Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Chinook Hops

On May 12, 2008

Chinook hops are a variety that I would like to use in other American ales. Before I used them, I decided to do some research and put together this profile post.

Origin: America – Developed by a USDA breeding program and released to the public in 1985. It’s a cross between Petham Golding and a USDA-selected male. Grows primarily in the Yakima area of Washington State.

Aroma: Herbal, Smoky, Piney, Floral Some sources said similar to Cascade.

Alpha Acid: 12.5 to 14.0%

Typical Usage: Bittering! Use as an aroma hop is gaining popularity. There were some warning of harsh bitterness with overuse. “Catty” was used to described when it was used too much.

Beer Styles: Sources suggested 60 minutes boil for low bitterness beers. Apparently this variety is used in Arrogant Bastard Ale. I think it would be good in American style ales…as a bittering hop for pales, ambers, and browns. Probably would work well in stouts and porters.

Brewing With Sugars

By John Krochune

On May 8, 2008

In Experiments

This post is less of a “How To” and more of a rant/epiphany, which is coming from a discussion I had with Mike and thoughts I have had about this subject over the past few weeks.

When I started brewing, I thought it would be fun to brew with things like Molasses and Brown Sugar…because I like the taste of both those ingredients. They taste great in cookies and other baked goods; they should taste great in beers too.

What I didn’t initially understand was that all the sweetness in the sugars would be fermented away, leaving only flavors of the sugar cane processing.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I do not like beers brewed with brown sugar. I’ve made brown ales and Old Peculiar clones and they have a cidery, winey flavor…and not in a good way.

Molasses has had the same effect on the beers that I have brewed.

I have had good experience with maple syrup, but the maple porter recipe I came up with needs some modifications.

I think the next sugar to try will be honey. I have had great beers brewed with honey.

There must be a correlation between sugars with a large amount of unfermentatbles and weird flavors.

Lawnmower Beer Recipe

By Mike

On May 7, 2008

In Extract, Recipes

What is Lawnmower Beer?
Well it’s not really a recognized style of beer, but more a moniker for the type of beers that are light, crisp and have a mild flavor. There are many different styles that already fit the bill. However many people associate a simple malt bill with some adjunct sugars to dry out the finished product.

Now you might be thinking about the big nationally recognized brewers, but it is possible to brew something just as satisfying at home. More importantly, as an ale!!!

The approach I like to take with lawnmower beers is to keep the flavors clean and simple. Using a good neutral ale yeast makes for and easy ferment, and a quicker turnaround time than if you tried to brew up a lager. I like using American Ale yeast for this. I especially like to use a repitched slurry of fermentis US-05 from a previous beer. Even though this is a dry yeast, it seems to perform unbelievably well on a second pitch. If you can’t plan a brew session when you have this yeast ready, then either make a starter with some White Labs WLP001, or go ahead and pitch two packages of the US-05 (after proper rehydration of course).

Here is another quick and easy light summer beer recipe to continue our trend as summer rounds the bend. Enjoy!

LAWNMOWER BEER

5 Gallon Batch
OG 1045-1050

6.6 lbs light malt extract (2 cans)
1 lb Rice Syrup Solids
1 oz Styrian Goldings (5%AA)- 60 minute boil
American Ale Yeast of choice (I prefer US-05)

Focus on keeping your fermentation under 70F and above 65F. Break out the old “swamp cooler” and that should help you manage your temps.

These summer beer recipes are short and sweet. I’d rather spend my time enjoying good beer on a hot summer day, than brewing it.

Belgian White Ale Recipe From Allagash

By Mike

On May 6, 2008

In Recipes

Sometimes you need a beer to be a real thirst quencher, especially during the warmer months. One of our many summer beer recipes comes to us from Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine. This Belgian white ale is great. I really love the light and citrusy- flavor of this beer. A good friend on the Brewing Knowledge Base forum (BKB for short) gave me this belgian white ale recipe for Allagash White. (Thanks again to “Dartgod”)

Allagash White is one of the greatest everyday drinking beers available. Living in New England, I am fortunate to have access to a ready supply of this beer. However, I am going to try my hand at brewing this one very soon. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

Allagash Belgian White Ale Recipe

BJCP Category 16-A – Witbier

Belgian White Ale Recipe
Recipe: Extract
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 75.0%
Original Gravity: 1.045
Terminal Gravity: 1.011
Color: 3.3° SRM
Alcohol: 4.37%
Bitterness: 21.76

Ingredients:
6.75 lbs Pilsner Malt
4.25 lbs German Wheat Malt Light
1 oz Tettnanger (4.5%) – added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.3 oz Saaz (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.3 oz Saaz (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 1 min
0.3 oz Coriander crushed – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0.3 oz Ginger (fresh) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0.3 oz Bitter Curacao/Bitter Orange (Peel) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
Yeast:
White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale
or
White Labs WLP410 Belgian Wit II Ale

Mash in at 152°F
Ferment at 62°F

Some Important Brewing Tips

I think it’s important to ferment Belgian white ales or wits at a low fermentation temperature. You want this beer to ferment so that there isn’t too much funk and the flavors are cleaner than other Belgian beers. If you keep the fermentation temperature on the low end of the scale, your efforts will be rewarded. The citrusy flavor will come out more and the finish will be drier.

The style should have low hop character in the aroma and the flavor. You want to use a noble hop variety and not a large quantity of them. The yeast character in harmony with the spice additions should be the dominant flavors in the finished beer. The aroma of this beer should be moderately perfume-y from the coriander and have a citrus zesty presence from the orange peel.

Sometimes I have an issue with keeping this beer cloudy. In previous batches, I have added a tablespoon of flour to the last few minutes of the boil which helps keeping the beer cloudy for longer and does not affect the flavor of the beer. All witbier will clear eventually, but adding this small amount of flour keeps it cloudy for longer.

Thanks for reading our post and hopefully this Belgian white ale recipe helps you make excellent beer. If you can questions or comments, please post them below. Thanks Allagash for brewing this great beer and for popularizing Belgian styles in the US.

Adding Fruit to Beer

By Mike

On May 6, 2008

In Experiments, Ingredients

Inevitably when we dream of great summer beers we start to think of FRUIT BEERS!

A good lawnmower beer is a great beer to have on a hot day after working in the yard or playing with the dog. However, when the temperature climbs a little touch of fruit in a well made crisp beer can really slake the thirst… and keep you coming back for more.

Getting fruit into your beer can come in three general ways: Raw fruit purchased fresh, fruit flavored extracts, or prepackaged fruit products. Each one has its pros and cons.

Raw Fruit:
If you are fortunate to live in an area with a unique source of fruit in ample supply there can be great pride taken in making your own beer with local produce. Depending on location you can often get raw fruit at the peak of freshness for maximum impact on the beer. The down side to natural raw fruit is that from a beer stand point it is dirty. If you want to keep wild yeasts and bacteria out of your precious brew this can be a challenge with raw fruit. Secondly, the fruit likely needs to be processed in some way, such as a food processor or other mechanical mashing, to release its goodness into the beer.

Fruit Extracts:
The largest advantage that extracts have is the extremely low likely hood of a microbial contamination. These things are often made as alcohol based extractions of fruit flavors and they are easily filtered free of microbes. Second to that is the ease of use. You can easily control the amount of flavor you get by adding a little at a time to a keg or bottling bucket. Just add an ounce at a time, stir and taste. When its just right you are done. The disadvantage with extracts is that many people complain they tend to taste like….extracts. Something is just missing from the flavor profile that you can only get with fresh fruit.

Prepackaged Fruit Products:
Namely I am referring here to fruit purees. With these products you get the advantage of whole fruit fully processed to expose the fruity characters and you get cutting edge packaging and handling technology. Many fruit purees are flash pasteurized so the microbial contamination issue is eliminated. The only minor disadvantage is how much to add. You’ll need to add a puree in a secondary fermentor like you would raw fruit and let it ferment out to prevent overly carbonated beers at bottling time.

Overall, I think that Fruit Purees are the way to go. You get pre-processed fruit that is sterile and packaged at its peak of freshness.

A common variety is the Oregon Fruit Products brand. I have seen these a many a homebrew shop. So give them a try next time you are looking for a fruit addition. I know the next Strawberry Wheat I make, I am going to try it out.

Brew On!