10 Ratings

Here's a fistful for you!

Rogue Farms OREgasmic Ale

650 mL bottle. Pours orange toffee with a thick off white head. Leaves lots of soapy looking mess. Aroma is deep caramel malt, layers of toffee, dark bread, allspice, and woody herb notes. Delightfully complex with a nice balance of sweet malt and bitter hop bite. Full bodied and chewy with moderate carbonation. Textbook American strong ale.

Mill Street Curious Parrot
330 mL bottle. Pours golden amber with a foamy white head. Aromas of floral hop, caramel malt, orange, toffee and buttery biscuit. A touch of sweetness, nice herbal hop balance with a lingering bitter finish. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation and a mild aftertaste. Not a stand out, but the best thing they’ve offered since the tankhouse ale.

Palm
330 mL bottle. Pours amber with a thin white head. Aroma is herb and corn. Flavor similarly one dimensional. The Molson of Belgium. Dull times.

Innis & Gunn Scottish Pale Ale
330 mL bottle. Pours copper with a thin white head. Aroma is oak, vanilla, caramel and spicy, herbal hop. Moderately sweet and full body with a slightly bitter and boozy finish. Medium carbonation. Too sweet for my taste.

Railway City Canada Southern Draft
500 mL bottle. Pours a light straw with a fuzzy white cap. Simple aromas of fresh cut grass, herb and crisp light malt. Clean and refreshing with a hint of sweetness and moderate carbonation.

Railway City Iron Spike Copper Ale
500 mL bottle. Pours copper with a white cap. Caramel toffee, biscuit and marzipan notes with a touch of herbal hop and black tea. Light bodied with a clean finish. Moderately sweet with full carbonation. Quaffable.

Great Lakes Brewery Crazy Canuck
473 mL can. Pours straw with a nice white head, leaves no lacing. Pungent fresh hop aroma, lemon, orange, pine and a touch of biscuit flavored malts. Light to medium bodied with full carbonation. Dry with a the pleasant lingering mouth feel of hop bitterness balanced with crisp malt. A tasty session beer: crush a few of these on a hot day.

Railway City Iron Spike Amber Ale
500 mL bottle. Pours mahogany with a thin cap that quickly leaves with no lacing. Aroma is a touch of woody hop, chocolate malt, amber caramel, pear and plum. Taste is a fairly dry, finishes roasty. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Not badly made, just boring.

Kensington Brewing Baldwin Fish EYE-PA
463 mL can. Pours ruby tinged amber with a thin head. Aromas of deep caramel malt, fall fruit, spicy hop and pine. Full bodied with moderate carbonation and a well balanced finish.

Renaissance Perfection Pale Ale
500 mL bottle. Pours walnut with a nice white head and soapy lacing. Aromas of butter toffee, biscuit, fig, mixed nuts and bread. A hint of sweetness well balanced by bittering hop and a touch of earthy floral notes. Medium body and low to moderate carbonation. Well made and well enjoyed; would complement a meal.

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Peach Wit Part I: Recipe Design

In my last post I covered the different factors that brewers consider when designing a beer.  Each of the five elements; water, barley, hops, yeast and adjuncts (that's the name for anything you add to your beer that isn't any of the first four ingredients) are taken and balanced to fit the profile and guidelines for the beer you wish to create.  That's right, guidelines.  Each style of beer has a distinct set of guidelines according to the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), in order for beers to be judged well in competitions they must meet the guidelines associated with the style category they are entered into.  These standards are held worldwide and dictate how a certain type of beer is to be.  Qualitative considerations include aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel.  The quantitative considerations are known as vitals and include OG, FG, IBU, SRM and ABV.  All of these details are factored into recipe design.  I want to share with you the process of creating a beer, from start to finish, in depth,  This process begins here, at recipe design.

For me, recipe design starts with an idea; a concept or style I want to play with.  Summer screams fresh fruit in Ontario, and fruit incorporates well into a balanced beer.  My brewing timeline tells me that if I get started soon, peaches will be really ripe when I need them, so I have decided to use those.  Lambics are the most popular style to spike with fruit, but they are incredibly complex to brew.  Wheats are next in line: and those I can do.  Wheats come in many styles though: crisp American Wheats heavily hopped for flavor; German Weizens with their banana and clove phenols and a touch of sweetness; and Belgian Wits, cloudy and spicy.  In my mind, the fact that I am already about to cloud my beer with peach pulp makes me think that a Wit would be a good idea.  The spicy characteristics that Belgian yeasts lend, as well as the adjuncts commonly added to Wits would balance nicely with the peaches.  Think peach and ginger jam, or peach and bourbon cocktails.

Oddly enough, that's the hardest part.  Once the style is settled, I build the recipe around the BJCP style guidelines.  I like my beers to meet, or at least lie around the outskirts of these regulations.  I do some research into the style, its history and traditional brewing methods, and keep all of this information in mind while developing.  I use a free online calculator provided by Brewtoad in order to calculate vitals based off of ingredient selection and methodology.

A little bit of reading tells me that Wits traditionally contain very few kinds of malt, typically just Pilsner Malt and Raw Wheat in equal parts, sometimes with a bit of Oats added.  I don't really want to go too crazy with the malt bill here as I really want the peach flavor to be uncomplicated by a bunch of layering malt flavors.  I will stick with that as a simplified bill, the Oat addition is relatively minimal and will provide a nice starch haze to the beer, as well as a full mouth feel.  As far as quantity goes, Wits have an OG between 1.044 and 1.052.  In order to achieve an OG in that range on my system, I require four and a half pounds each of Wheat and Pilsner Malt, as well as a half pound of Oats.  This yields an OG of 1.050.  Assuming a very average attenuation (attenuation is the word used to describe how much of your sugar is eaten by your yeast) of 74%, this will put my FG at 1.013, and ABV at 4.9%: well within range.  That being said, I can usually eek a few extra points of attenuation out of yeast due to how I perform my mash and fermentation.  I presume when all is said and done I will achieve an attenuation closer to 77%.  This yields a FG of 1.012 and an ABV of 5.1%; still well within style.  The color of a Wit is traditionally very light, and the barely roasted malts I have selected put my product right in the center of the allowed range of 2 to 4 SRM. However, the addition of peaches makes that a pretty moot point, as they will darken and hue the beer. A few pounds of rice hulls will be added to make mashing easier, they provide no flavor but make my life simpler when it comes to procedure.

Hops in Wits are usually minimal, and only used for bittering.  The hop presence does not need to be forceful as the quantity of wheat used will create its own flavor profile, and the spices that are normally found in these beers have a similar effect to the hops anyway.  Old World varieties are the norm, but some mild American hops would work.  I initially wanted to use Willamette hops from Oregon for their slight spiciness and even bittering, but they were unavailable so I settled on a more traditional choice; German Spalt.  A full ounce of Spalt added at the very beginning of the boil will allow for 17 IBU.  Wits are allowed from 10 to 20 IBU, so I'm riding a little on the high side, but I love hops.  This gives an GU:BU ratio of .33, or a fairly 'sweet' beer.

Wit yeasts come in a few varieties, White Labs offers a few in both regular and seasonal formats, as does Wyeast.  I'm more familiar with Wyeast, and I read their product has spicier phenolics even when fermented cool, which is a plus.  I'll ferment this one at room temperature, but my rooms are cold. I'm hoping to have the internal fermentation temperature in the low to mid 70's.  This should generate a nice yeasty flavor profile; very desirable here.

As far as adjuncts go, the obvious choice here was peaches.  2 to 6 pounds of fruit is typically added for a noticeable flavor, an peaches are fairly mild once fermented, so I decide to go full bore and toss 6 pounds of pitted peaches in my recipe.  As I mentioned before, Wits are spiced.  They typically feature Curacao orange peel and coriander, but might contain ginger, nutmeg, grains of paradise, caraway or cinnamon.  One of my favorite Witbiers (Hitachino Nest White Ale) features nutmeg, so I decide to use it in addition to ginger which will play well with the peaches.  I will also include small amounts of the typical bitter orange peel and coriander.   I've toned down the usual quantities of spices used due to the variety of spices I'm adding.  I don't really want them to be noticeable, I just want them to accentuate the already existing spice flavors of the hops an yeast.  I will not be using Irish Moss, a fining agent, as I wish the beer to be cloudy.  I will be supplementing my yeast with Wyeast Yeast Nutrient.

All said and done the recipe looks like this:

"Just Peachy" Peach Witbier

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
IBU: 17
ABV: 5.1%

4.5 lbs Pilsner Malt
4.5 lbsRaw Wheat
.5 lbs Flaked Oats
2.2 lbs Rice Hulls

1 oz German Spalt Select Hops @ 60 Minutes
1 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @ 10 Minutes
.5 oz Ground Ginger @ Flameout
.5 oz Bitter Orange Peel @ Flameout
.25 oz Coriander Seed @ Flameout
.25 oz Nutmeg @ Flameout

1 pkg Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

6 lbs Ontario Peaches in secondary

This should turn out to be a fruity, sessionable ale with spicy accents and a complex finish.  Keep your eyes peeled for brew day photos, fermentation notes and bottling day griping!

BJCP
bjcp.com

Brewtoad
brewtoad.com

A Window Into Recipe Design

For as much as I love to drink beer, brewing proves to be even more entertaining.  Recipe design is by far the most interesting element of the brew process.  It's similar to cooking in a way; you have to research and balance ingredients in just the right measures in order to come out with something truly great.  Like cooking, the number of ingredients are really limitless, but there are the main four: water, barley, hops and yeast.

Water is the base for all beer, and all food for that matter, and is very important in how your brew turns out.  However, changing your water is a complex process.  You need to get in depth information about your tap water and its chemical composition, and adjust your water profile accordingly by adding small amounts of various types of compounds depending on what you are brewing.  This is a necessity for commercial brewers, but lies on the extreme end of a homebrewers capabilities.  The most important part is that your water has a moderate pH, is not heavily chlorinated, not softened in your home and does not contain any extreme amounts of any particular element (most major cities water profiles are acceptable).  I do not alter my water profile for brewing.

Barley malt will form the next most important part of your beer.  Grains provide the sugars that the yeast will ferment to produce alcohol: more grain per batch will result in more sugar, which will result in more alcohol. The quantity of sugar in a beer is measured by SG or specific gravity; the alcohol content is based on the difference between your original gravity (the amount of sugar in your unfermented wort) and your final gravity (the amount of sugar in your finished beer).  The amount of sugar any given grain provides is measured in p/lb/g or points per pound per gallon: high p/lb/g grains add more sugar in the form of SG points, and thus result in more alcohol.  Grains also dictate mouthfeel, head stability and provide the malt aromas to your brew (such as caramel, biscuit, coffee, chocolate, nut and charcoal).  Grain selection will decide the color of the finished product as well, the darkness of the roast will tell you what color a grain will give your beer, the quantity of that malt you use will decide how much of that color it will add.  The roast of a grain is measured in degrees Lovibond (L), higher numbers are darker.  The color of a finished beer is generally measured in SRM (standard reference method), again, higher numbers are darker.  All these factors will help you decide what grains you want, and how much of each to use.

Hops are beers natural seasoning.  Their main usage is to provide bitterness that will offset the sugary tastes provided by the grain.  Bitterness is provided by the Alpha Acids in hops, or AA%: hops with a higher AA% are 'more bitter'.  The bitterness itself is measured in IBUs (international bitterness unit).  The relation between your original gravity and your IBUs is very important, it is called your OG:BU ratio.  A high ratio is a very bitter beer (an IPA for instance).  Hop utilization is also important.  Because your hops are boiled, their flavor and aroma dissipates as you boil them.  Hops boiled for 60 minutes or longer only contribute bitterness: no flavor or aroma.  Those boiled for 30 to 59 minutes add flavor (remember flavor is sensed by your tongue, and only comes in 5 variations). Those boiled for less than 29 minutes add aroma (those are sensed in your olfactory, and are the things you can name when you taste).  Different hops contribute different aromas, including citrus, pine, spice, earth, licorice, mango and even grape.  What aromas you want decide what hops you will use.  In general, cheaper, less unique hops are added early in your boil to supply the bitterness, and the more expensive and uniquely aromatic ones are added closer to the end to provide their distinctness.

Yeast selection is one of the most underrated parts of brewing.  Most people know they need to select a Lager strain (one that ferments on the bottom of the beer and works well when at cool temperatures) or an Ale strain (one that ferments on top, and works well when warmer).  What they don't know is that there are millions of sub strains of beer yeast, each that has it's own living preferences and develops different flavors.  I only produce Ales for right now, as the equipment you need to ferment them is minimal.  Careful yeast selection will help you develop the right flavor profile for your beer, or lack thereof.  It will determine the temperature you ferment at, how long you ferment it for, how clear your beer is and how much sugar your beer will lose to its 'appetite'.  Belgian style yeasts are notorious for liking high temperatures and consuming a lot of sugar.  American yeasts are known to clear up very well and produce minimal yeast flavor.  English strains can leave behind a lot more sugar than other yeasts, resulting in more body in the finished beer.  German Weizen yeasts throw off lots of citrus, banana and clove flavor.  Catering to your yeasts habits will allow it to really shine, and gives the best chance of it providing the elements that it is supposed to.

There are a million other things to add to your beer!  Sugars can be added to produce more alcohol and provide the sensation of dryness.  Grains can be varied to cut costs and change mouthfeel: corn is cheap and oats provide a full body.  You can add fruit, spices, clarification agents, yeast nutrients and energizers, or even foreign bacteria such as those found in yogurt or sourdough bread!

Recipe design is fun, experimental and painfully based on the trial and error process.  Give something a shot: if you like it, great; if you don't, change it.  Rinse and repeat.  Next up I'll be brewing a traditional Belgian wheat beer, called a Witbier, and in the spirit of summer I will be spiking it with fresh peaches.  I will be posting my recipe creation process for all to see, so consider this your primer lesson!