Yesterday I decided to brew. I had some Rakau hops I wanted to try out so I did up a recipe in the American IPA style but with these hops as the only hops in the beer. Rakau hops are from New Zealand and are quite new. From what I have read they are delicate but good all rounders and useful for both bittering and aroma. They are delicate however and can be overpowered by other hops so it would have been pointless adding in some cascade as all I would get is cascade. They are supposed to impart a very fruity taste to the beer, tropical fruit in fact. There is talk of passion fruit, stonefruit and apricot or peaches in some cases. I know from the smell and taste of the raw hops that this must be the case. I decided to use S33 yeast to add a little kick to it, instead of a plainer US04 or US05. It started bubbling away withing a couple of hours and is still bubbling quite nicely this afternoon. The recipe is below.This morning I decided to brew again and if you have not guessed it from the title of the post yet, it is a Belgian style Dubbel I am going for this time. I have never done one of these and it required a lot of different grains that I have never had to use before. The grain bill is the highest I have used in a single 25L batch. I had a lot of fun tasting the new grains as I was weighing them and I love the Belgian Biscuit malt. I tried some acid malt yesterday and that fizzed in my mouth and was lots of fun. I bought Belgian Candy sugar as well and I am using it, although I was told by a far more experienced brewer (sbillings from ICB) that it is unnecessary but is something American homebrewers seem to think is. Candy sugar in Belgium for instance is a liquid and not solid lumps of sugar and seemingly not many Belgian brewers even use it. I do not know the truth of that but either way, I bought it so I will use it.
So here I am sitting at my bar in the kitchen, eating some lovely soup my wife made me and brewing beer for the second time this weekend. Life is good, especially so since I am off to Belgium on December 3rd. We will see how my Dubbel compares to what I drink in Belgium.
The Haka
10-A American Pale Ale
Author: Reuben
Size: 24.16 L
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 142.34 kcal per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.043 (1.045 - 1.060)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.010 - 1.015)
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Color: 14.17 (9.85 - 27.58)
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Alcohol: 4.21% (4.5% - 6.2%)
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Bitterness: 36.1 (30.0 - 45.0)
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Ingredients:
3000 g Pearl Pale Ale Malt
1000 g Pilsner Malt
230 g Acid Malt
200 g Rye Malt
150 g Crystal Malt
200 g Munich Malt
20 g Rakau (12.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
7 g Rakau (12.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
20 g Rakau (12.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 ea Fermentis S-33 SafBrew S-33
Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3
Dubbel Whammy
18-B Belgian Dubbel
Author: Reuben
Size: 25.12 L
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 241.95 kcal per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.072 (1.062 - 1.075)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.008 - 1.018)
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Color: 27.46 (19.7 - 33.49)
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Alcohol: 7.15% (6.0% - 7.6%)
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Bitterness: 17.7 (15.0 - 25.0)
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Ingredients:
3500 g Pearl Pale Ale Malt
1500 g Pilsner Malt
360 g Belgian Biscuit
900 g Belgian Aromatic
500 g Diastatic Amber Malt
200 g Rye Malt
150 g Munich Malt
150 g Acid Malt
650 g Candi Sugar Clear
15 g Northern Brewer-Hallertau Hersbruck (10.9%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10 g Saaz (2.1%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
10 g Saaz (2.1%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 ea White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale
Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3
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