Recipe Roundup

In looking at my own blog, I’ve noticed that I seem to have fallen behind on the blogging of brewdays. I blame the pandemic, which has messed up every aspect of my life – personal and professional. I have been brewing – quite a bit, in fact. So its time for a recipe roundup: a quick-blast of recipes brewed over quarantine.

My last recipe was my Bourbon Bochet, back at the end of 2019. So what else has been brewing?

English IPA

Brewed back in January, this is one of my favorite beers to enjoy in the winter. Hoppy, but with a complex malt underpinning everything.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.059
• F.G. 1.013
• IBU: 54
• Colour: 10.5 SRM

Ingredients:

• Water: adjusted to 2:1 sulfate:chloride
• 4.50 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter
• 0.23 kg Biscuit Malt
• 0.23 kg Caramel Malt – 40L
• 0.20 kg Caramel Malt – 120L
• 0.50 kg Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil]
• 60.00 g Challenger [7.50 %] – Boil 60.0 min
• 28.35 g Fuggle [4.75 %] – Boil 10.0 min
• 14.17 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min
• 42.52 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min
• 1.0 pkg British Ale I (Omega #OYL-006)

Brewing:

• Mash: 66.5C, 60 min
• Boil: 60 min
• Ferment: 18C, 14 days

Tasting Notes:

• Slightly less bitter than expected, but with a good malt and yeast character accentuating the hops. Hop note was earthy and herbal.

My Sweet Heart (Milk Stout)

Brewed back in Feburary, this is the first milk stout I’ve brewed since 2003! Not bad, but I’d prefer a bit more lactose character next time.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.056
• F.G. 1.010
• IBU: 33
• Colour: 36 SRM

Ingredients:

• 4.55 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter
• 0.45 kg Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
• 0.35 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt – 80L
• 0.25 kg Chocolate, Pale (200.0 SRM)
• 0.45 kg Lactose [Boil] (0.0 SRM) Sugar 14 7.5 % 0.32 L
• 60.00 g Challenger [5.30 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 15 32.6 IBUs –
• 1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [35.49 ml]

Brewing:

• Mash: 66.1C, 60 min
• Boil: 60 min
• Ferment: 21C, 14 days

Tasting Notes:

• A nice neutral stout, good mouthfeel but lacking in lactose character. Could use more chocolate notes as well. Not bad, but not great.

Corvid Schwarz

Brewed back in March, this dark lager sucked. I’m not even going to give you the recipe, because I dumped it after the first 3 pints. Tasted of roast and water…not at all nice.

Wee Lassie (70/-)

Back in the late 1990’s I brewed Scottish ales all the time, but for some reason stopped doing so. This is totally a blast from the 90’s past, and is every bit as good as I remember. Light, easy drinking, but with enough malt and yeast character to keep the beer lover interested.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.038
• F.G. 1.011
• IBU: 15
• Colour: 11 SRM

Ingredients:

• 3.80 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter
• 0.09 kg Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM)
• 25.00 g Challenger [5.30 %] – Boil 60.0 min
• 1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04)

Brewing:

• Mash: 67.8C, 60 min
• Boil: 60 min
• Ferment: 21C, 14 days

Tasting Notes:

• Malt and yeast-forward, light weight, easy drinking. A great springtime ale.

Quarantine Quick Quaff (Berliner)

This was a remake of last years (Almost) All The Fads dry-hopped kettle sour. For some reason I thought I’d mix up the hops, which led to a beer that was good, but not the awesome elixir of magnificence of the prigonal.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.038
• F.G. 1.018
• IBU: 0
• Colour: 2.5 SRM

Ingredients:

• 1.50 kg Pilsner (2 Row)
• 1.50 kg Wheat Malt
• 0.50 kg Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil]
• 1.0 pkg Lactobacillus plantarum
• 1.0 pkg Årset Kveik Blend (Escarpment Labs)
• 56.70 g Eukanot [14.00 %] – Dry Hop 3.0 Days
• 28.35 g Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] – Dry Hop 3.0

Brewing:

• Mash: 64.4C, 75 min
• Heated to 85C to pasteurize, no boil
• Sour: 28 hours at 42C
• Ferment: 5 days at 38C, dryhop last 3 days

Tasting Notes:

• Modestly tart, refreshing, with white wine and generic tropical fruit notes. Slightly grassy aftertaste. Again, a good beer, but not as good as its progenitor.

Blanc Slate Saison

A local craft brewery Storm Stayed Brewing, made an excellent saison featuring Hallertau Blanc hops. It was amazing, so I tried to clone it. My version is not quite the same, as my yeast selection was perhaps a touch more bold then theirs – but it was great none-the-less.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.069
• F.G. 1.008
• IBU: 33
• Colour: 4.6 SRM

Ingredients:

• 4.50 kg Pilsner (2 Row)
• 0.45 kg Vienna Malt
• 0.45 kg Wheat Malt
• 0.07 kg Caramunich I
• 0.50 kg Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil]
• 16.00 g Warrior [16.80 %] – Boil 60.0 min
• 14.17 g Hallertau Blanc [10.50 %] – Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 5.4 IBUs –
• 14.17 g Hallertau Blanc [10.50 %] – Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs –
• 1.0 pkg Abbaye Belgian (Lallemand/Danstar)
• 1.0 pkg Berliner Brett I (Richie Price #LYB133)
• 28.35 g Hallertau Blanc [10.50 %] – Dry Hop 3.0 Days

Brewing:

• Mash: 64.4C, 75 min
• Boil: 60 min
• Ferment: 21C, ramping to 25C, 14 days, then cooling to cellar temperature (18C) for an additional two weeks.

Tasting Notes:

• A really good saison, but for two complaints: 1) Should have doubled the flavour and dry hop amounts, and 2) Should have used the dupont or french saison strain. Its dry, crisp, with a modest hop character. The yeast is a little too bubblegum-ish for my tastes; contribution of the brett was minor.

CoronaRYEvus IPA

This is simply Denny Conn’s Rye IPA reciped, unmodified other than I used Arset kveik, fermented at 28C, in place of his yeast suggestion. I don’t like ripping off other brewer’s recipes, so if you want to make this, I recommend searching out Denny’s original recipe.

Tasting Notes:

• A great beer, brewed at the wrong time of year. Strong west-coast hop flavour and aroma, over top of a malty base beer with the earthy notes of rye. But its too dense and too alcoholic to really be enjoyed in the 38C (100F) weather going on right now.

Summer Wheat Lager

This is the beer I am brewing as I write this blog post. It is my usual summer fare – often I make it into a raddler (although not this year), but its great on its own. 1/3rd wheat, 2/3rds pils or 2-row, and a touch of carapils or other dextrin malt to add a bit of body. As light and easy drinking as any mass market lager, but with a bit more malt and hop character to keep things interesting. A perfect beer for those hot days of August.

Stats:

• O.G. 1.042
• F.G. 1.009 (est)
• IBU: 19
• Colour: 3.0 SRM

Ingredients:

• 2.75 kg Canadian 2 Row Pale Malt
• 1.40 kg Wheat Malt
• 0.23 kg Carapils
• 20.00 g Mt. Hood [5.75 %] – First Wort 60.0 min
• 14.27 g Mt. Hood [5.75 %] – Boil 15.0 min
• 22.27 g Mt. Hood [6.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min
• 1.0 pkg Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70)

Brewing:

• Mash: 65.5C, 75 min
• Boil: 60 min
• Ferment: Celler temperature (14 days, ~18C). Damp teeshirt trick to help keep it cooler.

Tasting Notes:

• Ask me in a month!