India Pale Lager

The idea for this batch is to brew a Vienna style Lager but increase the hop bill to IPA levels. While still using traditional German Noble hops Hallertau and Tettnanger. This batch will be fermenting outside in the cool early winter temperatures in the mid 40's to mid 50's. Perfect for fermenting lager beers. I'm brewing this beer to discover the flavor of an aggressively hopped German style beer. When Americans travel to Germany I've many times heard that the beers were great but that everyone missed the flavor of hops. Most German beer styles are barely hopped compared American Craft Beer. Using Munich malt as the base malt to create a traditional Vienna style lager malt character with Noble German hops being showcased.

Recipe: Munich Malt, Biscuit Malt, Honey Malt, and Carastan. Bittered with Super Galena hops, flavored with Celeia hops, and then finished with Hallertau and Tettnanger hops. Fermented with Fermentis Saflager 34/70 German Lager Yeast.

Munich Dunkel

As Winter approaches and the temperatures drop I'm able to brew Lager's at home. My first lager this season will be a Munich Dunkel, a rich, dark, and malty beer brewed with noble German hops. The cool fermented Lager yeast strains prefer temperatures around fifty degrees Fahrenheit (which it just happens to be outside right now). While Ales prefer fermentation temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (room temp, making it easier to brew ales at home). The BJCP comments that Munich Dunkels "can taste like liquid bread, with a yeasty, earthy richness not found in the exported filtered Dunkels". So the next best thing to going to Germany to try this style of beer is to attempt to create it at home in all it's unfiltered glory.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Carastan, Caramunich 60, Chocolate Wheat. Hopped with Super Galena for Bittering. Hallertua and Tettnanger for flavor. Fermented with Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 German Lager Yeast.

Flemish Style Red

The complexity in the best examples of this style of beer called the "Burgundy of Belgium" by BJCP is nearly sublime. A red ale fermented with a plethora of different yeasts and bacteria such as Brettanomyces, Lactobicillus, and Pediococcus. This is done to create sour beers ranging from lightly tart to full on pucker face. The sourness comes from the lactic and acetic acid produced from these acetobacters that convert ethanol into aforementioned acids. Where as usual brewers yeast ferments from start to finish (for the most part) in less than two weeks it can take up to at least 6 months or more until there is a noticeable sourness in the beer, many times aged up to two years. Putting patience to task and creating an opportunity to blend different aged beers in the souring process to hit a desired flavor profile you're looking for. Blending young and 'old' beer for not only consistency but to balance the vinous flavor, sourness, and fruitiness (cherry pie, plum, and red currant flavors are desired) in the final beer.

For my first attempt at this style of beer I'll be using Wyeast Roeselare Blend which has brewers yeast, sherry yeast, and myriad of souring bacteria (as talked about above) to achieve the complex flavors in this style of beer. The Wyeast website suggests that it takes 18 months of aging to achieve desired flavor profile. Is it sour yet?

Recipe: Munich Malt, Biscuit Malt, Honey Malt, Carastan 30-37, and Chocolate Malt. First wort hopped with Celiea. Fermented with Wyeast Roeselare Blend.

pLambic 1.2

In August I brewed my first beer fermented with wild yeast and bacteria. A pLambic style (more info on style in first post) beer fermented with White Labs WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix. Today I'm brewing up a batch using Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend in one carboy. Then I'll be racking the first batch out of primary into secondary and knocking out the rest of today's batch of wort onto the White Labs yeast cake. The grist bill in today's batch is similar to the first with only the addition of some Honey malt to add more un-fermentables for the bacteria to feed on during conditioning. Excited to taste the 3 month old batch of pLambic when I rack it today. To start racking these 'wild' beers I purchased a new Auto Siphon and retired my old one to rack my FunkHouse beers only. Unless you have an autoclave at home I would recommend not using the same equipment (cane, hose, bottling bucket, etc.) for racking both funky beers and 'clean' yeast strains beers. Have separate equipment and keep it separate, or everything could go sour.

Recipe: American Two Row, Munich Malt, Flaked Maize, Wheat Malt, Honey Malt, and Acidulated Malt. First wort hopped with Celeia. Now we wait.

Table Beer(s)

A low gravity full flavored session ale has become a favorite 'style' of mine. It's also gaining popularity by the greater craft beer community. In January 2009 Lew Bryson started The Session Beer Project a blog to promote session beer. Also this last year Notch Brewing was founded, a brewery that will only brew beers below 4.5% abv. In a time where 6% abv beers have become the new standard for 'session' beer in America, I'd rather be quaffing a flavorful beverage under five percent that is full flavored. Today's batch of beer will accomplish this by having a thirst quenching toasted malt flavor with a spicy, herbal flavor from blending Styrian Golding, Perle, and Hallertau Hersbrucker hops into the beer. For experimentation I'll be splitting the batch between two carboys pitching American Ale yeast Safale US-05 into one and Safale T-58 in the other.

Recipe: American Two Row, Honey Malt, Biscuit Malt, CaraMunich, Munich Malt. Hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker, Warrior, Perle, Styrian Goldings. Fermented with Safale US-05 and Safale T-58.

Porter with Smoked Paprika & Fennel Seeds

This is definitely a batch to file under experimental. A porter designed to pair with a well seared and seasoned steak. Where the golden brown toasted bread and chocolate flavors of a Porter are blended with the licorice flavor of the Fennel Seeds and unique flavor of Smoked Paprika creating a one of a kind Porter. The fennel seeds were toasted in the oven for twenty minutes before being crushed in a mortar and pestle.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Victory Malt, Amber Malt, Coffee Malt, Crystal Malt, and Chocolate Malt. Super Galena hops for bittering. Half an ounce of Smoked Paprika and three quarters of an ounce of Fennel Seeds added to end of boil. Fermented with Safale US-05 American Ale yeast.

White Heat 2.0

Very excited to brew up another batch of this beer because people really liked it. A family friend proclaimed it was like an "Explosion!" of flavor. A group of chefs tried this beer and really enjoyed the heat and were excited to cook Mussels with it. I first brewed White Heat in November 2009 in great esteem for chefs worldwide and Marco Pierre White in particular. Many of my beers are inspired by different chefs cooking styles and flavors from around the world. Where I try to blend unique spices into complementary beer styles to create new beer and food pairings. This beer is perfect for seafood and tacos, and I wouldn't even be offended if someone asked for a lime with it.

A Double White Beer brewed with Habanero Chiles, Coriander, Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, and Red Peppercorns. Pilsner Malt, Wheat Malt, Torrified Wheat, and Flaked Oats. First wort hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker. Fermented with Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit yeast strain.

Belgian style Dubbel with Figs & Honey

The plan is to brew a big, chewy Belgian style Dubbel with Figs and Honey. The style is known for deep caramel and dark fruit flavors and an abv above 8%. Traditionally brewed by Trappist Monks the style is now emulated around the world and often referred to as a Belgian style Strong Dark ale. Some would argue that Belgian style Dubbel and Belgian style Strong Dark ales are different, but they're darn close in flavor profiles with only slight differences in my opinion.

In my riff on the style today I'll be adding honey which will add gravity to the beer while the Figs will enhance the raisin and toffee malt flavors derived from the specialty malts used in the grist bill. I brewed a Belgian style Dubbel in April of 2009 (post has more history about the style). The beer was okay with nice ale fruit flavors and slightly phenolic, but finished too dry and was too thin to be a good Dubbel. So I've added over a pound

of Weyermann Carahell malt as well as some CaraPils to the grist bill to provide unfermentable sugars to the wort thus creating more body in the finished beer. I'll also be mashing in warmer, 155*f, which also provides more body to the finished beer compared to mashing in at a lower temperature, 148*f for example. Even just a few degrees difference (149f-156*f, dry to sweet) in mash rest will affect your final gravity by at least half a degree Plato. So when planning a recipe remember that your mash rest temperature is another tool that can be used in creating the flavors your after in the final beer.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, CaraMunich, CaraHell, CaraPils, Dark Crystal Malt, and Chocolate Malt. Hopped with Super Galena to balance. Fermented with White Labs WLP550 Belgain Ale yeast from A'Chouffe brewery in Belgium.