The temperature is hovering between 28 degrees (on a coolish day) and 35 degrees (on a warm day) at the minute, so it's a typical if slightly cool Brisbane summer. That makes brewing difficult - most beer yeasts perform best at between 20 & 24 degrees. Kit beers often tell you to brew at elevated temperatures but this is to guarantee that the yeast will work quickly - the downside is off flavours as the yeast produces different 'esters' (or chains of alcohol molecules) which can add sour or off-fruit tastes to the beer*. These generally don't deter a first-time brewer as they expect their beer to taste wierd, but anyone without air conditioning who brews for the taste and not for the cheapness is hanging up their fermenters at this time of year.
The hop pellets turned out to be a lovely green colour, with a fantastic earthy smell and fresh flavour.
I also got some hop flowers, because I could
This was an extract beer, so to keep the beer pale and to give me some adaptability with brew size I used dried malt extract instead of the usual tins of liquid malt extract. I also used a kg of munich malt and 500g of malted wheat that I steeped for half an hour and then added to the brewpot.
The dried extract was cheaper than the liquid, just as easy to use and easier to store if I didn't use the whole lot in one brew. I think I'll be using that again.
Because it was an extract brew it was a relatively simple affair and before long the flat had aquired it's usual lovely beer brewing odour.
The hop flowers hydrated when they were in the brew which meant that the wort turned into what was almost a sticky soup. I needed to strain it before I put it in the fermentor, but that only added 15 mins to the process.
After dilution in the fermentor I had 23 litres of wort at a original gravity of 1.048, which should give me approximately 5% beer. Just as was intended. It's bubbling away nicely now and in two weekends time I'll rack it off to secondary fementation.
I'll keep the yeast and reuse it to make another Saison, this with the same ingredients but with the addition of some spices. And then in a few months time when everythings feremented out, bottled and aged it's tasting time!
*As I've recently found out, this can more easily be achieved by the addition of watermelon juice to the beer
However I started flicking through a book on Belgian beer and found out there is a style of beer called 'Saison' that is brewed at between 27 and 35 degrees. It uses a specific yeast that can cope with the higher temperatures and looks to be a hoppy wheat beer style beer brewed from malted barley. I've never drunk Saison, but I like the description and I like the fact that I can make it in the garage without worrying about the temperature!
I had to order the yeast online as my local homebrew shop didn't have it, so I thought I'd get some fresh (or at least vacuum packed whilst fresh) hops whilst I was 'there'.
The hop pellets turned out to be a lovely green colour, with a fantastic earthy smell and fresh flavour.I also got some hop flowers, because I couldThis was an extract beer, so to keep the beer pale and to give me some adaptability with brew size I used dried malt extract instead of the usual tins of liquid malt extract. I also used a kg of munich malt and 500g of malted wheat that I steeped for half an hour and then added to the brewpot.
The dried extract was cheaper than the liquid, just as easy to use and easier to store if I didn't use the whole lot in one brew. I think I'll be using that again.Because it was an extract brew it was a relatively simple affair and before long the flat had aquired it's usual lovely beer brewing odour.
The hop flowers hydrated when they were in the brew which meant that the wort turned into what was almost a sticky soup. I needed to strain it before I put it in the fermentor, but that only added 15 mins to the process. After dilution in the fermentor I had 23 litres of wort at a original gravity of 1.048, which should give me approximately 5% beer. Just as was intended. It's bubbling away nicely now and in two weekends time I'll rack it off to secondary fementation.
I'll keep the yeast and reuse it to make another Saison, this with the same ingredients but with the addition of some spices. And then in a few months time when everythings feremented out, bottled and aged it's tasting time!
*As I've recently found out, this can more easily be achieved by the addition of watermelon juice to the beer
Saisons or season beers were brewed in one season, autumn or winter, to be ready for the harvest in late summer. Not only did these beers have to be thirst quenching and flavoursome, they also had to be of good quality as the farm workers had the right to 8 pints a day during work.
ReplyDelete.....oh to be a Belgian farm worker
8 pints. How did they cope with so little each day?
ReplyDeleteAnd Mike - watermelon juice?