This is a re-make of my Ardennes Printemps beer but with a more authentic yeast for this style. I harvested yeast from La Chouffe last time but now I'm using WLP011 which I understand is a German ale yeast so it'll much cleaner. It's one of the yeasts recommended in Farmhouse Ales for the style. A Belgian yeast is nice but not really authentic for a Biere de Garde.
In an effort to recreate the caramelisation that happens during the long boils French brewers supposedly use, I took 1.3L of the first wort and boiled it on an induction hob while sparging. I managed to get it nice and dark and sweet so hopefully that'll come through in the taste.
Recipe:
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.013
IBU: 25.7
Colour: 17.2 EBC
ABV: 6.9%
Mash - 75 mins @ 65C
3kg Pilsner
2kg Wheat Malt
1kg Munich type 1
50g Carafa type 1
Fly sparge and 1.3L of mash boiled down separately and added to the boil.
Boil - 90 mins
70g Fuggles @ 60 mins
12g Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 20 mins
350g sugar & Protofloc @ 15 mins
20g Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 5 mins
Notes:
I had another go at water treatment. This time round I remembered to test Alkalinity at the start and it was slightly lower than I expected. The water I use has very little of anything so I added a little gypsum, aiming for about 50ppm of sulfate and a lot more calcium chloride to get the chloride level up to about 120ppm. Calcium should be at around 90ppm.
I used some lactic acid as the mash pH was too high at the outset. I added 0.5ml at a time and it took three additions to get to a pH of 5.4.
In the spreadsheet I used I expected to have to add 0.7ml. It started at 5.8 after 0.5ml, then went to 5.7 after another 0.5 but then all the way down to 5.4 after another 0.5ml. I got there in the end but it was quite late in the mash. However, I'm starting to get a better idea of where to start and how much I'll need with the acid and water I use. The next brew I do should be darker so I expect I'll get there easier. This grain bill was a bit lighter than the last one and needed a little more acid so this was to be expected.
After boiling down some of the wort and adding all the other wort to the boiler I was about a litre short of what I usually get so I topped up with some bottled water and added the remaining calcium chloride and gypsum. My pre boil gravity was pretty much spot on. 1.044 against a target of 1.045.
I pitched a bit low temperature wise as it was really cold so it all went in at around 16C and it started bubbling almost instantly.
I'm interested to know how this yeast tastes in a beer. Every other beer I've done has used a Belgian yeast that gets to 1.010 or lower so this will be a new experience for me. A bit more sweetness will work great in this type of brew. Fingers crossed!
In an effort to recreate the caramelisation that happens during the long boils French brewers supposedly use, I took 1.3L of the first wort and boiled it on an induction hob while sparging. I managed to get it nice and dark and sweet so hopefully that'll come through in the taste.
Recipe:
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.013
IBU: 25.7
Colour: 17.2 EBC
ABV: 6.9%
Mash - 75 mins @ 65C
3kg Pilsner
2kg Wheat Malt
1kg Munich type 1
50g Carafa type 1
Fly sparge and 1.3L of mash boiled down separately and added to the boil.
Boil - 90 mins
70g Fuggles @ 60 mins
12g Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 20 mins
350g sugar & Protofloc @ 15 mins
20g Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 5 mins
Notes:
I had another go at water treatment. This time round I remembered to test Alkalinity at the start and it was slightly lower than I expected. The water I use has very little of anything so I added a little gypsum, aiming for about 50ppm of sulfate and a lot more calcium chloride to get the chloride level up to about 120ppm. Calcium should be at around 90ppm.
I used some lactic acid as the mash pH was too high at the outset. I added 0.5ml at a time and it took three additions to get to a pH of 5.4.
In the spreadsheet I used I expected to have to add 0.7ml. It started at 5.8 after 0.5ml, then went to 5.7 after another 0.5 but then all the way down to 5.4 after another 0.5ml. I got there in the end but it was quite late in the mash. However, I'm starting to get a better idea of where to start and how much I'll need with the acid and water I use. The next brew I do should be darker so I expect I'll get there easier. This grain bill was a bit lighter than the last one and needed a little more acid so this was to be expected.
After boiling down some of the wort and adding all the other wort to the boiler I was about a litre short of what I usually get so I topped up with some bottled water and added the remaining calcium chloride and gypsum. My pre boil gravity was pretty much spot on. 1.044 against a target of 1.045.
I pitched a bit low temperature wise as it was really cold so it all went in at around 16C and it started bubbling almost instantly.
I'm interested to know how this yeast tastes in a beer. Every other beer I've done has used a Belgian yeast that gets to 1.010 or lower so this will be a new experience for me. A bit more sweetness will work great in this type of brew. Fingers crossed!
