Proserbräu

Steve, DeAunn's private teacher and a member of the orchestra here in SLC, has been a great friend to us in so many ways over the last three years. He's also one of the beer geekiest folks we know around here; we've enjoyed a number of get-togethers at his family's home where we shared new, interesting bottles with each other. Steve has a particular affinity for Belgians, so as we came to the end of our terminal degrees, nothing seemed so appropriate as brewing one for him.

Considering his favouring of beers such as Gulden Draak and Piraat, we aimed at crafting a Belgian strong. Vienna is my current go-to grain, as I'm working my way through a bag of Weyermann Organic Vienna; we augmented it with a bit of oats to add mouthfeel to what would be a fairly dry beer. A good dose of turbinado in primary increased dryness and colour, bringing it an amber hue. I've used the Duvel yeast strain on Belgian strongs in the past, but haven't cared as much for the "sharp" character it can bring. I was very happy, however, with the results I had with Belgian Abbey II in my Mad Elf clone a few years ago; in my aged quasi-side-by-side tasting, I actually preferred the rounded alcohol and more pronounced cherry presence of my version to Troeg's original.

My friend Brian came over to assist with part of brewday, including the ever-popular fermenter transfer/filtering out of hops. With his help, things went particularly smoothly. This was a small batch, and just about all of it went to its intended recipient; I only kept a six pack. I've had one so far; the yeast is even more muted than I'd intended, but it's still pleasant. Next time I'd probably push it to higher temps faster to try to increase ester production. So far it's hiding its alcohol very well; it's almost too easy drinking, and could cause some trouble if one weren't paying attention to consumption rate. Steve was really happy with our gift; DeAunn and I were pleased to be able to do something like this for someone who's done so much for us.

Proserbräu - Belgian Strong

Batch size: 3.7 gallons
Projected OG: 1.081
Projected SRM: 7.5
Projected IBU: 25.7
Boil time: 120 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 78%

Grains/Fermentables
79.0% - 8 lb Weyermann Organic Vienna
11.1% - 1 lb 2 oz Quick oats
9.9% - 1 lb Turbinado sugar (dissolved in water, added as primary activity slows)

Hops
.4 oz Magnum (14.4%) (60 min)

Yeast
WY1762 Belgian Abbey II - 1-liter stirplate starter

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
1 tsp Irish moss (10 min)
1 vial Clarity Ferm (pre fermentation)

Water additions (mash)
10 qts Distilled water (w/ 2 qts filtered SLC water)
1 g Gypsum
2 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 16 March 2014
Mash: 149F for 90 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 5 gallons         
Post-boil SG (w/o sugar): 16.7P (1.069)

Aerated with 5 micron stone for 45 minutes.
Begin fermentation at 60F ambient; raise 3F/day after 24 hours of active fermentation, topping out at 72F.

21 March 2014: Added turbinado.

Secondary: 1 May 2014
FG: 1.009
ABV: 9.8%

Added 1.7 oz bourbon-soaked oak cubes.

Bottled: 24 May 2014
Bottled with 3.4 oz table sugar.

Spring Pale Ale

 Given how busy the last year has been, it's a wonder I brewed at all. It had been since last summer that I brewed anything with an appreciable amount of hop character. Beckoning from the back of the brew freezer was the end of a mixed pound of American pellets that had been hanging out for better than a year, along with a bunch of whole cones I picked in our neighbourhood last summer. An American pale ale was in order.

The brewday went without incident, but the final product didn't end up very engaging or interesting. My bet is that the flaws in this beer come from oxidation, particularly in the secondary during dry hopping. Not having a lot of experience with whole hops, I made no attempt to break up the chunks of cones that came out of my vacuum-sealed bags. As a consequence, when I opened the bucket to bottle, I discovered floating hop glaciers that were still dry inside. For those that did soak up beer and break apart, I expect that they released a bit of trapped air in doing so. Live and learn.

This is further encouragement for me to work on simple recipes, perhaps even to begin a long-considered SMaSH series. This will help me learn what each ingredient I use contributes as well as hone my brewing and fermentation processes on a particular style. Not yet sure this will be my Year of Pale Ale, but anything's possible. Fortunately the IPA that followed this beer (posting soon) turned out more solid. Here's to warm-weather hoppy drinking.

Why Not Another APA?

Batch size: 5.5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.050
Projected SRM: 4.7
Projected IBU: 42.6
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 80%

Grains
84.2% - 8 lb Malteurop 2-row
15.8% - 1.5 lb Weyermann Organic Munich

Hops
.2 oz Warrior (16.7%) (60 min)
1 oz Galena (13.2%) (KO - caluculated as 5 min)
1 oz Willamette (4.7%) (KO - calculated as 5 min)
1.8 oz Warrior (KO - calculated as 5 min)
6.7 oz Neighbourhood-picked hops (Nugget?) (Dry hop 7 days)

Yeast
WY1450 Denny’s Favorite 50

Extras
1 tsp Irish moss (10 min)

Water additions (mash)
9 qts Distilled water (w/ 3 qts filtered tap water)
2 g Gypsum

Brewday: 16 March 2014
Mash: 152F for 60 minutes - dropped to 148F
Pre-boil volume: 6.75 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 10.2P (1.041)           

Following KO, chill to 180F, then whirlpool/hop stand for 30 minutes.  Finish chilling.
Ferment in swamp cooler at 65F.

Dry hop: 12 April 2014
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.0%

Bottled: 23 April 2014
Bottled with 4.1 oz brown sugar.

Tasting Notes: Comes across weirdly fruity, but not in a hops-derived way; either yeast character, fermentation flaw, or oxidation. Darker than expected as well--though clarity is good--so I imagine it's one of the latter two reasons. Hop character lacking, though with this mix of hops I'm not sure what to expect. Not a complete failure, but far from the best it could be.