Palatable 10% ABV Beers

It's an undeniably difficult thing to pull off with elegance: a palatable 10% ABV beer.  There are plenty of beers out there that taste good but contain additives or flavor enhancers far beyond what might be considered acceptable when viewed through the lens of the reinheitsgebot.  I don't claim to be a purist in any sense, and I have ample love for these beers, but they exist in a category outside of what I tried to do as the aforementioned mindset began to dominate my brewing plans for the end of November.  I wanted to brew two beers (one light, one dark) that embraced alcohol instead of trying to cover it up.  Beers that would make you pontificate about their gorgeously realized flavors both because they tasted great and because you were more than a little jangled from drinking them.  I was looking to use somewhat traditional ingredients to attempt to attain a balance between the heat you taste in a high ABV beer and the flavor that you desire form a quality homebrew.

I admit, this idea stemmed in no small part from a personal dislike of the trending approach in brewing to make all things quaffable also sessionable.  Don't peg me as ignorant as I understand the idea behind session beers, they're just not something I plan on embracing anytime soon.  I like my beers to be above 5% as a rule.  I've tasted plenty of good session beers, but I tend to want to make beer that has a little more danger associated with it.  Session beers are a little too reserved.  I try hard to find something sexy about them, but the chemistry just isn't there for me.

Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout   

I really liked Stone's 12th Anniversary Ale and I set out to do something similar with this beer.  The idea was to showcase bitterness from the dark roasted malts, providing a counter to the alcohol bite.  Hops took on a background role, with barely 15 AAUs added throughout the process.  Two pounds of Flaked Oats provided the base needed to handle all of that bitterness.  The result is smooth and drinkable but also intensely alcoholic and bitter.

Hoodoo Imperial IPA

A simple grain bill, with just enough residual sweetness and a ton of hops made this beer the counterpoint to the Bitter Stout.  The bitterness needed to cut through the ABV came exclusively from hops, though there was also plenty of aromatics meant to compliment the significant heat in the end result.  This beer came out intensely floral and finished just a bit too sweet at around 1.020.  If it had dropped another 8 or 10 gravity points, the result would have been significantly less cloying.  

Cardamom Milk Stout | Tangerine Wit

Cardamom Milk Stout

Green cardamom tincture.

Citrusy, resinous, spicy, peppery, dank.  Many of my favorite hops can be properly described using these adjectives.  Add terms like herbal, minty, warming, cola-like, sweet, and eucalyptus and you're describing something even more complex than Simcoe or Ahtanum or Mosaic.  You're describing cardamom.

In my case, specifically green cardamom.  I have some family roots in Scandinavia and grew up with some exposure to traditional foods from the region like lefsa, which my grandmother used to make for special occasions.  Cardamom is common in Scandinavian breads like pulla and julekake.  I've made pulla bread before, and the cardamom flavor is intense and clean with a strong herbal lemon quality that can suggest menthol and finishes with a refined sweet peppery note.  It's complex to say the least, and a small amount goes a long way.

I decided to make a milk stout with cardamom as the key flavor component.  Inspired by Yak and Yeti's Chai Milk Stout, I set out to accomplish something similar, but without the rest of the chai spices (cardamom is commonly found in masala chai tea, as well).  

Recipe - Cardamom Milk Stout

Specifics

Style: Sweet Stout   Brew Date: October 19, 2014 Yield: 5 gallons Color (SRM/EBC): 31.1/61.3 Bitterness (Calc): 56.3 IBU (Daniels)

Batch No: 145 Target OG: 1.056 Status: Primary

General Information

Method:

All Grain

Inspired by Yak & Yeti's Chai Milk Stout.

Malts and Grains

9.00 pounds	American Pale Malt (2-Row)	78.8% of grist
1.10 pounds	Crystal Malt 80L	9.6% of grist
0.44 pounds	British Chocolate Malt	3.9% of grist
0.44 pounds	British Pale Chocolate	3.9% of grist
0.44 pounds	American Roasted Barley	3.9% of grist
11.42 pounds	Total Grain Weight (Water Amounts)	100% of grist

Adjuncts

1.00 pounds

Lactose (Milk Sugar)

Hops

1.00 ounces	Magnum 12.9% Pellets @ 60 minutes  Type: Bittering Use: Boil	12.9 AAUs
1.00 ounces	Total Hop Weight	12.9 AAUs

Boil

Total Boil Time:

60 minutes

Yeast

Name:	Edinburgh Ale
Manufacturer:	White Labs
Product ID:	WLP028
Type:	Ale
Flocculation:	Medium
Attenuation:	72%
Temperature Range:	65–70°F
Amount:	35 ml

I made a simple tincture with cardamom pods, mixing 1/3 cup of the pods with 1/2 cup of vodka and letting the mixture sit in my dark garage for a week.  Today I'll be straining the pods from the vodka, then I'll add a small amount of the tincture to the entire five gallon batch after racking it into the keg, tasting as I go.  I'm guessing 2-5 drops will be plenty as the tincture's flavor is beautiful but intense.  

Bron-Yr-Aur Tangerine Wit  

Dried tangerine peel.

That's the way, oh that's the way...

One of the first beers I ever made was Papazian's Who's In The Garden? and I was instantly impressed by the role that spices could play in a beer's flavor.  Offer me a wheat beer and I tend to balk, but proffer a wit, and I'm always interested.  The hazy whiteness, the aromatic citrus blend of curacao and coriander seed, the gentle bitterness that those spices impress upon the palate.  In the years since, I've tried plenty of other wits, from the splendid perfection of Celis White (a sad brewing story of corporate greed and product mismanagement that discarded one man's craft in the mad grab for profit) to the disappointingly generic Blue Moon.  I've also made a few other wits and have come to some simple conclusions that are completely biased in favor of my own preferences:  

1. I like the citrus flavor imparted from the curacao more than that gleaned from the coriander.  
2. Grains of paradise are an essential additive in the boil to enhance that citrus bite and provide some background spice.
3. European pilsner malt makes a big difference in the final flavor.
4. Goldings hops are my preferred hop aromatic.
5. A decoction mash increases complexity and enhances mouthfeel considerably.

I gave this recipe a twist by using dried tangerine peel in place of the curacao.  Tangerine's somewhat milder flavor compelled me to add a bit more than I typically would, but I think the result will be special.  My decoction mash went as planned and it fermented out cleanly.

Recipe - Bron-Yr-Aur Tangerine Wit

Specifics

Style: Witbier   Brew Date: October 19, 2014 Yield: 5 gallons Color (SRM/EBC): 3.2/6.2 Bitterness (Calc): 21.8 IBU (Daniels)

Batch No: 144 Target OG: 1.044 Status: Primary

General Information

Method:

All Grain

Malts and Grains

4.50 pounds	German Pilsen Malt (2-Row)	50% of grist
4.50 pounds	Flaked Wheat	50% of grist
9.00 pounds	Total Grain Weight (Water Amounts)	100% of grist

Non-Fermentables

.3 oz	Tangerine Peel @ 5 minutes
1 oz.	Coriander Seed @ 5 minutes
.25 oz.	Grains of Paradise @ 5 minutes

Hops

0.35 ounces	Magnum 14.2% Pellets @ 75 minutes  Type: Bittering Use: First Wort	5 AAUs
0.25 ounces	Saaz 3.2% Pellets @ 15 minutes  Type: Flavor Use: Aroma	0.8 AAUs
0.20 ounces	Kent Golding 7.9% Pellets @ 15 minutes  Type: Flavor Use: Aroma	1.6 AAUs
0.80 ounces	Total Hop Weight	7.4 AAUs

Boil

Total Boil Time:

60 minutes

Yeast

Name:	Belgian Wit Ale
Manufacturer:	White Labs
Product ID:	WLP400
Type:	Wheat
Flocculation:	Low
Attenuation:	76%
Temperature Range:	67–74°F
Amount:	35 ml

As for the name, well, if you don't get the reference (or do and are a fan) click below:
          

Keystone Kryptonite Bitter

1995.  I was 15 years old.  I imagine that this commercial played during TGIF between episodes of Family Matters and Step By Step.

I certainly remember it (and all of its other iterations).  A bitter beer?!?  Primitive man evolved to fear bitterness as an indicator of toxicity in plants, and with bitterness as the most strongly perceived of the five senses, its utility as a warning against potentially dangerous foliage is undeniable.

Bringing the wort to a boil.

But we are not primitive man.  We can enjoy bitterness as a flavor unto itself, confident in the knowledge that the intense flavor that flows over our palettes when we drink a delicious English Bitter presents no real danger.  In fact, I might venture to suggest that the drinking of Bitter may be the essence of evolved humanity.  When you take a sip, you flaunt the ancient beliefs of our ancestors who shunned bitterness out of essential but stifling caution, and whose trepidation was a result of self-preservation uninformed by elevated sensory enjoyment.

A proper English Bitter should be a harmonious melding of simple ingredients and a showcase for British hops, malts and yeast.  This is an easy drinking beer with plenty of characterful British yeast flavor, and a platform for hops like Fuggles, East Kent Goldings and Target among many others.  This is the beer you order at your neighborhood pub on a Tuesday night after a day at work.


My version strove to use British ingredients as much as possible, with the exception of Pacific Ale Yeast.  I plan to enter this beer in a homebrew "friendly" next month where WLP 041 is a requirement.  I chose Northdown hops because they are an ingredient I haven't worked with in the past.  This beer is the antithesis of Keystone Light (its Kryptonite, perhaps).  A proudly bitter beer.

Keystone Kryptonite Bitter

Specifics

Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter   Brew Date: July 18, 2014 Yield: 5 gallons Color (SRM/EBC): 6.7/13.1 Bitterness (Calc): 55 IBU (Daniels)

Batch No: 142 Target OG: 1.043 Status: Primary

General Information

Method:

All Grain

Scale Recipe

Enter desired final yield (volume):

gallons

Malts and Grains

7.00 pounds	British Pale Ale Malt	88.2% of grist
0.31 pounds	British Crystal Malt	3.9% of grist
0.31 pounds	Flaked Barley	3.9% of grist
0.31 pounds	Flaked Maize	3.9% of grist
7.94 pounds	Total Grain Weight (Water Amounts)	100% of grist

Hops

1.20 ounces	Northdown 9% Pellets @ 60 minutes  Type: Bittering Use: Boil	10.8 AAUs
0.80 ounces	Northdown 9% Pellets @ 5 minutes  Type: Aroma Use: Aroma	7.2 AAUs
2.00 ounces	Total Hop Weight	18 AAUs

Boil

Total Boil Time:

60 minutes

Yeast

Name:	Pacific Ale
Manufacturer:	White Labs
Product ID:	WLP041
Type:	Ale
Flocculation:	High
Attenuation:	67%
Temperature Range:	65–68°F
Amount:	500 ml

American to German to Cascadian in 6 Weeks

Beer production has been steady these past few weeks, blogging has been slow.  Here's what's been going on:

Handsome Grandson Double Rye IPA (Version 2)

At the beginning of May I did a rebrew of one of my favorite homebrews:  Handsome Grandson Double Rye IPA.  I don't rebrew beers too often but this particular beer went over so well last time that I decided to make it again with minor changes.  The recipe is a riff off of Tasty McDole's Pliny Clone, but with a rye element to make the final taste a little spicier.  It's basically the same as before but without the crystal rye malt and some small hop changes to mix it up a bit; I wanted to use feature Simcoe.  This version came out at 9.3% ABV but tasted like it was 7%.  It's been on tap for almost a month but is almost gone thanks to a couple of growler fills for friends and a few good nights with fellow homebrewers.  If (when) I brew it again, I'll try and dry it out even more.

Excelsior Altbier

I bought a recipe from Midwest Supplies for my brother on his birthday.  He brews when he has time and doesn't have any temperature control so Midwest's saison kit seemed like a good fit for warm summer brewing.  I picked up their Excelsior Altbier in the process (and got free shipping) so it got brewed at the end of May.  It's a Dusseldorf-style recipe so it should be both bitter and malty at the same time with plenty of prominent hop character.  Basically an assertive, flavorful, clean German ale.  Some cold conditioning after primary fermentation and lower than normal ale temperatures should clean it up a bit.  I did a small diacetyl rest just in case, and should have it on tap in another 10 days or so.  I wonder how different a Northern German Altbier would be when tasted side-by-side?  Last time I was in Germany I didn't have the knowledge or palette to explore all that the German beer scene has to offer and I've been regretful since my eyes were opened by homebrew.   I've had mixed results with beer kits but this is my first time sampling the wares from Midwest and I'm optimistic.

Doug Flag Cascadian Dark Ale

Fellow homebrewer and aspiring randonneur, Eric (of Parallel 32 Brewing), took it upon himself to generously host a Summer Homebrew Competition this August.  This is a "friendly" with the main goals being to learn something in the process, drink some interesting beer and fun. We've focused on different styles, colors, and the use of particular ingredients for previous competitions.  The only stipulation this time is the use of WLP 041 Pacific Ale Yeast, a type that's relatively unfamiliar to all participants.

Saving a WLP 041 sample for next time.

Yesterday I brewed a Cascadian Dark Ale for the competition.  While the BJCP has moved to make Black IPA a style variant in the upcoming 2014 revision of the Style Guidelines (Gordon Strong's .ppt presentation here), I tend to think of Cascadian Dark Ale as a better descriptor.  There may even be room for both Black IPA and CDA in the style guidelines, but I don't know if it's necessary.  Cascadian Dark Ales should showcase hops from the Pacific Northwest, include some roasted character but not nearly to the point of a porter or stout, and should feature Sinamar or Carafa or some comparable specialty grain to add color without bitterness.  The final product should be dark brown to black (30 - 40 SRM), smooth and lacking in major astringency, and hoppy in a way that is unusual.  The darker roasted malts should bring out hop flavors that are harder to find in a paler counterpart (like mint, rosemary, or other herbal flavors) using the traditional American IPA hops.  You can really geek out on the semantics discussion by watching the Brewing TV video below.  They do a really nice job of characterizing the style and looking at the naming debate from multiple perspectives.

I wanted to keep my grain bill simple, end up on the low side for SRM, and showcase Mosaic hops (a Simcoe progeny).  My final recipe looks like this, though I wanted to use CaraAroma instead of the Crystal 120 but couldn't get my hands on any.  The Doug Flag in the beer's name refers to the flag of Cascadia, which contains a Douglas fir tree and colors representing the landscape and sensibilities of the Pacific Northwest and its residents.

Doug Flag Cascadian Dark Ale

Malts and Grains

11.50 pounds	American Pale Malt (2-Row)	87.5% of grist
0.60 pounds	German Carafa II De-Husked Malt	4.6% of grist
0.30 pounds	American Chocolate Malt	2.3% of grist
0.75 pounds	Crystal Malt 120L	5.7% of grist
13.15 pounds	Total Grain Weight (Water Amounts)	100% of grist

Hops

1.00 ounces	Chinook 12.8% Pellets  Type: Bittering and Aroma Use: First Wort	12.8 AAUs
1.50 ounces	Columbus 15% Pellets @ 60 minutes  Type: Bittering Use: Boil	22.5 AAUs
0.50 ounces	Mosaic 11.5% Pellets @ 15 minutes  Type: Flavor Use: Boil	5.8 AAUs
0.50 ounces	Chinook 12.8% Pellets @ 15 minutes  Type: Flavor Use: Boil	6.4 AAUs
0.50 ounces	Mosaic 11.5% Pellets @ 0 minutes  Type: Aroma Use: Aroma	5.8 AAUs
0.50 ounces	Simcoe 12% Pellets @ 0 minutes  Type: Aroma Use: Aroma	5.8 AAUs
1.50 ounces	Mosaic 11.5% Pellets  Type: Bittering and Aroma Use: Dry Hop	17.3 AAUs
6.00 ounces	Total Hop Weight	76.5 AAUs

Boil

Total Boil Time:

60 minutes

Yeast

Name:	Pacific Ale
Manufacturer:	White Labs
Product ID:	WLP041
Type:	Ale
Flocculation:	High
Attenuation:	67%
Temperature Range:	65–68°F
Amount:	500 ml