Oktoberfest Style Ale

So I decided maybe it was time to finally put up another post. Sorry about the long lay-off, no excuses I've just been ignoring the blog.

I received a home brew recipe kit from my brother as a Christmas gift and back in February I decided to brew it. The kit was for an Oktoberfest style ale. Normally an Oktoberfest beer is a lager made with lots of Munich or Vienna malt, but since this was an extract kit, and those two malts can't be steeped, it came with pale malt extract, some Crystal malt, and instead of a lager yeast, some Danstar Nottingham ale yeast.

The aroma hop is Vanguard which is an American cousin of the German noble hop, Hallertau. So basically, an amber ale that's finished with German hops. I threw in an extra ½ ounce of Goldings that I had left over from my first batch to help account for the age of all the hops (they were all from the 2008 harvest).

Tasting notes: It pours a clear, bright copper color with a chunky, off-white head. The aroma comes across as a light caramel flavor with a bit of a herbal hop aroma fairly weak overall.

Flavor is more of the same, a little bread and caramel with an herbal dryness from the hops. Carbonation is a lot better in this batch compared to my first. Mouth feel is moderate and crisp. Just enough bitterness to balance everything out and make it very drinkable.

When I first started sampling this batch I thought I had some diacetyl problems that might have been caused by using only one pack of, possibly old, yeast. Over time the buttery flavors seem to have worked their way out. Lesson learned. In my next batch I use 2 packs of yeast and get better results.

Recipe & Brew Notes:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.017
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.027 (estimated)
IBU: 24-25
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons

Extract:
Muttons Pale LME 6.6 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
Crystal 60˚, 8 oz.
Crystal 20˚, 4 oz.

Hops:
Goldings 4.7%, 60 min. 0.5 oz.
Willamette 4.6%, 60 min. 1.0 oz.
Vanguard 4.4%, 5 min 1.0 oz.

Yeast:
Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast, 1 packet

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 02/05/2009 by myself.

Steeped grains for 30 min. at 150˚ in one gallon of water. While the grains were steeping I heated 3 gallons of water up to about 170˚ in the boil kettle. When the steep was finished I took the bag out and dunked it around in the boil water for about 5 minutes.

Added the steep water and one can of extract, turned heat up. Boiled for 60 minutes, added the hops (all pellets) at the intervals listed above. At flame out I added the other can of extract.

Cooled wort with immersion chiller to about 70˚, transferred to carboy, filled to 5 gallons and shook to mix. Took a hydrometer reading 1.054 + .0012 adjustment for 70˚ = 1.055 original gravity.

Let wort sit in carboy for about an hour, pitched packet of yeast straight in at 2:12pm, temp is about 66˚. Placed carboy in basement by the washer.

02/28/2009 – Bottling day. Filled 20 12 oz bottles and 13 22 oz bottles.

Free State's 20th Anniversary

To celebrate their anniversary my favorite brew pub has been serving up small batches of some of their more popular brews. The festivities started on the 18th and I believe they run through Monday the 23rd, check their website for more details. When Free State opened up in 1989 it was the first post-prohibition brewery in the good state of Kansas and I've been visiting it on an almost weekly basis ever since I moved here in 2000.

I was lucky enough to be able to stop in twice to enjoy the celebrating. On Thursday I stopped by in the afternoon and enjoyed three pints. The first was Ironman Imperial Stout which is my favorite stout, period. It is rich and creamy and has a beautiful balance of roast and chocolate flavors that makes it an absolute joy to sip. Next I had a light colored Bier de Garde that was finished with a champagne yeast, kinda fruity with a dry finish. My third and final was C³ IPA, a big double IPA that is hopped with a whole bunch of Columbus, Chinook, and Cascade hops, delicious.

Friday night I wandered back down because I knew they were going to have Eccentricity on tap, a blended, barrel aged beer. Unfortunatly, by the time I arrived the Eccentricity was gone so I had to “settle” for Owd Mac's Imperial Stout. I believe this was the 2005 vintage, same vintage I had last year. The big stout still has a lot of malty complexity, a mix of molasses, oak, vanilla, bourbon, and anise. I also had a nice dark rye called Black Eye Rye and another pint of C³. All in all, a great two days of craft beer. Congratulations Free State, on your twenty years of brewing. I hope the next twenty are just as awesome.

Uerige Doppelstick

Now that I finally have my home brew in bottles I thought maybe I should review another beer. Even though I have some local beers from Boulevard and Schlafly that I need to drink and review, I decided to go with Dopplesticke from Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei in Düsseldorf, Germany. This Düsseldorf Altbier ale is a special high gravity version, you could call it a Double or Imperial Alt, that they only brew for export to America. I've been wanting to try this beer for quite a while so I decided today was the day.


The bottle I picked up the other day has a bottled on date of “05.07” I assume that means May of 2007, making this beer s little over a year and a half old. Good thing it's a 8.5% ABV brew with a rich malty profile which should hold up well to a little age.

The first thing I notice upon “popping” the top is a rich malty aroma. The beer pours a rich brown color that has a filtered clarity to it. The head is a thick tan foam that settles into a thin film and leaves some moderate lacing on the sides of my glass. The aroma has definite sweetness to it that is molasses-like, but a little lighter, like fresh figs. Very complex, not sure if I can describe this properly. I also pick up a solid toasted bread aroma and a hint of a peppery spiciness from the hops. It is almost like an English Barleywine.

The flavor has the same complex maly sweetness to it, I also detect some toasted bread and toffee notes. The mouth feel is rich and full with a nice smoothness to it. The hops try to bring about a dry earthy finish. Only after sipping about half the beer do I start to notice the warming effects from the alcohol. I don't know if it's the age or craftsmanship, probably both, but the alcohol is very well hidden in this brew. Overall this is a deliciously complex brew and I'm sad I only bought one. I would absolutely recommend it, even if it's been sitting on the shelf for awhile.

Fermented News

There appears to be a new brewery in Kansas City. Dead Canary Brewery is a new, female owned brewery located in the West Bottoms of KCMO. It looks like they'll have some pretty kick-ass beers. It'll be awesome to have another brewery in the area. I can't wait 'till they launch.

Meanwhile, over at Boulevard, they are pumping out new beers left and right. In case you missed it, they recently released a funktified version of their Saison. I have three of these aging in the cellar right now.

To follow that, they just released a special version of Sixth Glass that was fermented on tart cherries and then aged in bourbon barrels. I just picked up two bottles today I should have a review up soon. (More info on the two special releases here)

As if that wasn't enough, They also released a new year-round IPA called Single-Wide IPA. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these. Right now the Single-Wide is only available on tap, I hear they have it at the Jazzhaus, so I'm going to have to hit that up soon.

The Begining: Adventures in Homebrewing Part I

I have had the itch to brew my own beer for quite a while now and thanks to a kick in the pants from my lovely wife (gift certificate and a book) my new addiction hobby has officially begun.

The first step was to study the craft, I've never been one to rush into things without preparing first. I found two books to be especially helpful, How to Brew by John J. Palmer and Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff. How to Brew has a lot of info in it and can get pretty technical. If you want a book that's not as in-depth, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian is the book for you. I have also found reading the homebrewing forum over at Beeradvocate.com to be very helpful. Now, on to the brewing...

The recipe was supposed to be Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter, only I was going to omit the hazelnut. Of course since this is my first time, I encountered a few problems and committed a few errors along the way.

First, the local - and by local I mean 35 miles away in Shawnee - home brew store, Bacchus & Barleycorn, didn't have any Munich malt extract so I went with more pale extract at the suggestion of the clerk. Second, I ended up pouring in a little extra extract than the original recipe called for so I ended up with about 9.1 pounds of extract instead of 8.8 lbs. Third, instead of leaving some wort in the kettle with all the trub, I strained it through a funnel with a strainer in it – I think Jamil's recipes factor in a half gallon of wort being left in the kettle. As a result I over-shot my original gravity by about .04 (assuming I can read a hydrometer and adjust for temperature correctly).

More problems, the first Wyeast smack pack of yeast never inflated like it was supposed to. Turns out the clerk gave me a year old smack pack, nice. After a quick call to Bacchus I was off to exchange it for a fresh one – 70 miles, round trip. Next time I'll be sure to pick up some dry yeast as a backup. Finally, I pitch my yeast at 6:30 pm, the wort was ready at about 12:30. Next I have problems getting the damn stopper to stay in my carboy, apparently you need to dry the stopper off after sanitizing it. As of right now, 24 hours after pitching, everything looks good. I'm getting a steady stream of bubbles coming out of the overflow valve and my temperature control looks good. I just hope the yeast can chew up enough sugar to leave me with a tasty brew.

So here's my recipe, notes, and more pictures. I'm thinking I'll call this one Jumbo Cocoa Porter or maybe Rookie Porter:

OG: 1.106
IBU: 33-36 (assuming I estimated the boil gravity right.)
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4 gallons
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.056 (estimated)

Extract:
Muttons Light LME, 9.1 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
Crystal 40˚, 1.0 lb.
Crystal 80˚, 1.0 lb.
Chocolate Malt, 0.75 lb.
Black Patent Malt, 0.5 lb.

Extras:
Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder, 0 min., 0.5 lb.

Hops:
Goldings 4.7%, 60 min., 1.3 oz.
Willamette 4.7%, 30 min., 0.8 oz.
Willamette 4.7%, 15 min, 0.8 oz.
Goldings 4.7%, 0 min., 0.4 oz
Willamette 4.7%, 0 min., 0.4 oz

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale, 1 smack pack

Water:
Great Value spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 12/06/2008 by myself.

Steeped grains for about 35 min. at 150˚ - 170˚ (accidentally let it get too hot) in 3.5 gallons of water. I also squeezed the bag a bit which can lead to extra tannins and it may be possible that my steeping efficiency was higher than the estimate used in the recipe.

Added about 4.5 lbs of extract and a half gallon of water, turned heat up. Boiled for 60 minutes, added the hops (all pellets) and cocoa as listed above. IBUs may be lower than estimated due to pre-boil gravity possibly being higher than estimated. Added the rest of the extract.

Cooled wort with immersion chiller to about 80˚.

Transferred to carboy, and filled to 5.5 gallons. Took two hydrometer readings to make sure I was doing it correctly. 1.105 + .0012 adjustment for 70˚ = 1.106 original gravity.

Notice my yeast pack is still pretty flat, decide to break for lunch to give it more time to inflate, approximate time: 12:30.

Return from lunch at about 2:30 - Nutcracker on tap has a lot more hop flavor and aroma than the bottles I had. Decided to give up on yeast and headed to Bacchus for a replacement. I should have also picked up some dry yeast.

Aerated wort with a Mix-Stir Agitator – I used two approximately 30 sec. bursts. Finally pitched yeast at 6:30pm. Figured out you need to dry the stopper in order for it to stay in the bottle.

12/07 9:00am – looks like a small kraeusen has formed. The blow-off tube managed to come out of the water bucket so no bubbles to note. Secured tube back in bucket.

12/07 9:45am – Bubbles!

12/07 2:30pm – Bubbling has increased to a steady rate and kraeusen looks about ½ inch thick, maybe less. Room temp = 60˚ Fermenter temp = 66-67˚

12/07 6:45pm – 24 hours since pitching, bubbling is still steady and kraeusen looks about the same as before. I was hoping to have more activity by now, obviously I should have pitched more yeast. Room = 60˚ Fermenter = 67˚

More updates and pictures will be posted below.

[Update 1]
12/07 10:00pm – Fermenter temp approaching 68˚, adjusted space heater setting down 2˚ - I suspect fermentation will heat up in the next 24 hrs. Fermentation appears to have picked up a tick. Observed some foam in the kraeusen expanding and collapsing.

[Update 2]
12/08 5:30am – Fermenter still at 68˚ and room is still around 60˚, turned space heater down another 2˚. Kraeusen looks about the same as last night.

12/08 6:40pm – Room = 60˚, fermenter = 69˚. Bubbling is still constant, kraeusen looks a little puffier.

12/08 9:45pm – Room = 62˚, fermenter looks like it's getting close to 70˚. Kraeusen is thicker and not as dark. Cut the space heater, opened door to let cool air in from unfinished part of basement and turned a fan on the fermenter.

12/08 11:30pm – Room = 63˚, fermenter = 68˚ Kraeusen looks even thicker than it did two hours ago. I'm not sure why the room temp keeps going up. I'm going to leave the door open and fan on over night.


[Update 3]
12/09 5:30am – Room = 58˚, fermenter = 63-64˚ Kraeusen has increased to about 3 inches, very poofy. Looks like the cooler air helped keep the temp down, turning fan off for day, room temp should drop a little more as outdoor temps drop.

12/09 9:10pm – Room = 55˚, fermenter = 60˚ Looks like high kraeusen has come and left. Lots of foam residue on the top of the bottle, almost to the neck. Turned space heater back on (set to 58˚). Almost a one second gap between bubbles.

[Update 4]
12/18 4:00pm – Day 12 - Fermenter and room about 62˚. Gravity = 1.028, a little higher than I want it to be. Chocolate and roast aroma and flavor a bit of bitter from the hops. Not as sweet as I expected, not a bad thing. Finish is a little grainy. Switched from overflow to a double-bubble airlock. After asking a few questions on-line, it's possible that my original gravity was not as high as measured. Apparently you're supposed to mix the wort up after you add water so you can get an accurate reading, duh. Turned heat up to 70 and gave the fermenter a little swirl to help the yeast finish.

[Update 5]
1/8/2009 – Day 33 - Bottling day. Siphoned about 4 gallons into bottling bucket and filled 27 twelve and twenty-two ounce bottles. Final gravity stayed at 1.028, hight than I wanted it. Beer has a pronounced chocolate flavor, no real off flavors detected. Should make a nice dessert beer.

New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest

Last weekend I had to drive up to Wisconsin and while I was there I was able to stock up on some Wisconsin craft beer. Up first is an Octoberfest from New Glarus. Available exclusively in the state of Wisconsin, New Glarus is well known for crafting excellent ales and lagers, especially those of German origin.

Crafted from Wisconsin malts and water and German hops and yeast Staghorn pours a crystal clear deep cooper color with a short white foam that quickly settles into a thin film. The Aroma is spot on for the style, toasted grain and biscuit with a dose of spice from the hops (probably Hallertau).

The flavor pretty much follows the aroma. A little bit of sweet bread flavors to start, followed by a mix of biscuit like flavors and some earthy spiciness from the hops. Everything is balanced towards the malt side but it is not overly sweet. The finish is clean with a slight herbal hop bite, maybe a slight metallic twang in there as well. Mouthfeel is creamy with excellent carbonation. I think this is my new favorite American made Octoberfest.

Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner

Today we'll sample one of my favorite seasonal beers, Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. Brewed by the Boston Beer Company, it was created as a tribute to the noble hop Hallertau Mittelfrau which are grown in the Hallertau region of Bavaria in Germany. If Germans made hop bombs this is probably what they would make.

The beer pours a deep golden straw color with a bright white head. Its not crystal clear like a Pils should be, there is a slight haziness to it, maybe from all the hops? The aroma is dominated by the spicy floral aroma of the Hallertau hops, with a hint of honey and malt lurking underneath it all. A real treat for the nose.

The flavor starts out with a touch of caramel sweetness, this is quickly replaced by the spicy bitterness of the hops. There is some citrus notes mixed in there as well. The mouth feel is a little creamy and has a tendency to stick to the tongue. The finish is bitter and perfumey with a touch of heat form the alcohol. There is just enough malt in there to keep the beer slightly balanced but the Hops are definitely the main attraction.

This beer is very drinkable, if it wasn't for the 8.1% ABV I'd have a hard time stopping after just one. The bitter finish could be a drawback for some but I like it. I really enjoy how the Hallertau hops are so clearly put on display. Jim Koch should make this part of their regular line-up. This is not a beer to be missed. It is sold in four packs and they'll set you back about ten bucks.

Beware the Red Menace

The picture of Lenin on the bottle should have been enough warning to keep me away from this beer, but for some reason, I bought it anyway. Red Menace from Hale's Ales in Seattle, Washington is supposed to be a big amber ale with lots of hops in it. Like Lenin's theories of social order this beer is an epic fail.

Appearance is a cloudy iced tea color, an odd color for an amber ale, with a dingy white head. Aroma is a mix of grainy malts, a little bit of sweetness and some earthy spiciness from the hops, but there is also a bit of an off smell, metallic perhaps, that makes the aroma a bit unwelcoming.

Flavor is completely dominated by the off flavors, metallic or medicinal. I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this glass, the aftertaste is really terrible. This is a beer that is only fit for dirty, Lenin loving commies. All beer (and freedom) loving people should steer clear of this crap.

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen

Today we'll be sampling Ayinger's Oktoberfest beer, one of my favorite examples of the style. The Oktoberfest style is a lager beer made with lots of Munich malt and nobel hops. You probably already know the history of Germany's Oktoberfest if not check it out.

Ayinger is one of the best German breweries that exports to America and their fest beer is a prime example of their skills. The beer pours a bright copper color with a frothy white head that settles down to a wispy film. The aroma is sweet biscuit with a touch of caramel and some faint spiciness from the hops.

The taste starts off with some caramel sweetness up front followed by plenty of chewy bread flavors in the middle, along with some nut flavors. Balance is provided by just the right amount of noble hops. The finish is almost tart instead of bitter. Mouth feel is crisp and light bodied with a mostly dry finish. A very interesting lager. If you haven't tried this classic example of a classic style, you need to do so.

Racer 5 IPA

In an earlier post I mentioned that there are a gaggle of new beers available in Kansas, today I'm going to review one of those great new beers. Racer 5 IPA is a award winning west coast IPA brewed by the Bear Republic brewery located in Healdsburg California in Sonoma County, right in the heart of wine country.

Pours a deep golden straw color with a touch of copper in it and frothy, off-white foam. The Columbus and Cascade hops make themselves known right away with a blast of tangerine and mangoes followed by some pine and floral aromas. Later I pick out some caramel sweetness from the malts.

The first taste presents a more bitter fruit profile, more to the grapefruit side of the citrus spectrum with a touch of orange. The malt lays down a subdued biscuity backbone with just a touch of caramel, the hops are the main focus of this beer.

The bottle conditioning gives it a nice smooth body. Finish is appropriately bitter with a touch of a spicy burn from the 7% alcohol. Overall, a really well done, hops heavy IPA that is sure to satisfy your hop yearnings. I wouldn't recommend it for the hop novices out there, but I'll be drinking more than a few this fall.