Fail Whale Pale Ale

 

This is the final recipe of the first beer I brewed and a real crowd pleaser now that I have toned the bitterness down. I'm a firm believer in adding most of the hops in the last half of the boil - you get way more flavour and aroma and really unleash the characteristics of the hops. This recipe works just as well with Cascade, Amarillo or Summit hops instead of the Simcoe (just scale the hop additions accoring to the %AAU). 

 

Grain Bill

2 lb 2 oz Pilsner Malt

4 oz Aromatic Malt

5 oz CaraWheat Malt

 

Mash

5 litres @ 152F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

3 grams Simcoe hops (11.7% AAU) with 60 minutes remaining

6 grams Simcoe hops (11.7% AAU) with 15 minutes remaining

26 grams Simcoe hops (11.7% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Safale US-05 yeast for two weeks

 

Secondary Fermentation

20 grams Simcoe hops (11.7% AAU) dry hop for 1 week

 

OG 1.049

FG 1.006

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

White Walker Wheat IPA

 

This is a really light refreshing IPA with 60% wheat on the grain bill. May be sticky in the mash but makes for a really sessionable hoppy beer. The super late additions of Topaz hops give an awesome apricot flavour and aroma with very little bitterness.

 

Grain Bill

1 lb 8 oz Wheat Malt

12 oz Marris Otter

 

Mash

5 litres @ 152F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

2 grams Topaz hops (16% AAU) with 15 minutes remaining

4 grams Topaz hops (16% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

16 grams Topaz hops (16% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Safale US-05 yeast for two weeks

 

Secondary Fermentation

20 grams Topaz hops (16% AAU) dry hop for 1 week

 

OG 1.048

FG 1.006

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Take the Black IPA

 

Anothe Game of Thrones reference for this IPA. It's a black IPA so the orangey taste (from the Amarillo hops) doesn't match the look of the beer (black from the Carafa Special). 

 

Grain Bill

1 lb 2 oz Marris Otter

1 lb 2 oz Pilsner Malt

4 oz CaraWheat

4 oz Carafa Special III

 

Mash

5 litres @ 152F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

10 grams Amarillo hops (10% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

10 grams Amarillo hops (10% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

10 grams Amarillo hops (10% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

10 grams Amarillo hops (10% AAU) with 0 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Safale US-05 yeast for two weeks

 

Secondary Fermentation

20 grams Amarillo hops (10% AAU) dry hop for 1 week

 

OG 1.050

FG 1.008

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Saison of the Witch

 

This is a hop-forward strong saison that really whips the llama's ass. The low mash temperature and addition of sugar to the boil make the beer really dry. This pairs really well with the juicy Motueka hops. I scaled this recipe up to a 35 litre batch once for a house party that got totally out of hand.

 

Grain Bill

0.528 kg Pilsner Malt

0.312 kg Marris Otter

0.216 kg Wheat Malt

36 g Special B

 

Mash

5 litres @ 148F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

10 grams Motueka hops (6.7% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

108  grams brown sugar with 15 minutes remaining

10 grams Motueka hops (6.7% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

10 grams Motueka hops (6.7% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 vial of WLP566 Belgian Saison II Yeast

 

Secondary Fermentation

Dry hop with 20 grams of Motueka (6.7% AAU)

 

OG 1.060

FG 1.004

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Yavasura Saison

 

I am crazy about saisons. This one is a little out there - 25% of the grain bill is brown basmati rice. This gives the beer a really light body and a delicate nutty aroma. This recipe came about when I found out that in Sanskrit Yavasura means beer and Basmati means aroma.

 

Grain Bill

1 lb 4 oz Pilsner Malt

8 oz Brown Basmati Rice (dry weight)

4 oz Vienna malt

 

Mash

Pre-boil the rice as though you were going to eat it.

Add the rice to the other grains and then mash with

5 litres @ 152F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

5 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

5 grams Pacific Jade hops (14% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

 

5 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

4 grams Pacific Jade hops (14% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

 

5 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

5 grams Pacific Jade hops (14% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 vial of WLP566 Belgian Saison II Yeast

 

OG 1.040

FG 1.004

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Sassquatch Sour

 

Meline loves sour beer. This is a bit of a cheat as I didn't use any wild yeast but it still came out great. The addition of oats gives the beer a smooth rich body.

 

Grain Bill

1 lb Pilsner Malt

10 oz Wheat Malt

4 oz Oats (toasted in the oven at 150 C for 30 minutes and then stored for two weeks)

2 oz Vienna Malt

 

Mash

5 litres @ 148F for one hour, then leave at room temperature overnight - this will smell sour and funky the next day from the build up of lactic acid. This is a really quick and infection-free way to make sour beer! 

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

10 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

5 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

5 grams Kohatu hops (5.7% AAU) with 5 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Safale US-05 yeast for two weeks

 

OG 1.036

FG 1.004

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Gog Magog Kriek

 

A couple of summers ago we cycled with a few friends into the Gog Magog hills outside Cambridge. We found some awesome sour cherry trees and picked way more than we could eat, so into the fermenter they went!

 

Grain Bill

2 lb Pilsner Malt

8 oz Wheat Malt

 

 

Mash

5 litres @ 152F for one hour, then leave at room temperature overnight - this will smell sour and funky the next day from the build up of lactic acid. This is a really quick and infection-free way to make sour beer! 

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

6 grams Dr. Rudi hops (14% AAU) with 60 minutes remaining

 

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Nottingham Danstar yeast for two weeks

 

Secondary Fermentation

Roughly 2 or 3 punnets of cherries, stones removed. Leave for two weeks

 

OG 1.048 

FG 1.006

This doesn't fully account for whatever sugar was in the cherries!

 

Bottled with 22g dextrose, ready to serve after about 10 days

 

Chocolate synthesizer

 

Named after this album by the seminal Japanese band The Boredoms, this stout packs in a hefty chocolate punch, rounded out by some smokiness from the black malt and the freshness of vanilla. 

 

Grain Bill

3 lb Marris Otter

5 oz Chocolate Malt

5 oz Black Malt

5 oz Crystal Wheat Malt

5 oz Oats (toasted in the oven at 150 C for 30 minutes and then stored for two weeks)

 

Mash

6.5 litres @ 158F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 7 litres of wort.

 

Boil

60 minutes

10 grams Pacific Jade hops (14% AAU) with 40 minutes remaining

5 grams Pacific Jade hops (14% AAU) with 40 minutes remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 packet of Nottingham Danstar yeast for three weeks

Soak 60 grams raw Cacao Nibs and 1 tsp vanilla seeds (or one vanilla pod) for 3 days in just enough vodka to cover the solids.

 

Secondary Fermentation

Add the cacao/vanilla/vodka mixture to the fermenter and ferment for one more week

 

OG 1.061

FG 1.010

 

Bottled with 18g dextrose, ready to serve after about two weeks

 

Big Black

 

Another stout named after a noise band. This one is a Belgian Stout in the style of the De Struise brewery. It's a giant beer - something like 12% ABV! 

 

Grain Bill

5 lb Marris Otter

6 oz Chocolate Malt

6 oz Cara-Aroma Malt

6 oz Crystal Malt

6 oz Carafa Special III

 

Mash

16 litres @ 158F for one hour

Measure yield and sparge @160F to obtain a total of 11 litres of wort.

 

Boil

90 minutes

20 grams Chinook hops (12.4% AAU) with 60 minutes remaining

10 grams Chinook hops (12.4% AAU) with 20 minutes remaining

10 grams Chinook hops (12.4% AAU) with 10 minutes remaining

10 grams Chinook hops (12.4% AAU) with 1 minute remaining

 

Primary Fermentation

1/5 vial ofWLP550 Belgian yeast for three weeks

 

Secondary Fermentation

Add 6 oz Dark Candi Syrup

 

OG 1.111

FG 1.020

 

Bottled with 18g dextrose, ready to serve after about two weeks