The Gose is Loose!!!

I have been excited about this beer ever since I read an article about it in Brew Your Own magazine toward the end of last years hockey season.  Something intrigued me about it from the very start.  What couldn't be loved about a salty, sour, spicy beer, and whats more, it's name lent itself perfectly to somebody who's a Buffalo Sabres fan.  The Gose is Loose was born.

The Gose is a northern German beer brewed in Leipzig.  Just like most other beers, the location of the played a huge role in its development.  The natural salinity in the water of this part of Germany gives the beer its distinct dry, salty taste, and the beer was originally spontaneously fermented giving it the sour flavor.  Today these same qualities can be mimicked with sea salt and acidified malt.  As for the corriander in the beer, who knows where that came from.  I could go ahead and say that it was partially from being influenced by some Belgian beers, but I wouldn't know for sure.

This is going to be a long month before I am able to drink this beer, and even longer until hockey season starts...

 

And of course, I had to run out of airlocks and didn't realize it until it was too late:



Primary: The Gose is Loose, Harvest Ale, Wild Yeast Test Batch
Secondary: Wildflower Mead
Carbonating: Ginger Ale
Total for 2011: 78 Gallons

2-A German Pilsner Introduction

The history of the German Pilsner is sort of a bizarre one that has its roots in the Czech Pilsner, which has its roots in the German Helles. Go figure, the Germans were trying to copy the Czech that had been based off of their own creation.  The only real difference between these two styles is the use of regional ingredients.  Both are light, crisp, and malty beers, but the big variations come from the yeast, color from the pilsner grains, and hops used.

The recipe formulation is basic on this beer since it is traditionally a single grain beer, German Pilsner malt.  The hops that I used here are Tettnanger.  They are a bit more aromatic and less spicy than the Saaz used in the Czech Pilsner.  I also used a Munich lager yeast for this beer that provides a bit of a drier, more highly attenuated lager beer.

The baseline beers that I am going to be using for this comparison have to be readily available around me, and as much as I would love to use Augustiner Pils as one of them, it is not going to happen.  I plan on using Wasteiner and Jever Pils.  After all, once in Germany we had an older gentleman tell us that Jever Pils was the only beer that he would drink, and being from Munich, that had to say something.


Primary: Wildflower Mead
Secondary: German Pilsner
Carbonating: Lite American Lager, Ginger Ale 
Total for 2011: 70 Gallons

1-A Lite American Lager Introduction

The number one best selling beer style in the United States seems like the proper way to start off my BJCP challenge.  Although it is generally considered, even by myself, generally a low quality beer, this will be a difficult beer to meet the style guidelines for.  It is a very light, smooth, and rather tasteless beer where any flaws will be extremely apparent.  There is nothing to hide behind like a strong malt body or overwhelming hop presence, everything (or nothing in the best case) will be on display.

The American lager was developed as a alternative to the heavier German style beers that had formed the bases of the American beverage scene.  They were made lighter and smother with the use of corn and rice without losing any alcohol percentage.  Fast foreword to the 1970's and Americans are clamoring for an even lighter beer with fewer calories.  In walks light American lager, first made readily available by Miller.  These light American lagers are low in alcohol and calories, typically ranging from 2.5% to 4.2% ABV and near 100 calories per beer.

When I do my reviews of this style, I decided that I should go for the original, Miller Lite, which just happened to win gold at the Great American Beer Festival last year for American Style Lager or Light Lager.  My second beer that I will be using will have to be the local favorite around here, Labatt Blue Light, which has multiple ties to the area.  It is brewed right across the boarder in Ontario, its US headquarters is in Buffalo, and it is owned by North American Breweries, based in Rochester, NY.

I expect that my beer will taste a bit different than either of these beers, but of course, I haven't had 40+ years to "perfect" my recipe.  Hopefully it will taste a bit better, but that also has yet to be proven.  Either way, I am not going to be able to lager this in my 65ºF basement, I am going to need a Son of Fermentation chiller.  Eventually when I have a permanent residence I will most likely build a refrigerator chiller, but for now, this will have to do.  Check back soon to see my progress on that.

On Deck: Ginger Ale (7/14)
Primary: Lite American Lager
Carbonating: Honey Dunkelweisen
Total for 2011: 58 Gallons

A New Challenge

I have decided to give myself a new challenge, and I have yet to decide how much I am going to hate myself for initiating it.  My guess is very much but at the same time, it will give me a lot more experience and help to expand my horizons in regards to beers that I haven't brewed yet.

Is the anticipation killing you?  I bet you can't wait to hear what it is.  I, Aaron Piskorowski of Lake Effect Brewing, plan on brewing my way through the BJCP 2008 Style Guide (even the meads and ciders just to try something outside my comfort zone), much in a cooking your way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, just with more drinking and less Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

I want to lay down a few ground rules before I embark on this task.  First, this is going to be my main source of beer, so all of these batches will be five gallons.  If I want to do something a bit more out of the ordinary, I always have my two gallon batches or even an off five gallon batch (There may be a quite a few of those just because I already have ideas floating around in my head).

Second, in order to keep a variety, I will be brewing one from each category/subclass, then move onto the next (ie.  1A - American Light Lager, followed by 2A German Pils).  This is a necessity since when you get to Scottish Ales, brewing a 60/-, 70/-, then 80/-, I don't think I will get the full appreciation since they are pretty much the same beers just at different alcohol levels.

Third, I want to try to give a short history lesson (one to two paragraphs) about each beer as well as a couple random facts.  This will be more of a check for myself, making sure that I have done thorough research on the style of beer before I attempt to brew it.

Fourth, I want to do a couple reviews on the style of beers that I will be brewing.  This will work on a two fold level.  This way, I can immerse myself in the style of beer.  You can read all you want about a beer but until you actually taste it, you're really missing out and not fully appreciating it and the style.  I also want to do this as a way to compare the beer that I brewed once it is drinkable.  It will serve as a gauge as to how close I am with the style and might give me some insight into where I may need to improve the recipe.

I realize that this will take an extremely long time, years in fact, but it is something that I think will definitely be worth it and fun along the way.  My 1-A Lite American Lager was just brewed today.  Details will be coming soon.

Primary: Lite American Lager
Carbonating: Honey Dunkelweisen
Total for 2011: 53 Gallons

Wedding Brews Galore!

Last week, I had posted that I had foregone the Maerzen in order to provide enough time to brew some batches for my wedding.  (They actually aren't for the wedding, just the rehearsal dinner the day before...it would be way too much pressure to brew for the actual reception.)  We got engaged in Europe, Prague to be exact, and they were some of the most memorable weeks of our lives.  I had all the intention in the world of trying to translate that into the homebrew that we would serve for our rehearsal dinner, although intentions aren't always cooperative.

The plan was to try to take guests on a tour through Europe first, the Czech Republic with a traditional Czech Pilsner, then onto Munich, Germany with a traditional Bavarian Hefeweisen, and finally landing in England with a British India Pale Ale. 

The first, the Czech Pilsner, went off without a hitch.  I hit an excellent 70% efficiency with my BIB partial mash and my attenuation was spot on at 71%.  My original and terminal gravity we exactly as calculated at 1.052 and 1.015.  I couldn't have been happier with my results.  The base was Ultralight Extract, Belgian Pilsner Malt, with Carapils (Dextrine) Malt and 20ºL in order to give it a bit more body and a touch of color respectively.  So far, I've hopped with 4 oz of Czech Saaz.  I say so far because in the next day or two, I plan on doing a dry hop with another ounce before kegging it shortly after.

The second is where I started to hit some speed bumps...twice.  The first time I brewed it I was caught off guard.  I used flaked wheat for my wheat portion of the grain bill.  Malted wheat for some reason didn't even cross my mind.  I ended up with a dough ball the size of my mash tun.  The half pound of rice hulls I threw in there didn't do a damn thing.  What I ended up boiling was about a gallon and a half of wort.  The original gravity came out a bit lower than expected and the attenuation wasn't near what I had hoped for.  I ended up with a 3.6% beer that I decided I would try again with wheat malt and try to save this one as a summer drinking beer by dry hopping it with an ounce of Sorachi Ace hops.  If all turns out right, it should be nice and light, slightly sweet and have a pleasant hop flavor that will hopefully go nice with the clove/banana flavor of the weisen yeast.

My second attempt of this beer wasn't too much more successful, and it didn't hit me until the end of this brew day which, unfortunately, was too late to save this beer (at least in the traditional form that I wanted it).  The common thread between the two, and I should have been a bit smarter than using it untested, is that I was using an IR thermometer in order to measure all my mashing and sparge water temperatures.  My efficiency was a dismal 52% when I typically hit between 65% and 70% and my attenuation was extremely low, on the order of 58%.  This pointed to one thing, a high mashing temperature since at higher mash temperatures, sugars are still extracted from the grains, however they are less fermentable sugars and result in a sweeter beer.  Over the next few that I brew, I will be using my original thermometer and taking temperatures with that and the IR gun and comparing the two along the brewing process.  Once I've compiled my data I will be posting it here and the way it is looking right now, I will be suggesting not to brew with IR temperature guns.

Hopefully all is not lost on that second hefeweisen though.  I added a pound and a half of honey after primary fermentation subsided in order to try and boost the alcohol content and at the same time convert this to a honey weise that if all turns out well should be a very drinkable beer.

Almost from the onset, after reading Pale Ale by Terry Foster in order to get some inspiration, I decided to go with the American version of the India Pale Ale.  It seemed like a better beer to serve at a summer BBQ with the citrus notes of the hops and the crispness that one would expect from an American IPA.  The design of this beer is still in the works at this time, but its base will be 2-Row and golden malt extract, and I plan on using plenty of North American hops and a California yeast.

On Deck: Honey Dunkelweisen (5/29), Wedding IPA (5/30)
Primary: Hefeweisen 2, Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale
Secondary: Hefeweisen (dry hopped with Sorachi Ace), Traditional Pilsner
Total for 2011: 46 Gallons 

Traditional Maerzen

I have been slacking over the last few weeks.  There have been quite a few things going on recently during my brewing weekends so, I kept having to delay my plans.  Because of this, I don't think I will have enough time to brew the Imperial IPA before I have to start working on my wedding beers.  I still want to get a full 5 gallon back in before that happens so what I decided I am going to do is brew a Maerzen and let it lager in the basement in a carboy over the summer.

Just like all of my 5 gallon batches, this will be a partial mash recipe.  But instead of using only around 3 lbs of grain, I try to stick to 3 lbs of malt extract and the rest grains.  The majority of my grains will be Munich malt, followed by dextrine malt, caraMunich, caraAmber, and some lighter colored crystal malt.  My hops that I will be using will be traditional German hops, Tettnanger and Hallertau.  The lager yeast that I will be using will be WYeast 2308, Munich lager.

On Deck: Maerzen (4/12)
Primary: Mango Habanero Wit
Secondary: Chili Lime Pilsner
Conditioning: Belgian Blonde, Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier
Total for 2011: 29 Gallons

Mango Habanero Wit

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me.  Jay and I win a competition then I take a week off of posting.  It could be see it as a deserved break, almost a reward, but I instead restocked on ammunition for the blog, brewing, creating, and experimenting.  So, back I go, onto the three post a week schedule.

This is my last beer in my three beer series.  I am going to take the classic Belgian Wit south of the boarder for my final Cinco de Mayo beer.  The base of the beer will be flaked wheat and Belgian Pilsner malt.  The hops are still up in the air, but they will not be too prevalent since it is a Wit, and for yeast I will use Forbidden Fruit from WYeast Labs.  That's the easy part.  The rest, I don't really have too much experience brewing with.  I will be spicing it with the traditional coriander and orange peel, then for the habanero and mango, I have no idea.  I did find mention of using habanero in Radical Brewing, but it was quite vague on how spicy the beer would actually be.  I think I will end up using one pepper, de-seeded for my two gallon batch and see where that takes me.  The mango is still up in the air.  It may be a game day decision on how much to use and if I should use it in secondary of in the boil.

I'm a bit behind in my brewing, due to some of my longer fermentation times so by the time I brew this one, it will be about a week off from where I would like, but it should still be ready by Cinco de Mayo.

On Deck: Imperial IPA (3/17), Mango Habanero Wit (3/24)
Primary: Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier, Chili Lime Pilsner
Secondary: Belgian Blonde (Ended up being more like a Biere de Garde)
Conditioning: Elder Ale

Imperial India Pale Ale

Jay and I won first place in Amber Waves of Grain Homebrewing Competition's Holiday Beer with our Fruitcake/Holiday Spice Ale.  I think I have some ideas about why the other beers were not selected in their categories, but I will have to wait to get the results in the mail to know for sure.  Congratulations to all other winners in the competition.

I brewed the Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier today, and all I can say at this point is that it was interesting.  It tasted great as I put it into primary, but I was disappointed with the low amount of spiciness, however that and the chocolate may come out a bit more over time.  It was my first time using either in a beer, so we shall see.

I am a bit reluctant about he next beer that I will be brewing.  That's because it is one of my least favorite beers due to the culture surrounding it of loading as many hops into it as possible and then on top of that occasionally passing it through a Randall.  I prefer my beers with a nice balance between the malt and hops of the beer.  I take on this challenge as I plan to brew this beer.

This is going to be another partial mash brew with a base of 2-row and light malt extract.  I am going to use a plethora of specialty malts in order to balance out the hops.  I will us a 60L crystal malt to give some nice color and a light biscuit flavor, American caramel again for color and a slight malty caramel flavor, Marris Otter for some smoothness, and some Munich malt in order to build the body of the beer.  I will try to build the hop flavors in a similar fashion.  I will use Cascade which is typical for a it more or a sharp and citrus flavor and use Centennial and Simco to boost the overall bitterness.  I will finish this off with a California Ale yeast.  I am aiming for about 7.7% with this beer.

On Deck: Chili Lime Pilsner (3/6), Imperial IPA (3/13)
Primary: Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier, Belgian Blonde
Secondary: Elder Ale
Conditioning: Irish Red
Volume Brewed in 2011: 25 Gallons

Chili Lime Pilsner

So there is bad news and even worse news for the sarsaparilla ale.  I was about to transfer it into secondary yesterday when there was a bizarre aroma coming off of it.  It almost smelled like tomato paste/catchup.  After tasting it, my worst fears were proven, the beer was spoiled/infected.  The worst part is that I cannot pinpoint the source of the infection.  The good part of this whole situation is that I smelled the elder beer and can safely say that the yeast was not the culprit.  My hopes are still high for the sarsaparilla ale though and I am planning on brewing it again in the future.  It held such promise as it was being brewed.

This post though, is looking towards a brighter note.  This is a continuation of my Cinco de Mayo beers, and it will be a Chili Lime Pilsner.  I have been wanting to brew this beer ever since I've started brewing.  Basically, this beer would be a michelada, minus the salt, tomato (no one needs that in beer) and having to add lime and hot sauce.

I cannot say that this beer will conform to a specific base style since in quite a few aspects I will be deviating.  The base malt for the beer will be a Czech Pilsner and I will possibly add some flaked maize, considering the history of the ingredient with the American style lagers/pilsners and that corn is used so much in Mexican cooking.  I will be Cascade hops exclusively.  I feel that this is a no brainer since the citrusy notes of the hops should play off the lime perfectly.  I think I am going to use a Boheamian Lager yeast since it has such a wide range of applications and be a great addition to my yeast bank for future brews.

I very much look forward to this brew, I just hope that the basement will be cool enough for lagering.

On Deck: Belgian Blonde (2/21 - yes I was lazy and am putting it off until tomorrow), Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier (2/27), Chili Lime Pilsner (3/6)
Primary: Elder Ale
Secondary: Nada
Conditioning: Irish Red Ale, Beef on Weck Ale

Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier

Another brew day, another need for an inspiration post.  In celebration on Indiana's birthday (my dog), I was planning on brewing a few different beers utilizing different types of peppers.  Coincidentally, her birthday is on Cinco Day Mayo, so in essence, it's like killing two birds with one stone with this theme.

Back about four years ago, some friends and I began to make chocolate covered bacon (I may have to convert this into a beer somehow in the near future).  Throughout the years, there have been several iterations, the most recent incorporated chipotle peppers in the chocolate.  The heat from the pepper didn't stand out, but you could notice the smokiness.  From that, the natural progression was Rauchbier, but to make the heat of the pepper pop.

For my malts, I plan on using a 2-row, Munich, and smoked malt.  I may end up using some chocolate malt in order to enhance the flavor from the cocoa powder that I will be using.  I haven't decided for sure yet, but I think I may go for a medium to high amount of hops in this beer.  I think that a higher bitterness from the hops will go great with the chocolate and the heat from the chipotle peppers.



This is going to be my second attempt at a lager beer.  I am thinking I will use a Munich Style lager yeast since it will be a strain that I will be able to use in a wide variety of lagers.  The target brew date for this beer is 2/27.

On Deck: Belgian Blonde (2/20), Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier (2/27)
Primary: Elder Ale, Sarsaparilla Ale
Secondary: Irish Red Ale
Conditioning: Beef on Weck Ale

Belgian Blonde

It was another brew day today, so I only have my Elder beer to brew before I have nothing left in the queue.  This left me in quite the predicament, so I will have to add another beer to the brew calendar.  I decided to let Marygrace choose it.  She wanted to go with a Belgian Blonde Ale, similar to a Leffe, and I must say, I wasn't too enthused about this beer since the last Blonde that Jay and I attempted was infected.  But I have to keep forging on ahead an have to leave those bad beers behind me.

I am going to do this beer completely in style per BJCP, although eventually I may have to branch out from this standard and include some orange zest and possibly some pink peppercorns to give it a little bit more of a spicy note yet fruity at the same time.

For this one though, I will be using a Belgian Pilsner malt and extra light malt extract as my base.  I will be using honey malt to give it a slight honey flavor and to add some color, and I will be using candied Belgian sugar in order to boost the initial gravity.  For hops, I will be using Hallertau for bittering and I will be trying to get a hold of some Spalt for aroma.  And finally, for yeast I think I will be going with a French Saison yeast.  It should impart some spicy and fruity notes that should compliment the beer nicely.  The target brew date for this beer will be 2/20.

On Deck: Elder Ale (2/13), Belgian Blonde (2/20)
Primary: Irish Red Ale, Sarsaparilla Ale
Secondary: Beef on Weck Ale

Elder Beer

After a week off of brewing, it seems like these inspiration posts are piling up.  But I crossed the beef on weck beer off of the list so I thought I should replace it with another interesting idea for a beer.  And as luck should have it, I got my shipment of herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs in last week.  From what I have seen, their prices are great and something that really interested me is their monthly specials section.  After looking at their January 2011 specials, it almost makes me want to brew something out of Guarana Seeds.

The one that I'm planning on highlighting in this post is another that is based out of the Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers book and one that Marygrace helped me pick out.  It's completely based around the elder plant (information starting on page 330).  Typically when elder is used in alcohols it is an elder berry wine, so I thought an elder beer would be a bit more interesting.  Both of the recipes in the book seemed pretty basic so I decided to jazz them up a bit and combine both the elder berry and elder flower in the same beer as well as use malts instead of sugars to get the proper yeast food.

I plan on keeping this one a bit lighter in alcohol and color.  I tasted both the berries and the flowers and I feel that those flavors will both be highlighted with a beer base that is lighter in flavor as well.  Other than that, I'm not planning on anything else to exciting for this beer.  Keep checking back for updates.  The target brew date for this beer is 2/13.

I thought I would leave everyone with this photo.  The basis of any good beer, horseradish root and slices and caraway seeds:


Primary: Beef on Weck
Secondary: American Pale Ale
Carbonating: Rye-rish Red Ale

Sarsparilla Ale

A while back, I bought Sacred Herbal and Healing Beers.  It had a lot of great historic and unique recipes that I have been dying to try.  One that really caught my eye was the Sarsaparilla Ale.  With the spices of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, licorice, sarsaparilla, and coriander, the beer stuck a note with me as a great beer to have for spring or even let age for a bit.

Even though I haven't made it yet and tried what it could taste like, I decided to spruce this beer up.  There were one notable problem right off of the bat, I'm okay with omitting hops from some of my recipes, but malt is a must and this recipe has none. So, I decided to substitute malt in for the required corn syrup.  The rest of the ingredients I have had little to no experience with in brewing, so I did not want to go monkeying around with the levels.  Once I brew and taste this, I am sure I will have some more input on where the flavors need to be, but as for now I will continue as planned.

There is one thing about this beer that has me extremely excited and it is something that I have been wanting to try for some time now, and that is to use honey in the beer, essentially making a Braggot.  This has a late addition of honey so it should act towards aroma of the beer, giving it a much sweeter bouquet.  Yeast that I will be using in this beer is still up in the air.  I could go with either an ale or mead yeast, but since the fermentables will be a higher percentage malt, I feel that I should stick with an ale such as Scottish or American as suggested by WYeast.  Perhaps I will even look into a saison yeast since there will be so many other flavors working here.  Who knows...

I have all of my herbs ordered and on the way.  Target brew date for this beer is 2/6/2011.

Primary: American Pale Ale
Secondary: Rye-rish Red Ale

Irish Red - Pearl Street Comptition

So last year, Jay and I looked into the quarterly competitions that Pearl Street Grill & Brewery in Buffalo holds. We even developed a recipe for the pumpkin ale competition and brewed it. Unfortunately early summer activities got the best of us and we never were able to enter it into the competition. I finally decided that enough was enough and that I would enter the Irish Style Red Ale competition and see how my own beer holds up.

Irish reds are numerous, especially around St. Patrick's Day, and I felt like I had to make my own version stand out a bit and encourage myself to try new things when homebrewing. When trying to think of something a bit more unusual, for some reason the one thing that first popped into my head was rye bread. Maybe I just eat too many rubens and diner breakfasts and so when I think of Irish, corned beef comes to mind, then the rye bread that comes with it. So, I just rolled with it and brewed a Rye-rish Red Ale. Using rye in a beer also allowed me to try a new technique since the rye I had available was raw rye which requires a separate cereal mash before normal mashing (to be discussed in another post). I have this in secondary fermentation right now and will be bottling it next week, but I figured I would also make a traditional Irish red, since I have quite a bit of time until the due date of March 31, 2011. I'll try and compare both, and whatever tickles my fancy the most will be entered into the competition.

So at the end of it all, I will have about 80+ bottles of Irish Red ale. Anyone having a St. Patrick's Day party?

Primary: American Pale Ale
Secondary: Rye-rish Red Ale

Can a Great Sandwich Make a Good Beer?

Being from Western New York, there are a few regional delicacies that are ingrained in your blood: Buffalo style pizza, chicken wings, garbage plates, and who could forget beef on weck sandwiches. For those of you not familiar with beef on weck, it is a hot roast beef sandwich with a kaiser roll. The top of the roll is dipped in au jous and then in a mixture of salt and caraway seeds, and finally topped with horseradish sauce.

Let's be honest, how could I not try to make a beer out of these ingredients. Okay, so I won't actually use beef or salt in the recipe, but I feel that the horseradish and caraway will add some great spicy notes that are not normally featured in beers. Although I am not using beef, it could be nice to have a few cold cuts on hand while serving this beer.

As far as styles goes, this will definitely be 21A - Spiced, Herb or Vegetable beer. I want this beer to be full in body and plenty malty, so I am going to use Munich malt mixed with some two row as a base. I haven't decided if I should add some 60 L Crystal malt to give it a bit of color and a bit more body, or leave it as it is to be reminiscent of the kaiser roll. I haven't yet decided on if I will use hops in this beer or not. If I do, it will be a low alpha acid hop, mainly used for its preservative qualities rather than aroma. I am also still trying to determine which yeast strain would be the best to use. Right now, I am thinking about a Scottish Ale. Target alcohol around 7% since this would be less of a session beer and more of one to just sample.

Over the next week, or week and a half, I will be working on recipe development. Target brew date for this ale will be 1/23/2011. If anyone has any thoughts on this beer, such as hops or yeasts to use, please feel free to offer suggestions.

Primary: American Pale Ale

Secondary: Rye-rish Red Ale