1 of 2 beers 1 brewed, donated and poured during the dessert course of Gilead Community Services
Quizine for a Cause” fundraiser event on November 1, 2015.

This Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale was brewed as the counter-balance to the Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout also being poured at the event.  The plan was to have a beer that would pair especially well with pastries and fruity desserts.  The intent with Golden Strongs is to have a beer much dryer and cleaner (though still complex with yeast esters) than what people typically associate with Belgian beers.

Historically, most Belgian Golden Strong Ales have had some reference to the devil as an homage to the original, Duvel (the Dutch word for Devil).  Geest is loosely translated as the Dutch word for Demon.

Batch Size:  5.5 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.076 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.018 SG
IBUs:  71.3
ABV:  7.6%

Recipe:

Mash at 148F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

14 .5 lbs of Pilsner Malt
8.0 oz Cara-pils
6.0 oz Caravienne Malt
6.0 oz Aromatic Malt
2.0 oz Honey Malt

0.50 oz Warrior [15.00%] – Boil 90.0 min
1.00 oz Saaz [3.75%] – Boil 10.0 min

1 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear – Boil 10 min
8.0 oz Corn Sugar – Boil 10 min

1.0 pkg Belgian Stron Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388)

Ferment 14 days at 72F then cold crash for 14 days at 33F.

Tasting Notes:

I think this was a great example of the style.  It’s crisp and dry, but complex.  Tart, but not bitter.  Great fruity esters and a hint of yeast-derived and Saaz spice.

Description:

Brewed with an absurd amount of malt, aged over oak, dates, prunes and star anise, this beast of a Specialty American Barleywine grabbed me a second place ribbon in the BJCP sanctioned Southern New England Regional Homebrew Competition in October 2014 and a first place trophy in 2015.  I haven’t gotten to know many of the judges in the area personally, but I was told that my score of 42 came from the Yoda of BJCP judging in New England.  He holds one of the highest (maybe actually the highest?) ranks awarded to judges.  Apparently this guy is the one who administered the BJCP test to most of the other judges!

Batch Size:  3.25 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.164 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
IBUs:  100+
ABV:  about 19%

Recipe:

Mash at 146F for 90 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

24 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 10L
8.0 oz Melanoiden Malt
8.0 oz Special B Malt
6.0 oz Honey Malt
2.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Boil 120.0 min
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] – Boil 20.0 min

1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet – Boil 15.0 mins

2.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min

1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] – Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min

2.0 pkg American West Coast (Lallemand #BRY-97) – Allow to ferment for 5 days then pitch WLP099 starter
1.0 pkg Super High Gravity Ale (White Labs #WLP099) – 1.5 liter, 1.050 OG starter on stir plate

Once fermentation has completed, rack to secondary vessel for bulk aging.

In secondary:

0.50 tsp Pectic Enzymes (Secondary 1.0 days)

Then:
3.0 oz Prunes (chopped)
3.0 oz Dates (chopped)
1.00 Items Anise, Star (I started with 3 pods and decided to increase to 6 after 2 weeks.  Your results may vary, use caution as Star Anise can be potent)
0.50 American Medium Toast Oak Spiral (soaked for 2 weeks in white rum)

Allow to bulk age for 8 weeks before bottling.

I was happy that my WLP099 survived the harsh environment and my beer didn’t exceed the 20% mark where yeast health starts coming into question.  I was able to bottle condition.  I’d suggest either planning to keg and force carbonate or at least proof your yeast before attempting to bottle.  It would suck to go through all those ingredients and time to have a flat barleywine!

Tasting Notes:

After 4 months bottle conditioning:  The aroma screams of dark fruit with a subtle hint of licorice from the star anise and a hot, ethanol burn.  There are flavors of plums and raisins, licorice and a very subdued touch of oak.  Despite the huge amount of malt used, the hops keep this beer well-balanced, even leaning on the bitter side.  Plenty of warmth from the alcohol, though it’s not unpleasant.  I’m going to continue to age this monster for several more months or even years and hope that will a little more age behind it, Cirrhosis can grab me a blue ribbon next!

Score Sheets:

This brew is actually a gigantic starter for my epic brew project, Nirvana (a 25% Utopias-inspired specialty ale).  I brewed up 10 gallons of this Belgian Pale just to get at the yeast slurry which is the first of 3 pitches in Nirvana.

Put aside the fact that this is more or less a throw away beer… it’s damn tasty and rather popular.  I kegged this in 2 kegs and “dry hopped” 1 keg with roughly crushed coriander for 2 days.  It doesn’t sound like much but this resulted in 2 distinctly different beers.  If you don’t like coriander feel free to omit it, but it was a hit in my club.

Batch Size:  10 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
IBUs:  24
ABV:  4.7%

Recipe:

Mash at 152F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

18 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US
1 lbs Aromatic Malt
1 lbs Biscuit Malt
1 lbs Caraaroma
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt – 20L

2.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 14.9 IBUs
2.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 5.4 IBUs
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] – Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs

2.0 pkg Belgian Abbey II (Wyeast Labs #1762) (split in 2 fermenters)
Fermented at 70F ambient temperature.

Tasting Notes:

As mentioned above, this brew was split into 2 corny kegs.  1 as is and the other with 1 ounce of roughly crushed coriander “dry hopped” for 2 days.  While both are fan favorites here at Shred’s Laboratory, the coriander really did create a distinctly different beer.  Both have the aromas and flavors you’d expect – a malty balance with hints of fruit esters, bready notes and light spices.  Relatively dry finish, not sweet as some expect from Belgians, but well balanced.

Recipe:

Mash at 150F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

11 lbs Pale Malt (US 2 Row)
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt

1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] – Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] – Boil 30.0 min
2.00 oz Cascade [6.20 %] – Boil 10.0 min
Hop 1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Boil 1.0 min

1.5 pkg American West Coast (Lallemand #BRY-97)

3.00 oz Mosaic [12.70 %] – Dry Hop 7.0 Days

Tasting Notes: Hindsight being 20/20, 2 lbs of crystal malts may have been overkill for head retention.  This beer was slightly maltier than I like my American IPAs, but still a solid brew just bursting with citrus aromas.  Not a re-brew for me, but if you like your IPAs more centrally balanced, certainly not a bad choice.

Brewed with Chocolate Rye, Belgian candi sugar and vanilla beans, Dolph offers up some interesting complexities not typical to stouts.  This may be my most popular brew to date.  It seems to be all my friends’ favorite.

Dolph, named after the actor who played the Russian boxer in “Rocky 4″ (…see what I did there?), was my shot at a very approachable Russian Imperial Stout.  I had high hopes for this one in the CT Beer Trail Homebrew Contest, but was disappointed when I saw my score sheets (below).  Unfortunately, I later found out that a big part of why my scores might have been lower than expected was because I neglected to mention the use of rye in this brew.  Rye is known for creating a “spicy” flavor in beers.  That is likely the off-flavor the judges picked up on but couldn’t identify.  That spiciness could be misconstrued as an off-flavor from stressed yeast.  I’ve also been told that any rye beer should be categorized as “specialty”.  Oh well… live and learn.

Batch Size:  5.5 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.076 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.018 SG
IBUs:  71.3
ABV:  7.6%

Recipe:

Mash at 152F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

11 lbs Irish Stout Malt (substitute other 2-row if not available)
1 lbs 8.0 oz Chocolate Rye Malt
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt – 60L
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt
8.0 oz Oats, Flaked
8.0 oz Roasted Barley

1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] – Boil 40.0 min
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 20.0 min

1 lbs Candi Sugar, Dark – Boil 15 min
1.00 Items Vanilla Bean chopped – Boil 5.0 min

2.0 pkg Nottingham Dry Yeast

1.00 Items Vanilla Bean chopped (Secondary 1.0 weeks)

Tasting Notes:

Contest scores aside, I love this beer.  There are so many flavors going on – spicy rye with subtle vanilla over layered caramel, coffee, plums, raisins and mild floral hop aromas.  It continues to evolve with age and is an almost entirely different beer 9 months later than it was fresh.  Since the original brew I’ve re-engineered and re-brewed, though not yet bottled.  The new recipe will be posted once it has matured and I’ve had an opportunity to taste it.

Score Sheets:

My second all grain brew, this beer took 3rd place in it’s category at the 2014 Connecticut Beer Trail Homebrew Contest with two 41 scores (score sheets below).  It was about 4-months aged at the time of entry.  I brewed it in the typical manner with Belgian Candi Sugars and oaked it with both chips and cubes (in hopes of added complexity).  This was also my first time using a proper yeast starter (though I did still under-pitch by about 100 billion cells… some stress on Belgian yeast can create desirable effects for the style).
 

Batch Size:  5.25 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.083 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
IBUs:  25.2
ABV:  8.9%

Recipe:

Mash at 152F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired amount of wort is collected:

12 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row)
1 lbs Caramunich Malt
8.0 oz Special B Malt
4.0 oz Wheat, Flaked

2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] – Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Spalter [4.50 %] – Boil 1.0 min

1 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear (1.0 SRM) – Flame out
1 lbs Candi Sugar, Dark (90.0 SRM) – Flame out

1.0 pkg Belgian Abbey Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1214) – 2 liter 1.035 starter 48 hours in advance

1.50 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 10.0 days) Flavor 10 –
1.50 oz Oak Cubes (Secondary 10.0 days) Flavor 11

Tasting Notes:

I’m really proud of this one.  There are layers upon layers of complex dark fruit and malt flavors with an effervescent, off-dry finish.  The subtle oak plays perfectly against these flavors.  On a downside, after 4 months of aging the bottles became “gushers” as was noted on my score sheets.   After 6 months they are regular geysers.  I obviously over-carbonated.  I’m hoping they will gas-off with time.  I’m not concerned about letting these sit for another 6 months to a year.  Time is your friend with this style.  I recently brewed up a revision of this brew which has not yet been bottled.  Stay tuned for that recipe in the future.

Score Sheets:

This was my very first all grain brew.  The recipe was a slight modification on a Brown Ale recipe supplied by my local homebrew supply store.  What do you know? All grain really wasn’t that difficult!  If you want to read more about making the jump to all grain check out this article.

Batch Size:  6.00 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
IBUs:  28.3
ABV:  4.6%

Recipe:

Mash at 152F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired amount of wort is collected:
9 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, Halcyon
10.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt
6.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 80L

1.00 oz Challenger [8.20 %] – Boil 60.0 min
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 20.0 min
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 1.0 min

1.0 pkg London Ale III (Wyeast Labs #1318)

Tasting Notes:

A very easy drinking Brown Ale.  Not overly complex.  A hint of roast, coffee, caramel and nutty notes.  It served it’s purpose of bridging the gap between light Summer beers and roastier Autumn beer well.  I mashed at 152F with the intention of allowing the beer to dry out some, keeping the body light.  If you’d like a maltier brew with a little more mouthfeel, I’d recommend mashing at a higher temp… maybe 156-158F.

With Fall in mind, I decided to try my hand a brewing a Pumpkin Ale.  Pumpkin Ales generally start with a Brown Ale backbone and pumpkin (in chunk or canned form) is added to the brew.  Pumpkin pie spices and simple sugars are commonly added as well.  Mine was no exception.

Before adding the pumpkin (canned in my case) I spread it on a cookie sheet and baked it at 300F for about 30-45 minutes, misting with water every 10 minutes or so.  This process helps to maintain the sweet pumpkin flavor by caramelizing some of the sugars, rendering them non-fermentable.

Because of the large amount of trub created by the pumpkin, this was a rare case where I racked my beer to secondary after primary fermentation was complete.

Batch Size:  5.00 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
ABV:  6.6%

Recipe:

4 lbs Canned Pumpkin (Baked as described above and added to last 5 minutes of boil)

1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt – 60L – Steeped at 155F for 45 minutes
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt – Steeped at 155F for 45 minutes
8.0 oz Wheat – White Malt – Steeped at 155F for 45 minutes

2 lbs Light Dry Extract – Boil 60 min
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] – Boil 60.0 min
12.0 oz Brown Sugar, Dark Boil – 45 min
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] – Boil 30.0 min
3 lbs Light Dry Extract Boil – 20 min
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] – Boil 15.0 min
(Add pumpkin in last 5 minutes)

2.0 pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [124.21 ml] Yeast 11 –

1.00 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (Secondary 1.0 days)

Tasting Notes:

Not bad.  A pretty run-of-the-mill Pumpkin Ale.  Not an overwhelming spice profile (which is a good thing, in my opinion).  The flavors were about as you’d expect – pumpkin, subtle spices with hints of caramel and coffee.  Medium-light body.  I say go for it and brew this one.  If you change the ingredients or process, please let me know how and what the results are!

Description:

This brew was my second attempt at my signature IPA.  Applying lessons I’d learned from the first I managed to brew a really nice beer.  In fact, this was my first real BJCP contest entry and it scored 38 & 39 (50 is considered a perfect score.  These scores planted me squarely in the “excellent” category).  I really might be getting the hang of this.

A few tips:

1)  The late extract additions helped keep the color down by preventing unwanted caramelization.
2)  I pitched 2 packets of the liquid yeast in an effort to have a healthier yeast colony and avoid the off-flavors associated with under-pitching and stressed yeast.
3)  The 3 ounces of dry hops helped immensely with the hop aroma in the final product.

Batch Size:  5.00 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
ABV:  6.6%

Recipe:

1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt 40L
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 30L

3 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract – Boil 60 min
1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] – Boil 60.0 min
1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] – Boil 45.0 min
4 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract – Boil 20 min
2.00 oz Cascade [6.20 %] – Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Boil 1.0 min

2.0 pkg American West Coast (Lallemand #BRY-97)

3.00 oz Mosaic [12.70 %] – Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop

Tasting Notes:

At this point in my homebrewing, this beer was unquestionably my best to date.  A highly successful attempt at an American IPA, it blasted the senses with nicely balanced bitterness for the style and huge citrus (grapefruit) hop aroma.  The head was a little excessive, in future brews I’ll reduce the amount of crystal malts (2.5 lbs is really excessive).  My scores of 38 & 39 in the contest I entered were extremely encouraging.  If you’re looking for a solid extract IPA recipe, I’d recommend this one but suggest that you drop the 1.5 lbs of Carapils.

Description:

Just a quick, simple Blonde Ale recipe.

Batch Size:  5.25 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
ABV:  5.1%

Recipe:

2 lbs Vienna Malt  – Steep at 155F for 30 minutes

5 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract – Boil for 60 min
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] – Boil 30.0 min
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 20.0 min
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs

1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
 

Tasting Notes:

This one wasn’t bad for a half-assed attempt at an extract Blonde Ale.  Not a whole lot of malt character and the Vienna would likely not be considered a typical ingredient (at least in this quantity) in a Blonde due it’s tendency to create red hues.  That said, it was well-balanced and extremely drinkable.  I think if I were to rebrew this one, I’d knock the fermentables down just a touch and make this an actual session ale.  (Session Ales are brews that are meant be be enjoyed in quantity or drinking sessions.  They contain less than 5% ABV by definition).  I’d also reduce or swap out the Vienna malt for a mixture of light colored caramel malt (10L-20L) and a little biscuit malt for flavor.