2014 Altbier

It has been one cold and snowy winter here. And busy. I haven't been able to find the time to brew like I had planned to. In fact, I missed the opportunity to use the spectacularly frigid weather to brew the German Pils I had planned. I'm bummed, but I'll just have wait until next winter to try again. For now, I will turn my eyes towards Spring and Summer brewing. Hopefully I can find some time over the next few months to knock out at least a few more batches. Luckily, I had time today to start with this year's Altbier.

Last year's altbier attempt went south before I could bottle it...poor planning on my part resulted in the altbier being fermented in a bucket I had previously used with Brett and I must not have sanitized as well as I thought I did. For this year's batch I used last year's recipe as a starting point, but I decided to up the grain bill a tad to get the OG up over 1.050 and, since I already had the hops I was going to use in the German Pils that never got brewed, I decided to just use those instead of going with the traditional Spalter hops.

Brew day went well, except I ended up a tad short on my volumes - nothing major..just a 1/4 gallon or so. I want to ferment this in the upper 50s/low 60s, but I am having a tough time finding a spot in the cellar that is just the right temperature. Most places are too cold - a testament to the winter we've had. I think I've got the right spot, but I'm going to keep my eye on it and will move it to a warmer-than-I-want spot if I have to. Spring weather is slowly, but surely, on its way.

Tauwetter
brewed on 3/23/14

Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 3.5 gal
Estimated Color: 14.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.6%

Grist
5.5 lbs Pilsner malt - 76.2 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 13.9 %
8.0 oz Caramunich I - 6.9 %
2.0 oz Chocolate Wheat - 1.7 %
1.5 oz Acid Malt - 1.3 % (for mash pH)

Hops
16 g Northern Brewer [10.1%] - 60 min
14 g Hallertauer [3.9%] - 20 min
14 g Hallertauer [3.9%] - 5 min

Yeast
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (White Labs #WLP036)

Mash Schedule
Protein Rest - 133.0 F (10 min)
Sacch. Rest - 150.0 F (40 min)
Mash out (via 10 min decoction) - 168.0 F

Water - (estimated)
Ca: 129 ppm
Mg: 1 ppm
Na: 3 ppm
Cl: 148 ppm
SO₄: 104 ppm

2013 Altbier

Not sure where February went. And now March is almost half over too. Luckily, I managed to find some time today to brew up this year's Altbier...a bit later than I wanted to, but better late than never.

Last year's Altbier was really quite nice...easily my best one yet. However, I felt like it needed a few things. First, it didn't have the head I thought it should have, so this time I added a protein rest to perhaps help with that. Second, I replaced the pale ale malt with more Pilsner malt, and added some Caramunich after reading some info by Kai Troester about the use of crystal malt in this style. Lastly, and this is the place I debated about the most, I went with a single hop addition of Spalter hops, giving me only approximately 30 estimated IBUs. I think this is a more traditional hopping schedule, even though the IBUs fall outside the BJCP style guidelines.

Last year I opted not to lager this beer. This year, I may not have the choice as the coolest ambient temperatures may already climb into the 50s by the time this is done fermenting (I rely completely on the various ambient temperatures of my garage and cellar, which is why I try to brew this beer earlier in the winter, when I'm reasonably certain to have cool enough temperatures).

Spätfrühling
brewed on 3/11/13

Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 3.75 gal
Estimated Color: 11.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes
OG: 1.048
FG: TBD
ABV: TBD

Grist
4 lbs Pilsner malt - 61.0 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 30.5 %
6.0 oz Caramunich I - 5.7 %
2.0 oz Acid Malt - 1.9 % (for mash pH)
1.0 oz Chocolate Wheat - 1.0 %

Hops
28 g Spalter [5.00 %] - 60.0 min

Yeast
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (White Labs #WLP036)

Mash Schedule
Protein Rest - 133.0 F (10 min)
Sacch. Rest - 152.0 F (40 min)
Mash out (via 10 min decoction) - 164.0 F

Water - (estimated)
Ca: 88 ppm
Mg: 1 ppm
Na: 3 ppm
Cl: 37 ppm
SO₄: 156 ppm
Alkalinity (as CaCO₃): 20 ppm (pre-treatment)

Sonnenstrahl (Kölsch-style bier)

My original idea with this brew was to use a simple Kölsch-style recipe, but ferment it with my local wild yeast. However, the slurry I kept was pretty old and I wasn't sure how great an idea it was to use it anymore. Besides, I liked the idea of brewing up an authentic style I hadn't tried before, So, I ditched the "Wild Kölsch" idea and instead decided to go pretty much traditional with this one. I harvested some WLP036 yeast when I bottled Frühlingstraum, this year's altbier, so this kölsch will be a sort of sister beer to the alt - the Sunbeam for my Dreams of Spring. I was going to use the left-over Spaltz hops I had from the alt, but thought that might make the two beer too similar in flavor profile, especially with using the same yeast. So instead I decided to try out some German Opal hops I picked up from Northern Brewer. These aroma hops are described as spicy with tones of citrus, so I think they'll be good used judiciously in this light hybrid beer.

Sonnenstrahl Kölsch
brewed on 3/7/12

Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 3.50 gal
Estimated Color: 4.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 65 Minutes
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.6%

Grist
3 lbs Pilsner malt - 51.4 %
2 lbs Pale Malt - 34.2 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt - 8.6 %
4.0 oz Wheat Malt, Pale - 4.3 %
1.5 oz Acidulated malt - 1.5 % (for mash pH)

Hops
8 g Magnum [13.10 %] - 60.0 min
10 g Opal [6.30 %] - 15.0 min

Yeast
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (White Labs #WLP036) - reclaimed from 2012 Altbier

Mash Schedule
Single Infusion, 151°F, Batch Sparge