Easter Beer?

Are you asking yourself what an Easter beer is? I asked myself the same question.

Now stop talking to yourself and read this post.

Ok – thanks for continuing to read. The journey I took to get to a place where I can create this recipe is interesting so I hope you will indulge me while I type out the tale.

Wrong Yeast Strain

My quest to brew a great witbier continued this year. Instead of formulating another recipe or re-brewing one that I tried in the past, I just bought a kit.

Buying the kit was simple and quick but it did leave the chance for me to buy a yeast strain that I didn’t think was good for the style.

I bought the Wyeast strain 3942 rather than 3944. The 3942 stain is a Belgian Wheat strain and not a witbier strain.

I didn’t used the 3942 but rather I cultivated yeast from commercial witbier, brewed a great example of the style, and felt happy that I achieved a goal.

That was great and all but I still had a smack pack in my fridge and I didn’t want to waste it.

What Is This Yeast and Where Did It Come From?

Thanks to Mr. Malty yeast page, I got a source of the Wyeast 3942 strain. The page claims it comes from a small brewery in Esen, Belgium called Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers

The Wyeast site stated that this strain would be good to use in a Belgian Pale Ale, which is interesting since it’s labeled as a wheat strain.

Looking for a pale ale from the offerings of the De Dolle Brewery brought me to discovering their Paasbier or Easter Beer.

Based on the ingredients that they listed on this site and some reviews on others, this recipe is what I plan to brew to use the mistaken yeast strain.

Ingredients:

12 lbs Belgian Pale Malt
.5 lbs Belgian Cara-Pils Malt
1 lbs White Table Sugar
1.5 oz Goldings Hops (5.00 %AA) boiled 60 mins.
Yeast: Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wheat

Instructions:

Mash grains for 60 minutes at 152 degrees F. Collect enough wort for a 7 gallon starting volume and boil for an hour, adding hops at the start of the boil.

With 15 minutes left to go in the boil, add the sugar. Chill wort to 70 degrees F and pitch yeast. Ferment for 2 weeks then bottle or keg.

Predictions

Original Gravity: 1.065
Terminal Gravity: 1.013
Color: 7.69 °SRM
Bitterness: 33.5 IBU
Alcohol % by volume: 6.9%

Ok, that’s my Easter beer recipe based on their recipe. Of course, now I have to get a bottle or two of their Paasbier to see how this compares. Beyond the comparison, I hope the yeast strain is pleased with my work.

Brew on.