A summary

Courtesy of Wordle.

Homebrewing event at Nøgne Ø

Last weekend the kind people at Nøgne Ø, the Norwegian microbrewery, had invited home brewers to an event at their brewery. I went there together with about 40 other home brewers.

The goal of the day was to brew 800 liters of Nøgne Ø Saison. The batch was then to be split 40-ways, so that everybody could take 20 liters home to ferment and alter it at will. The attendes were encouraged to make the most of it. My twist will be to add a can of Oregon Apricot puree and use a Belgian yeast blend (not Saison yeast).


When registering for the event one had to decide which yeast from the White Labs catalog to use. This yeast had arrived just a few days before, so it was very fresh. I chose this yeast:

WLP575 Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend
A blend of Trappist type yeast (2) and one Belgian ale type yeast. This creates a versatile blend that can be used for Trappist type beer, or a myriad of beers that can be described as 'Belgian type'.
Attenuation: 74-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 20-24°C (68-75°F)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

Nøgne Ø uses WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast in their own version. Interestingly, quite a few also ordered vials of wild yeast and bacteria. It'll be interesting to try out the end results.

If I remember correctly the recipe contains lager malt and wheat. The hop additions are East Kent Goldings for bittering, Hallertau (Mittelfrüh I presume) for flavour and Saaz for aroma. OG was 1.057 and the FG usually 1.015 (something they thought was a little too high for a Saison). They ferment the beer at 25°C from the start to the finish. Their web site also says 25 IBUs and 6.5% abv.


The agenda looked like this:

10:00 Welcome and a walkthrough of the brewery
11:00 Introduction to brewing
12:00 Transfer wort to sparging vessel
12:30 Sparging
12:30 Lunch and beer
14:00 Introduction to yeast and yeast handling
15:00 Boil wort
16:30 Transfer to whirlpool
17:30 Chilling and transfer to fermentation tanks

After the brewing session quite a few went downtown to have dinner and drink more beer.


On 21st of March there will be another event where everybody meets at the brewery and tastes each others beer.

I enjoyed the event immensely. Meeting other enthusiastic home brewers was a lot of fun. And I'm looking forward to the tasting next month. In any case this is a great thing for Nøgne Ø to be doing. I like their attitude and their eagerness of being open about everything. There are no secrets in brewing, quite the attitude of most home brewers. Cheers!

Brew #67: Porter/Crowberry Porter

It has been a while since I made a dark beer, and it has been too long since I made a porter. With its 7.0% abv this is a fairly robust porter.

Knut Albert has been kind enough to mention that crowberries might do well in a porter. I agree. Last year I had a sample of Haandbryggeriet's lingonberry porter, an experimental brew that they had made but did not put into production. It was an excellent beer with an interesting bittering quality that balanced the roasted malts in a nice way. It is sad that they decided not to take it further. The reason was supposedly the high production costs. Crowberries should be quite similar in flavour.

I found 330 ml bottles of crowberry juice at a Helios store here in Oslo. 1 liter juice to 11 liters of porter in the secondary. Interestingly I could not see any visible fermentation activity in the secondary, so I guess there's not much fermentable sugars in the juice. It is anything but sweet, but I think it'll lend a nice balance it the beer. The juice is organic and should not contain any preservatives.

Added 1ts CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) to mash and 1ts to boil.

The batch was brewed 2009-01-26 and bottled 2009-02-10.

Style:
Porter
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
76 EBC (Very dark brown)
Bitterness:
35 IBU
Malts:
6000g Pale malt, Castle
850g Aromatic malt, 100 EBC, Castle
800g Münchener malt, Weyermann
300g Crystal malt, Castle
300g Special B, Dingemans
300g Chocolate malt (Special II), Weyermann
100g Coffee malt, Castle
Mash:
66C, 90 min
68% efficiency
Hops:
35g Cascade pellets, 5.8% 90 min (first wort hops)
35g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 60 min
25g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 10 min
Yeast:
1 pack Wyeast 2450 Denny’s Favorite 50, 1 liter starter
Boil:
180 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.073 FG: 1.020 abv: 7.0%

Brew #66: Imperial kölsch

The imperial pilsener beer style is a fairly new phenomenon, so why not make an "imperial kölsch" now that I had a fresh kölsch yeast cake? The recipe is pretty much a scaled up version of the kölsch/Czech pilsener hybrid. The Saaz hops have been replaced with Riwaka (formerly known as D Saaz), a very aromatic Saaz breed from New Zealand. It contains twice the oil content of Czech Saaz. As the hop contains a lot of cohumulone (a harsh bittering oil) I thought it best to use Magnum, a cleaner bittering hop for bittering. As I've never used Riwaka before I look forward to see how it compares to its ancestor. The descriptions I've seen sure sounds like it'll do well in a strong and bold pilsener.

Added 1ts CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) to boil aiming at 50 ppm carbonates.

The batch was brewed 2009-01-21.

Style:
Strong kölsch
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
11 EBC (Golden)
Bitterness:
51 IBU
Malts:
8000g Pilsener malt, Castle
500g Wheat malt, Weyermann
200g Melanoidin malt, Weyermann
Mash:
65C, 90 min
69% efficiency
Hops:
35g Magnum pellets, 13.5% 60 min
60g Riwaka whole hops, 5.9% 10 min
100g Riwaka whole hops, 5.9% 1 min
40g Riwaka whole hops, 5.9%, dry hop for 4 days
Yeast:
Wyeast 2575 Kölsch II (batch #65 yeast cake).
Boil:
75 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.072 FG: 1.014 abv: 7.6%

Brew #65: Kölsch/Czech Pilsener hybrid

This is an experiment that I've wanted to do for a long time. The beer is a hybrid between a Kölsch and a Czech Pilsener. It is brewed with Kölsch yeast and a lot of Czech Saaz hops. There is 10% wheat in the recipe, so the fermentables are closer to a Kölsch than a Pilsener. The batch was split in half, and is fermenting with two different Kölsch strains. I look forward to seeing whether there will be any significant differences between the two strains. It will also be interesting to see if one can make a decent pilsener with an ale yeast.

Added 1ts CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) and 0.5ts CaSO4 (gypsum) to enhance the hops.

The batch was brewed 2009-01-04 and bottled 2009-01-21.

Style:
Kölsch/Czech Pilsener
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
8 EBC (Pale yellow)
Bitterness:
42 IBU
Malts:
5300g Pilsener malt, Castle
500g Wheat malt, Weyermann
200g Cara-pils, Weyermann
Mash:
67C, 90 min
72% efficiency
Hops:
110g Saaz pellets, 3.4% 60 min
40g Saaz pellets, 3.4% 15 min
30g Saaz pellets, 3.4% 1 min
Yeast:
1 pack Wyeast 2565 Kölsch (0.7 liter starter on magnetic stirrer) and 1 pack Wyeast 2575 Kölsch II (1.0 liter starter).
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.052 FG: 1.011 abv: 5.4%

Brew #64: Barley wine

At first I wanted to make an English barley wine, but I soon found out that the Centennial hops used for bittering impose a really strong bitterness, so this beer came out like an American barley wine. I'm very happy about it and think that it is a good one. When I tasted it two weeks after bottling I was scared by how harsh the bittering hops were. Another three weeks later the beer has mellowed and now present itself as a nice and very drinkable barley wine. I look forward to see how this one develops the coming years.

I hope to be making a new barley wine every year. Next year I'm considering something similar to North Coast Old Stock Ale.

Added 1.25ts CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) and 0.5ts CaSO4 (gypsum) to enhance the hops.

The batch was brewed 2008-11-17 and bottled 2008-12-03.

Style:
Barley wine
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
37 EBC (Brown)
Bitterness:
60 IBU
Malts:
10600g Pale malt, Weyermann
2400g Aromatic malt, 50 EBC, Dingemans
300g Crystal malt, 150 EBC, Weyermann
Mash:
65C, 90 min
56% efficiency
Hops:
120g Centennial pellets, 9.1% 60 min
40g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 10 min
Yeast:
2 packs Safale US-05 dry yeast
Boil:
180 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.095 FG: 1.018 abv: 10.1%

Brew #63: American IPA

This being my favourite beer style, I do brew it quite often. This particular recipe is for an IPA that is easily drinkable and not too complex. The bitterness is crisp and dry. It is very aromatic with strong notes of grapefruit and hints of pine. There is little malt complexity. I'll add more crystal malt next time.

Added 1.25ts CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) and 0.5ts CaSO4 (gypsum) to enhance the hops.

The batch was brewed 2008-10-03.

Style:
American IPA
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
19 EBC (Amber)
Bitterness:
65 IBU
Malts:
6100g Pale malt, Weyermann
400g Cara Münich malt, Weyermann
200g Carahell, Weyermann
Mash:
67C, 60 min
68% efficiency
Hops:
30g Columbus pellets, 12.2%, 60 min
40g Warrior pellets, 13.5%, 10 min
70g Columbus pellets, 12.2% 5 min
120g Centennial pellets, 9.1% 1 min
Yeast:
1 packs Wyeast 1272 American Ale II, 1.5 liter starter
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
18 C

OG: 1.061 FG: 1.015 (estimated) abv: 6%

Brew #62: Traditional Bock

Last year I made a spiced Christmas. This year I wanted to drop the spices and make something more plain, so I ended up with an attempt at a traditional bock. The result is very drinkable, but I feel that it has little bitterness. Next time, I'll add more bittering hops and a little flavouring hops to cut the malty dullness. A higher alcohol content would not have hurt it either. I'll drop the mineral additions as well.

Added 2/3ts NaCl (salt) and 1/3ts NaHCO3 (baking soda) to enhance maltiness.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-24.

Style:
Traditional Bock
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
22 IBU
Malts:
4600g Münchener malt, Weyermann
2200g Pilsener malt, Castle
400g Cara Münich malt, Weyermann
200g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
200g Melanoidin malt, Weyermann
Mash:
68C, 60 min
74% efficiency
Hops:
20g Magnum pellets, 13.5%, 60 min
Yeast:
2 packs Wyeast 2663 Octoberfest, 2.5 liter starter
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
9.5 C

OG: 1.066 FG: 1.016 abv: 6.5%

Brew #61: Extra Special Bitter

This beer was made for an event at work. I was hoping for something easily drinkable. As I had little time to make it I had to skip the yeast starter and throw in some dry yeast. In the end I think that the recipe worked out well. The beer was light and refreshing with a crisp dry EKG hop bitterness. It was far from complex, but it had a dry and grainy mouthfeel with a crisp bitterness. Not really what I would consider an ESB, but rather more like a really dry Special Bitter.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-10.

Style:
Extra Special Bitter
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
45 IBU
Malts:
4500g Golden Promise malt, Thomas Fawcett
350g Aromatic malt, Dingemans
200g Cara Amber, Dingemans
200g Carapils, Weyermann
150g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
Mash:
67C, 60 min
70% efficiency
Hops:
60g Challenger pellets, 6.7%, 60 min
40g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 10 min
60g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 1 min
Yeast:
1 pack Safale S-04, rehydrated dry yeast
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
21 C

OG: 1.048 FG: 1.012 abv: 4.7%

Interesting use of Randall at the Blind Tiger

There is a really cool event at the Blind Tiger, NYC, this evening. They are serving Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA through six different Randalls. What is interesting is that it is not just hops in the Randalls this time. Instead they are going to serve the beer through a lot of different things that'll lend flavour to the beers.

Here's the list:

Simple Thai: lemongrass
Mint Julep: mint & bourbon balls
Summer Fresco: melon & assorted fruits
Northern Winter: pine & spruce
Italian Seasoning: pine nuts & dried oregano
Hoppy Giant: warrior & columbus hops

I wish I could be there, but as its on the other side of the pond its going to be difficult for me to get there in time. I'll have to try something like this myself sometime.