El Rojo Stinger

On May 3, 2014 the Salvation Army of Dallas-Fort Wort held its first annual Most Good Race in Trinity Groves. Each runner would brave a 5k obstacle course to support charity. The parking lot of Four Corners Brewing Co was full. A celebration of 125 years in community service was underway!

Inside the brewery was much quieter. This first Saturday of May was also the 3rd annual NTHBA brewday at the brewery. We celebrated National Homebrew Day by running the pilot system as a test batch. The brewing process was also a demonstration for the public. Supporting craft beer and the community Four Corners has invited the North Texas Homebrewers Association (NTHBA) each year. This year we brewed while managing a growing crowd of exhausted runners. The brewery's trademark "all day ales" was put to test in the taproom. Their flagship ale the Local Buzz made with rye and honey proved to be all day refreshment. Judging from the crowd most people's pints were golden. Another favorite was the Block Party Porter a medium body dark beer with notes of chocolate. The "Worker Bee" is my new found wonders. The beer is a blend from the taps consisting of 50% Block Party Porter topped with an equal 50% of Local Buzz. Buzzing about the Dallas news the "Worker Bee" is gaining popular vote.

My vote goes to the brewery and its staff for rolling out the red carpet entrusting commercial equipment to a group of talented homebrewers. I'd like to think craft is inspired in small batches ever before it goes professional. While we brewed founder SP chatted of his homebrewing as inspiration for a red American Amber. The brewery's Red Roja has an unmistakable history.

Team NTHBA set forth a small milestone. The audience was captured. The crowd increased. We milled grain, set the mash, and boiled wort with hops. Once the wort was transfered and the equipment cleaned we left exhausted. Share takers filled carboys then headed home for fermentation. The team at Four Corners prepared a batch for serving in the taproom. The beer is a Tamarind inspiration with Habanero. I've labeled it "El Rojo Stinger" -not to be confused with the El Super Bee (a.k.a. the Local Buzz on steroids fermented with Saison yeast).



CH is the creative behind this recipe. The Tamarind addition introduces the palette to a tangy romance of chutney. The spice presence can be adjusted; the heat can go as far as you can bare. CH suggests making Habanero tea by boiling peppers in water then adding to the beer while kegging -more pepper for increasing sting.

CH's Tamarind Habanero Beer: El Rojo Stinger
Brew Eff: 85% | OG: 1.061 | 28 IBUs | Fermented with yeast

61% | Pale Two-Row
18% | Wheat
11% | Munich
10% | Crystal 80
75-Min Convert | 150F

60-Min Boil | Columbus Hops
10-Min Boil | Tamarind Paste
10-Min Boil | Coriander Seed
Flame Out | Cascade Hops






What is your favorite Spice, Herb, or Fruit beer?

Works Cited:
Photos by Casey
Many thanks to all who helped!
http://www.fcbrewing.com/elsuperbee.html
http://www.fcbrewing.com/redsroja.html
http://www.fcbrewing.com/localbuzz.html
http://www.fcbrewing.com/blockparty.html
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2014/04/four_corners_brewing_bee.php
http://www.salvationarmydfw.org/p/307
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/aha-events/national-homebrew-day/

Beer Yeast Bread

My thoughts on making imperial stout beer bread using brewers yeast.

"This is not going to work. The yeast is spent. Roasted grains are harsh, the bread won't rise. You are wasting time." All pessimism, here are some positives: "It's bread. Feed for the chickens if all fails. Bread is simple use more yeast and more flour. Beer is alcoholic dilute with water try again."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot! Starting with an easy recipe and a lot of yeast. I have a yeast cake from a stout beer and some flat imperial stout to play with. There's enough yeast for several batches. The imperial stout is sweet and should make an interesting bread. This could work!"

The second attempt was a bread to be proud of. The first turned out yeasty with a doughy consistency. I had used too much yeast and the initial rise was too dry. The second attempt was exceptional. Keeping all things the same I would use bread flour* instead of the all purpose listed below. Additional research says the two look the same but are different products. I would also make two batches because the bread turned out great.

Imperial Stout Brewers Bread
1.5 pints (24 oz) Room Temperature Imperial Stout (flat no carbonation)
3.5 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon salt
3 oz Yeast Slurry
1 tablespoon Honey
4 oz warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 oz crushed malt (optional)

Brewers Yeast -Step 1 Revive The Yeast
I was concerned about the viability of spent yeast so I mixed 4 oz of warm water with 2 oz of Imperial Stout and 1 tablespoon of honey. Any sugar can be used as instead. I preferred honey for its light sweetness. Mix in a bowl, cover, and allow to sit overnight. This gives the yeast a boast before working into the dough. If a less alcoholic beer is used try less water. My attempt was not to stunt the yeast with 12% Imperial Stout.

Sticky Dough -Step 2 Make The Dough
I mixed the sticky dough before work so that it could rise during the warmer daylight. Simply shift 3.5 cups of unbleached all purpose flour into a bowl. Add the liquid yeast and 1.24 pints (20 oz) of beer at room temperature. I used imperial stout bottles which never carbonated. Making bead helped to easy my frustration with the flat beer. Add enough beer to make a wet sticky dough. Coat a large bowl (pasta boiler in my case) with three tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer (flip out of the bowl) the sticky dough and allow to rise 24 hours.

Knead The Bread -Step 3 Work Dough
The following day dust the counter top with 1 tablespoon of salt and flour. Adding the slat late allows the yeast to be fully active before salting. Prepare for kneading. Mix in a hand-full of crushed malt. I added roasted barley for additional character. Knead until smooth be sure not to over work the dough. Add more flour as needed. When the dough is smooth cover and allow to rise 1 to 2 hours before baking.

Bake The Bread -Step 4 Slit The Dough
Cut slits in the dough before baking. Preheat the oven at 400F. The heat helps to form the crush. Bake for 45 minutes until the bread is golden brown. You are done! Allow to fully cool on a baking rack. Cut and serve fresh.







*Note on Flour
All purpose flour is used in most recipes. It results in a soft low gluten bread that is slightly crumbly. Bread flour is higher in gluten used to make bread and pastries. While both look the same out of the box bread flour is more elastic resulting in a more chewy product.

Works Cited:
No-Knead Bread by King Arthur Flour (aka the Crusty White Bread)
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/PrintRecipe?RID=1330&radio=1
Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi
Joy Of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
+baking tips from _sunshine_smiles

NTHBA Brewday

God smiled with a bit of sunshine for the NTHBA brewday. North Texas was covered in snow Thursday by a winter storm. The high today is expected to reach 52F. We are managing to make beer heating both the air and our brewing kettles. The crowd is dwindling as I clean out the mash-tun. We had a great turn out! We who braved the weather managed five+ total beers. The plus is for CH the-bearded-one. He managed to brew two beers on his rig plus helped with the big batch. The star of the crowd however is CH the-lady-brewer. She braved the cold to visit with us knuckle heads. We are brewing a Berliner Weisse using the Big Rig from BargainFittings.com. If all goes well WY will be home by 5 o'clock. I have tendency for extended brewdays. The batch today went without hiccup —50% wheat mashed with no rice hulls. The last challenge will be maintaining fermentation temperature. We have devised a plan to ferment at 120F. Maybe we should have waited for summer.

Blackman Brew's: NTHBA Shares A Berliner Weisse
Brew Eff: 91% | OG: 1.044 | 2 IBUs | Fermented @ 120F WLP677

50% | Great West Two-Row
50% | Great West White Wheat
30-Min Rest | 132F
60-Min Convert | 140-152F
40-Min Sparge | 165F

60-Min Mash | Bravo Hops 16.8% AA
75-Min Boil | for protein break

SMaSH

Making a beer from one Single Malt and a Single Hop is a novel concept brew a simple beer from great ingredients. The selection of grains with enough enzymatic power to convert starch to sugar is the first place to start. This is the building block of any grain bill. The next chose a nice multipurpose hop for well balanced bittering, flavor, and aroma. Unlike pilsners —the greatest SMaSH beer ever! the ones I've tried have been one-note and lifeless. The problem could be things are taken way too lightly with the approach of just-brew-it. Rather then the pilsner approach to mashing techniques and high quality hops. Those beers like Pilsner Urquell are step mashed by decoction using the finest hops in Germany. I will agree highly modified malts allow us to simplify our brewing process but what I am pushing for here is brewing SMaSH beers with intent. When new home-brewer JB asked me about a recipe I offered one rather quickly. Likewise he was looking to brew an IPA where the focus is hops. The style is fitting for SMaSH brewing if the grist bill is not too dry. I suggested Maris Otter -technically a blend grain with Mosaic hop. At 11-13% AA the hop bitters well offering complex flavor and aroma. Mosaic is new to the brewing community and using it as a single hop offers both fruity and floral notes. Its hop resin flavor I call fruit-flesh-tropical.

Blackman Brew's: A SMaSH for Joshua
5 Gallons | OG: 1.052 | 64 IBUs | Fermented @ 60F SafeAle US-05

100% | Hugh Baird Maris Otter 
60-Min Mash | 152F

100% | 60-Min Boil | Mosaic Hops 11.6% AA
60-Min | 0.75 oz
30-Min | 0.50 oz
10-Min | 2.75 oz
Dry | 2.00 oz

Works Cited:
beer stock photo :)
http://pilsnerurquell.com/
http://hopunion.com/mosaic-hbc-369-cv./

Golden Honey Sour: Barrel Project

Sour Barrel Project: ECY01 & ECY02   

The crowing moment is approaching when the barrel project turns sour. The long term oak aging project has been a collaboration with BargainFittings.com and our pay it forward sponsor JD. Post fermentation share takers are encouraged to experiment further with fruit & botanicals. The grain bill has resulted in a fairly complex base. There are almost no hops in this beer. The acidity will act as the preservative. Over time the beer will become more and more complex. Tonight JD and I are sampling the stater batches. A blend of wild yeast has been selected for fermentation.

ECY01 - Bug Farm
A large blend of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Saccharomyces Fermentati, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus to emulate sour beers such as lambic style ales. Over time displays a citrus sourness and large barnyard profile.

ECY02 - Flemish Ale
A unique blend of yeast and bacterial cultures (Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus). Produces dry beers with sourness and notes of leather, fruit, and cherry stone

Blackman Brew's: Golden Honey Sour
5 Gallons | OG: 1.060 | 2 IBUs | Fermented with East Coast Yeast | ECY01 Flanders & ECY02 Bug Farm
62% | Weyermann Pilsner
16% | Weyermann Vienna Malt
11% | Gambrinus Honey Malt
 5% | Un-Malted Wheat
 5% | Weyermann Acidulated
 Mash Hops | 0.5 oz | Well Aged - Willamette 4.7% AA
 First Wort Hops | 0.5 oz | Well Aged - Willamette 4.7% AA
90 Min | Boil

JD's Notes:
ECY02 - Flemish Ale
Aroma: slightly sour honey
Appearance: Hazy Golden
Taste: Acidic as hell front, middle & finish. Puckering slight malt initially but completely overtaken almost immediately by the acidity

ECY01 Bug Farm
Aroma: straight up muscadine
Appearance: Gold to slight amber
Taste: Moderate acid from the front to middle + a gentle acidic finish

Notes on East Coast Yeast: Bug Farm and Flemish Ale   

Works Cited:
http://www.love2brew.com/East-Coast-Yeast-Liquid-Yeast-s/217.htm
http://eastcoastyeast.com/products.html
http://winemakermag.com/681-the-strain-game

Belgian Dark Strong: Barrel Project

I lifted an oak barrel and inserted a washing wand in the bung hole. Lets discuss it's history and refill.

The barrel was cooperaged in 2005 by Nadalie using oak from the Nevers Forest in France. The wood was toasted with a variation of medium to heavy and placed into service in 2007 by Raymond Vineyards. Filled with a 2007 Petite Sirah then a 2009 Sonoma Cabernet before being taken out of service. The barrel is currently being treated with SO2 water.

I've gathered a team of confident home brewers for the project. We brewed a Belgian Dark Strong to fill the barrel. Wayne Yandell of bargianfittings.com supplied the brewing rig. I worked the recipe and OG is fermenting. This is Team GBU. However our greatest members are those who helped brew 45 gallons of beer. Together we will split shares and learn collectively as inspired brewers.

Post fermentation the beer will be transferred to the barrel for aging. We will wait as long as it takes to extract flavor. The beer recipe is quite simple give it a try I'd like to know how it turns out.

Blackman Brew's: Belgian Dark Strong
5.5 Gallons | OG: 1.080 | Fermented with platinum series yeast | Abbey IV WLP540
41% | 6 lbs | Belgian Pilsen
34% | 5 lbs | Maris Otter
12% | 1.75 lbs | D2 Belgian Dark Candy Syrup
 5% | 0.75 lbs | CaraMunich II
 5% | 11 oz | White Wheat
 2% | 5 oz | Special B
 1% | 2 oz | Belgian Light Munich
SRM | 1 oz | Carafa II

60 Min Hops | 1 oz Northern Brewer 9.5%AA | 23 IBUs
30 Min Hops | 1 oz German Select 4.7%AA | 9 IBUs

SRM color before and after the Belgian candy sugar addition.  

Dabby Stinger Ale

Dabby Stinger:
    5 Gallons @ 70% Efficiency
    Fermented with Windsor Ale Yeast

5.5 lbs Great Western 2-Row
1.0 lbs Crystal 40°L
.75 lbs Wild Rice
.25 lbs Aromatic Malt

0.5 oz Yakima Hops -60 Minutes
.25 oz Yakima Hops -Flame Out
1.0 lbs Wild Flower Honey -Flame Out

I had developed a great recipe fermented without interruption.

Bottle conditioned in wine bottles the Dabby Stinger  is a wild rice ale with honey. The flavor is lightly nutty including stubble floral aroma. The hop character is present with a clean finish.

Imagine American Natives floating about the marsh in canoes shaking down long grains of rice. "This is as wild as you can get" I thought while shocked by the price of wild rice. The $13 per-pound was a premium in support of land conservation, wildlife reserves, and the preservation of culture. My clothing was not dabby nor had I harvested in the sun. I was standing in the supermarket justifying the price. Honey bees were the least of my worries as I searched for honey.

I wondered how to produce a mostly American ingredients beer using Wisconsin wild rice sparingly. This meant making a lower gravity beer with adjuncts. I desired average alcohol content but a refreshing beer. Ideas merged. I could use wild flower honey from Texas as a drying agent. The trace notes of honey would also support the nutty rice. I added honey to the recipe bringing the gravity to 1.045 SG and the alcohol by volume to 5.2%. In fermentation the beer would lose much of the nutty rice flavor and so I decided Windsor Ale yeast could substitute with nice esters. I had a collection of hops on hand but I wanted something American. Yakima hops are grown in Washington state. Their aroma is explosive and earthy but they are mostly used as a bittering hop. If used sparingly I could get away with some additional hop aroma.

Overall the recipe was experimental but solid. The bottle conditioning created more sediment than expected. This was my first round filling wine bottles with beer. I've been warned wine bottles aren't designed for pressure. I lost one bottle so far and sent a couple corks flying. Once things settled I waxed and wired the bottles for safe measure.

dabby: wet and adhesive

Acquired Sour

When I found out brewmaster SF had bottled his Funky Saison I wondered how it turned out. The beer had spent six months developing a sour earthiness. Being a Belgian styled beer brewed for the working class saisons can be fermented with strange things. SF had pitched a wild collection of yeast into the Saison in true farmhouse fashion. I was given the Saison and a Trappist Weisse. Once home the bottles stopped for a brief photo shoot and were chilled for sharing.

I had mentioned SF’s brewing practices to my brewpals before this time they could share my excitement. We served the Saison first. Unknowing to them the brew was decidedly sour. The malt sweetness had taken a back seat. The hop bittering pushed aside. What remained as tart forward with an earthy lemon grass complexity.

In silence I wondered if the Funky Saison was more sun-kissed than I could appreciate. I finished my pour and another. I had experienced sour by new measure.

My brewpals found reason to expect the unexpected as we poured the Trappist-Weisse. SF had crafted the second beer for a more agreeable palette. He wanted something refreshing not-bitter, not-sour. In brewing terms this is session beer an easy-drinking-malt-forward-brew. Session beers are also low-gravity-low-alcohol. SF had brewed a wheat beer using trappist yeast. I could see the correlation —a moderate gravity beer with sophistication. Confidence was returning as we poured more. Finishing both bottles we had spent the day brewing beer and drinking homebrew.

The next day I set out to find a sour beer on tap. I noticed the saison was sour forward and I needed a quick lesson in sours before reporting back to SF. I found Petrus Aged Pale Ale on tap however sour it was malt forward nothing like the saison. I queried SF for a lesson in sour beer. He assures the saison is a rarity and sours an acquired taste. I left with list of beers to try. I placed the saision bottle dregs aside for future use. I have since cultured the trappist bottle dregs. SF offered the recipe. It’s been converted for my own brew house efficiency.

SF’s Trappist-Weisse Beer: 5.5 Gallons OG 1.055 12 IBUs
7.75 lbs White Wheat
4.25 lbs Pilsner
0.75 lbs Rice Hulls

90 Minute Infusion Mashing:
6.5 gal Strike at 160°F
Batch Sparge:
3 gal at 170°F

Boiling:
60 Minute Boil
45 Minute Hops
0.75oz Hallertau
15 Minute Hops
0.25oz Hallertau

My First Born Dorf

The beer of Dusseldorf Germany is not seen often in United States. My search online and local for an example was retuning literary accounts of alt beer. I gathered that the hops where to balance the malt and the beer was to be decidedly bitter. For color and inspiration I pulled a recipe from Brewing Classic Styles as a base. The malts called for Munich with Carafa for color. Having brewed a similar styled beer the Dusseldorf would be a kicked up version of a Vienna lager. There would be more hops and deeper color. I crafted the recipe as a good starting point. The malt profile selected was heavy Pilsen with some wheat and chocolate. Not quite the recipe from Classic Styles but one I wanted to try.

Jamil's Dusseldorf Alt Beer
60.6% Pilsener
16.2% Vienna
16.2% Munich Light
6.1% CaraMunich
1.0% Carafa

Boiling:
60 Minute Hops
0.66oz Horizon AA13.6%
30 Minute Hops
0.50 oz Tettnang AA2.3%

After brewday research continued I found photos and a commercial example. Shiner had made an Old Timer to the Dusseldorf style. The beer was copper colored with more flavoring hops. My own creation was malt forward with a bitter finish. I was proud to have a beer within style but darker in color. I found the hops to balanced with the malt. For my next batch I plan to work out the chocolate malt and increase the hops.

Works Cited:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinglehoser/4494762973/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24792024@N00/4852002747/

Campfire Homebrewing

Fellow beer geeks gathering for National Homebrew Day chatted about beer brewing. The conversation offered leeway into getting involved with local homebrew circles. I spent day fellow brewmasters talking about equipment. When the day had ended I had a stronger take on brewing equipment and had met JA a local brewmaster. Our spat was about brewing revealing my obsession with yeast. JA challenged with an aversion to brewing with Propane. His adventurous brewing involved found items campfire heating.

I was intrigued. What equipment is actually needed? How long does it take? How is the flame controlled?

The questions halted as we planned to brew together. JA's next brew was to be a 10 gallon wheat beer using a cooler, a campfire, and a kettle. I would join the brew and take on the title of assistant-brewmaster.

The brewday commenced the following morning. JA was approaching his second year as a homebrewer. His first brew was pear cider with wild-yeast. I was impressed with his level of interest. Yeast was something most homebrewers would buy much less culture from open-air. He admits it was pure luck but the most encouraging attempt at brewing. Before I knew not to ask he offered some of the remaining cider.



My friends this cider was a rare luxury. I felt honored to be sampling this organic and naturally developed Perry.

We enjoyed its characteristics in comparison to BJCP the fruit wine profile was clearly traditional. I found the pear flavor maintained well. JA comments that the yeast showed very low activity during fermentation. He had no gravity reading at the time and so we enjoyed for flavor alone. Moving on to today's brew we prepared the strike water and begun the mashing.

JA's Open-Flame Wheat Beer
10 lbs 2-Row Barley
10 lbs Wheat
1.5 lbs Rice Hulls

90 Minute Infusion Mashing:
7.5 gal Strike at 160°F
Batch Sparge:
4.5 gal at 170°F
4.0 gal at 170°F

Boiling:
60 Minute Hops
2.0oz East Kent Goldings
30 Minute Hops
1.0oz Williamette
1.0oz Saaz
15 Minute Hops
0.5oz Williamette
0.5oz Saaz