Baltic Porter is a very strong, robust Porter brewed to fight off the harsh winters of thriving 18th and 19th Century Baltic trade routes.  Though the style originated in England, it was subsequently brewed throughout Northern Europe.  This week we take a look at the Baltic Porter beer history, style, recipes and how to brew it at home.

History of Baltic Porter

Baltic Porter owes its origins to the rise of wildly popular English Porter in the 1700′s.  Though Porters of the time were already much stronger than today’s beers (many exceeding 7% ABV), an even more robust version of Porter was made for export across the North Sea to support Baltic trade.   As the style grew in popularity it was also brewed in virtually all of the Northern European and Baltic states including Germany, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark and Sweden. (Ref: Wikipedia)

Like English Porter, the character of the beer has changed over time.  The earliest Baltic Porters were made from wood kilned brown malts that had a smoky roasted brown somewhat bitter flavor.  They also were brewed with top fermenting ale yeasts.  They were often highly hopped to preserve the beer and also offset the heavy flavor of malts (over 7% ABV for many early porters).

Some authors also claim Baltic Porter owes some of its heritage to Russian Imperial Stout, another export beer brewed in England for export to the Russian imperial court in the 1700′s.  Like Baltic Porter, Russian Imperial Stout is a stronger, sweeter more robust version of the stouts made domestically in England at the time.

In the mid 1800′s as the beer was brewed more widely and continental influences drove production, most Baltic Porter brewers switched to bottom fermenting lager yeasts in a tradition that continues today.  Also as industrialization occurred, coke fired kilns eliminated the smoke flavor from brown malts, and gradually the Porter base of mostly brown malt was replaced by a combination of modern pale malt, Munich, Vienna and roasted malt.  While taxes and supply shortages during the Napoleonic wars drove the alcohol content of other Porter’s down to modern levels, Baltic Porter remained a strong beer at a robust 7-10% alcohol content.

The Baltic Porter Style

Baltic Porter has a complex flavor profile combining a rich malty sweetness with caramel, toffee, nutty, toasted and sometimes licorice flavors.  A warm alcohol profile is present, as the moderate fruity ester profile common to many English beers.  Some variations have a smoky or dark roasted profile similar to Schwarzbier though the flavor should not be burnt.

Since lager yeast is used the finish should be relatively clean.  Hop flavor should be moderately spicy (often from Lublin or Saaz hops).  The overall impression should be a full bodied, smooth Porter with a well aged alcohol warmth.  The beer is generally well carbonated to enhance mouth feel.  The beer should be rich and robust, but not as strong or robust as a Stout or Imperial Stout.

Baltic Porters start with a high gravity of 1.060 to 1.090 for an alcohol by volume content of 5.5-9.5%  Most Baltic Porters are in the traditional 7.5-9.5% ABV range.  Hop rates of 20-40 IBUs are needed to balance the roasted malt flavor (0.46 BU:GU bitterness ratio).  They are dark brown to black in color (17-30 SRM).

Brewing a Baltic Porter

Modern Baltic Porters start with a combination of Pale Malt and Munich/Vienna base malts that make up about 70-80% of the grain bill.  If using a Pale-Munich or Pale-Vienna mix often 50-50 is used.  However, it is not uncommon for some continental versions to use a base of all Munich or all Vienna malt.

Debittered Chocolate or Black malt provide the bulk of the color and roasted flavor (up to 10% of the malt bill).  A variety of other specialty malts are often added (5-10% total) for complexity and body including Crystal/Caramel malts, brown malt, amber malt, caramunich, carafoam, etc…

Historical versions often make heavy use of brown and amber malts and may even include a small amount of smoked malt in an attempt to recreate the slightly smoky brown malt base of the 1700′s.  Spices are sometimes added for complexity in small quantities including anise or black licorice.

Baltic Porter is typically mashed at a moderate conversion temperature to generate both body and alcohol content.  Continental noble or spicy hops are used including Saaz and Lublin.  Continental lager yeast is now widely used, with fermentation at lager temperatures.  Some historical variants still use ale yeast, but these are fermented at low (near lager) temperature.

Water profiles are not a major feature of the style – so use of a moderate profile is sufficient.  The style is highly carbonated to enhance mouthfeel.

Baltic Porter Recipe

Here is a sample recipe for a Baltic Porter that makes heavy use of Munich malt and some brown malt to provide the malty, complex base.

Makes 5 Gallons, All Grain, No spices used

• 8 lbs Pale Malt (2 row Belgian or German)
• 4 lbs Munich Malt (9 SRM)
• 8 oz Chocolate Malt (450 SRM)
• 4 oz Black Patent Malt
• 2.25 oz Saaz hops (boil 60 min)
• 1 pkg Belgian Lager Yeast (White Labs WLP815)

Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith blog.  Please be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for more brewing articles and listen to the podcast.

• Beer Styles: Making a Porter Recipe
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Schwarzbier Recipes – German Black Beer
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe

Sweet stout and milk stouts are increasingly popular beers that form a counterpoint to Dry Irish Stouts.  This week we take a look at the history of Sweet Stout, how to brew it and recipes for making it.

History of Sweet and Milk Stout

Milk Stout (also called Cream or Sweet Stout) traces its origins back to Porters.  Strong Porters which were widely popular in the 1700′s were often labeled as Stout Porter.  Eventually the Porter name was dropped in the 1800′s to become simply Stout.  A number of variations of stout emerged.  Dry Irish stouts (like Guinness) pushed the limits of using heavily roasted malts to create a dry coffee-like flavor.  Other stout variations such as Russian Imperial Stout pushed the limits on the malty or sweet end.  Still others, like Oatmeal stout pushed in other directions.

Milk stout and Sweet stouts push the sweet end of the spectrum by using lactose – which is unfermentable.  The iconic example of milk stout, Makeson’s stout, was first brewed in 1801 in the Southern United Kingdom.  Milk stouts were widely marketed in the 1800′s as nutritious – even to nursing mothers.  After World War II, the UK outlawed the use of the word and imagery for milk in association with beer, so many modern examples are labeled as Sweet stouts.

The Sweet Stout Style

Sweet stouts use dark roasted malts to create the dominant flavor which is a malty, dark, roasted chocolate character.  Like Dry Irish Stout, they may have roast coffee-like flavors.  Unlike Dry Stout, Sweet stouts have a medium to high sweetness (malt or lactose) that provides a counterpoint to the bitterness of hops and roast malt.  Some (though not all) sweet stouts include lactose, an unfermentable sugar that enhances sweetness and body.

These stouts are full bodied and creamy, and have low levels of carbonation.  Original gravity starts at 1.044-1.060 and finishes at 1.012-1.024 for a 4-6% alcohol by volume.  Many English examples use a relatively low starting gravity, while US examples tend to be brewed at a higher starting gravity.  They have low to medium esters and little to no diacytl.

They are moderatly hopped at 20-40 IBUs for a bitterness ratio of around 0.6.  The hops should balance the malt, but hops is not a major flavor in this style.  The color should be dark brown to black (30-40 SRM).

Brewing a Sweet Stout

Sweet stouts start with an English Pale Malt base which makes up 60-80% of the grain bill.  To that, we add a mix of crystal/caramel malts (roughly 10-15%), and chocolate, black and roasted malts (10% or more in total) to provide color and flavor.  Corn, treacle, wheat or other off-beat malts are sometimes (though rarely) used.

For a true milk stout, lactose is often added.  Since Lactose is unfermentable it provides a distinctive sweetness as well as body for the finished beer.

Sweet stouts traditionally use Southern English ale yeast as this is where the beer was originally brewed.  A relatively low attenuation English ale yeast with moderate esters  such as White Labs WLP002 or Wyeast 1092 would be appropriate.

English hop varieties such as Fuggles, East Kent Goldings, or Columbia  are appropriate, though many US variations also use popular American hops.  The hops should primarily be added as bitterness hops since hop aroma and flavor is not dominant.  Hops should balance the sweetness of the beer.

Mashing an all grain sweet stout should be done at the higher end of the temperature range to enhance body and residual sweetness.  I will typically mash this style in the 153-156 F range.  Fermentation is done at normal ale temperatures and the beer is conditioned as any other English Porter or Stout.

 Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes

Here are some recipes from the BeerSmith recipe archive:

• Big Daddy Sweet Stout – All Grain
• It Smells Like Coffee – All Grain
• Jay’s Mandy Milk Stout – All Grain
• Rusty Red Kilkenny Draught – Partial Mash

Thank you for joining me on the BeerSmith Blog.  Please be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get an article delivered to your inbox every week.

• Oatmeal Stout Recipes – Great Beer Styles
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• Making Full Bodied Beer at Home
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes

Oatmeal stout is a popular variant of Stout introduced in the late 19th century and famous for its smooth, creamy, silky texture.  This week we’ll talk a bit about the history of oatmeal stouts, the beer style, how to design a recipe for one and how to brew it.

The History of Oatmeal Stout

As mentioned in my earlier article on Dry Irish Stout, as well as my podcast on Irish Stout with John Palmer, all modern stouts trace their heritage back to Porter, which was an immensely popular drink in the 17th century.  As far back as 1677, the term “stout” was used to describe “strong” beers, and most beers in that time period were dark ales (what we would call Porters) because malt at the time was kilned over fires – true Pale malt did not arrive until the early industrial revolution brought coal fired malting.

The term “Stout ” was used to describe strong beers of various kinds well into the 1800′s, and evolved over the century to refer to strong very dark “Stout Porters”, or simply “Stouts”.  Oatmeal Stout was first widely marketed in the late 1800′s as a nutritional drink.  The marketing worked well as oats were though to have a restorative, nourishing and healthy effect in Victorian England.

The use of oats in beer was not a modern innovation, however, as oats were widely used for ales in medieval Europe.  The use of oats in beer had largely died out by the 16th century, with the exception of Norway where it was still used.

Oatmeal stout sales flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century, and continued to be brewed until shortly after World War II.  However, in the 1950′s most breweries stopped producing oatmeal stout, and by the early 1970′s no commercial examples remained.  However, brewer Samuel Smith revived the style in the late 1970′s and since then hundreds of small and micro-breweries have produced Oatmeal Stouts.

 The Oatmeal Stout Style

Many beer fans are surprised to find that oatmeal stout has very little oatmeal flavor.  Instead the oatmeal adds a rich, creamy, silky character to the beer due to the high protein, lipid and gum content.  Several early commercial examples included very little oatmeal (less than 1%), though most were made with between 5% and 30% oatmeal by weight.  Using more than 30% oatmeal will lead to an astringent flavor and bitterness.

The BJCP style guide describes Oatmeal Stout as a variant of sweet stout that is less sweet, and relies on oatmeal for body and complexity rather than lactose.  It may have a roasted grain aroma mixed with a light sweetness, with little fruitiness or diacetyl.  Hop aroma and flavor are low, and it may have a slight oatmeal aroma.

Color is medium brown to black (22-40 SRM), with an original gravity of 1.048-1.065 which results in an alcohol content of 4.2-5.9%.  Bitterness is in the 25-40 IBU range, with a bitterness ratio in the 0.5 IBU/GU range.

Brewing an Oatmeal Stout

The grain bill for an oatmeal stout typically starts with UK or American pale malt, which generally comprises about 60-80% of the grain bill.  Oats are the next major component, making up 5%-25% of the bill in most recipes, though some extreme examples use as much as 30% oats.  I personally recommend targeting the 10% oats to start with.

A variety of grains are often added to enhance body and complexity including Caramel/Crystal malts, Cara-Pils, Cara-Foram malt, flaked barley, and occasionally even wheat or flaked wheat.  These typically are included in the 5-10% (each) weight range.  When using Caramel/Crystal malts, the darker versions are often favored to add color and caramel sweetness to the beer.

The stout character and color is usually achieved by using Chocolate malt and Black Patent malt (along with the Caramel mentioned earlier).  These are typically constrained to 4-10% (each) of the grain bill to achieve a stout character without creating an overwhelming roasted coffee flavor, as oatmeal stout should be in the “sweet stout” family, and not dry like Irish stout.  Stout roast and roasted barley is generally not used in oatmeal stout as it adds too much “coffee” or “burnt” flavor to the mix.

Traditional English or American bittering hops are used such as East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Centennial, Willamette, Northdown, etc… to balance the strong dark malts.  As hop aroma and flavor is not a significant characteristic of oatmeal stout, it is rare to add finishing or dry hops.  Instead, enough boil hops should be used to properly balance the beer (about 0.5 IBU/GU).

Some all-grain brewers prefer to use a full bodied mash profile (around 156 F for conversion) to further enhance the body of the beer, while others have advocated lower temperatures (148 F) to achieve a cleaner fermentation of barley malt and enhance the oatmeal character.  I tend to prefer a medium to full body mash profile to preserve the sweet character of the beer as the finish should be sweet and not overly dry.

English ale yeasts are traditionally used with oatmeal stouts.  I try to select a strain without excessive ester (fruit) or diacytl (butterscotch) production that will still leave residual sweetness in the beer such as White Labs WLP002.  You don’t want a yeast that ferments too cleanly, as complexity is part of the flavor, but you also don’t want an English yeast that is too fruity.

Fermentation is done at normal ale temperatures and the beer may be bottled or kegged.  Traditional stouts are served with fairly low carbonation and warm, but many American drinkers prefer a moderate carbonation and chilled beer.

 Oatmeal Stout Recipes

Here are a few oatmeal stout recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Archive:

•  Dirty Pig Oatmeal Stout – Extract
• Muddy Pig Oatmeal Stout – Extract
• Oatmeal Cookie Monster Stout – Partial Mash
• Oatmeal Stout – All Grain
• Oatmeal Stout by Gregar – All Grain
• Prairie Oatmeal Stout - All Grain

Thank you for joining us this week, and please don’t hesitate to subscribe to the blog or podcast  for weekly articles and information on beer brewing.  Have a great week!

• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles

Irish Red is an refreshing, popular beer style closely related to English Bitters.  This week, we’re going to take a look at Irish Red ale recipes and how to brew this beer at home.  The style has quite a few variants, but is known most for its deep red color and mild flavor.

History

The history of Irish Red Ale is difficult to trace.  Many Irish Ales made in Ireland are closely related to English Bitters, and some authors say characterize Irish Red as a sub-category of English Bitters or Pale Ales.  Others believe Irish Red stands as its own distinct style.  Some Irish Ales are lagers, though they share many of the same characteristics as ales.  Adding to confusion, breweries in America have taken American Amber Ales and added coloring or a bit of roasted malt and called that Irish Red as well.

Despite the variations and complex origins, the BJCP style guide and other organizations now recognize Irish Red Ale as its own distinct style of beer.  The recognized style most closely matches the Irish Red Ales brewed in Ireland such as Smithwick’s, Beamish Red Ale, Caffrey’s Irish Ale, Goose Island Kilgubbin Red Ale, and Murphy’s Irish Red.

The Irish Red Ale Style

Irish Reds have virtually no hop aroma low to moderate hop flavor, and have low to moderate malty aroma and flavor.  They have a very clean finish with a low buttery or toffee flavor.  The use of roasted barley for coloring often results in a slight roasted finish and also creates a dry finish for the beer.  Unlike English Ales, Irish Red has no ester (fruity) flavors.  Some Irish Reds are fermented with lager yeast, but again they have a very clean finish, low diacytl flavors and should exhibit a clean finish.

Overall the impression is slightly on the malty side, with a clean slightly dry finish.  The body and mouthfeel should be light to medium.  Highly alcoholic versions may have a slight warmth.  The beer should be easy to drink.

Original gravity is in the 1.044-1.060 range and final gravity in the 1.010 to 1.014 range for an alcohol level of 4-6% ABV.  Bitterness is in the low to moderate 17-28 IBU range.  The color is a moderate 9-18 SRM, though it should have a distinctive reddish hue (provided by a small amount of roast malt).

Brewing an Irish Red Ale

Irish Red starts with traditional Irish or UK barley grains, with English or Irish Pale Malt making the vast bulk of the grain bill.  A moderate amount of light colored Caramel/Crystal malt (10-40 L) is often used to make up 5-10% of the grain bill to aid in body and head retention.

The key malt for a red ale, however, is roast barley which is added in very small quantities for coloring.  It is the roast barley (not black patent malt or chocolate malt) that gives an Irish Red its traditional deep red color.  Care must be taken to add just enough to color the beer, as you don’t want the roasted flavor to be a major component for flavoring.  For 5 gallons, as little as a few ounces is sufficient to color the beer.

Some Irish Red recipes use other specialty malts such as Special B or CaraMunich.  Caramunich malt is a darker variation of Munich malt and adds malty flavor as well as a slight reddish hue.  If used, it should only be used in very small quantities (along with roasted malt) as too much malt flavor could overwhelm the style.  Special B malt is a very dark crystal malt from Belgium with a heavy caramel and raisin like flavors.  In my opinion, Special B is not appropriate for the Irish Red style as it has too much caramel flavor and darkens rather than reddens the beer.  Dark malts such as chocolate and black patent malts are also inappropriate in an Irish Red as they tend to create a dark brown (not red) beer with too much caramel flavor.

Moderate alpha English hops are traditionally used for bittering.  Irish or English ale yeast is appropriate, though care must be made to avoid English yeasts with excessive esters (fruitiness).  If lager yeast is used, it should be selected for a clean flavor profile.

A light to medium body mash profile is used for all grain brews, and fermentation temperature should be selected to provide moderate attenuation.  Irish Red Ales are moderately carbonated and sometimes served cold to accentuate the slight roast character.

Irish Red Recipes

Here are a few sample recipes from the BeerSmith recipe archive:

•  Big Head Irish Red (Extract)
• Joe’s Irish Red (All Grain)
• Killkenny Irish Red (Extract)
• Shades of Red (All Grain)

I hope you enjoyed this article on Irish Red – its a great smooth-drinking beer style.  For a weekly article on beer styles and brewing techniques, consider signing up for my email newsletter or take a look at my home brewing book.  I’ll be back next week with another podcast episode.

• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Schwarzbier Recipes – German Black Beer
• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Old Ale Recipes – Stock Ale and Winter Warmers
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes

Old Ale is a English beer with a dark, malty profile also called “Winter Warmers”, “Stock ale”, “Keeping Ale” or “Dark Ale” in Australia.  It was traditionally served along with mild ales, and sometimes blended with mild at the tap to suit a customer’s preference.  This week, we’re going to talk about how to brew old ale at home and cover a few homebrewing recipes for old ale.

History

Old ale has its origin in English pubs where the sharper, stronger “stock ale” was often blended with sweeter mild ale.  Old ale was frequently cask aged for extended periods, often giving it a slightly sour, lactic taste due to contamination of the casks with lactic bacteria.  At one time Old Ale was made from simply storing mild for extended periods in casks and selling it at a higher price, though over time old ale developed into a style of its own.  (ref: Wikipedia)  Variants of old ale are thought to have formed the basis for India Pale Ale.

A variation of old ale called Winter Warmers is a more modern style that has a slightly maltier, darker and full bodied character.  Winter warmers are brewed in winter, are darker (though not as dark as stout) and have higher alcohol content (6-8% and sometimes as high as 10%).  Some US winter warmers also are brewed with spice additions.

The Old Ale Style

Old ale has medium to high malt character and a complex flavor profile that often includes caramel, nutty or molasses flavors.  Light chocolate or roasted flavors are also common.  The overall balance is malty though it may be well hopped.  Fruity esters are common as in many English ales.  Extended aging may give it a lactic (sour), or aged wine character and alcohol strength may be evident.  It is generally full bodied with low to moderate carbonation.

Color can be light amber to dark reddish brown (SRM 10-22).  While most are quite dark and may darken further with aging, they generally are not quite as dark as stouts.

The strength of old ale varies widely but is generally in the range of 6-9% (original gravity of 1.060-1.090).   They have a fairly high finishing gravity of 1.015-1.022 leaving plenty of residual sweetness and body. (Ref: BJCP Style 19A)

Brewing an English Old Ale

The grain bill for old ale starts with copius amounts of well modified English pale malt.  Typically this makes up the bulk of the grain bill.  Darker caramel malts give old ale its color and character – frequently from a mix of various color caramel malts with sparing character malts.  Small amounts of chocolate or black malt may be used, but they must be used sparingly to avoid an undesirable roasted character.

Adjuncts such as molasses, treacle, invert sugar or dark sugars raise alcohol content along with high protein adjuncts such as flaked barley, wheat and maize (for body) are often added.

English hop varieties are often used for bittering.  Aroma, finishing and dry hops are rarely needed as the extended aging tends to negate the effect of hop aroma additions.  30-60 IBUs of bittering is recommended to balance the highly malty old ale flavor.

A high temperature (full bodied) mash (around 156F) is appropriate.  A single infusion mash is sufficient as the highly modified pale malt will convert well during the mash.

English ale yeast is used for fermentation at traditional ale temperatures.  Some care must be taken to choose strains that can handle the higher alcohol content found in some stronger old ales.  Old ale is aged for extended periods (many months and sometimes years) and was traditionally stored in large wooden casks.  Oak chips or wood chips may be appropriate depending on your preference.  Some versions also had a slight lactic sourness from aging which could be duplicated with judicious use of lactic acid, lactic bacteria during aging or the addition of a small amount of soured beer.  Keep in mind that the sourness is not a dominant flavor.

Old Ale Recipes

Here are some sample old ale recipes from the BeerSmith recipe archive:

• BC Heavy Water D20 – Extract
• Castle News – All Grain
• Lets Get Pis*ed Ale – Extract
• Old Perpendicular – Extract

Thank you for joining me again on the BeerSmith Blog.  Please be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get free weekly articles sent on home brewing sent to your inbox.

• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• Beer Styles: Making a Porter Recipe
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• English Pale Ale Recipes

German Rauchbier or smoked beer is a distinctively smoke flavored beer made from barley malt dried over an open flame.  The best known Rauchbiers are made in Bamberg Germany, though a number are brewed outside of Germany as well.  This week, we’ll take a look at the history of Rauchbier as well as how to brew your own smoky beer at home.

History

Prior to the 18th century, malts were commonly dried over an open flame so many (though not all) of the beers from the 1700′s and earlier had a smoky flavor to them.  Brown malt was in fact the standard malt for brewing, and as it was dried over an open wood flame, almost all brown malt was smoky in flavor.  Only a few beers (notably those made from barley bread) lacked a smoky undertone.

In the 1700′s, at the dawn of the industrial age, kilning malt over coal fed fires became popular and pale malt was born, giving us pale malt and the smoke free flavor beer drinkers enjoy today.  Smoke flavored beers (which included the original Porters) largely died out in the 1800′s, being replaced by paler ales and continental lagers.  However a few breweries, notably the Franconian city of Bamberg in Northern Bavaria, clung to the tradition of their smoky beers.

The defining Rauchbier is arguably Aecht Shlenkerla Rauchbier made by Heller-Brau Trum KG.  The name “aecht” is a Franconian play on the German “echt” which means “true” or “original”.  It is brewed and aged much like a Marzen.  They also brew a Rauchweizen which is a smoky Weissbier, a Lager that is a smoky Helles-blonde and Urbock and Doppelbock (Fastenbier) seasonal variants.

While Aecht Shlenkera is the “gold standard”, a number of other breweries in Bamberg and the surrounding areas make Rauchbier, and the style has been imitated by craft breweries around the world.

The Rauchbier Style

Rauchbier is a Marzen/Oktoberfest style lager with a sweet, smoky aroma and flavor and slightly darker color.  The degree of smoky flavor varies from mild to intense, but like a Marzen the beer is malty in balance, rich, and may have a slightly toasted character.  It should have moderate to low hop bitterness that just balances the malty character.    The smoky flavor often enhances the dry finish.  The lager finish should be clean with no fruity esters, diacytl or DMS present.  According to the BJCP style guide, harsh, bitter, burnt, charred, rubbery, sulfery or phenolic smoke flavor is inappropriate.

As mentioned above, it is possible to create smoked versions of Weiss, Blondes, Helles, Bocks and other German styles, and even most traditional English ales and porters were at one time made with smoked brown malt, though these would likely not be considered traditional Rauchbier.

Original gravity is in the 1.050-1.057 range, with final gravity in the 1.012-1.016 range which leads to an alcohol by volume range of 4.8-6.0%.  Color ranges from a mild 12.0 SRM to dark 22.0 SRM, and bitterness is in the range of 20-30 IBUs.  Rauchbier is typically moderate to highly carbonated (2.4-2.8 vols of CO2).

Brewing a Rauchbier

German Rauchmalz, which is a Vienna style malt smoked over beechwood is the defining ingredient for a Rauchbier.  Weyermann malting, also located in Bamberg, provides much of the world’s commercially used Rauchmalz.  The grain bill typically includes anywhere from 20-100% of this smoked malt.  In fact, most Schlenkerla Rauchbier’s are made entirely from smoked malt that they kiln themselves with no other additives.  The balance of the malt bill is typically split between munich malt and pale 2-row malt, often a roughly 50-50 split.  10-15% Vienna malt is occasionally added as well.  For extract recipes, find a Munich extract base, and add 10-20% steeped Rauchmalz.

The adventurous brewer can try to smoke their own malt, though the results will not be exactly the same as kilning the malt with smoke.  Randy Mosher’s book “Radical Brewing” recommends smoking on a kettle type grill or smoker using some window screen to keep the malt from falling in.  Use a very small fire (8 charcoal lumps) and then put a handful of water soaked wood chips on the coals and close the lid.  He recommends 30-120 minutes of smoking, and beechwood is the traditional wood to use, though you can use just about any wood depending on the flavor you are targeting.  Cool the malt and use it as you normally would.

As with Marzen, Rauchbier uses either noble hops or Bavarian hops such as Saaz, Tettnanger or Hallertauer.  Hops are primarily added for bittering to balance the malty flavor, and rarely added as aroma or dry hops in this style, as it has minimal hop aroma or flavor in the finished product.  The bitterness ration for this beer runs between 0.5-0.6 BU/GU.

A single step infusion mash is fine for this beer with conversion in the mid range (around 151-154F), though true German traditionalists may want to opt for the triple decoction mash.  Water treatment is rarely needed.

Marzen/Oktoberfest lager yeast or Bavarian lager yeasts are typically used for this style, though other German lager yeasts may work as well depending on the variant you are brewing.  Ferment at around 50F, and age near freezing (33-37F) for at least 4-5 weeks.

Rauchbier Recipe (All Grain)

Here’s a sample recipe from my stock – it provides a nice moderate example of the style.  Additional recipes are available on the BeerSmith Recipe Page.

• 6 lbs Pale (2 row) malt
• 4 lbs Smoked Malt (Wyermann)
• 2 lbs Munich Malt
• 1.25 lb Caramunich Malt (color and richness)
• 1.75 oz Hallertauer hops
• 1 Pkg Oktoberfest/Marzen (White Labs WLP820) yeast

Thank you for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please subscribe to the email list, check our my book on home brewing and listen to the podcast for more great brewing topics.

• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Brewing German Altbier Recipes
• Brewing a Kolsch Beer Recipe: Beer Styles
• Schwarzbier Recipes – German Black Beer

Schwarzbier (which means “black beer”) is a dark lager from Germany that has its origins in the middle ages.  It is a medium bodied dark beer, nearly opaque in color and soft and mild despite its dark appearance.  Today Schwarzbier is popular outside Germany as well, with a number of US breweries and micro-breweries producing popular variations.  This week we take a look at home brewing Schwarzbier, the black beer style, and some Schwarzbier recipes.

Schwarzbier History

Schwarzbier is actually the oldest European beer that we have hard scientific evidence on.  According to a BYO article (Nov 2002), a crock was found near Kulmbach Germany dating back to 800 BC with blackened barley bread inside – the standard material used to brew ancient Germanic beer.  Germanic tribes were brewing dark barley based beer in Europe for hundreds of years before the Ceasar arrived and spread the beer brewing knowledge they gained from the Egyptians.  Even modern evidence provides documentation of beer brewing in Kulmbach back to 1174 in a letter by the Bishop of Bamburg.

There is also substantial evidence that Schwarzbier was brewed throughout the middle ages in Thuingia and Saxony.  The Braunschweiger Mumme brewery in Braunschweig brewed the beer going back to at least 1390 and it was brewed in Thuringia at least as early as 1543.  The style is still widely brewed today in Germany from Thuringen to nothern Franconia as well as many other countries throughout the world.

The Schwarzbier “Black Beer” Style

Schwarzbier is a very dark, somewhat mild lager.  Some describe Schwarzbier as a darker version of Bavarian Dunkel, but even this description falls short. It is drier than Munich Dunkel with a slight edge to the profile.

It is also much darker than Dunkel.  It is very opaque – ranging in color from black ro dark sepia.  However, unlike dark British beers it does no use roasted barley or display any roasted flavors.  It also lacks the fruitiness and dicetyl of British Ales.  It is a lager with a bittersweet, chocolate flavor with hints of coffee or vanilla.

Like most German beers it has a slight malty flavor to it with no up-front bitterness.  The BJCP style guide lists it with 22-32 IBUs balancing an original gravity of 1.046-1.052.  The final gravity ranges from 1.010-1.016 giving 4.4-5.4% alcohol by volume.  Color ranges from 17-30 SRM with many examples on the dark side.

Brewing a Schwarzbier

The key to making a good Schwarzbier is achieving the appropriate balance between the malt base, specialty grains and hops so that none of these ingredients overpowers the others.  The base malt for Schwarzbier is typically about 40-50% Munich and 30-40% Pilsner malt with darker specialty grains making up the balance of the grain bill.  If brewing with extract, try to find an extract that has Munich malt in it or a mix of Munich and Pale malts.

Specialty grains provide balance to black beer.  The key is achieving the dark color needed without providing too much roasted flavor (i.e. it is not a British Porter or Stout).  Therefore roast malt and roasted barley should not be used.  My preference is to use a mix of medium colored Caramel/Crystal malts with a small amount of Carafa Special II.  In a pinch you could also consider adding a small amount of Chocolate malt or dark Crystal/Caramel, but using too much will give an undesirable roasted character.

A moderate single infusion mash schedule in the 154F range is appropriate to the style, as the beer has moderate body and flavor.

Noble hops such as Hallertau or Saaz are used for bittering to the 22-32 IBU level.  A small amount of noble hop aroma is allowable, so you could add some hops at flame-out or dry hop if you want a slight hop aroma.  Hop flavor should balance the malt, and not dominate the beer.

Clean fermenting German lager yeasts are used for fermentation at lager temperatures, along with appropriate lagering (cold storage) once the beer has completed fermentation.  Reasonable choices include White Labs WLP830 German Lager as well as WLP833 Bock Lager yeast.

Schwarzbier Recipes

Here are some black beer recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Archive:

• Pitch Black Schwarzbier – All Grain
• Pitch Black Schwarzbier – Extract Version
• Schwarzbieresque - Extract
• Storm King – All Grain

Thank you again for dialing into the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  I also appreciate all of the strong support for my new podcast, which has nearly 10,000 downoads already!  If you enjoyed this week’s article, leave a comment below and don’t hesitate to subscribe.

• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• German Rauchbier and Smoked Beer Recipes
• Brewing German Altbier Recipes

Saison is a light, refreshing ale originally brewed in farmhouses in the French speaking regions of Belgium for field workers.  Now the beer is brewed in many locations around the world.  Its a complex style with a mix of fruity aroma and flavor, some spiciness and even a hint of tartness.  Today I’ll take a look at the history of Saison, how to brew it and some Saison recipes.

The History of Saison

Saison originated in Wallonia, the French speaking southern half of Belgium.  It was traditionally brewed for the fall season to refresh farm workers during the harvest.  “Saison” is the French word for season, as Saisons were most frequently brewed in the fall/winter seasons and then stored for the following fall’s harvest.  It shares some characteristics with its cousin, Biere de Garde.  Saison was also moderate to highly hopped to survive the long storage period.

While modern Saison’s range from 5-8% ABV, traditional Saison had a much lower alcohol content of 3-4% ABV.  The lower alcohol content made the beer refreshing during a hard work day and kept the workers relatively sober, as some farmhouses had daily allotments of 4-5 liters per worker.

Saison’s were usually brewed locally in the farmhouse for the workers, and was bottle conditioned.  Many Saisons in Belgium are still bottle conditioned.  Some Saisons were even blended with Belgian Lambic to increase the acidity and add complexity to the finished beer.

The Saison Beer Style

There is a fair amount of variation with Saison – with light to darker variants, some Saisons using spices, and some blended or soured slightly.  The BJCP style guide describes Saison as highly fruity with a fruity-ester aroma reminiscent of citrus fruit such as oranges or lemons.  It may have a moderate hop aroma and some spice aroma but only from the addition of spices.

A low to moderate sour-acidity may be present.  It may have a light malty flavor with no diaceytls.

The color is golden to amber in color (4-14 SRM).  Alcohol content ranges from the traditional 3.5% to a more modern 6.5%.  Original gravity runs from 1.055-1.080 (14-19.5 plato).  Hop bitternes is moderate to moderately assertive (20-40 IBUS) and should balance the maltiness of the beer for both the lighter and heavier versions of the style.

Saison is usually bottle conditioned, and may have a slight chill or yeast haze and is highly carbonated.

Brewing Saison

The bulk of a Saison’s grain bill is based on Pilsner malt.  Vienna and Munich malts are most often added (up to 10%) to contribute color and complexity to the beer.  Wheat malt is used in some Saisons but is not always included.  Darker Saisons also sometimes include darker Crystal malt for color.  Candi sugar or honey are sometimes used to add flavor and alcohol without increasing the body of the beer.

Some Saisons are soured or acidified using acid malt, sour mashing techniques, Lactobacillus bacteria or by blending the finished beer with Lambic.

Noble hops, East Kent Goldings and Styrian hops are most often used in Saisons.  The hops should balance the malt, but not dominate the flavor of the beer.  Some Saisons are dry hopped.  Also some stronger versions of Saison do use spices of various kinds to add additional complexity.  Most brewers recommend starting without spices, but corriander and bitter orange peel are popular additions for stronger Saisons.

The use of hard water (or gypsum), which is common in Wallonia, can accentuate the dry finish and bitterness of the finished beer.

Unique Saison or Belgian yeast strains are an important ingredient for true Saison as they generates a large portion of the fruity esters and complex flavor that defines Saisons.

Body for saisons varies from light to medium, so a mash profile in the range of 148F-154F is most appropriate.

Saison Recipes

Here are a few Saison/Farmhouse Ale recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe site:

• Grand Cru – Extract
• Orange Blossom Saison – Extract
• Saison de la Place – All Grain

I hope you enjoy brewing your Saison.  Thank you for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive free weekly articles on beer styles and brewing techniques.  Also I recently added a BeerSmith facebook fan page if you’re on facebook – have a great brewing week.

• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Trappist Dubbel and Tripel Beer Recipes
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes

Trappist ale is a beer brewed originally by Trappist monks.  The style and its substyles (Enkel, Dubbel and Tripel) have also been popularized by many microbreweries over the last 30 years.  This week, we take a look at the popular Trappist style and how to formulate recipes to brew this beer at home.

History of Trappist Beer

Trappist ale has its clear origins with Trappist monasteries.  From the early middle ages, monastery brew houses produced beer throughout Europe both to feed the community and later for sale to fund other church works.  The Trappist order, which took its name from La Trappe Abbey in France, was founded as part of the Cistercian order in 1663, though it did not formally separate from the Cistercian order until 1892.  The La Trappe Abbey had its own brewery as early as 1685.

Today there are only seven Trappist monasteries that brew beer and six of them are located in Belgium while one is in the Netherlands.  The six in Belgium are the most well known, which is why Trappist ales are categorized as Belgian ales.  In the late 20′th century, many breweries worldwide started labeling their beer as “Trappist” in response to the popularity of the ales, forcing Trappist abbeys to form the International Trappist Association who’s goal is to prevent non-Trappist commercial companies from using the name.  They created a logo and convention for true Trappist beers, which must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist abbey by monastic brewers, and the gains must go to charitable causes and not financial profit.

Due to the popularity of Trappist ales, many commercial brewers still brew similar style beers which are typically sold under as Belgian Dubbels and Tripels.  (Ref: Wikipedia).

The Trappist Style

Trappist beers may be divided into four sub-styles.  By tradition, most of the true Trappist ales are bottle conditioned.  These include:

• Patersbier – “Father’s beer” which is brewed for the monks and intended for consumption by the monks within the abbey walls.  Occasionally this may be offered on site to guests.  It is a relatively weak beer in the tradition of Trappist austerity.
• Enkel - “Single” beer which was traditionally used to describe the brewery’s lightest beer.  This is a very close relation to the Patersbier.  Currently the term is rarely used, and I am not aware of any abbeys that currently produce this style for commercial sale.
• Dubbel – “Double” beer.  Dubbels are a strong brown ale with low bitterness, a heavy body, and a malty, nutty finish with no diacytl.  These beers have a starting gravity of 1.062-1.075 and 6.5-8% alcohol by  volume.  Color runs the range from dark amber to copper color (10-17 SRM) and bitterness from 15-25 IBUs.  This style is also widely brewed by commercial brewers.
• Tripel – “Triple” beer.  Tripel’s are the strongest Trappist ales, running from 7.5-9% alcohol by volume with a starting gravity of 1.075-1.085.  They are highly alcoholic, but brewed with high carbonation and high attenuation yeasts to reduce the taste of alcohol.  Color runs lighter than Dubbels in the range of 4.5-7.0 SRM and bitterness from 20-40 IBUs, though most Tripels have 30+ IBUs.

Brewing Trappist Style Ales

I’m going to focus on the Dubbel and Tripel styles as these are the only ones brewed commercially today.  For both Dubbel and Tripel, Belgian pilsner malt makes up the base ingredient.  For Dubbels, sometimes Belgian pale malt may also be used as a base.

For Dubbels, the grain bill can be complex with Munich malts added for maltiness (up to 20%), Special B malt to provide raisin falvor and CaraMunich for a dried fruit flavor.  Also dark candi sugar is used both to boost alcohol and add rum-raisin flavors.  The sugar also allows for a cleaner finish and less alcohol flavor than would be possible with an all-malt beer.  Despite the complex spicy flavor of the finished beer, spices are not used.

Tripels being lighter in color typically use a less complicated malt bill.  Starting with a pilsner malt base, they add up to 20% white candi sugar but typically lack the complex array of malts used for Dubbels.

One of the main ingredients that makes Trappist ales unique is the yeast.  Both Dubbels and Tripels use special Belgian yeast strains that produce fruity esters, spicy phenolics and higher alcohol.  Often the Trappist ales are fermented at higher than normal temperatures for an ale yeast which increases the array of complex flavors from the yeast.

For hops, noble hop varieties or Styrian Goldings hops are commonly used.  Occasionally low alpha English hops may also be added.  Despite the hop rate of Tripel needed to balance the malt, hops is not a major flavor in either finished beer style.  Large amounts of finishing and dry hops are not typically used for this beer for the same reason.

Water used for brewing is typically soft – without a large quantity of hard minerals present.  Both styles are traditionally bottle conditioned with medium to high carbonation which adds to the beer’s presentation.

Mashing is typically done with a medium to full bodied mash profile, as Trappist beers are full bodied.

Trappist Style Recipes

Here are some Trappist style recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Site:

Dubbels:

• da Tubble wi Dubbel – All Grain
• Trappist Style Loud Mouth Soup – Partial Mash
• Dubbel Dog Dare You – All Grain
• Bastogne - All Grain

Tripels:

• She Devil – All Grain
• Brian’s Big Belgium – Extract

Do you have a favorite Trappist recipe or thoughts on how to make a great Trappist style beer?  Leave a comment below.  Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please don’t hesitate to subscribe for many more great articles on home brewing.

• Trappist Beer and Abbey Ales – BeerSmith Podcast 24
• The BeerSmith Homebrewing Blog – Third Anniversary
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style

American Amber Ale, also known in the Pacific Northwest as Red Ale is a uniquely American beer that is robust, rich and enjoyable.  A fairly recent style, Ambers have become very popular with mainstream beer drinkers in the US.  This week we take a look at the American Amber style, how to brew it at home and some examples of American Amber recipes.

American Amber became popular in the Pacific Northwest before spreading nationwide, primarily through microbreweries and small regional brewers.  These beers are also called Red Ales or West Coast Ales in some regions, and the style itself overlaps somewhat with American Pale Ale.  However Amber ales have a stronger caramel flavor, more body, are darker and color and have a balance between bitterness and maltiness, where Pale Ales tend to have a stronger hop flavor.  Amber ale is also popular in Australia, with the most popular being from Malt Shovel Brewery (James Squire Amber).

The American Amber Ale Style

The Amber style is considered somewhat richer than pale ale, and is recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) as its own style (10-B).  Ambers can have moderate to high hop flavor, but the hops should not be dominant.  American hops are most often use which can result in a somewhat citrusy flavor.  Malt sweetness and a caramel flavor are desirable, but Amber should not have the roasted character of a brown ale.  Few esters and no dicetyl is desirable.

Stronger versions may have some alcohol warmth, but the finish should be smooth.  Medium to full body for the beer is normal, with moderate to high carbonation.  The BJCP specifies an original gravity of 1.045-1.060 and final gravity of 1.010-1.015 giving 4.5-6.2% alcohol by volume.

Bitterness is between 25-40 IBUs, giving an average bitterness ratio of 0.619 BU/GU which places amber ales slightly on the malty side as far as overall balance.  Color is amber to copper brown, with an SRM of 10-17, though some mass produced ambers run at the low end of the color range.

Ambers are moderate to highly carbonated – and typically have good head retention.

Brewing an Amber Ale

Amber Ale is traditionally made with American two row pale malt as the base, making up 60-85% of the grain bill.  Medium to dark crystal malts are used to provide color and caramel flavor, typically making up 10-20% of the grain bill.  Small amounts of other specialty grains such as a tiny amount of roast malt (for red color versions), aromatic malt, carafoam, munich or victory malts may be used to add unique character to the brew.

There is no fixed water profile associated with Amber ale, so a variety of waters can be used.  However, as the water does not add significantly to the flavor for this style, a moderate water profile (not too high in sulfates or carbonates) is desirable.

American hops are traditionally used, with citrus varieties such as centennial being popular.  Like pale ale, it is not unusual to use multiple hop additions during the boil as well as a moderate amount of fresh dry hops to provide some hoppy aroma, though overall the beer should be well balanced, with the balance slightly to the malty side.

As a full body Amber is desirable, one generally uses a full bodied single step infusion mash with the conversion step at 156-158F for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.  Since the beer is generally 100% barley malt, no special techniques are needed.

Most amber ales are fermented with American ale yeast, which provides a fairly clean finish with high attenuation.  Some of the more robust and rich Ambers may also feature use of lighter English ale yeasts that can contribute low to moderate esters and complexity to the beer without unbalancing it.  Ambers are fermented and aged at normal ale temperatures (64-68F), and should be bottled or kegged with moderate to medium-high carbonation.

Amber Ale Recipes

Here are a few Amber Ales from our BeerSmith recipe archive:

• Awesome Amber – Extract
• Max’s Last Call – All Grain
• No Sense of Decency Amber – Partial Mash
• Oatmeal Amber – Extract
• Full Sail Ale? – Extract
• Libertyish Cascade – Extract

I hope you enjoy your American Amber!  Thank you again for joining us here at the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please subscribe for many more free articles, news, and the latest in homebrewing.

• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Brewing India Pale Ale Recipes IPA Beer Styles

This week on the BeerSmith blog we turn to the Russian Imperial Stout beer style, the king of stout beers.  We will explore the origin, history, beer style and some sample Imperial Stout beer recipes for home brewers.

History

Imperial Russian Stouts were actually brewed in England for the export to the court of the Tsars of Russia in the 18th century.  A high, malty alcohol content and high hop rate were intended to preserve the beer and also prevent it from freezing during its shipboard trip across the Baltic sea.  Thrale’s brewery of London brewed the style preferred by Catherine II’s court in Russia.

Later Thrale’s brewery changed hands and was taken over by Courage, renaming the beer as Courage Imperial Russian Stout.  The style has a high alcohol content of 9-10% alcohol by volume.  High gravity Russian stout’s are also brewed by Guiness and Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams). [Ref: Wikipedia]

While the style was regularly brewed in the 18th and early 19th century, this beer has enjoyed a resurgence the last few years with the rise of microbreweries.

The Russian Imperial Stout Style

Russian Imperial Stout is a rich, deep, complex beer with full bodied flavor.  It has a rich dark malt flavor that may vary from dry chocolate to slightly burnt.  A slight alcoholic warmth is normal.  It may have a fruity profile including complex dark fruits such as plum, raisin or prune flavors.   Like many British beers, it can have a caramel, bready or toasted flavor as well with roast malt complexity.

Color ranges from dark brown to jet black (30-40 SRM).  Alcohol content is usually high (8-12% alcohol by volume) with a high starting gravity (1.075 to 1.115 OG).  Bitterness generally runs high to balance the malty flavor (50-90 IBUs), but hop flavor should only be low to medium overall.   Many US versions have higher bitterness. Carbonation is generally low to moderate. [Ref: BJCP Style Guide]

Brewing an Imperial Stout

Imperial stouts start with a well-modified pale malt base, generally using UK pale malts.  The pale base typically makes up 75% of the grain bill.  Roasted malts of all kind are added, usually comprising of a mix of moderately colored caramel malt, chocolate malt and roast malt to provide complexity, body and flavor.  Together these make up the remaining 25% of the malt bill.  Other malts such as Munich and aromatic are occasionally used, though roast malts make up the bulk of the specialty grain bill.

Traditional variations use classic English hops such as Fuggles or BC Goldings, though American microbreweries often also use US hop variants.  Hops are typically added as a single boil addition, since a lingering hop aroma and flavor is not needed here.  Instead a high hop rate during the boil provides the bitterness needed to offset the malt.

Since roast malts provide a very acidic addition, it is not uncommon to use slightly alkaline water when brewing imperial stouts.  Traditionally, English Ale yeast or Imperial Stout yeast provides the fruity complexity required for this style, though again some American variants use high attenuation US yeast variants for a cleaner finish.  Very high gravity options may require high gravity yeast such as champagne or barley wine yeast.

Imperial stouts are fermented at ale temperatures in the 63-68 F range, carbonated at low to moderate carbonation rates, and stored at ale temperatures or lower (as they were during the icy trip across the Baltic).  Often Imperials require an extended aging period to achieve full maturity due to the high starting gravity.

Imperial Stout Recipes

Here are some sample recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Page:

• Cossack Imperial Stout – All Grain
• Jay’s ‘One at a Time’ Imperial Stout – All Grain
• Spiced Imperial Stout – All Grain

Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please consider subscribing for email delivery, and don’t hesitate to tweet or bookmark us using the links below – every little bit helps!

• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• Oatmeal Stout Recipes – Great Beer Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes

German Altbier or Alt is a top fermenting beer that originated in the German Westphalia region and later grew in popularity around the Rhineland.  This week we take a look at brewing Altbier at home.  The term “Alt” or “old beer” refers to the old methods of using a top fermenting ale yeast at ale temperatures but then cold aging the beer to form a slightly bitter, malty, well attenuated German ale.  The term Altbier first appeared in the 1800′s to differentiate this traditional ale from newer pale lagers getting popular in Germany.

The BJCP recognizes two distinct style of Altbier, the Dusseldorf Alt is primarily produced near the town of Dusseldorf, and is slightly more bitter than the more widely brewed Northern German Altbier.  The Northern version generally has a slight caramel flavor and is sweeter and less bitter than the Dusseldorf.  Some Altbiers are also produced in small quantities in the Netherlands near the German border as well as Austria, Switzerland and the US microbreweries.

The Altbier Style

As mentioned above, Altbier is an amber colored ale with a very smooth, well attenuated finish.  The beer should be well balanced with some bitterness and some maltiness.  Fruitiness from the ale yeast is appropriate.  Color is generally bronze to brown (11-17 SRM).  There is low dyacetyl flavor and the beer generally has moderate to high carbonation.

There are differences between the Northern and Dusseldorf Altbier styles.  The Dusseldorf style has medium bitterness and medium to high maltiness and is often brewed with moderately carbonate water.  The Northen style may have a malty, grainy, biscuity and even slight caramel maltiness.  The Nothern style is generally less bitter than the Dusseldorf and is sometimes made with a mix of ale and lager yeasts or even a highly attentive lager yeast alone.

The BJCP style guide specifies an original gravity of 1.046-1.054 and final gravity of 1.010-1.015 for both styles.  The Dusseldorf color runs bronze to brown, or 11-17 SRM.  The Northern can be slightly darker at 13-19 SRM.  Carbonation is a bubbly 2.5-3.1 volumes of CO2.

Brewing an Altbier

The base malt for Alts is German Pilsner malt, which typically makes up 80% of the grain bill.  A small amount of Munich or Vienna malt is often used to add some malty flavor.  Dark Crystal malt is used in the Northern style to reach the appropriate color and add a small bit of caramel flavor.  The Dusseldorf style uses less crystal malt, and instead substitutes small amounts of chocolate or black malt to achieve the desired color.

The traditional mash schedule is a German triple decoction, though a single step infusion mash is more than adequate if you are using modern highly modified malt.

Both styles require a highly attentive yeast with a clean finish.  The Dusseldorf style always uses a high attenuation ale yeast such as White Labs WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt Yeast or WLP001 California Ale or Wyeast 1056 American Ale.   The Northern Alt style also requires a high attenuation yeast, and most often lager yeasts are used though occasionally a mix of ale/lager or ale yeast may be used.  Interesting yeasts to use include various German Lager yeasts, Kolsch yeasts from both labs, and the Alt ale yeasts listed above.

Spalt hops are traditionally used for the Dusseldorf alt, though many noble hop varieties are suitable as well.  The Northern style uses noble hop varieties as well and there is some variation between breweries on which is best to use.  The Dusseldorf style may use moderately carbonate water to accentuate the bitterness of the hops while the Northern style typically does not use carbonate water.

Altbier Recipes

• 1698 ALT – All grain
• Alt ‘oids – All grain
• Dusseldorf Altbier – Extract
• Alt2 - All Grain
• Alty Beer – All Grain
• Bay 13 Alt – Extract
• Zum Uerige Clone – All Grain

Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please visit again next week or subscribe for regular weekly delivery of our articles by email or RSS.  Don’t hesitate to retweet or vote for this article on Brewpoll (buttons above) if you enjoyed it.

• German Rauchbier and Smoked Beer Recipes
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Schwarzbier Recipes – German Black Beer

The German Marzen and Oktoberfest beer styles are seasonal favorites of beer drinkers worldwide.   This week we take a look at the traditional Marzen and Oktoberfest beer recipes and how to brew them at home.

Marzen has a mixed origin.  Some sources note the extremely close relationship between Marzen and Vienna beers.  Ray Daniels notes that the term Marzen was first used for beers brewed in Vienna in the 1700’s.  Marzen is also close in relation to brown beers brewed in Bavaria as early as the 16th century, though the term Marzen was not originally  applied to this style.  Most modern authors attribute the origin of the name “Marzen” to Vienna, as no references can be found of Munich Marzen’s prior to the late 19th century (Ref: Daniels), though simillar styles were being brewed in Bavaria much earlier.

Marzen, the German word for the month of March, refers to the month when these beers were originally brewed.  Summer was too hot to brew and ferment beers properly, so by a 1539 ordinance in Bavaria, beer could only be brewed between the days of St Michael and Saint George (29 Sept-23 April).

As beer was not brewed in the summer, the last beers of Spring were made with a higher alcohol content and stored in cellars, often refrigerated with ice to last the summer.  This higher gravity beer was named after the month when most were brewed – March or Marzen.

The modern Marzen and Oktoberfest styles may bear little resemblence to the early Marzen of Vienna or even Munich.  The early Marzen was described as dark, brown and full bodied.  In fact, the turmoil of the wars of the early 20th century Europe nearly brought an end to both Marzen and Vienna style beers, though the modern Marzen enjoyed a resurgence in popularity when the Munich Oktoberfest started up again after World War II.  The Oktoberfest style, a slightly stronger version of Marzen, is brewed specifically for the world famous Munich festival each year.

The Marzen Beer Style

The BJCP style guide describes Marzen as as a rich, slightly malty beer with a slight hint of toasted character from Vienna malt.  No roasted or caramel flavors are present, and the beer has a fairly dry finish.  Noble hops are present though should be only lightly perceived in the finished beer which is decidedly malty.

The original gravity of a Marzen is in the 1.050-1.057 range, lightly bittered with noble hops providing 20-28 IBUs of bitterness.  Some “fest” beers are brewed at a slightly higher starting gravity.  The beer is well attenuated, with a finishing gravity of 1.012-1.016.  Color should be golden to orange-amber with a color range of 7-14 SRM.  The alcohol by volume is 4.8%-5.7% and Marzen’s are usually fairly well carbonated.

Brewing a Marzen Recipe

Marzen is generally made from a combination of Munich, 2-row Pale Malt, Pilsner and Vienna malts.  Generally, the malty Munich malts makes up as much as half of the grain bill, with either Pilser or Pale Malt making the balance of the grain bill.  For extract recipes, a Munich based extract made from Munich and Pale malt is generally best to use as a base.  Vienna may be added to substitute for 10-15% of the Munich malt to add a slightly more toasted flavor.  A small number of homebrew recipes also add 5-10% Crystal or 5% Cara-pils malt to add body and head retention.

Hops for Marzen/Oktoberfest beers is typically of the Noble German or Bohemian variety,  and the bitterness ratio (BU:GU) is generally around 0.5-0.6.  Popular hops selections include Saaz, Tettnanger, and Hallertauer though occasionally American hops are used by homebrewers.  Generally these are added only for bittering, and aroma or dry hops are rarely used.

The mash is almost always a single infusion mash for homebrewers in the middle range of around 152-154F for the conversion step.  Purists can try a traditional German decoction mash, though in most cases it is unnecessary given modern highly modified malts.

Bavarian lager yeast or Marzen/Oktoberfest yeast is the prime choice for Marzens, with Bohemian Pilsner yeast providing a reasonable backup.  Ferment ar around 50F (depending on yeast choice) and lager near freezing (33-37F) for at least 5 weeks.

Water treatments are rarely needed, but you might want to consider alternative water sources if your water is exceptionally hard.

Marzen and Oktoberfest Recipes

Here are some selected recipes from our recipe archive.  Additional recipes are available on the BeerSmith Recipe Page:

• The Wedding March – All Grain
• Bay 13 Fiesta – Extract

Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on the Oktoberfest beer style.  If you get a chance, subscribe for regular weekly delivery via email or RSS.

• German Rauchbier and Smoked Beer Recipes
• Brewing German Altbier Recipes
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio

For many years, I’ve wanted to do a better job of matching my beer brewing with seasons and major holidays.  But I always found myself behind.  When October rolled around it was too late to brew that Oktoberfest, and my green beer was always a bit too late for St Patty’s day.  My stouts were always finished for the warm summer months.

To combat this, I’ve assembled a brewing schedule of sorts to help me have mature beers ready for the right holiday or season.  To keep it simple, I’ve listed popular styles of beer for different seasons by quarter, and a corresponding list of which quarter you need to brew them in.  The assumption here is that 3 months lead time is enough for me to assemble the ingredients, brew the beer, and have it mature properly.  While I don’t brew all of these styles each year, it gives me a list to choose from.

Winter Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Fall, Drink in Winter:

• Holiday Ales
• Christmas/Winter Beer
• Stouts, Porters and other Dark Beers
• Barley Wine (needs long aging – start a year or more in advance)
• Winter Wheats
• Smoked Rauchbier
• Scotch Ale
• Old Ale

Spring Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Winter, Drink in Spring

• Irish Ale and Irish Stout
• Green Beer for St Patty’s Day
• Bock/Doppelbock
• India Pale Ale
• Fruit Beer
• Wheat Beer, Weizen and Weisse – particularly Hefeweizen
• Saison
• Blonde Ale
• Belgian Wit/White Beer

Summer Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Spring, Drink in Summer

• Bavarian Weizen/Weisse
• Pilsner
• Cream Ale
• Steam Beer – California Common
• Kolsch Beer
• Summer Ales
• Saison
• Fruit/Wheat Beers

Fall Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Summer, Drink in the Fall

• Marzen/Oktoberfest
• Pumpkin Beer
• English Pale Ale
• Brown Ales
• Dunkelweizen
• Harvest Ale

Do you have your own seasonal beer suggestion?  Drop a comment below for all to read.  Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  As always, don’t hesitate to subscribe for free if you enjoyed this article and want to see more.

• Saison Beer – Belgian Farmhouse Ale Recipes
• Adventures in Homebrewing
• One Year of The BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog
• Growing Hops in the Garden: How to Grow Beer Hops
• Irish Red Ale Recipes

India Pale Ale (or IPA) is a popular staple of homebrewers, microbrewers and hopheads who enjoy brewing some of the hoppiest beers on the planet.  This week we look at India Pale Ale beer recipes, how to brew an IPA recipe and its history.

History

According to Wikipedia, India Pale Ale traces its origins to the 17^th century in England with the earliest pale ales.  In fact, new malting techniques developed at the start of the 17^th century using coke-fired as opposed to wood-fired kilns enabled production of the first pale malts, and subsequently paler beers.  One of the popular pale styles was a beer called October beer, which was highly hopped and designed to be stored for an extended period.  Note that this October beer bears no relation to German Oktoberfest beer.

George Hodgson, owner of Bow Brewery brewed a version of October beer that was popular among the traders of the East India Trading Company in the late 1700’s.  East India traders subsequently started trading many of Hodgson’s beers including his October beer.  The highly hopped, high gravity, highly attenuated pale ale actually benefitted from the long trip to India and became popular with consumers there.

Other brewers, including several large Burton breweries like Bass, Alsop and Salt lost their European export market in Russia due to new high tarrifs on beer.  They quickly emulated the October beer of Bow Brewery and also started exporting to India.  The style, which now was now commonly called “India Pale Ale” became popular in England as well around 1840.

The IPA Beer Style

IPA is a hoppy, fairly strong pale ale traditionally brewed with English malt, hops and yeast.  The American version has a slightly more pronounced malt flavor and uses American ingredients.  The BJCP style guide for 2008 places original gravity at between 1.050 and 1.075, and highly attenuating yeasts are used to drive a final gravity between 1.010 and 1.018 for 5-7.5% alcohol by volume.

Multiple hop additions dominate the flavor profile in IPAs.  English IPA’s typically have 40-60 IBUs, though the slightly stronger imperial IPA versions can have hop rates as high as 120 IBUs.

Color is similar to many pale ales – golden to deep copper color – varying between 8-14 SRM for the finished beer.  Moderate carbonation is often used, though some English IPAs are lightly carbonated.

Brewing an IPA

Hops dominate the flavor of an IPA, so careful selection of the hop additions is critical to success.  Traditional English IPAs use popular English hops such as Fuggles, Goldings, Northdown, Target, though sometimes noble hops are also used in finishing.  Higher alpha English hops are also popular for bittering.  American IPAs use the rough American equivalents such as Cascade, Centennial, Williamette, though again higher alpha hops are often used in bittering.

Multiple hop additions are almost always used for IPAs including bittering hops at the beginning of the boil, often several additions of finishing hops in the last 5-15 minutes of the boil, and dry hops to provide a hoppy aroma.  In general, higher alpha hops are used for the base boil addition while aromatic lower alpha hops are used in finishing and dry hopping, though some traditional IPAs use lower alpha English hops throughout.

Traditional English 2-row pale malt makes up the bulk of the grain bill (or two row American malt for the American IPA), usually around 85-90% of the total.  Crystal and caramel malts are traditionally used to add color and body to achieve the desired overall color both in extract and all-grain recipes.

Chocolate and black malts are not often used in commercial examples though they occasionally make their way into home-brewed recipes.  Personally I prefer moderately colored caramel/crystal malt.  Occasionally you will see wheat, flaked barley or carapils malt added to enhance body, though these are rarely used and only in small quantities.

As many IPAs were first brewed in the English city of Burton, they share much with their English Pale Ale cousins, including the unusual Burton water profile which accentuates the hoppy profile.  The Burton water profile has extremely high concentrations of calcium carbonate and bicarbonate.  Depending on your local water source, a small addition of Gypsum (CaSO4) can sometimes help to simulate the hop-enhancing high carbonate Burton waters.

IPAs are most often made with traditional English ale yeasts, though care must be taken to choose a highly attenuating yeast and avoid some of the lower attenuating, fruity British ale yeasts.  Many brewers bypass the problem entirely by choosing a highly attenuating American or California ale yeast for a cleaner finish.

All grain IPAs should be mashed at a lower temperature than pale ales to achieve the high attenuation desired.  A mash temperature around 150F for 90 minutes will aid in breaking down more complex sugars for a clean finish that accentuates the hops.

IPAs are fermented and stored at the traditional ale temperatures, usually around the mid 60’s F.  Long storage periods are sometimes required to achieve the proper hop-malt balance.

IPA Recipes

Many more are available here on our Recipes Page:

• FPA – All grain
• Baby’s Second IPA – Extract
• Brew Free or Die IPA – Extract
• Exotic IPA – Extract
• Hopped Up IPA – All grain
• Inglewood IPA – All grain
• Lip Smakin’ Good IPA – Extract
• The Abyss IPA – All grain
• Unreal IPA – Extract

I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on the great India Pale Ale beer style.  Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or subscribe for regular delivery if you enjoyed this article.  Have a great brewing week.

• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Irish Red Ale Recipes

English Pale Ale is a classic beer style and a personal favorite of mine.  This week we take a look at how to brew this classic style at home including the history of the style, formulation of recipes and brewing of English Pale Ale.

The History of English Pale Ale

English Pale Ale shares much in common with classic English Bitters.  The defining example of the style is arguably Bass Ale from Bass Brewery in Burton on Trent, England.  The Bass brewery was established by William Bass in 1777 as one of the first breweries in Burton on Trent.

Pale ale and bitters both are derived from English “real ales” which were widely produced in England in the 18th and 19th century, and originally served with little to no carbonation from hand pumped cellar kegs.

Pale ale can also trace its origins to the start of the industrial revolution in England.  The availability of both coal fuel and high quality steel allowed the production of pale colored malts in the early 1700′s.  Previously only brown and dark malts with smoky aroma were available due to the use of wood in malting.

The English Pale Ale Style

English Pale Ale has a medium high to moderate hoppy flavor and aroma.  Often a malt or caramel flavor and aroma is present, with a slight alcoholic warmth.  The hops should balance the caramel and malt flavor at a minimum, though many examples have a slightly hoppy balance.

The body of a Pale Ale is medium to full, and carbonation is generally low except for some bottled commercial or export ales.  The finish is generally dry with no secondary malt flavors, and no diceytl.  Fruity esters, often a byproduct of English ale yeast, is often present.

Original gravity is generally between 1.048 and 1.062, with 30-50 IBUs of bitterness.  Color is golden to deep copper (6-18 SRM).  Alcohol by volume is a healthy 4.6-6.2%.

Brewing an English Pale Ale

The base malt for English Pale Ale is english pale malt.  The classic type is English two row barley malt with low nitrogen content, traditionally a bit darker than classic pale malt due to the use of higher kilning temperatures.  Pale malt composes about 90% of the total grain bill.  For extract brewers, start with a pale base extract and add the appropriate color steeped caramel malt to achieve your desired color.

Crystal and caramel malts are used in most pale ales, both to add color and body.  Crystal generally makes up 5-10% of the total grain bill and is selected in a color to balance the overall target color.

Maltose syrup is used in many commercial pale ales, but is hard to find for use in home brewing.  Corn or cane sugar can be used in small quantities (generally less than 10%) to give a similar effect.

Wheat, cara-pils, or flaked barley are occasionally used in pale ales to add body.  Generally only a few percent are added, as any larger amount will result in a cloudy finish to the beer.  Chocolate and black malts are used very rarely in some recipes, but I recommend not including them in your pale ale.

BC Goldings and Fuggles hops are the favorite varieties for Pale ales.  Target, Northdown and Challenger are occasionally substituted.  My personal preference is BC Goldings.  Often three hop additions are used – one for boiling/bitterness, an aroma addition at the end of the boil and finally dry hops for added aroma after fermentation.

A single step infusion mash is sufficient for mashing a pale ale, as the highly modified English malt will convert easily.  A medium to high body mash profile (153-157 F) will give you an authentic rich bodied beer.

For Burton style English Pale Ales, the water profile is extremely high in Calcium Carbonate and Bicarbonate.  Burton water has 295 ppm Ca, 725 ppm Sulfate and 300 ppm Bicarbonate.  This exceptionally hard water accentuates the bitterness in the hops giving a sharp finish to the beer.  However, achieving the appropriate water balance can be difficult for homebrewers.  Usually a small amount of Gypsum (CaSO4) added to the brewing water is sufficient to give a slightly sharper finish.

English Pale Ale yeast is used for traditional Burton ales like Bass, and the major liquid yeast manufacturers even carry a special strain for Burton ales.  Other english ale yeasts are also popular with homebrewers for all types of pale ales.  Finally, many homebrewers use American ale yeast for its clean finish and neutral flavor.

Pale ale should be fermented and aged at traditional ale temperatures (generally 62-68F), lightly carbonated and served slightly warm if you are a traditional ale fan.  American brewers may prefer higher carbonation and a colder serving temperature.

Pale Ale Recipes

Here are some recipes from our BeerSmith Recipe Archive:

• Burton Ale – All Grain
• English Pale Ale by Gregar – All Grain
• Alexander the Great – All Grain
• Battle of Britain ESB – Extract
• Bitter Bald Guy – All Grain
• Burton Pale Ale – Extract
• Lancaster Bomber – All Grain
• Pond Hockey Pale Ale – All Grain
• British Pale – All Grain

We have hundreds of other recipes and recipe packs available on our BeerSmith recipe site.

Pale ale is flavorful, robust, and smooth to drink.  I hope you enjoy your home brewed pale ale!  Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  If you enjoyed this week’s article, consider subscribing for regular weekly delivery via email or RSS.

• Brewing India Pale Ale Recipes IPA Beer Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles

Cream Ale is a distinctly American beer style that is refreshing and smooth.  It has enjoyed a resurgence recently as many microbreweries have taken up the style and even improved upon commercial versions.

Cream ale enjoyed broad popularity in the pre-prohibition era, and was particularly popular in the Midwest.  The distinct style emerged in the latter half of the 19th century as a variation of increasingly popular pilsners.  A darker, slightly sour variation called Dark Cream Common or Common Beer was brewed in the area surrounding Louisville Kentucky. (Ref: Wikipedia)

In the UK, the term “cream ale” is also used to describe nitrogen-dispensed beers that have a rich creamy head, though these ales bear little relation to the American style.   The term “smooth ale” is now more commonly used to describe these beers.

The Cream Ale Style

Cream ale is essentially an ale brewed with lager yeast at warm ale temperatures, much like its California cousin, Steam Beer.  The beer is brewed from American 6 row barley usually with corn adjuncts.

The flavor profile of a cream ale has a hint of malt, along with a sweet corn-like aroma.  A hint of DMS is common due to the lager yeast.  The hop and malt should be balanced with neither dominating.  They generally have a crisp body with a clean finish.

Starting gravities are in the medium 1.042-1.055 range, and color ranges from pale to moderate gold color (2-5 SRM).  Bitterness is subtle but balanced, in the 15-20+ IBU range.  Cream ales are served refrigerated and highly carbonated.

Brewing a Cream Ale

The bulk of the grain bill (80%) for any cream ale is American malt, usually 6 row pale barley malt, though sometimes 2 row is used.  Corn adjuncts such as  flaked maize may be used for up to 20% of the grain bill.  Corn based sugars in the boil are also commonly added in the place of corn.  Other adjuncts are less common, but some recipes use carafoam or very light caramel malt to add body.

American hops should be used, but it is wise to avoid high alpha modern hops which can unbalance the pale malt flavor.  Noble hops are also acceptable.  The normal hop schedule uses both boil and finishing hop additions to add to the flavor profile and aroma.

The choice of yeast and control of fermentation temperature is perhaps most important to this style.  Some modern brewers often use a mix of ale and lager yeast strains, though historically just lager yeast was used.  American lager strains, perhaps mixed with an American strain ale work best.

Fermentation temperatures should be controlled, though fermentation is done well above normal lager temperature ranges.  Generally fermentation in the 65-68F range provides a reasonable balance without excess ester production from the lager yeast.

Many modern cream ales are cold lagered to enhance clarity and flavor, though historically cream ales were not lagered in this way.  If you do lager, I recommend keeping the beer at cold temperatures (around 40F) for several weeks once your beer has completely fermented and has carbonated if you are bottling before lagering.

Cream ale is designed as a cold refreshing drink on a hot day, so it should be served cold and well carbonated (2.6-3.2 vols) much like a lager beer.

Cream Ale Recipes

• Cream Corn Ale – All Grain
• Creamy Goodness Ale – All Grain
• Creamora Cream Ale – All Grain
  
• Easy Cream Ale – All Grain
  
• London Cream Ale – Extract
  
• Vanilla Cream Ale – Extract

More recipes are available on the BeerSmith Recipes Page.

Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Don’t hesitate to subscribe for regular delivery, leave a comment or drop a vote on your favorite social web site if you enjoyed this week’s article.

• Steam Beer and California Common Recipes: Beer Styles
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• Scotch Ale Recipes: Beer Styles
• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Brewing a Kolsch Beer Recipe: Beer Styles

Bock beer is a classic German lager that is smooth and very drinkable.  Traditionally bock was brewed in Winter, so it is appropriate for a winter beer article.  This week we take a look at some bock beer recipes and how to brew the classic Bock beer style.

History of Bock

Bock traces its origins back to the town of Einbeck in Northern Germany as early as 1325.  The beer of Einbeck was not only popular but widely distributed to Hamburg and Bremen.  Lightly kilned wheat and barley was used in the original Einbeck beer, which had only a remote similarity to the modern bock style.  Wheat was used for approximately 1/3 of the grain bill, and barley malt made up the rest.

Alas, Einbeck was ravaged by two fires in the 16th century and then suffered greatly in the 30 years war (1618-1648), so little of the original style survives. (Ref: Daniels)  In the 16th century, Munich tried to emulate the great beers of Einbeck and started brewing variants that were called “Ainpoeckish Pier”, named in the Bavarian dialect for the city of Einbeck.

Later the name was shortened to “Poeck” and ultimately “Bock”, which means “Goat” in German.  In the 1800′s bock enjoyed a resurgence as brewing techniques and science improved.  The addition of the hydrometer and thermometer, controlled lagering and other techniques helped dramatically.  Bock also spread well beyond Munich to Vienna and throughout Germany.

German immigrants brought Bock to America in the late 1800′s where it, along with Pilsner became popular.  Best & Company (later Pabst) became one of the first to brew it broadly in America. (Ref: Daniels)  Bock, traditionally quite strong in Europe, was brewed at lower strength after Prohibition in America.

Variants of the bock style include Doppelbock, Maibock, Eisbock, American bock and Weizenbock.  Doppelbock means “double bock” and is brewed with a minimum original gravity of 1.074, which is slightly stronger than traditional bock and typically has complex chocolate and caramel flavoring.  Maibock, or “May bock” is tapped in the Spring and has a much paler color than traditional bock, and is traditionally made from a mixture of Munich and Pilsner malts.

Eisbock, or “Ice bock” which has a minimum OG of 1.093 is a very strong bock that is highly alcoholic and malty.  Though made in the tradition of regular bock and Doppelbock, the strength of the beer approaches that of some barley wines.   American bock is made primarily in the Midwest and Texas, are typically somewhat lighter in gravity than traditional German bock and may be a bit less malty in flavor.  Weizenbock is perhaps better characterized as a Dunkel-Weizen brewed to bock or Doppelbock strength, and not technically a bock beer.  It is composed primarily of around 60% malted wheat with Munich or Vienna malt filling the rest of the grain bill, and fermented with wheat yeast rather than lager yeast.

The Bock Style

The modern bock style closely tracks the traditional German style of the last hundred years.  Bock has a fairly strong original gravity of 1.064-1.072 and a dark amber to brown color between 14 and 22 SRM.  German bocks must have a minimum starting gravity of 1.064.  The flavor of the beer is malty with a slight chocolate or toasted edge.  Bocks have medium to full bodied profiles, but no roast flavor.

The carbonation is moderate, and hop flavor is minimal.  Typically German hops are used to balance some of the maltiness of the beer with an IBU level of 20-27 IBUs.  Lager yeast is used along with cold temperature storage (lagering) at temperatures near freezing.

Brewing a Bock

Munich malt makes up the bulk of the grain bill for any Bock.  In fact, most traditional Bocks are made from a single Munich malt, with variations in kilning determining the color and character of the finished beer.  Daniels recommends using Munich malt for 75-93% of the grist,with pale or lager malt making up the balance. For all grain brewers, this is your best route to an authentic bock. Where possible, choose a two row Munich malt as the base.

Analysis of many award winning homebrewed recipes indicates that crystal and chocolate are often added – especially for the dunkel (dark) bock varieties. Crystal makes up 10-15% of the grain bill and chocolate approximately 2% – primarily to add color.

For extract brewers, try to secure a munich based malt extract if possible, as it is difficult to achieve the proper malty balance without it.  Extract recipes often use some crystal or chocolate malt to achieve the appropriate color and body, but these should be used sparingly.  If you are brewing a partial mash recipe, the addition of munich and pale malt will add authenticity to the recipe.

Not surprisingly, German hops are used extensively in Bock.  Hallertauer hops is the traditional choice for bock, though Tettnanger, Hersbruck or Saaz are occasionally used.  Do not use high alpha hops in a bock as it will upset the malty balance.  Bock is not a hoppy beer, so the bulk of hop additions are used during the boil for bitterness.  Small flavor or aroma additions are OK, but hop flavor and aroma is not a dominant feature in this beer.

The traditional mash schedule for a German bock is a triple decoction, though with modern highly modified grains a double decoction will suffice. Decoction does help to enhance the color and body of the beer to bring out the strong malty profile of a traditional bock.  The protein rest should target around 122F, while the main conversion should be done at a slightly higher temperature of 155-156 F (68C) to bring out the desired medium to full body beer profile.  A single infusion mash is also an option, again in the 155F range.

Munich water profiles have a high proportion of carbonate which is why hops are sparingly used to avoid harsh bitterness.  However, most domestic brewing waters can produce a good bock style since the darker bock malts help provide the proper mash pH balance, and adding carbonate really does not enhance this particular style.

Munich/Bavarian lager yeast should be used for your bock recipe.  Cold lagering during fermentation and storage is critical.  The fermentation temperature should match the recommended range for your yeast, but fermentation is usually done around 50F.   Once fermentation is complete, the actual lagering should take place close to freezing, and continue for 4-10 weeks as these lager yeasts often take some time to flocculate (sediment).

Bock Recipes

• Lager Texas Bock – Extract
• Warner Probst Weizenbock – All Grain
• Doppelbock – All Grain
• Optimator Ale – All Grain Doppel
• German Choco – All Grain Doppel
• Bay13 Bock – Extract
• Lager Bock – Extract
• Honig Weizenbock – Extract

For more recipes, you can visit the BeerSmtih Recipe Site or our discussion forum.  Thanks again for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Don’t hesitate to subscribe for regular weekly email delivery, or drop a few votes for our articles on the BrewPoll brewing news site.  I’ll be back again next week with another brewing article.

• Brewing German Altbier Recipes
• Schwarzbier Recipes – German Black Beer
• German Rauchbier and Smoked Beer Recipes
• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles

Pilsner beer is remarkable not only for its modern dominance, but also its relatively recent origins.  The popularity of Pilsner is truly worldwide, so much so that Pilsner recipes still dominates the US and many other beer markets.  It is simply the most popular beer style in the world.

Pilsner’s origins can be traced to a single date and location.  On November 11^th, 1842, in the town of Pilsen the first keg of Pilsner Urquell was tapped.  (Ref: Daniels)  This makes Pilsner one of the youngest beer styles, even among lager beer styles which were brewed in nearby Bavaria at least back to the 1500′s.

Pilsen in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic) had a unique combination of ingredients and circumstance to create the Pilsner style.  First, the surrounding country produced light 2-row Monrovian barley, considered the finest light malt for brewing beer.  Second, the country produced a hops originally known as Zatac red, now called Saaz.  Saaz hops is a noble hop prized for its aroma.

Third, Pilsen had extremely soft water that is desirable for making very pale beers, and also enhances the bitterness from the hops.  Finally, Bohemian Pilsen shared many brewing techniques with nearby Bavaria.  The first Pilsner was created with a combination of these four elements and the important fifth element of Bavarian lager yeast.   The result was the palest of lagers with a refreshing aromatic hop finish that we now know as Pilsner.

The Pilsner Style

The defining example of Pilsner is the original Pilsner Urquell from the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Pilsen, Czech republic.  In fact the word Pilsner is reserved in Bohemia exclusively for brewers in Pilsen.

Pilsners have an original gravity between 1.044 and 1.056, very light color of 4-6 SRM and hop rate of 35-45 IBUs.  They have light to medium body, a clean flavor and finish with low diaceytls.  They are hoppy and slightly malty with no aftertaste.  They are typically well carbonated, and often served in a tall Pilsner glass to enhance the perception of carbonation.

Brewing Pilsner Beer

The unusually pale color of Pilsner derives from the use of Monrovian Pilsner malt that is malted at the brewery at the low temperature of 100-122F versus 170-180F for an average lager malt.  The lower temperature develops less melodin and a far lighter color than conventional lager malt.  It also leaves some residual moisture that will spoil Pilsner malt if not used quickly.

Monrovian Pilsner malt is most desirable for brewing Pilsners, though it can be difficult to find here in the US.  Pilsner malt from other sources is an acceptable alternative, and lager malt can be used in a pinch, though it will result in a darker beer than true Pilsner malt.

Brewing light colored Pilsner from extract can be a challenge as extracts are inherently darker than corresponding grain malts due to the extraction process.  The best course of action is to choose the lightest possible pilsner or lager malt extract if you want an authentic light pilsner color.

Pilsner Urquell uses 100% pilsner malt, with no other additions.  Some home brewers will use a small amount (<10%) CaraPils or very light Crystal malt to add body and head retention.

Pilsners use a Bavarian style of three step decoction, though Pilsners typically are mashed with unusually thin decoctions, and then boiled for an extremely long time (often 2-3 hours) to boil off the excess water added.  However, many modern commercial and home brewers use a single step infusion mash at 153 F (67 C) with equally good results.  Some do add a protein rest.

Saaz hops is used exclusively on traditional Bohemian Pilsners, with hops added at the start of boil and the last hop addition about 30 minutes before the end of the boil.

Soft water is a key ingredient in Pilsner.  Pilsen water has extremely soft water containing only 50 parts per million of hardness.  For homebrewers, you can often start with distilled water and add the minimal water minerals needed to approximate Pilsen water.

Bohemian Lager yeast is the ideal yeast to use for a full bodied Bohemian style, though in a pinch Bavarian or another continental lager yeast can be used for a lighter, drier taste.  Your lager should be fermented at 50F and lagered at low temperature of 35-40F for three to five weeks before serving.

Pilsner Recipes

• Bohemian Pilsner – All Grain
• Bay13 Pils – Bahemian Pilsner – Extract
• Hopped Up Bavarian Lager – Extract
• Long Train Runnin’ Lager – American Pilsner – Extract
• Rye Cap VIII – American Pilsner – All Grain
• Honey Pilsner – American Pilsner – Extract
• Lager Classic American Pilsner – Extract
• German Pilsner – All Grain
• Miller German Pilsner – All Grain

You can get additional recipes of all kinds from our BeerSmith Recipe Page.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on Pilsner Beer.  Thanks again for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please consider subscribing or leave a comment if you enjoyed today’s article.

• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Wheat Beer Recipes: Weizen and Weisse Styles
• Noble Hops for European Beer Styles
• Brewing a Kolsch Beer Recipe: Beer Styles

Belgian Wit is a wonderful light, refreshing beer that narrowly avoided extinction to become a popular hit here in the United States.  This week we’ll take a look at the history, brewing and recipes for Belgian Wit and White Beer.

History

Belgian Wit goes by many names, all variations of the term “White Beer”.  In French it is called “Biere Blance”, while the Flemish name is Wit or Witbier which is pronounced “Wit” or “Wet) [Ref: BT]  While the style was likely derived from the Belgian Monastary tradition, it reached widespread popularity in the 18th and 19th century in the towns east of Brussels.  The two beers “Biere Blanche de Louvain” and “Blanche de Hougerde” were brewed in Louvain and Hoegaarden respectively.  The Louvain version was more popular.

After the lager revolution in the 1800′s and into the 1900′s, Wit gradually declined in popularity and in fact disappeared when the last Belgian brewery went out of business in 1957.  Nearly 10 years later Pierre Celis raised money from family members to open a brewery called De Kluis and began brewing a traditional Wit called appropriately “Hoegaarden”.

In 1985, the De Klius brewery burned to the ground, again threatening Witbier with extinction.  Pierre Celis was able to raise money from commercial sources to rebuild the brewery, but by 1987 these larger brewers essentially took control from Pierre Celis and altered the recipe to appeal to a broader audience.  Pierre Celis, disappointed, moved to Austin Texas where he opened a new brewery making “Celis White” based on the original Hoegaarden recipe.

Brewing The Wit Beer Style

Belgian Wit is a light, wheat based beer with light to medium body, slight sweetness and a zesty orange-fruity finish.  It has a clean crisp profile, low hop bitterness and high carbonation with a large white head.  Traditional Wit is slightly cloudy due to the use of unmalted wheat, and pale to light gold in color.

Original gravity is in the 1.044-1.052 range, bitterness in the 10-20 IBU range and color in the 2-5 SRM range. Carbonation is high.

Belgian Wit is made from a base of around 50% pale malt, and 50% unmalted wheat.  Often 5-10% rolled or flaked oats are added to enhance body and flavor.

Unmalted wheat presents some challenges for the single infusion homebrewer.  Pure unmalted wheat will not convert well with a single infusion mash.  This can be rectified by using a multi-step infusion or multi-step decoction mash, but simpler solutions exist.  If you substitute flaked or torrified wheat, you can perform a single infusion mash easily, while still preserving the distinctive flavor of unmalted wheat.

If you are brewing from extract, wheat extract might be an acceptable option, but all grain brewers should avoid using malted wheat as it will not result in the authentic wit flavor.  Rolled oats are best if you are brewing all-grain as these two will work well in a single infusion mash.  Where possible, high diastic pale colored malt should be used as the pale base.

Hops are typically chosen to minimize the hop profile.  Low alpha hops such as BC Goldings, Hallertauer, Fuggles or Saaz with just enough hops to balance the sweetness of the malt.  Late hop additions are inappropriate, as hop aroma is not a feature of the style.  I personally prefer about 1 oz of BC Goldings boiled for 60 minutes in a 5 gallon batch.  Dry hopping and large late hop additions are not really appropriate for this style.

Spices play an important role in Wit.  Traditionally, Coriander and Bitter (Curaco) orange peel are used in small amounts at the end of the boil to add a bit of spice.  In some cases, small amounts of sweet (traditional) orange peel are also added, though sweet orange peel should not be a dominant flavor.

The coriander should be cracked, but not crushed, whole seeds.  I run my coriander seeds through the grain mill to crack them in half.  Bitter Curaco orange peel is not the type you find in the supermarket, but is available from most major brewing supply shops. I recommend about 3/4 ounce of bitter orange peel and 3/4 ounce of coriander for a 5 gallon batch added 5 minutes before the end of the boil.

Belgian Wit Recipes

Here is a collection of Wit and White beer recipes from our recipe site:

• White Orca Ale Clone
• Wit Men Can’t Jump
• Wit by Gregar

And here is a link to my personal Wit Recipe:

• Brad’s Belgian Wit

We also have more BeerSmith recipes on our recipe page.  I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on Belgian Wit.  It is one of my personal favorites, and it appeals to the guest as well.  Thanks again for supporting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Keep your comments and BrewPoll votes coming.

• Wheat Beer Recipes: Weizen and Weisse Styles
• Saison Beer – Belgian Farmhouse Ale Recipes
• Infusion Mashing and Decoction for Brewing Beer
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• English Pale Ale Recipes

Brewhouse efficiency is a term that causes some confusion for first time all grain brewers. I previously covered how to improve your brewhouse efficiency, but we frequently see questions on our discusssion forum from brewers who don’t understand what brewhouse efficiency is or how it is used in recipe design.

Brewhouse efficiency is defined as the percent of potential grain sugars that are converted into sugar in the wort.  Typically this includes losses for a given brewing setup, and these losses are taken in aggregate rather than accumulated individually.  It is therefore a measure of the overall efficiency of your brewing system.

Brewhouse efficiency is a key input when designing all grain recipes, as it determines your estimated original gravity.  If you don’t have an accurate brewhouse efficiency number for your particular equipment, your original gravity estimates will be way off and you will miss your target gravity.

Every grain in an all grain recipe has a potential yield, listed as the dry grain fine yield on the malt sheet.  The dry grain yield is determined in laboratory conditions, by powdering the grain and extracting as much as possible and then extracting maximum potential from the sample.  Yields vary from 50%-87% depending on the type of grain used.  You can also express yield as a potential such as 1.038.

The actual brewhouse efficiency is measured for an entire system.  Unlike the dry grain yield or potential measured in a lab, real brewers achieve only a percentage of the ideal number due to real considerations such as efficiency of the mashing process, and losses due to boiling, deadspace or trub.  This percentage of the potential, as measured across the whole system into the fermenter, is the brewhouse efficiency.

A related term is mash efficiency.  Unlike brewhouse efficiency, mash efficiency measures only the efficiency of the mash and sparging steps.  Mash efficiency can be through of as the percent of potential fermentables extracted during the mashing process that actually make it into the boiler.

Calculating Efficiencies

Programs such as BeerSmith will calculate the brewhouse efficiency from a given recipe, volume and original gravity.  However it is important to understand what’s going on under the hood.  Lets look first at how to calculate the total potential of the grain for a batch of beer:

(potential_pts) = (grain_pts) * (weight lbs) / volume_gals

Each grain has a dry grain potential, which you can find from our grain listing or from the malter’s web site.  The grain_pts is calculated from the grain potential by subtracting 1.000 and multiplying by 1000.  For example, a grain with a potential of 1.035 becomes simply 35 points.  5 pounds of this grain in a 5 gallon batch would add 35*5/5 = 35 potential points to the beer.  If we sum all of the potential points from the various grain additions we can get the overall potential.  If we had no losses in the system, the 35 points above would give an ideal starting gravity for our beer of 1.035.

I mentioned that the potential points represents the gravity under ideal conditions.  In practice one gets much less than this, usually around 70-80% for brewhouse efficiency overall.  Therefore the actual original gravity is determined by the potential points times the gravity:

(batch_pts) = (potential_pts) * (brewhouse efficiency)

So if we consider a recipe with 40 potential points, and a 75% brewhouse efficiency we get 30 batch points or an original gravity of 1.030.  This is how original gravity is estimated.

Reversing the calculation we can calculate the efficiency from an ideal recipe potential estimate (potential_pts) and actual measurement (measured_pts).

(efficiency) = (measured_pts) / (potential_pts)

So for example if we had a recipe with potential_pts of 80 and measured the wort into the fermenter 1.050 we get an efficiency of 50/80 = 62.5%.  Note that this assumes we hit our target volume.  If we don’t, we need to consider the target and actual volume as follows:

(efficiency) = (measured_pts * target_vol) / (potential_pts * actual_vol)

The formulas above give us the overall brewhouse efficiency, but can also be used to calculate the mash efficiency into the boiler.  For efficiency into the boiler we simply use the boiler volume and measured boil specific gravity into the boiler as opposed to the fermenter.  In BeerSmith you can click on the “brewhouse efficiency” button in any open recipe to perform more detailed mash or overall efficiency calculations.

Now you know how to calculate the two key all grain efficiencies: brewhouse and mash efficiency.  For additional reading, consider our article on improving all grain efficiency.

Thanks for joining us again this week on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Don’t hesitate to subscribe for weekly delivery, leave a comment, or drop a vote for any of our articles on BrewPoll.com if you enjoyed today’s article.

• 5 Ways to Improve your All Grain Beer Efficiency
• How to Batch Sparge: A Guide for Batch Sparging and No Sparge
• Parti-Gyle Brewing – Two Beers from One Mash
• How to Brew Big – Making High Gravity Beers
• Using a Hydrometer for Beer Brewing

Scotch Ale brings forth visions of fog filled bogs, dimly lit pubs and a hearty pint of ale.  Scotland has always had its own distinct brewing style with an array of unique beers from the 60/- shilling light Scottish ale to the “wee heavy” strong ales.  This week we examine the history of scotch ales as well as some Scottish ale beer recipes.

Scotch ale can be divided into roughly four categories.  The standard ale is available in three strengths: light, heavy and export.  A fourth category is often broken out for strong Scottish ales or “wee heavy” ales.  These ales are also often named by their 19^th century per-barrel price in schillings (now obsolete) as 60/-, 70/- and 80/- for the light, heavy and export and higher numbers of 100/- to 160/- for strong and “wee heavy” styles.

The History of Scottish Ales

Scotland has traditionally produced a wide array of beer styles including many that are either English or Irish in character.  During the 18th and 19th centuries Scotland was a major exporter of all kinds of beer to both England and also its colonies, and Scotland was first in the British isles to begin producing lager in large quantities.

Despite the influence of neighbors, Scotland’s unique geography and political situation combined to produce a uniquely Scottish style of beer that we now know as scotch ale.  According to Daniels, two of the major factors were the availability of malt and hops.  Barley has always been grown in Scotland, with a large portion dedicated to the production of whiskey.  However, in Southern Scotland significant portions of the yearly crop were dedicated to beer production.

Hops, however, has never thrived in Scotland.   The soil and conditions are poor for hop production, so hops had to be imported often from England at high expense.  As a result a variety of hop alternatives were traditionally used including spices, herbs and quassia.  Later when hops were used, they were added only sparingly resulting in a distinctly malty character.  In contrast to the South in England malt was heavily taxed and hops plentiful resulting in more highly hopped styles such as IPA.

A look at traditional brewing of Scottish ales reveals that these ales were mashed with one or at most two steps, usually at high temperature (often above 160F!) and sparged slowly and often fermented at relatively cold temperatures.  The combination no doubt produced a beer full of body and resulted in very low attenuation of the yeast.  Bitterness was low, resulting in a malty full bodied beer.  The finished beer was aged only a few weeks and then shipped directly to pubs for consumption.  When aged, the beer was often kept cold which aided in enhancing clarity.

Brewing a Scottish Ale

As mentioned above Scottish ales have four major categories.  The three traditional scotch ales are distinguished primarily by strength and bitterness: original gravitie for 60/- light is in the range 1.030-1.035, for 70/- heavy it is 1.035-1.040 and 80/- export comes in at 1.040-1.054.  Strong scotch “wee heavy” ales have very high gravities in the 1.070-1.130 range.

Bitterness is low – with about 10-15 IBUs for light and ramping up to 15-30 IBUs for the export version.  Even the strong ales has a low bitterness in the 17-30 IBU range.  Malty and caramel flavors dominate the style with little to no hop aroma or flavor.

Scotch ales have an amber to light brown color.  All have a target color in the 9-17 SRM range, though the strong ale may be darker (up to 25 SRM) due to the large amount of malt added.

Formulations for scotch ales very, but they all start with a pale malt or pale extract base, generally making up about 70-80% of the grain bill.  Crystal malt is used in both commercial and homebrewed recipes making up from 5-10% of the grain bill.  Black or roast malt provide color and character in the 2% range, though most purists prefer roast malt over black malt.

Interestingly almost all commercial examples use either wheat malt or sugar in the 5-10% range, though sugar is rarely added to homebrewed versions.  Other commonly added homebrew grains in small amounts include chocolate malt, cara pils for body, munich and amber malts though these are not commonly added to commercial browns. [Ref: Daniels]

There is no specific hops tied to the scotch style, though low alpha traditional English or Continental hops are considered most appropriate.  Goldings, Williamette and Fuggles are often used commercially, though noble hops such as Hallertauer or Saaz can also be used.  Bitterness and hop flavor should be kept to a minimum, so use just enough hops to balance the malt.

The selection of scotch yeast is not as important as the fermentation method. Scotch ales are fermented at much lower temperatures (50-60F) than traditional ales, and the fermentation can take several weeks to complete as a result.  After fermentation the ale is cold aged to aid in clarity.  This produces a very malty but clean beer profile.  You also want to select a low attenuation yeast that can handle the lower temperatures.

Though Edinburgh is famous for its pale ales and hard water, high sulfate water is not a critical element in brewing scotch ale and in fact can be detrimental as it brings out the hop sharpness too much.  I personally recommend a moderate neutral water profile low in sulfates that will support the malty base and not enhance the hops excessively.

Scotch Ale Recipes:

• ProposAle - All Grain
  
• Smitty’s Scottish Ale – All Grain
• Steve’s Scottish – All Grain
• Lynch’s Kiltlifting – All Grain
• MacDuff’s Wee Heavy – Extract
• Single Malt Scotch Ale – All Grain
• Get More Recipes from our Recipe Site

If you enjoyed this week’s article from the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog, please consider subscribing for regular weekly delivery.  Thanks again for your continued support of BeerSmith and BrewPoll!

• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Old Ale Recipes – Stock Ale and Winter Warmers
• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes

Brown ale is a distinctively English style that has also become popular with microbreweries in the United States. Today we’re going to look at the origins of this classic style, how to brew Brown Ale at home and also a sampling of Brown Ale recipes.

The History of Brown Ale

Brown Ale is a English style without a clear starting date. Many of the earliest English ales were likely brown ales, as most malts were kilned over hardwood fires leaving a distinctly brown color as well as a smoky flavor. Brown malt, though almost extinct today, formed the major part of English ale’s for at least 800 years.

The formal use of the term “Brown Ale” is tied to the introduction of Porter in the early 1700′s. Brown ale was likely known simply as “Ale” before that since almost all English ales would have been brown prior to 1700. The term “Brown Ale” was also used interchangeably for the next 100 years to describe both Porters and Stouts. Brown was in fact a generic term used to describe the insanely popular Porter of this period. [Ref: Daniels]

In the early 1800′s, some distinction was being made between Stouts, Porters and Milds. In many cases Brown ale was produced by making a Stout or Porter with the first runnings and then collecting the second runnings of the Mash to produce Brown ales. However, throughout the 18^th century “brown” was still used extensively to describe Stouts, Porters and other dark beers brewed primarily around London.

The distinct style of “Brown Ale” we know today is a relatively recent invention, though the close relative “Mild Ale” was very popular in the late 1800′s and early 20^th century. Brown ale emerged in the 20^th century as a stronger and sometimes darker version of English mild.

Brown Ale Styles

There are at least three major distinct styles of brown ale, excluding Brown Porter which is a variation of Porter. Northern or Newcastle brown ales have an original gravity between 1.040 and 1.052, dark amber color between 12 and 22 SRM and bitterness of 20-30 IBUs. Both malt and bitterness are present in moderate levels, and caramel/malt flavor adds some sweetness. Newcastle Brown Ale is the obvious example, though a number of Nut Brown Ales also fall into this category.

London or Southern Brown ales are malty with relatively low bitterness. They have a sweet caramel flavor, very dark color and some dark fruit (raisin) flavors. They are made with an original gravity between 1.035 and 1.042 and low bitterness level of 12-20 IBUs with dark color of 19-35 SRM.

American Brown ales are brewed with a higher starting gravity between 1.045 and 1.060 with higher bitterness of 20-40 IBUs. Like London Brown, they have a dark color between 19 and 35 SRM. They have medium maltiness and body, are slightly dry, and have higher bitterness and aroma than their British counterparts. Not surprisingly, American hop varieties are often used.

Brewing Brown Ales

Many brewers take an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to brewing browns, but Ray Daniels argues that superior results can be obtained by focusing on a few key ingredients along with proper yeast and water selection.

Brown ales are made from a base of English pale malt. Crystal malt is almost always used in brown ale, averaging about 10-15% of the total grain bill. Chocolate malt, too, is used but sparingly – making up from 3-6% of the grain bill. Black and roasted malts are seldom used in brown ales, and if used make up as little as 2% of the grain bill.

Homebrewers use a variety of specialty malts to add character including aromatic malt, biscuit malt, wheat malt, toasted malt, special B, oatmeal and others. In some cases these specialty malts can make up as much as 5-15% of the grain bill. However commercial browns typically take a simpler approach using only 1-2 dark malts to provide the bulk of color and character.

A single infusion mash in the 152-154F (67C) range targeting a medium body beer is appropriate for all brown styles.

English brown ales have low bitterness and are therefore lightly hopped. Popular English hops such as Goldings, Fuggles, and sometimes Tettnanger are often used. American browns are much more highly hopped, in some cases approaching levels twice that of typical English browns. Cascade is most popular, though Perle, Williamette and other American hop varieties may also be used. For American browns, hops are often added at several different stages including occasionally dry hopping.

Yeast selection also depends on the style of brown you are brewing. American browns are typically made with dry American Ale or German Ale yeast with a high attenuation. English browns use the full range of UK ales including London, Irish Ale, and other full body English Ale yeasts to add character, esters and the unique mix of English complexity.

Water high in carbonates is desirable, especially for the English styles. London was the home of dark ales for the past 250 years largely due to its high carbonate water. Sulfates, however, are undesirable so minimize the use of gypsum. American browns often use lower carbonate water than their English cousins.

Brown Ale Recipes

Here is a selection of brown ale recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Site:

• Black Out Brown Ale – Partial Mash
• Brent’s Brown Ale – All Grain
• Farmhouse 1870 – Extract
• Spotted Dog Brown – All Grain
• Jay’s Crowd Pleaser Brown – All Grain
• Brown Derby Ale – Extract
• Dan’s Brown Nuts Ale – Extract
• This Nut – All Grain
• London Brown – All Grain
• Matrimoni-Ale – All Grain
• Visit our Recipe Site for more Brown Ale Recipes

I hope you enjoyed today’s article on Brown Ales. Thanks again for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please consider subscribing for regular weekly articles on beer styles, recipes and a range of home brewing topics.

• Beer Styles: Making a Porter Recipe
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Irish Red Ale Recipes

Steam Beer brings to mind visions of the California gold rush, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and San Francisco. Today we’ll look at the history of California common beer (aka Steam Beer) and how to design steam beer recipes and present a collection of Steam Beer recipes you can brew at home.

History of Steam Beer

Steam beer was originally made by dozens of breweries in the California from 1850-1920, particularly around San Francisco. After prohibition, Anchor Steam Brewing Company continued to brew steam beer and eventually trademarked the term “Steam Beer” for use with its famous brew. Since “steam beer” was trademarked by Anchor Brewing Company, brewers adopted the name “California Common” to refer to this unique beer style.

The key distinguishing feature of steam beer is that it is a lager beer fermented at high temperatures (between 60-65F) and often well hopped. The precise origins of California Steam Beer is somewhat ambiguous. Daniels notes that “One Hundred Years of Brewing” provides conflicting information on precisely where the first steam beer was made (Los Angeles and San Francisco being candidates), but says that at least 25 California breweries made steam beer in the period from 1850-1903. The origins of the term “steam beer” are also shrouded in mystery, but one source cites the escaping gas when a keg of steam beer was tapped.

Anchor Brewing started making steam beer in 1894 and was the sole producer of the beer through the 1960′s after prohibition closed its competitors. The original steam beer was cask fermented and conditioned, and often delivered to the saloon in a “young” state.

A historic beer may or may not have used adjuncts, was hopped between 28 and 40 IBUs, and was run through a “clarifier” after a very short fermentation directly into the keg. Krausen was used to carbonate the kegs, often to very high levels of carbonation (as high as 40-70 psi before tapping!). (Ref: Daniels)

Designing a California Common Recipe

The modern California Common beer remains remarkably true to the steam beer heritage. California Common has an original gravity between 1.048 and 1.054, and a moderate hopping level of 30-45 IBUs according to the BJCP Style Guide.

It is brewed with a medium body, and the distinct flavor of Northern Brewer hops. It is typically amber to light copper in color, between 10 and 14 SRM. The modern beer is more highly attenuated than its predecessor, and has a mix of ale and lager character. This leaves a clean finish with low fruitiness, ester and diacytl.

California Common uses a pale malt (usually 2 row or pale extract) base for the bulk of the malt bill. Crystal malt in the 40-80L color range makes up an average of 10% of the remaining malt bill and is selected to achieve the desired beer color. Additional ingredients such as Munich/Vienna, Cara Pils, Chocolate and Special malts are occasionally added to homebrew versions, usually in quantities of 5% or less.

The mash schedule should target 152-156F to produce a medium body beer. Hop aroma and bitterness are desirable for this style, so multiple hop additions are the norm. Northern Brewer hops is traditionally used for bittering with an aroma hops such as Cascade added near the end of the boil for flavor/aroma. Dry hopping is often used. The water used historically for this beer is soft in character.

A distinguishing feature of California Common is clearly its fermentation and yeast strain. California Common lager yeast is most often used, though many brewers have had great success with high attenuation lager yeasts or even high attenuation ale yeast. Steam beer should be fermented between 60-68 F (16-20C). Conditioning homebrew at 50F for 3-4 weeks after fermentation will aid in clearing the beer. (Ref: Daniels)

Sample California Common (Steam Beer) Recipes

• Anchor Clone – All Grain
• Brewer’s Best Steam – Extract
• California Steaming – Extract
• California Dreamin’ Lager – All Grain
• Full “Steam” Ahead – Extract
• Sailor Steam – Extract
• Sepulveda Steamer – All Grain
• Steam-Powered Toaster 2.0 – All Grain
• Steamroller Baby – Extract
• Engine 97 Steam Beer – All Grain

California common beer is a very popular style that is not difficult to brew at home. The lager style finish, distinct hoppy flavor and copper color make it a favorite of many visitors. Give your favorite steam beer recipe a try today!

Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Blog. Please consider subscribing or leave a comment if you enjoyed this article!

• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing German Altbier Recipes
• Brewing a Kolsch Beer Recipe: Beer Styles
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Dry Hopping: Enhanced Hops Aroma

Wheat, Weizen and Weisse beer recipes have become very popular craft and homebrew beer styles here in the United States over the last 20 years. Today, we’ll look at the history of wheat beer, how to brew a wheat beer and a sampling of wheat beer recipes including both Bavarian Weissebier and Berliner Weisse.

Wheat Beer History

Since wheat is a staple grain, it should be no surprise that wheat has been used for several thousand years to brew beer. There is historical evidence to suggest that wheat has been used in brewing much longer than barley, and in fact barley beer became popular only in the last few hundred years (Ref: Daniels). Daniels mentions that in certain historical periods the use of wheat for brewing was actually banned over concerns that too much wheat was being diverted from the food supply to making beer.

Modern wheat beer is centered around two German styles: the more popular Bavarian Weissebier from southern Germany and Berliner Weisse from Berlin. A third wheat style that is growing in popularity today is Belgian Wit or white beer, but I will dedicate a separate article to that style in the future. American wheat beer is similar in many ways to Bavarian Weisse, but without the characteristic Bavarian wheat yeast.

German brewing literature contains many references to wheat beer going back at least to the 1400′s in areas spanning from Denmark to Hamburg to Vienna.

Bavarian Weisse (white beer) has a much more direct lineage. According to Daniels, the first wheat beers were brewed under noble license of the Degenberger clan in the 15th century. In that same period the first wheat beer brewery was built in Munich, and the brewing of Weissebier was strictly controlled and licensed by various dukes throughout the 16th-18th centuries. In 1872, royal control was finally loosened to move weisse brewing rights into the public domain.

Wheat Beer Brewing

Wheat lacks key nutrients and enzymes needed for proper conversion of sugars during mashing, so malted wheat is always combined with barley malt to provide enzymes for mashing and fermentation, often at a mix of between 40 and 60% wheat. Bavarian wheat beer derives the distinct clove and banana flavor from the use of distinct strains of yeast. Similarly Berliner Weisse uses a distinct yeast strain along with lactic acid bacteria to produce a tart flavor. American wheat beer has a more neutral flavor from the use of common ale yeast.

German wheat beers were traditionally brewed using decoction methods, though a home brewer can achieve excellent results with a single step infusion mash. Ray Daniels notes that fermentation temperatures are very important in wheat beer due to the sensitivity of the yeasts involved. He recommends a fermentation temperature of 64-66 F (around 18C).

Bavarian Weisse or Weizen

Weisse has a target original gravity of 1.040 to 1.056, color of 2 to 9 SRM, and bitterness between 10 and 20 IBUs. It has very low bitterness, low to medium body and high esters as well as banana and clove flavor derived from the yeast.

Bavarian Weisse or Weizen is almost always made from only two base malts: wheat malt and pilsner or pale malt. The percentage of wheat malt varies from as little as 20% to as much as 60%, but 40-50% is a good average number. Note that wheat malt can’t be steeped and must be mashed, so if you are an extract brewer be sure to use wheat or weizen extract as the base malt. Decoction or a single infusion mash is acceptable with a recommended conversion temperature of around 152F.

The hop schedule for Weisse is minimal – typically a single noble hop addition at the beginning of the boil. Hallertau hops are most commonly used, though Saaz, Tettnanger and Hersbrucker are also popular. A low hop rate giving 15-17 IBUs is typical. The use of distinctive Bavarian wheat yeast is critical to the style , as so much of the Bavarian flavor profile is derived from the yeast itself.

Bavarian Weisse is highly carbonated, at 2.4-3.0 volumes. Hefeweizen (with yeast) is served relatively young with the yeast still in suspension giving a cloudy character. Krystal (clear) is filtered commercially to give a crystal clear finish.

American Wheat Beer

American wheat beer shares much in common with Bavarian Weisse, using basically the same grain bill, low hop rate, and pale color. The main difference is that American wheat beer is typically fermented with American ale yeast, giving a neutral and clean finish, but lacking the banana and clove flavor that Bavarian wheat yeast provides. American wheat beer is often served at moderate carbonation and occasionally uses American hops, though hop flavoring is not significant for the style.

Berliner Weisse

Berliner Weisse has an original gravity between 1.026 and 1.036, a very low hop rate of 3-8 IBUs, a pale color between 2-4 SRM and is served highly carbonated (2.5-3.0 volumes). The flavor profile is sour from the use of lactic bacteria or lactic acid. They have a light body, and dry tart finish.

Berliner Weisse is typically brewed from equal parts of wheat and pilsner or pale malt base, though in some cases up to 70% wheat may be used. Extract brewers should use a base of weizen or wheat extract. Low hop rates are used in a single hop addition, and again noble hops such as Hallertau, Saaz or Tettnanger are most popular.

Berliner yeast is most often used with the addition of either lactic acid bacteria after primary fermentation. As an alternative, some home brewers spike their beer with food grade lactic acid (Daniel’s recommends 90 ml for 7 gallons) to give the sour, lactic finish required.

Recipe Examples

Here are some sample recipes from our collection:

Bavarian Weisse/Weizen:

• Hefe-Weizen Beer
• Homebrewden German Wheat
• Prost Weizen
• Should Have Been Wiser Weizen
• Warner Old Bavarian Weissebier
• Whispering Wheat Beer

American Wheat:

• Raspberry Honey Wheat
• Razzing Wife Wheat
• Bastard Son Wheat

I hope today’s article on classic wheat beers will help you to formulate your next Weisse or Weizen recipe. Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. For weekly delivery, consider subscribing via email or RSS. If you enjoyed the article, give us a “thumbs up” on Stumbleupon or drop a free vote for this story on BrewPoll using the BrewPoll vote count button below.

• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Seasonal Beer Brewing
• Pilsner Lager Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio

You want a good lager, but you can’t make one because you do not have refrigeration? Try a making a Kölschbier! Today, guest blogger DJ provides an excellent summary of how to brew Kölsch.

History

Kölsch (pronounced “koelsch”) is a beer brewed exclusively by the breweries in Köln (or Cologne to the English speaking countries). The beer style has been around for several centuries, but was never called Kölsch until the Sünner brewery labeled it as such in 1918. In the 1930s, at least 40 breweries made Kölsch. Unfortunately the World War decimated the German Kölsch industry and only 2 breweries remained.

Since the European Union gave special protection to Kölsch in 1997 (geschützte Herkunftsbezeichnung), only 14 breweries legally produce Kölsch. This restriction is an extension of the Kölsch Convention of 1986. The Kölsch Convention states that Kölsch must be brewed in Köln, pale in color, top-fermented (ale), hop accentuated, and filtered. In short, the beer is a pale ale from Köln.

The culture of this beer is also unique. People from all economic classes enjoy the beer. Karl Marx remarked that his revolution could never take hold in Köln, because the workers drink with their bosses. The beer is so anti-class that the breweries all agreed that no Kölsch would be sold with “special”, “extra” or any other add-on. The beer is even popular with the women.

But it tastes like a lager!

Kölsch is ale that tastes like a lager. If you handed a Kölsch to an unaware beer drinker, it is very common to mistake the beer as a lager. The beer has a very soft mouthfeel. It can be slightly sweet, but has no malty aroma and finishes very dry. Some Kölschbiers have some fruity flavor, but it is very slight. Any fruitiness in the beer should be very subtle.

There is no hop aroma and little hop flavor. It is very low in esters, and has no diacetyl. These beers typically are between 4% to 4.5% ABV. The Brewer Style guidelines list the beer’s alcohol content at 4.4 – 5.2% ABV, but I would error on the lower end of the spectrum. The color of the beer is straw-like (3.5-7 SRM). Kölsch is similar to an American Blonde Ale, but finishes much cleaner and crisper.

Some commercial examples of the beer are Reissdorf, Gaffel, Alaska Summer Ale, Harpoon Summer Beer, or Sünner Kölsch. The American versions are “Kölsch-style” since they cannot be called “Kölsch”.

The Recipe

Like any German beer, the ingredients for this beer follow Reinheitsgebot. Kölsch typically uses German pilsner malt and/or pale malt. Some recipes use wheat malt or Vienna malt, but it is less common. Wheat malt is not common in the commercial versions of the beer, but shows up in many homebrew recipes. Most Kölsch recipes use Spalt hops, but other German noble hops can be used. The beer uses very soft water and is often lagered for a month after fermentation. Here’s the recipe I use.

• 10 lbs German Pilsner Malt
• 0.5 lbs German Munich Malt
• 1.5 oz Spalt hops (4% AA bittering for 60 minutes)
• White Labs WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch or Wyeast 2565 Kölsch

If you are an extract brewer, use 8 lbs of Pilsner LME and 0.25 lbs of Munich LME. Sometimes Spalt hops are difficult to find (especially with the hop shortage). You can substitute the Spalt hops with Saaz, Hallertau, or Tettnanger. Mt. Hood can also be used. The hop you select is strictly for bittering, because Kölsch should have little to no hop flavor and no hop aroma.

Mash the grain for 90 minutes at 150°F (65°C). This should give you a good fermentable wort. Boil the wort for 90 minutes. At the 60 minute mark, add your hops.

Ferment the beer at 60°F (15°C) or as close as you can get to 60°F (15°C). Once the fermentation is complete, find a cold place to store the beer for a few weeks. A lagering period will help the beer if you can do it, but don’t sweat it if you can’t.

At bottling, add 1 ¼ cup of light DME that is boiled in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. If you are kegging, carbonate the beer to 2.5 volumes.

This beer is great for those hot summer days. I’ve even heard it referred to as the “lawnmower ale”. The traditional serving glass for Kölsch is a cylindrical 200 ml glass called a stange (pole). The serving temperature should be cellar temperatures (50°F/10°C).

Editors Note: Today’s article was guest authored by DJ Spiess of The Fermentarium – thanks again to DJ for providing this great piece on Kolsch. If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment or subscribe for more great articles. Use the BrewPoll button on the right to vote for this article!

• Pilsner Lager Recipes – Beer Styles
• Noble Hops for European Beer Styles
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Steam Beer and California Common Recipes: Beer Styles
• Brewing German Altbier Recipes

With St Patrick’s day upon us, it seemed appropriate to discuss the beer that Ireland is most famous for: Irish Stout. We’ll review the history of Irish Stout, the design of Irish Stout recipes and finish with a selection of great Irish Stout recipes for home brewing.

The History of Stout

Irish Stout traces its heritage back to Porter. As described previously in our article on the Porter Beer style, Porters were first commercially sold in the early 1730s in London and became popular in both Great Britain and Ireland.

The word Stout was first associated with beer in a 1677 manuscript, with a “stout” beer being synonymous with “strong” beer (Ref: Wikipedia). In the 1700′s the term “Stout Porter” was widely used to refer to a strong version of Porter. The famous Guinness brewery in Ireland started brewing “Stout Porter” in 1820, though they previously brewed both ales and Porters. Around 1820, Stout also began to emerge as a distinctive style, using more dark brown malt and additional hops over popular porters of the time. At around the same time, black malt was invented and put to good use in Porters and Stout Porters. (Ref: Daniels)

Throughout the 1800′s Stout continued to refer to “Strong” – therefore one could have “Stout Ales” as well as “Stout Porters”. However, by the end of the 19^th century, “stout” became more closely associated only with dark Porter, eventually becoming a name for very dark beers.

Traditional stouts of the 1800′s and early 1900′s differ considerably from their modern counterparts. The characteristic Roast Barley that gives Irish stout its dry roasted taste was not widely used until the early to mid 1900′s. Some Stouts had very high gravities – 1.070 to 1.090 for many recipes from 1858 cited by Ray Daniels. They also had very high hop rates, in some cases approaching 90 IBUs.

As Pale ales and later European lagers became more popular in the 1800′s, sales of both Porter and Stout Porter declined, remaining popular in Ireland and a few other localities in the UK.

The definitive modern Irish Stout is Guinness Extra Stout. Other popular commercial stouts include Beamish Irish Stout and Murphy’s Irish Stout. Founded in 1759, Guinness brewery at St James gate in Dublin Ireland has operated continuously for over 250 years under family ownership. Guinness is a classic Irish or Dry Stout style, with a distinctive dry, almost coffee like flavor derived from Roasted Barley. Guinness is brewed in two main forms, the domestic draft version having much lower alcohol content (3.9%) than the export bottled version (6%). (Ref: Daniels)

A number of other stout styles are popular including (Russian) Imperial Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Milk Stout, Chocolate Stout. However for today, we will stick with the classic Irish Stout style.

Designing and Brewing an Irish Stout

Irish Stout has an original gravity in the 1.035-1.050 range, with domestic versions being at the low end and export versions at the high end of that range. Bitterness is moderate, but must balance the strong flavor of the dark grains used. It should be hopped at a moderate rate of 1 IBU per point of OG (so a beer with 1.040 OG should have 40 IBUs). Color is an extremely dark brown that looks black in the glass – from 35-200 SRM. Traditionally Irish Stout is served at very low carbonation (1.6-2.0 volumes) and often served warm.

The key ingredient in a classic Irish Stout is Roasted Barley. Roast Barley gives Irish Stout its classic dry coffee-like flavor, deep dark color, and white foamy head. Unlike other dark malts, Roast Barley is made from unmalted barley grain that is roasted at high temperature while being lightly sprayed with water to prevent it from burning. Roast Barley is intensely dark, around 500-550 L, but amazingly the unmalted barley produces a white head on the beer as opposed to the darker head made by other malts.

In many commercial dry stouts, Roast Barley is the only specialty grain used. For a Dry Irish Stout, Roast Barley makes up around 10% of the grain bill. Those that don’t use Roast Barley will almost always used Black malt as a substitute.

Irish Stout is famously full bodied, so the second most popular ingredient is a specialty grain to enhance the body of the beer. Guinness uses Flaked Barley at a proportion of around 10% of the grain bill. Flaked Barley adds significant body and mouthfeel to the beer, but it must be mashed. If you are a malt extract brewer, crystal malt or Carapils would be a good substitute for Flaked Barley.

Many award winning all grain stout recipies also use oatmeal (6% of grain bill range) or wheat (6% range) either in place of flaked barley or as an addition to further enhance the body of the finished beer. Other popular specialty grains include black and chocolate malts, though these are used in small proportions primarily to add complexity to the flavor. (Ref: Daniels)

English pale malt (or Pale Malt Extract) makes up the bulk (60-70%) of the grain bill. For all-grain brewers, a medium to full bodied mash profile is desirable. A single step infusion mash is sufficient for well modified English malts. Conversion mash temperatures in the 153-156 F range are appropriate.

The most popular Irish Stout hops by far is East Kent Goldings, though other English hops such as Fuggle, Challenger, Northdown and Target. American varieties such as Cascade are sometimes used by American microbreweries. Traditionally a single hop addition is made at the beginning of the boil for bitterness. Hop aroma is not a significant factor, so aroma hops are rarely added to Irish Stout.

Irish Ale yeast is traditionally used in Irish Stout. An ideal yeast would yield an attenuation around 76% for dryness, but many Irish ale yeasts yield a lower attenuation. Some brewers select neutral yeasts with a higher attenuation to achieve a drier flavor profile. London and Whitbread yeasts are also popular choices.

Some Irish Stout recipes, including Guinness use a small amount of soured beer to add a little extra bite and flavor. To make soured beer, pull a small amount from the unfermented wort and let it naturally sour over several days by leaving it exposed to air. Boil the sour beer sterilize it thoroughly and then cool it and add it to your fermenter well before bottling.

Finally, few stout fans will forget the smooth creamy head that a draft pint of Guinness has on it. The secret is that Guinness on tap is not served under CO2 alone, but has a mix of CO2 and nitrogen. The nitrogen gives it the extra creamy long lasting head. You can serve kegged beer with nitrogen and CO2 at home, but it requires a separate tank of nitrogen in addition to a tank of CO2 and also a special “stout tap” to mix the gas when serving.

Irish Stout Recipes

Here are some sample recipes of Irish Stouts, as well as a few other Stout styles thrown in for variety:

All Grain Irish Stout Recipes:

• Dry Irish Stout
• Culver City Stout
• Keep It Simple Stout

Extract Irish Stout Recipes:

• Nitro Powered Stout
• Guinness Extra Stout (re-mixed -clone)
• Culver City Stout
• Luck O’the Irish Stout

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Hopefully you have enjoyed this article on the classic Irish Stout. Please keep your ideas and comments coming and don’t hesitate to subscribe to our blog using the subscription links on the left sidebar.

• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Irish Red Ale Recipes
• Irish Stout Recipes with John Palmer – BeerSmith Podcast 11
• Oatmeal Stout Recipes – Great Beer Styles
• Beer Styles: Making a Porter Recipe

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) recently released an updated beer style guide for 2008. BJCP has become the most popular beer style guide for home brewing competition here in the United States. You can access the full BJCP style guide here.

The new 2008 BJCP style guide includes significant rework to many Belgian styles, revised commercial examples, updated color, OG and ABV calculations and minor changes to several styles.

The latest version of BeerSmith was just released and is available on our download page. The new release incorporates the new 2008 BJCP style guidelines as well as the complete Danish beer style guideline. You can set the style guide used from the “Brewing” page of the “Options” dialog (tools menu).

The 2008 BJCP Style information in BeerSmith consists of excerpts from the full style guide, and is excerpted with permission from the BJCP Style Guidelines, copyright 2008, Beer Judge Certification Program, Inc.

In addition, the latest BeerSmith release incorporates a new batch sparge option to generate “equal runnings” batches. Sparging with equal runnings generates optimal efficiency for batch spargers. The batch sparge mash profiles were all updated to use this new option. You can also do it manually by editing any mash profile and checking “Sparge using equal size batches” and unchecking “Drain the mash tun before starting…” in the Batch Sparge options section of any mash profile. The calculated batch sparge water amounts will be shown on your brewsheet.

• Get the Latest Version of BeerSmith – with new Batch Sparge options & 2008 Style Guide

• How to Batch Sparge: A Guide for Batch Sparging and No Sparge
• BeerSmith Hops and Yeast Updates
• BeerSmith 2 for Linux Open Beta Release
• BeerSmith 2 Release Date, Pricing, and Preorder
• BeerSmith 2.0 – A First Look

Porter is a English beer style that has become very popular in the United States. This week we will look at the origins of Porter, how to brew Porter at home and provide a collection of sample recipes. When I started brewing back in the 1980′s, the microbrewery revolution was still in its infancy, and it was difficult to find anything beyond the classic American lager in the stores. Yet dark beers were a passion of mine, and Porter was a perennial favorites.

History

Porter is first mentioned in writings in the early 1700′s, and the name Porter is derived from its popularity with London’s river and street porters. There are many stories surrounding the origins of Porter, such as one about it being a blend of three other beers, but more likely Porter was derived from strong brown ales of the period. Original porters were substantially stronger than modern versions. Wikipedia mentions that hydrometer measurements on 18th century Porters indicate original gravities near 1.071, or 6.6% ABV – about twice the alcohol of a modern beer.

Taxes during the Napoleonic wars drove the alcohol content down to modern levels. Porter was also the first large scale beer to be entirely aged before delivery, often remaining in vats or casks for 18 months before shipment to pubs. As the 1800′s started, breweries mixed aged porter with new porter to reduce storage times. Stouts started as a stronger, darker version of Porter, with most including the name “Stout Porter”. Eventually the “Porter” tag was dropped giving the modern style of “Stouts”. (Re: Wikipedia)

In another interesting side note, Porter’s popularity was so high that it was stored in huge vats in the late 1700′s, and there was an arms race of sorts between major breweries to see who could build the largest vas. According to Ray Daniels book (below), the largest vats approached 20,000 barrels (860,000 gallons) at the end of the 1700s. This compares to the largest in the world today which clocks in at around 1600 barrels, less than 1/10th the size. In October of 1814, a huge vat at the Meux brewery ruptured and reportedly wiped out an adjacent tank and devastated the neighborhood in a 5 block radius. In the ensuing chaos at least 8 people were killed.

Designing a Porter Recipe

Designing Porter recipes can be a lot of fun as the Porter style includes room for experimentation. Porters have an OG of 1.040 and up, color of 20-40 SRM and bitterness of 18-35 IBUs for Brown Porter, or up to 55 IBUs for higher gravity Robust Porter. The color is brown to black, and they have low to medium hop flavor. They are almost always brewed with a full bodied mash schedule (higher mash temperature of 154-156F) to give a full body taste. They have low ester, fruitiness and diacytl, are well balanced and have low to medium carbonation.

Traditional porters start with a Pale malt base, and typically add a mix of Crystal, Brown, Chocolate and Black malts to achieve a dark color and taste. Roasted malts are used only in Robust Porter styles. Pale malt makes up 40-70% of the grain bill (60-80% for malt extract brewers). Dark Crystal/Caramel malts are used for color and body and provide at least 10% of the grain bill. Chocolate and Roasted malts each average around 5% of the grain bill, with roasted malt less common in Brown Porter.

A variety of grains including Munich malt, Roasted malt, wheat and additives are also used. I will occasionally brew “kitchen sink” Porter which consists of whatever malts I have laying around over a pale malt base. Traditional Porter also made heavy use of Amber and Brown malts, though these are less commonly used today. Ray Daniels recommends a mash temperature of 153F, though I often go a bit higher (156F) to provide a full bodied beer.

Traditional English hops are the appropriate choice for Porter, with East Kent Goldings being a favorite of mine. Other good choices include Fuggles, Northern Brewer, Northdown and Willamette. Light dry hopping is appropriate to the style, though hops aroma should not be dominant. English ale yeast is traditionally used for Porter for its fruity flavors, though other high attenuation yeasts are appropriate. Irish ale yeast is also occasionally used by homebrewers. Adjuncts are only rarely added to specialty Porters. A London water profile (high in carbonates) is best.

Porter Recipes

Sample Porter Beer Recipes (All Grain) from our recipes archive:

• Borders Porter – (Baltic Porter Recipe)
• Brown Porter
• Nothing but Wheat Brown Porter
• Porter 2
• Thunderhead Porter
• Robust Porter
• Smoked Porter – (Partial Mash)
• Smoked Molasses Porter

Sample Porter Recipe (Extract) from our recipes archive:

• A Mild Porter
• Playa Porter
• Viscious Kiev Porter
• Bumble Pig Honey Porter
• King Kong Porter
• Prestidigitation Porter
• Run of the Mill Porter
• Tom’s Godwingin’ Porter

We hope you enjoyed this week’s discussion on porter. Thank you again for reading our weekly blog – please keep your comments, bookmarks and ideas coming. If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to our blog or drop a guest vote on BrewPoll using the button on the right.

Reference

• “Designing Great Beers“, a book by Ray Daniels

• Baltic Porter Recipes – Beer Styles
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Sweet Stout and Milk Stout Recipes
• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• “Designing Great Beers” by Ray Daniels – A Book Review