I'm going with a small addition of US Goldings. I'm interested in seeing how much this inhibits the lacto early on. Nothing too fancy with the water profile today, just cutting 8 gallons of carbon-filtered tap water with about three gallons of RO water. The recipe as I'm making it today:

6.0# 13 oz Dingemans Pilsner Malt

1.0# 3 oz Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt
7 oz Crisp Light Crystal Malt 60L
7 oz Flaked Oats (lauter)
7 oz Special Aromatic Malt
7 oz Spelt Malt
3-ish oz Carafa II (lauter, for color adjustment)
2.5g US Goldings (60 min)
5.0g Aged Debittered Hops (60 min)
0.5 Whirlfloc
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
The Yeast Bay Melange Sour Blend

Mash at 130F for 15 mins, 158F for 45 mins, 90 min boil, ferment at room temp. Because of the lactobacillus, no aeration.

Brewing Notes
No real issues although my gravity came in a couple points low; target was 14P (1.057), measured was 13.7P (1.054).

Update 1/4/2016
I wasn't seeing any activity last night (24 hours after pitching) and I was getting a little worried. I had the fermenter in my basement which tends to be a little cooler than the rest of the house this time of year. I moved it upstairs last night and this morning I'm seeing active fermentation.

Update 1/6/2016
Fermentation is still plugging along. Krausen is at most one inch high, so no need for a blowoff hose as of yet. Aroma out of the airlock is a bit sour, but hard to say for sure.

Update 1/26/2016
Krausen has completely dropped and so far there are no signs of a pellicle. I'll probably let this go until at least April before pulling a sample.

Update 2/21/2016
I pulled a sample the other day. Tartness is fairly low, as would be expected with a young sour beer. One thing did surprise me a little bit, and that was an almost saison-like spiciness character. I hope this subsides over time because that isn't what I'm shooting for.

Update 5/14/2016
I pulled a sample of this beer last night. Still not digging the saison-like character, although it does seem to be mellowing. Sourness is still very low.

Update 7/18/2017
I pulled a sample tonight and I'm really happy with the direction this beer has taken. The saison-like character has essentially disappeared. There's a real nice acidity that has developed and the pH is coming in at 3.43. The acidity coupled with the fruity esters is really nice. There's some brett character there as well but it doesn't dominate. I'll be pulling samples from a few more reds soon and will probably be doing some blending.

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