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Beer Styles Series: Maibock or Helles Bock

Monday, April 5th, 2021

by Jim Vondracek

Today, we’re taking a deep dive into a seasonal style – the traditional Maibock, now called the Helles Bock in the latest BJCP style guidelines. Seasonal brewing with beers like the Helles Bock can be great fun, as homebrewers establish their own traditions or follow historical patterns that may be hundreds of years old.

History

The Helles Bock fits into a traditional calendar of German bock brewing – the traditional or Dunkel Bock brewed for the winter, the Doppelbock for Lent (to provide sustenance during fasting) or early spring, and the Helles Bock for May and the lead into summer.  It fits neatly into a season that is post-doppelbock but pre-autumn festbiers. 

The history of the Helles Bock is also tied into the broad movement of German brewing from darker to lighter beers, with the advent and growing popularity of pale malts in the early 19th century.  

Before then, German beers, including bocks, were brown or dark.  First developed in England, pale malting came about when kilning by burning wood was replaced with coke.  The Germans were not quick to embrace the new pale malts – the locals loved their brown beers, including bocks.  Using the new pale malts, brewers in Pilsen, Bohemia, developed the pale style that eventually came to rule the world – the Pilsner.  Eventually, its popularity led German brewers to adapt, leading to the development of many pale styles we now equate with German lagers – Helles, Festbiers, German Pilsners, Dortmunders and the Helles Bock.  

Perhaps not coincidentally, at the same time pale beer arose, the popularity of clear glassware for drinking grew, replacing the ubiquitous pottery, ceramic, metal or wooden drinking tankards.  Now those pretty pale beers could be shown off!

For the Helles Bock in particular, it is anecdotally accepted that the style began at Munich’s Hofbrau, starting in the 1600s. At that time, the royal household were not entirely pleased with the offerings from Hofbrau and desired beers brewed in the style being popularized in Einbeck – Bocks. Later, with the advent of the pale malts, Hofbrau made their bock more pale and hoppier, leading to what we now think of as the Maibock or Helles Bock.

Style Characteristics

Today, the Helles Bock is a beer of some strength, generally pale ranging from golden to a light amber.  As a style, it can be thought of as sitting between the Dunkels Bock and the Munich Helles or Festbier.  It is a big, strong malty lager like the Dunkels Bock, but paler and with less rich malt character and more balanced, by bitterness and dryness.  Compared to the Helles or Festbiers, it is maltier and stronger.  

Maltiness is moderate to strong in this style, both in aroma and flavor.  It can have some Maillard-type character, but shouldn’t be caramelly or have any dark fruit character, unlike the Dunkels Bock. While still malt-forward, it gives the perception of more balance than the traditional bock because of its well-attenuated nature and elevated bitterness.  

Like most lagers, it has a ‘clean’ fermentation character, without perceivable esters or phenolics. Some fruitiness from Munich malt is sometimes present in this style, but that isn’t from fermentation, whose character should be clean. 

In addition to a clean fermentation, this style depends upon a fuller attenuated fermentation than the traditional bock.  This should not be a sweet beer, but have a mostly dry finish.

Mouthfeel is important for the style.  It needs a medium body to impart a sense of fullness that is a part of our enjoyment of bocks.  It also needs to have solid carbonation, up to medium high carbonation – this carbonation couples with the attenuation and bitterness to make this a more ‘drinkable’ version of the bock.  A light alcohol warming also enhances our enjoyment of this style – but it should never be hot or fusel. 

The Numbers

• According to the BJCP style guidelines, the Helles Bock comes in at:
• Bitterness 25-35 IBUs
• Color 6-11 SRM
• Original Gravity 1.064 – 1.072
• Final Gravity 1.011 – 1.018
• ABV 6.3% – 7.4%

Brewing the Helles Bock

As with all German lagers, any discussion of the Helles Bock soon becomes a conversation about whether to decoct or not.  The bottom-line is that people make an excellent Helles Bock both ways.  One way to approach it is as an interesting experiment – perhaps do a simple version of a decoction, a single decoction, and see how challenging you find it for your brewing process and set up. Or if you’re already an experienced decoction brewer, do a three or four decoction mash and see how much complexity you can pull out of the simple grain bill. 

Without a decoction mash, some brewers use melanoidin malt to mimic the flavors produced by decoction.  If you do this, show restraint, too much melanoidin can make the beer sweet and too dark for this style – Brewer’s Friend can help you track the color and the percentage, which should be no more than 5% of the grain bill.

Otherwise, specialty grains are generally not used in the Helles Bock.  Brewers adjust the percentages of three base grains, typically – Pilsner, Munich and Vienna – to get the flavor, aroma and color profile they are looking for. 

While still malt forward, the Helles Bock does need a firmer bitterness than the traditional bock.  Hops are usually German noble hops, often Hallertau Mittelfruh, although you can certainly use hops from other areas whose parentage traces from the noble hop category – like American-grown Liberty, Mt. Hood or Sterling.   

As with all lagers, yeast and fermentation are critical to the Helles Bock.  Choose a clean, well-attenuating and flocculating yeast that will enhance malt character.  White Labs Bock Lager and Southern German Lager strains are good choices.  Omega’s Bock Lager and Wyeast’s Munich Lager and Hella Bock strains are also excellent choices.  Dry yeast options are also available – Lallemande’s Lalbrew Diamond and Fermentis’ Saflager W-34/70.  

Pitching sufficient amounts of healthy yeast is important to producing clean, well-attenuated lagers.  Generally, pitch rates for lagers are higher than for ales, and because the Helles Bock is a bigger beer, it needs an even higher pitch rate.  Use the pitching calculator at Brewer’s Friend to make sure you’re pitching enough yeast.

You can pitch multiple packs of yeast, but that can get expensive fast.  You can also make a starter, for a beer like the Helles Bock, it will need to be a big starter and probably will need to be stepped up twice.  For beers like this, I will sometimes do a three-gallon extract batch with no hops, pitch two packs of lager yeast, let it ferment out for ten to twelve days at 50F, then pour off the ‘beer’ and pitch the remaining yeast cake into the lager.  For me, this is often easier than a multiple step starter that ends up still not being big enough. 

Generally, lagers require fermentation temperature control.  Standard practice is to ferment at 50F.  My practice is to chill wort to below 50F, pitch the yeast, let it rise to 50F and then ferment there for ten to twelve days, finally raising the temp to 65F.  This can serve as a diacetyl rest, although I find that if I pitch sufficient amounts of healthy yeast at the right temps, diacetyl is usually not a problem.  But raising the temp does encourage the yeast to finish up their job and get the final bit of attenuation 

After fermentation, I drop the temperature to 34F and lager it for at least two weeks.  I carb at that temperature, too, and storing it in a cold keg in a fridge or keezer is also like lagering, so often the beer will have lagered for about a month before getting served.  

Helles Bock Recipe

View the recipe in Brewer’s Friend here.

• OG 1.069
• Bitterness 31 IBU
• Color 7 SRM
• Final Gravity 1.014

Grain Bill

8 lbs Pilsner
5 lbs Vienna
3 lbs Munich

Mash

Double Decoction, steps at 142F, 152F and 158F
Batch Sparge
Water – Chicago municipal water (Lake Michigan), target mash pH 5.3, with 13 ml of lactic acid

Hop Schedule

2 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh 3.7AA @ 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh @ 30 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh @10 minutes

Yeast

Omega Bock Lager or other yeasts mentioned above

Other

Whirlfloc added with ten minutes left in the boil, White Labs Clarity Ferm pitched with the yeast

Commercial Helles Bocks – On Tour’s Low Boy

As a style, the Helles Bock hasn’t been as commercially popular here among craft beer brewers, compared to the traditional Dunkels Bock or even the Doppelbock.  The most popular commercial Maibock in this country isn’t a lager – its Rogue’s Dead Guy, which Rogue describes as a Maibock Ale.  Compared to its German counterparts, Dead Guy has more toffee and caramel aromas and flavors.  That being said, its both popular and award-winning.

One of my favorite German Maibocks is from Ayinger.  I’ve never had it fresh, from the source, but the imported bottles I’ve had have been delicious.  

I’m also fortunate to live near a brewery here in Chicago that won a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Maibock – On Tour’s Low Boy.  Like the best examples, it has a high drinkability factor, because of its balance, carbonation, smoothness – you don’t realize you’re drinking a beer that is quite as big as it is.

A group of us spoke with Dave Campbell, brewer at On Tour, at a Helles Bock tasting featuring Low Boy. Some highlights from that conversation include:

• Grain Bill – in addition to Pilsner and Munich, On Tour uses rye malt in Low Boy, along with melanoidin, cara-amber, and a touch of caramel malt

• Water – On Tour uses Lake Michigan water, and does small adjustments with calcium chloride, calcium sulfite, and phosphoric acid

• Hops – Columbus for bittering and Czech Saaz at the end, in the last ten minutes

• Yeast – BSI Andechs strain, originally from a monastery brewery outside Munich, 72% attenuation and strong flocculation

• Fermentation – starts at 53F, let rise to 55F over the first couple of days, halfway through fermentation raise it to 60, then slowly drop to lagering temps; four weeks total for fermentation and lagering

According to Campbell, On Tour brews Low Boy seasonally, in late winter, to be served in the spring.  It’s a beer they are known for, because of the medal, but he called it a “taproom hero”, meaning that people come to the taproom for a ten ounce pour, but then switch to drinking  their popular and more crushable IPAs and other offerings.  

Whether drinking a commercial offering like Low Boy or your own handcrafted Helles Bock, enjoy this sure sign of spring as we leave the doldrums of winter.  Prost!

Posted in Beer Styles | 1 Comment »

Gose Beer – History, Style, And Recipes

Thursday, June 18th, 2020

By: Ricardo J. Corbella – Brewmaster – Certified Beer Server Cicerone

Editor’s Note: This article was translated from Spanish. Every attempt was made to ensure proper meaning and grammar is true to the source.

Gose-style beer was first brewed more than a thousand years ago in a small town called Goslar in northern central Germany. That beer was probably significantly different from the Gose beer we drink today.

Gose, in German is pronounced “GO-zuh”, the name derives from the river that flows through Goslar, called Gose.  As with most classic beer styles, it’s hard to know exactly when it originated, or what it looked and smelled like. This may be especially true for Gose, as it has a history that extends well in the past long before most beer styles.

The original Goslar beer, according to many sources, was fermented spontaneously or naturally, a culture that had established its residence in the wooden containers used to make and ferment beer. Overall, the process of elaboration before the 1400s was very different from today. The bubbling and boiling were usually not even part of the process. In some cases the brewers did not boil the must at all, and in others, they boiled the must, but not for long.

It could be assumed that Gose was initially prepared with grain or some kind of spice mixture and not with hops. It can also be concluded that these early Goslar beers would have been fermented by multiple types of organisms, probably several strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as lactic acid bacteria, Brettanomyces, other wild yeasts and probably a little acetic acid bacteria if the beer was left to age.

Features of Gose Beer

It is a highly carbonated wheat beer, acidic, and fruity, with a restricted character of salt and coriander with low bitterness. They are very refreshing and feature vivid flavors and typically have high attenuation.

Many things play a role in the formation of the final taste of a beer. Specific processes, time, cleaning, equipment design, brewer skill, and ingredients can all drastically change the results. But none can be more important than good ingredients, particularly the water and yeast to be used.

Gose Ingredient Selection

Water: It is known from many sources that water from the Gose River was used to brew beers in Goslar. In the case of Gose beer, the mineral content of the water, especially its salinity, is a good part of what this beer is all about.

Malt: Most Gose brewers adhere to tradition, using a grain bill that consists of wheat and barley in equal proportions with wheat occasionally taking a slight advantage. The malt for Gose beer should be pale two row, pilsner malt, or other well modified pale barley.

Hops: Herbs provided the scent in the earliest Gose renditions. Over time these spices stopped being used and only hops and coriander remain. Its remarkable low bitterness is one of the things that defines its style, so hops are used in small quantities. Another reason is that Lactobacillus is not a hop-tolerant bacterium, only 5 IBUs can affect the growth of some lactobacillus bacteria, and without lactobacillus, the Gose would not be a sour beer. Hop additions would have been enough to prevent unwanted bacteria but low enough to allow lactobacillus to do its job. Traditionally hops would be a noble German variety, a clean hops of flavor, soft with low cohumulone content to impart a milder bitterness. Classic German varieties such as Hellertauer Mittelfruh, Saphir, Hersbrucker or Perle might be good options.

Yeast: A yeast with a relatively neutral flavor profile will allow the acidity of the beer to shine. Attenuation can be important in this style. A highly attenuated yeast will leave the beer dry and crispy, while a yeast with low attenuation will leave a beer with more sweetness. Alcohol tolerance is not a problem for Gose as it is a beer with a low to medium-low alcoholic content, and the same goes for flocculation, as it is not a clear beer.

Spontaneous fermentation: Gose beers were most likely fermented spontaneously. These beers began fermentation in 12 to 24 hours so there should be an immediate source of microganies to get the beer fermenting quickly.  It has been suggested that wooden vessels, sometimes spruce, were a source of bacteria and yeast needed for fermentation. These containers may have acted as a home for resident microorganisms, brewers may have intentionally prevented deep washing of these, as they could have noticed that a more informal cleaning resulted in the next fermentation starting faster.

Fruits: Traditionally, fruit was not added to Gose, but as with Berliner weisse, flavored syrups were sometimes added to beer when served. Contemporary craft brewers have taken this concept and continue to add fruits, both natural and in syrup-form. The addition of fruits on the hot side has the obvious advantage in that they are sterilized by contact with the hot wort. The disadvantage is the loss of some subtle and more delicate flavors and aromas during boiling. Many fruits have seeds and if they are not removed before heating, they can be the cause of harsh and bitter flavors in beer. The fruit added on the warm side can also release pectin which will cause turbidity problems after fermentation. The addition of the fruit on the cold side can give the beer the closest flavors to the real fresh fruit. Like spices, the downside is that it has not been sterilized. Fresh fruit has a lot more bacteria than spices. To alleviate this problem many brewers use frozen fruit, as most bacteria cannot survive for long in freezing, but some bacteria can. Purees of pasteurized fruits are safer, which have then been frozen. The closer to the beginning of fermentation the fruit is added, the more flavor and aroma it loses from the decomposition it suffers during fermentation, the production and elimination of carbon dioxide, in particular, may be responsible for the loss of many aromatic compounds.

Salt: Legend has it that Gose’s salinity once came from the mineral-laden water of the Gose River. And unlike other regions of the world, salt was plentiful in the mountainous region of Harz around Goslar, therefore, salt was not a very expensive product.

Here’s the recipe of one of the great personalities of the brewing world:

Strong English Gose Recipe

“Gordon Strong,” BJCP Director USA
Original gravity: 1.042 (10.5oP)
Final gravity: 1,008 (2.1oF)
Bitternes: 9 IBU
Alcohol: 4.5% by volume
Apparent attenuation: 80%

Grain Bill

5.0 lb. (2.3 kg) German wheat malt
3.5 lb. (1.6 kg) Belgian Pilsner malt

Hops

0.7 oz. (20 g) Czech Saaz, 3% AA – first wort hop

Water

Reverse osmosis (RO) wáter 0.25 tsp. 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons (19 L) or until ph at room temperature.
1 tsp. (5 g) calcium chloride (CaCL2) to the mash

Yeast

Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) or White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/Kolsch) yeast.

*Two days before the day of preparation, make 1 qt. (1 L) yeast with the German strain ale, aerating the must thoroughly (preferably with oxygen) before releasing the yeast.

Additional Ingredients

0.26 az. (7.5 g) coriander seed, freshly ground 0 minutes.
0.35 oz. (10 g) kosher salt 0 minutes.

Souring Agent

19 capsules Swanson’s Probiotic Lactobacillus platarum Inner Bowel Support (10B cells/capsule)

Brewing Notes

Mash Target mash temp: 149o F (65oC)
Boil 10 min.

On the day of brewing, crush the malts to 149oF (65oC) into 13 gallon frames. (12 L) of water and keep this temperature for 60 minutes. Raise the temperature by infusion or direct heating to 168oF (76oC) for maceration. Recirculate for 20 minutes, spray with 168o F (76oC) of water until 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort is collected. Lift the must until boiling and hold for 10 minutes. Do not add hops at this time. After boiling, I cooled to 95 degrees F (35 C). add the powder of 19 capsules of Swanson’s Probiotic L. Plantarum Inner Bowel Support (10B cells/capsule). Do not throw out the German ale yeast at this time. Purge the kettle with CO2 and cover. Hold for 12 or 24 hours at 95oF (35oC), or until the ph drops to 3.4. Add hops, boil the must for 90 minutes. Turn off the heat, then add the coriander into a mesh bag and salt. Steep for 5 minutes, then remove the bag. I cooled to 18oC placed the yeast initiator and fermented until complete. Once the fermentation is finished, ripen for a few days in cold, pass the beer to the barrel and force the carbonate to 3 volumes of CO 2.

Los Santos Hops – Gose Divino Recipe

Brewmasters: Ricardo Corbella, Juan Manuel Castagnini and Nicolas Piana.

Original gravity: 1,039 (10.5oP)
Final gravity: 1,008 (2.1oF)
Bitterness: 6 IBU
Alcohol: 4.2% by volume
Apparent attenuation: 80%

Grain Bill

12.12 lbs (5.5 kg) Malted Wheat
8.8 lbs (4 kg) Malta Pilsner

Hops

0.7 oz. (80 g) Czech Saaz, 3% AA first wort hop

Yeast

Yeast US-05, as it leaves us a neutral profile and works quite well despite the low ph of the must in fermentation.

Additional Ingredients

(0.8 g /L) fresh coriander and crushed 10 minutes before finishing the boil.
(10 g /L) himalayan salt 10 minutes before the boiling is over.
(3.5 L) pink grapefruit juice.
(8 kg) frozen pink grapefruit pulp.

Souring Agent

To acidify the wort we use 2 liters of liquid neutral yogurt containing L. acidophilus and possibly other strains of Lactobacillus.

BREWING NOTES

Mash at a temperature of 149oF (65oC) for 60 minutes.

We boiled for 10 min.

Prepare the pure and maintain this temperature for 60 minutes. Raise the temperature by mixing the infusion or heating to 76oC to finish mashing. Recirculate for 20 minutes, spray with water at 76oC of water until 58 or 60 L of wort is collected to bring to the boil. Heat the must until boiling for 10 minutes. Don’t add jumps at this time. After boiling, I cooled to 95 degrees F (35 C). At this time, add 2 liters of natural whole yogurt. Do not add US-05 yeast at this time. Purge the kettle with CO 2 and cover the pot. Hold for 12 or 24 hours at 95o F (35oC or 40oC), or until the ph drops to 3.4. Add hops in first wort, boil the must for 90 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of boiling add the cilantro and salt. Then transfer to fermenter cooling to 18oC, add the yeast and ferment until it is complete. Add the pink grapefruit juice and frozen fruit pulp. Allow to mature for a couple more days, transfer to a keg, force the carbonate to 3.2 volumes of CO 2.

Sources: Gose: Brewing a Classic German Beer for the Modern Era.
Fal Allen. September 7, 2018. Brewers Publications

Posted in Beer Styles, Brewing | 1 Comment »

A Brief History and Look at Future Trends in US Craft Beer

Saturday, February 17th, 2018

“Beer is more important than armies when it comes to understanding people.” – Alexei Vranich

An Early History of Craft Beer

Early American beer started with ales from the British settlers; porters, stouts, and pale ales (once kilning took hold as general practice in 1703). It is common knowledge that most of the founding fathers were homebrewers, with George Washington being one of the most famous of them. One thing that many people don’t talk much about is the role of women in early American brewing. These brewing maidens many times managed their own operations, brought communities together, and many were also typically bakers as well. They kept cats as house pets, and hung their brooms outside their houses to signify that beer was flowing. Recognize anything familiar? These women were demonized by Puritan settlers to promote staunch temperance, and thus the “witch” was born.

Once German settlers started arriving in the later 1700s and 1800s, lager beers came into the forefront. What we saw after that was a hybridization of style—basically a blend of the lager and pale ale (especially in the warmer climates)—this is where the California and Kentucky common came from, as well as the cream ale. These were the standard beer menu items almost any domestic brewery carried. Locality had a lot to do with it. Just as it always has been in brewing, you use what’s fresh and what you can get your hands on. This is the reason the American adjunct lager became the popular method for brewing lager in the US, because local American 6-row Barley didn’t have the same gravity potential as European 2-row, so corn and rice were added to increase the available sugar content in the beer without changing the flavor too much. There are various research papers from the time that praised this innovation, which allowed everyone to continue drinking their favorite bubbly beverage. Around this time also (pre-18th amendment America), there were just a couple hundred breweries less than there are today. You could say it was in its own hey-day. Macro breweries had been at a disadvantage during this period, as the local brew pubs were the ones with the freshest selection and lower price that the larger players couldn’t compete with. Prohibition is what allowed for the large breweries to take over, they were the ones that invested in canning lines, distribution (trucks, etc.), and large facilities. They also brewed low alcohol/zero alcohol beers to stay afloat during that time or did things like selling malted milk to candy companies. I don’t really need to spend much time on what happened after that. One thing that is quite notable, however, is that even through this time, there were pub and brewery owners truly honoring the craft. This helped to create an underground community that eventually assembled the American Brewer’s Association which helped establish specific protections for independent breweries, and today is the driving force in beating back the macros of the world, creating a niche for these brands that are truly “craft.”

There really was a shift when the Cold War ended. The early 1990s saw people like the pioneers from Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head come along and helped to truly reshape what American beer is, basically by saying, “this can’t be all there is…” They doubled down on their beliefs, and decided that the way to make it was not to do a better version of the American Light Lager, but to do something completely different. They followed the Henry Ford methodology, giving people something that they had no real expectation for nor basis of judgement- “If I had asked the customer what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse”. In today’s market, these same companies are working tirelessly to stay relevant and compete with the up-and-comers, who seem to have a strong pulse on the changing palate of the American beer drinker. Because of this innovation, the US is now the best place to try and taste new beers, according to Randy Mosher. Between 2015 and 2017, almost 1,000 breweries were opened, and in 2017 craft beer surpassed 10% of overall US beer market share (BeverageDynamics). People have come to demand new and local, something that Big Beer has been tapping into with their Shock Top/Blue Moons and Goose Island/Kona brands- falsely representing brands as craft when they are just as “big” as Budweiser itself. Certain large craft brands have also been seen adding products to the shelves to compete in the smaller craft brew space, e.g. Tropical Torpedo (Sierra Nevada), Voodoo Ranger/Citradelic (New Belgium), Rebel IPA and now a New England IPA (Sam Adams) to name a few. This is the one thing that makes me excited about the future of beer, as if these pioneers are basically a step behind now, where can this industry really go? Authenticity and taste will always seem to trump craft no matter how you define the word. We’re basically seeing history repeat itself- just with different flavors and style trends- and way larger marketing budgets.

There’s a lot of speculation of what’s to come. If 2018 is anything like 2015 or 2017, we’ll likely see another huge acquisition that blows everyone’s minds and makes the buy-outs of yester-year feel like a drop in the bucket. The one refreshing aspect of all of this is how gracious the beer drinking community is. Yes there are people who have had their egos get far too overinflated, but the fact remains that this culture is one based on trust and comradery. For every 10 new breweries, there is at least one homebrew store opening, and soon local malt houses will start to be a staple in the industry as up-and-comers look to distinguish their malt taste, reminiscent of what the French have coined “terroir”. One of the most interesting pieces I got my hands on was a research paper talking about the role that wasps will play in the future of beer taste, as wild yeasts can breed and mutate within the stomachs of wasps. Some larger craft breweries have been experimenting with “brewing history into the glass,” and I’m fascinated to see what type of concoctions brewers will continue to bring to the table in this “ancient” vein. Heck, I heard of a beer that was brewed from a yeast isolated from the brew master’s beard! Now that the science is more specifically understood, there will be some amazing flavors hitting the market that might make our hoppy berliners of today look like finger paintings next to these flavor Picassos. I just saw a well-produced social media ad for sour beers claiming they’re incredible for digestive health. I can see the marketing campaigns already… “So you like Kombucha… Then you’ll love this beer”- they’re already selling 7% abv Kombucha… so why not?

2017 in Craft Beer

Some Big trends that 2017 saw: sour beers, dry hopped wild beers, fruity/juicy IPAs, New England IPAs, and milk in everything. Even though people have loved to hate some of these trends, they’ve come about from brewers responding to feedback from their customers, by just giving the fans what they want. A very stark advantage that these up and coming breweries have is not being chained to successful brands, which frees up tap space for more seasonal brewing, and allows the brewers to pay more attention to their customers. Some tap houses have gained market share by never carrying the same keg twice.

One trend that seems to be gaining momentum is the alternative grains movement. In 2015, Business Insider listed gluten-free beer FIRST on its list of 4 trends to look out for in the coming years. I’m making no large, overarching comments here, but that could be the reason I was chosen to write this article (being a glutard myself). Certain breweries like Ghostfish and Glutenberg have gotten their flavors profiles down so well that we might see a day when gluten-free is no longer just for those with sensitive stomachs, or who are health conscious, and is lumped in with the rest as just down right good beer. It’s still made with water, malted grains, hops, and yeast. Speaking of the Reinheitsgebot, many countries, like Germany, are drinking 30% less beer per capita, and “health reasons” is the main driving force. Take this into account. The same year that the USA was rated the fattest country in the world (2007), Germany was rated as the fattest country in Europe. Gluten is an inflammatory protein. There’s not really any way around that, and gluten-reduced beer just carries chopped up gluten protein pieces, from which I personally still experience inflammation in the form of brain fog, sore joints, and worse hang-overs (think hangover turned flu-like), so there is a chance that gluten-reduced might not be a long-lived trend in beer. Lacking those inflammatory proteins, the path forward may include a growing number of gluten-free breweries, where grains that have typically been on the periphery will now take center stage, like millet, buckwheat, rice, sorghum, quinoa, oats (that are certified gf), corn, amaranth, sweet potatoes, beets, dates, and various of other malt-able grains and sugars. By no means has barley seen it’s day, but there is a massive potential for this industry to take flight considering that according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, as many as 18 million Americans may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).

Other Trends to Watch For

I’m very excited to see that barrel aging has gained so much popularity in beer. The next few years will likely see every commercial barrel used for any spirit being used to beer aging- Tequila and Rum barrels especially- the bourbon barrel/taste is starting to play itself out. Also, I’m starting to see less shaker pint glasses serving my favorite golden elixirs- which means that the education about what beer can be is getting out to the masses.

The public has spoken, as one-bottle wonders are typically a one-time sell. Some craft beer enthusiasts may be willing to pay extra for a beer that they’ve decided they’re going to try and check off their beer bucket list, but they’re not going to come back and buy your 18% ABV mother of all IPAs night after night. Session beers are making a strong comeback, especially as this local movement takes hold and breweries become communal gathering places again and not just destination visits for beer pilgrims. I also keep hearing about pilsners making the list at just about every brewery, so much so that even Robert Mondavi’s kid is opening a brewery that will specialize in just pilsners. Who would have thought? Either way, expect to start hearing from more Utah brewers to be leaders in this space (*throat clear* Jennifer Talley is a genius).

One thing that seems safe to say is that IPA’s are here to stay. Breweries will continue to have IPAs, and in some cases, have more than 4 IPA styles on their tap list (some are all IPA breweries and are not ready to admit it). In today’s climate, it’s almost expected. The number of new breweries being launched with an IPA as their flagship beer is almost staggering. To keep up with this demand, hop cultivars will continue to experiment and breed strains together to get the right chemical mixes and really make those flavors pop. We’ll be seeing some hop breeding relationships that will most likely blow people’s minds- think mixing two “not-as-popular” hops to create something far more desirable- this could change the taste styles we see.

Craft Beer Style Crossover

Speaking of breeding, beer styles have been getting it on so to speak; so much so that they don’t really have their own style category for judging. In fact, we’ll likely see so much style-creep that naming beers might become purely marketing. Cans are already starting to look like professional works of art with the labeling designs, and it’s working. Somehow asking for the bartender for a pint of the “Tropical Imperial Hazy Kolsch” just doesn’t seem like it’ll work in the long run. What do we really know anyway? Could the pilsner’s day actually be in its twilight of popularity? Whatever the case, quality will always win in the craft game.

“Tod Zum Reinheitsgebot” (Gluten Free India Dunkel Bock)

Grains	Hop Schedule	Yeast
5 lbs. Pale Millet Malt 5 lbs Vienna Millet Malt 2 lbs Munich Millet Malt 2 lbs Buckwheat Malt .5 lb gas hog rice malt (you can mash or just add to the top of your mashed grains and sparge with this for color)- I personally preferred the smoky/astringent taste that transferred over in the mash- very Rauch-like! 1.5 lbs rice hulls 3.3 lbs. of sorghum syrup (towards the end of the boil- 15 minutes) 0.5 lb. Maltodextrin (10 minutes) (stir in a 1 cup glass of warm water before pouring- the same way you do with cornstarch)	.5 oz. Hallertau Blanc (60 minutes) .5 oz. Hallertau Blanc + 1 oz Calypso + .5 oz Simcoe (15 minutes) 1 oz. Hallertau Blanc + 1 oz Calypso + 2.5 oz Simcoe (Whirlpool)	WLP 833 German Bock Lager Yeast
By the Numbers:
OG:1.070 | FG:1.005 | ABV:8.5%

Notes:
Treat water with 2 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp gypsum. Mix all grains dry in bucket before pouring in, Stir in grains into 5 gal of strike water and add ½ tsp of amylase enzyme. Mash at 154⁰F for 1 hour, raise to 163 for 30 minutes, sparge out with 2.5 to 3 gallons of 170⁰F water with same ratio of calcium chloride and gypsum (In this instance you would use 3/5 of your original measurements- since we’re sparging with 3 gallons). You should have a pre-boil gravity of about 1.03-1.045.
Ferment 2 weeks at 55⁰F. I transferred to the lager fridge when gravity was 1.010. Dry hop three days before pulling the beer out. I let it lager for just about a month between 36-38⁰F.

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Aspects of Brewing a Wheat Beer

Monday, October 23rd, 2017

Hefeweizen, weissbier, witbier, white ale… Whatever your preference; wheat beers are abundant, effervescent, and different. They can be served with a slice of orange or lemon, with all the yeast “mit hefe” style, with raspberry syrup, or filtered crystal clear. They vary in color from the light witbier to copper-brown versions of weizenbock. They can smell and taste of: bananas, clove, coriander, bitter orange, and even bubblegum. These refreshing, mostly session strength ales are usually associated with summertime sunshine. However, there are a couple of higher ABV styles that would pair well with a cold evening by the fire.

Wheat Beer Grain Bills

The typical wheat contribution to the grain bill can be as high as 70%, with rare exceptions like grodziskie (an oak smoked wheat beer) making up 100% of the grist.

Wheat beers nearly went extinct in the 1500’s due to the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law. The Reinheitsgebot stated that only barley, water, and hops could be used as ingredients to produce beer and thus prohibited breweries from using wheat, or other grains such as rye. According to a Brew Your Own article from 1999 the original purpose of the law is somewhat debatable. Certainly it was a consumer protection law to ensure people were in fact getting beer when they went to the local watering hole, but some sources claim it was meant to prevent a shortage of bread. Further down the rabbit hole of conspiracy is the idea that the pale white beers were only brewed by, and for, the nobles and clergy and not for the common man, who was left drinking the dark swill of the lower class. The law was later amended to include yeast, after its discovery.

Wheat beers have become somewhat of an American spring and summertime tradition. They often were considered to be the jumping off point for those interested in expanding their palates to include more than mass produced lagers but lately it seems like that is more the space of the mass produced IPA . Be that as it may, for those of us who live in the permanent summertime of California, we still enjoy a nice crisp, refreshing wheat beer in the sun year round. If big beer had any sense they would take a hint from Corona and show Shock Top or Blue Moon being happily consumed on beach volleyball courts by freakishly tall men and women, at high noon.

Styles of Wheat Beer

As long as we are on the subject of Belgian Wit and American summers let us take a look at Allagash White:

According to the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), the standard guidelines for homebrew beer styles, Allagash White, along with Hoegaarden Wit, are prime examples of the wit style. Belgian Wits are generally brewed with 50% unmalted wheat and a light base malt like pilsner or 2 row pale. They can include oats to add to the haze and body. Noble hops are used to add a light bitterness, but nothing too noticeable, or overwhelming. Allagash White includes the traditional spice addition of coriander seed, which is the seed of cilantro that smells strikingly similar to Trix cereal. Allagash also uses the traditional curacao orange peel, which adds to that zesty zing in the aroma and flavor. I tried putting an orange slice to my pour and it was totally unnecessary. It added nothing to the beer and was ultimately just an obstacle in the drinking process. The beer is delicious on its own. Light, refreshing, nicely carbonated, and extremely flavorful.

I did a side by side with the macro produced Shock Top and it was comparable to watching a cover band at the local dive bar trying to fiddle their way through a Led Zeppelin song. On paper they are the same. Belgian style beers brewed with coriander and orange peel, but the difference between the two is painful. My suggestion, as far as adding an orange for garnish in the Shock Top, is to disregard the beer, and eat the orange. Also, for anyone learning about off flavors, the Shock Top tasted like cardboard. Paper and cardboard are aromas and flavors commonly associated with oxidized beer. If you have a buddy that insists on drinking this farce of a Belgian Wit I suggest you sneak some Allagash White into his/her cooler at the next outing. They will thank you later.

Have you tried the Hefe?

For the Hefeweizen (pronounced hay-fuh-vy-tsen) I chose the ultra-approachable Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier. According to them they are “the World’s oldest brewery” and the beer was brewed in accordance to “the purity law of 1516” which is slightly confusing considering the purity law clearly stipulated that barley was the only acceptable grain to brew with in 1516. This is how conspiracy theories get started. Give me a couple hours of online research and I’ll blow this whole Reinheitsgebot scam wide open! Further adding to the confusion, Randy Mosher in Tasting Beer stated that “Weis, Weiss, and Weisse all mean ‘white’ in German and have long been used to describe the pale, hazy beers containing wheat…” and “Weizen means ‘wheat’ in German and refers to the Bavarian or suddeutsch form of weissbier.” Even further: “hefe indicates Weissbier with yeast…” There is also a filtered version known as Kristalweizen…

The Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, however, is very good. I never realized there was such a striking difference between the Belgian Wit style and German Hefeweizen. I always assumed they were the more or less the same, but different in small ways, like English Pale ale and American Pale Ale. I was wrong. The hefeweizen is much less aggressive in its flavor and brewed with 50%-70% wheat. It is softer and seemingly more rounded. The 4-vinyl guaiacol which is responsible for the clove like aroma and flavor in the yeast is in the forefront while the beer also hits notes of banana with a hint of bubblegum on the nose and taste. There is little to no bitterness or hop presence and it is extremely drinkable.

American Wheat

American wheat is one of those styles of beer that will forever be burned into my brain as uncool for reasons I don’t remember, but I don’t care, as I like it. I have vivid memories of my first times drinking these non-lager beers, after turning 21, of course. While going out to dinner with my mom, or my dad, I was quietly exploring beer menus and learning about the life I would lead after 40oz. malt liquor stopped being the norm. This was before IPAs became a staple offering at most establishments and back when hefeweizen just meant beer served with a lemon or an orange added on the rim. My memories include copious consumption of Widmer Hefe and Pyramid Hefeweizen. Since Widmer Hefe holds a space in my heart I opted to try it again to make sure it was still worthy. Upon revisiting it, the beer seemed dulled down, non-threatening, and different than I had remembered. It smelled like a hefeweizen, minus the yeast aroma, which is basically all the aroma of a hefeweizen. I went to their website to research if the recipe had changed or if my memories were better than the truth. Then as I entered my date of birth, and accessed the site, I saw a picture of the Widmer Hefe with a lemon garnishing the glass. That’s when I realized what I was missing. Having no lemons I opted for the trusty orange. I could have gone back to the store, but I had already had a tough enough time finding the Shock Top for this tasting. None of my go to stores carry it! I spend all this time seeking out small breweries and then when I need the macro stuff I can’t find it, go figure. Needless to say the orange brought the Widmer Hefe right back to where it was when I killed an oversized pitcher of it, at a burger shack, with my future wife, my mom, and my step-dad.

This is one, of many, reasons American beer has had a bad rap for so many years. It is the dumbest dumbed down version of a true hefeweizen. The yeast is a clean ale yeast and everything about it is subdued. The BJCP states that the use of American hops and more hop character, in general, is desirable. Call me crazy, but with all these American hops floating around in our IPAs, there must not be much left for our American wheats, because even at 15-30 IBU’s they are gentle and lightly bitter.

And now for something a little different.

Dunkel weissbier is a dark German wheat beer that maintains the yeasty banana and clove flavor other German wheat beers while also having a toasted bread or caramel flavor from the use of darker Vienna and Munich malts. Traditionally a decoction mash was used. This is a process in which a portion of the mash is removed and then brought to a boil and then added back into the main mash to bring the mash temperature to different rests. Decoction mashing aids in the darker caramel flavors associated with caramelized sugars and the maillard reaction, but this is a method that is generally no longer used in commercial breweries. Low on bitterness and hop aroma, the Erdinger Dunkel is like a dark Hefeweizen with some additional bready and caramel aspects. Malty yet dry, it is a nice change of pace that is sure to please novice beer drinkers and nerds alike.

Hefeweizen on steroids

Weizenbock is an obscure style that doesn’t come up in conversation too much. It is a sleeper and I’m sure once American craft breweries discover it they will be brewing it for their yearly holiday beer. It is similar to a hefeweizen, but stronger, bigger, and, some would say, better. It is like banana bread in a glass and can come in light or dark versions. The extra malt usage adds to the higher ABV of anywhere from 6.5%-9.0% it has even more of that banana and clove flavor. Dark versions will utilize Vienna and/or Munich malt and can have more dark fruit character like plums, prunes, or raisins, and even a light chocolatey, but not roasted, flavor. I opted for the light version brewed by Weihenstephaner called Vitus. This is a good winter warmer for anyone looking to break from the traditional imperial stout or barley wine. I imagine it going great with some chocolate dessert by a roaring fire while the snow falls. Unfortunately, living in Los Angeles, I may never get to test my theory. I have, however, had an imperial stout on a cool 80 degree evening, so there’s that.

There are a few other beer styles to consider that use wheat as a fair portion of their grain bill

The classic Berliner Weisse, from none other than Berlin, is a low ABV sour that dates back to the 16th century. It is often served with raspberry syrup or with woodruff syrup to round out the mouth puckering tartness. The Berliner Weisse uses as little as 25% wheat in the grain bill, but at around 3.0% ABV. that is more than enough. During fermentation lactobacillus bacteria is introduced to create the tart, distinct sourness. It is an extremely low hopped beer in the single digit IBU range, which is evident in the lack of bitterness and hop aroma. These beers are around, but they are nowhere near as popular as they were at their peak. They are meant to be consumed young. Even with the recent interest in sour beers, some travel and effort may still be necessary on your part to find a prime example of a Berliner Weisse.

Lambic is spontaneously fermented wheat style that originated in Brussels region of Belgium. The beer utilizes hops that are 2-3 years old and an open overnight cooldown that exposes the wort to all the microorganisms that will do the hard work of fermenting, and souring the beer. Once cooled and exposed the wort is transferred into wooden fermenting vessels such as barrels where more wild yeast and bacteria are living and eager to feast on the fresh wort. They will remain in the vessels for at least one year and sometimes for several. Word on the street is one must travel to Brussels, specifically Brouwerij Cantillon, to try them.

After a few years in barrels older Lambic is blended with younger Lambic to create Gueuze. Which is bottled and then carbonated unlike the base beers, which are served with no carbonation. These highly sought after blends are still going strong in breweries such as Cantillon and can be found, in rare instances, on strong (read: STRONG) beer menus and at well curated bottle shops.

Fruit Lambic is another variation. Coming in varieties such as: kriek (cherry), frambroise (raspberry), or pomme (apple) as well as others, the fruit lambic is traditionally made by adding fruit to the year old Lambic and essentially creating a secondary fermentation which is then bottled and carbonated. Once again, look to Bouwerij Cantillon in Brussels for prime examples of this style. If you know someone who knows someone maybe you can secure a bottle for a rainy day, or better yet, a hot summer swelter.

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Tailgating and Homebrew: Two Essential Recipes

Sunday, October 1st, 2017

Nothing goes with tailgating like great beer. If you need a great beer quick, you can have these beers ready to serve in 10-14 days if you keg and about 21 days if you bottle. All grain recipes are formulated for 70% efficiency.

Dark Mild Recipe

A dark mild is a low-gravity, malt-focused British session ale. It’s refreshing and quaffable and will please both craft beer drinkers and those who think “dark beer” is a craft beer. Full with flavor, it’s approachable and with a low ABV so you can enjoy more than one. This recipe easily goes from grain to glass in 10 days. It’s delightful with a lower carb level, so once you keg it’s easy to quick carb it and serve.

 

Dark Mild Partial Mash

Grains	Hop Schedule	Yeast
1 lbs English pale malt (like maris otter) 8.0 oz Medium English crystal malt 8.0 oz Golden Naked Oats 6.0 oz Chocolate Malt 4.0 oz Dark English Crystal malt 2 lbs Maris Otter Extract (pale LME may be substituted 1 lbs 4.8 oz Maris Otter Extract (add at flame out) (pale LME may be substituted)	0.75 oz Kent Goldings [6.2%] @ 60min 0.5 oz Kent Goldings [6.2%] @ 60min	WLP002 English ale yeast OR Wyeast 1318 London ale III OR S04 SafAle English Ale
By the Numbers:	IBU	SRM
OG:1.037 | FG:1.009 | ABV:3.6%	23.6	16.3

Notes:

Mash the grains in at 152 in one gallon for 60 minutes, then sparge (rinse) the grains up to your boil volume. Add the first addition of extract, and bring to a boil. Add the first hops addition, and begin timing for 60 minutes. At the second addition of hops with 10 minutes left in the boil, and add the final addition of extract when you turn off the flame.

 

Dark Mild All Grain

Grains	Hop Schedule	Yeast
5 lbs 8.0 oz English pale malt (like maris otter) 8.0 oz Medium English crystal malt 8.0 oz Golden Naked Oats 6.0 oz Chocolate Malt 4.0 oz Dark English Crystal malt 2 lbs Maris Otter Extract (pale LME may be substituted	0.75 oz Kent Goldings [6.2%] @ 60min 0.5 oz Kent Goldings [6.2%] @ 60min	WLP002 English ale yeast OR Wyeast 1318 London ale III OR S04 SafAle English Ale
By the Numbers:	IBU	SRM
OG:1.037 | FG:1.009 | ABV:3.6%	23.6	16.3

Notes:

Mash at 152 for 60 minutes. Use Irish moss or whirlfloc with 15 minutes left in the boil, if desired. Ferment at 65-68 degrees for approximately one week or until clear and at FG for at least 3 days.

Fizzy Yellow Beer

The “fizzy yellow beer” is an ale version of a crowd favorite. It’s approachable by light beer drinkers, but still with enough flavor to satisfy the beer snob in your midst.

This beer is simple, but simple can be wonderful. It’s a clean tasting beer like a macrobrew, but with a bit more flavor. Still low in alcohol for those “have more than one or two” days, it can be enjoyed during tailgating and throughout the fall.

You can substitute other noble hops for the tettnanger and perle with good results. Magnum is a good bittering hop, just make sure to calculate for the high alpha acids in a different hop variety. Hallertauer would be great, and saaz would also make a fine finishing hop.

 

Fizzy Yellow Beer Extract

If you can’t find Vienna LME, you can substitute pale LME but the Vienna flavor brings so much to this beer that it should be sought out and used if at all possible.

Grains	Hop Schedule	Yeast
3 lbs Extra light dry extract 3 lbs 4.8 oz Vienna LME (add at flameout with the last hops addition)	0.5 oz Perle [8.4%] @ 60min 0.5 oz Tettnang [4.2%] @ 45min 0.5 oz Tettnang [4.2%] @ 0min	Wyeast 1318 London Ale III OR S05 Safale (dry yeast)
By the Numbers:	IBU	SRM
OG:1.045 | FG:1.010-1.011 | ABV:4.4-4.5%	26	5

Notes:

London ale yeast is used for this recipe because it is fairly “clean” at low ale temperatures and leaves a clear beer behind quickly. You can substitute another yeast strain if you have a favorite. Using whirlfloc or Irish moss in the boil will help with having a clear beer quickly. Ferment at 65-68 degrees for about a week, or until the beer is clearing and is at FG for at least 3 days.

 

Fizzy Yellow Beer All grain

Grains	Hop Schedule	Yeast
6 lbs Vienna Malt 3 lbs Pilsner malt	0.5 oz Perle [8.4%] @ 60min 0.5 oz Tettnang [4.2%] @ 45min 0.5 oz Tettnang [4.2%] @ 0min	Wyeast 1318 London Ale III OR S05 Safale (dry yeast)
By the Numbers:	IBU	SRM
OG:1.045 | FG:1.010-1.011 | ABV:4.4-4.5%	26	5

Notes:

London ale yeast is used for this recipe because it is fairly “clean” at low ale temperatures and leaves a clear beer behind quickly. You can substitute another yeast strain if you have a favorite. Using whirlfloc or Irish moss in the boil will help with having a clear beer quickly. Ferment at 65-68 degrees for about a week, or until the beer is clearing and is at FG for at least 3 days.

 

^Sources:

^{Tailgaiting image by Kipp Jones}

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Beer Styles – ABV Chart (Alcohol By Volume Ranges) – 2017 Update

Sunday, May 7th, 2017

We've updated our popular Alcohol Range Graphs with the latest BJCP beer styles. This chart shows the BJCP beer styles and their alcohol by volume (ABV) ranges in bar graph format.

Ranges of Alcohol by Volume (ABV) by Style

Data for these charts come from the the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).

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Beer Styles – IBU Chart (Bitterness Ranges) – 2017 Update

Sunday, May 7th, 2017

We've updated our popular Bitterness Range Graphs with the latest BJCP beer styles. This chart shows the BJCP beer styles and their international bittering unit (IBU) ranges in bar graph format.

Ranges of Bitterness (IBU) by Style

Data for these charts come from the the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).

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Beer Styles – SRM Color Chart – 2017 Update

Sunday, May 7th, 2017

We've updated our popular SRM Color Charts with the latest BJCP beer styles. This chart shows the BJCP beer styles and their SRM colors in bar graph format. SRM stands for ‘Standard Reference Method’, a scale devised by scientists to describe how light or dark a beer is.

Ranges of Color (SRM) by Style

Data for these charts come from the the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).

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2015 BJCP Style Guidelines Now Live on Brewer’s Friend

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

We’re pleased to announce that we now have support for the 2015 BJCP style guidelines on Brewer’s Friend starting today.  Here is the set of styles that’s included in the update:

https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

 

Since the styles are quite different from the previous set, we decided it would be best to not automatically modify existing recipes.  This means that your existing recipes will remain in their current (old) style guidelines, so any information related to their adherence to style guidelines, etc. is preserved.  If you wish to update your recipes to a new style guideline, simply edit the recipe, choose one of the 2015 styles and save.

On the recipe editor, you’ll notice that there are two main lists of styles now: the current set, and Pre-2015 BJCP.  If you’d like to continue using the old guidelines or need them for backwards compatibility, they’re still at the bottom of the main category list for your use.

We’re excited to have the latest and greatest styles available and hope this is a seamless addition for everyone.  But if you run into any problems in using these or building recipes, please don’t hesitate to reach out:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/feedback-welcome/

 

Prost!

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Brewer’s Friend Recipe of the Week!

Wednesday, August 12th, 2015

We’re starting a new feature here at Brewer’s Friend, Recipe of the Week!

This is going to be based on views so only public recipes will be considered. If your recipe is selected as the week’s top recipe you will receive 1 year of supporting membership here on Brewer’s Friend! We’re going to do this once a week so that’ 52 chances a year to win a supporting membership!

If you posted your recipe anonymously and it is chosen for Recipe of the Week please be sure to contact me. I can see who submitted them, but since you might have decided to keep that private I’m going to respect your wishes, but I’m happy to upgrade you.

So, for the first Recipe of the Week we’re taking a look at Zombie Dust Clone submitted to us via an anonymous member.

Image courtesy of skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

The original recipe was originally submitted to HomeBrewTalk, but made it’s way to Brewer’s Friend in no time!

Zombie Dust Clone – ALL GRAIN
Method: All Grain
Style: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min

 

Image Courtesy of Hockyplr of HomeBrewTalk

Batch Size: 6 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source: skeezerpleezer on Homebrewtalk.com

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
11.75 lb American – Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 81.7%
1.13 lb American – Munich – Light 10L 33 10 7.9%
0.5 lb German – CaraFoam 37 1.8 3.5%
0.5 lb American – Caramel / Crystal 60L 34 60 3.5%
0.5 lb German – Melanoidin 37 25 3.5%
14.38 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.75 oz Citra Pellet 11 First Wort
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 15 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 10 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 5 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 1 min
3 oz Citra Pellet 11 Dry Hop 7 days

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
22 qt Temperature 155 F 60 min

Yeast: Fermentis / Safale – English Ale Yeast S-04
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 59 – 75 °F
Starter: Yes

 

Image courtesy of Skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

So what makes this recipe so popular? Aside from being a clone from a very popular commercial brew this is a dead on clone. Many, many brewers have noted how their finished Zombie Dust clone taste like it was straight from the 3 Floyds Brewing Company itself. Although not an original recipe anyone who’s ever developed a clone will tell you that getting all the little nuances of a beer as popular as Zombie Dust is a challenge and one that SkeeterPleezer took on with great results.

From everyone at Brewer’s Friend I would like to thank you for being a member and checking out our newest feature, “Recipe of the Week!”.

 

 

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