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Sunday, August 29, 2010
First No Boil Beer
This summer has been horrendous for trying to make beer. heat wave after heat wave is not conducive for effectively cooling beer I'm brewing in the garage, nor properly fermenting it in my basement. For the first time since i can remember, the ambient temperature in the basement has been above 75 degrees for weeks. I have my converted freezer, which stores two carboys where i can control the fermentation temps, but then where do I put my conditioning beer? i have my robust porter conditioning now, the one I plan to enter in the homebrew contest, so i really don't want that laying around in the basement at 75+ degrees, so that is occupying space in the fridge with the pumpkin ale I brewed earlier this week when the weather broke. All at 68 degrees. Today I brewed a berliner weisse style beer that actually takes advantage of some natural bacteria in the grain to impart flavor. It's a low gravity beer that I'm actually going to ferment in a carboy inside my mash tun!! I'm going to accomplish this by continuously rotating fresh, cool water into the converted cooler surrounding the beer. it's the only way to get a fermentable temp in the basement lower than 70 degrees until fall. (btw, new heatwave this week, 90+ for at least 6 days). Berliner Weisse is a top-fermented, lightly soured ale that was once synonymous with “wheat beer” in Europe, but now is a living dinosaur of a style. Its grainy Pils- and wheat malt-character is underscored with an gentle, earthy lemonade-like sourness that used to be a common thread in beers of this region.
Characteristics of interest to the craft beer drinker: a very low OG and abv %, extremely low bitterness (achieved through mash hopping), and a dominant but pleasant sourness from secondary fermentation with Lactobacillus; extended aging will bring earthy overtones from Brettanomyces- light, effervescent, tart, and very refreshing. this beer can be enjoyed on its own, or cut with a woodruff flavored simple syrup or dark fruit juice (like they usually do in Germany). Additionally, bottle conditioning can be extended for months, even years to get the most the out of the bacteria/yeast blend.
Basically, it's a no boil, simple single step mash infusion. i used 3.75 gallons to mash in, sprinkled the hop pellets(i oz hersbrucker) right on the top of the grain. My mash temps stabilized at 152, for 60 minutes, I mashed out with 4 gallons 180 degree water into the kettle. I netted a little over 5 gallons of wort, no boil, just cooled the wort with my sanitized chiller and placed into the mash tun (cooler) in the sink in the basement. Once i achieve a 68 degree temp with ice cube infusion..lol..such technology...I'll aerate and pitch the yeast.
This style dates back to the 1600's and in 1809 the Emperor Napoleon and his troops celebrated their Prussian victory with it. The OG is so low, i didn't even bother taking a reading with my hydromenter. I'l keep you posted through the comments on hw this one turns out.
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update 1, we have liftoff!!/Users/pamreynolds/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/Aug 29, 2010/IMG_3304.JPG
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