Trost! (My Nerdiest Beer – & Video – Ever)
I have a deep dark secret…I’m a giant nerd. Meaning that I enjoy (among other nerdy pursuits) D&D—both the game, and watching live-plays by players much better than myself. I’ve been watching Critical Role’s Campaign 2 recently, and featured quite heavily in the early episodes is a beer called Trost. Trost is a “unique, sweeter ales of the settlement’s breweries. Many attribute the distinctive flavor to the waters of the nearby Ustaloch, while others attribute the flavor to an enchantment on the nearby soils hearkening back to the Age of Arcanum“. Inspired by this, I tried to brew my own version of Trost.
And, this being D&D, much of the recipe was up to the dice gods…
Trost – Recipe
This is the recipe for the “true” Trost – the beer brewed without the added shenanigans of random dice rolls making my ingredient choices for me. This is in its essence a classical South-English Brown Ale. Low-alcohol, and sweet on the palate, this is a beer…Trost…ideal for the warming days of spring, or the fading warmth of fall.
Ingredients:
- 16% Caramel 60
- 10% Caramel 120
- 6% Brown Malt
- 71% Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
- 10 IBU Challenger Hops, 1 hour boil
- Yeast: Wyeast – London Ale III 1318 (preferred), Wyeast – British Ale 1098 (optional) or equivalent from your favorite yeast provider
Scale the recipe to give you a starting gravity of 1.035. Adjust your water for “malty amber” (50 PPM Calcium, 20 PPM Sodium, 65 PPM Chloride, 40 PPM sulfate, moderate hardness), and mash at 68C (155F) for 45 minutes, then mash-out and sparge. Boil for 1 hour, adding the hops at the start of the boil. Cool and ferment at 20-22 C (68-72F) for 10 days. Keg and enjoy.
Satanic Panic – Recipe
This is the recipe I brewed in the video – Trost, but with the ingredients left up to the fickle nature of the dice gods. Not as sweet as the Trost recipe above, but this beer is richer and deeper, with more roast and toasty notes. You could dial the bitterness back to 8-10 IBU to get a sweeter beer while retaining those darker notes.
Ingredients:
- 14% Caramel 60
- 8% Caramel 120
- 8% Brown Malt
- 4% Pale Chocolate Malt
- 66% Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
- 12 IBU Northern Brewer Hops, 1 hour boil
- 0.5g/L (0.07 oz/gal) or 6 IBU East Kent Goldings Hops, 30 min
- Yeast: Wyeast – London Ale III 1318 or the equivalent from your favorite yeast provider
Scale the recipe to give you a starting gravity of 1.035. Adjust your water for “malty amber” (50 PPM Calcium, 20 PPM Sodium, 65 PPM Chloride, 40 PPM sulfate, moderate hardness), and mash at 68C (155F) for 45 minutes, then mash-out and sparge. Boil for 1 hour, adding the Northern Brewer hops at the start of the boil and adding the EKG hops at the half-way mark. Cool and ferment at 20-22 C (68-72F) for 10 days. Keg and enjoy.
