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Schwarz 2.0 – Split Batch Temperature Experiment

February 15, 2017 by Derek Springer 6 Comments

Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.

It is no secret that Schwarzbier is a bit of a white whale for me (irony duly noted). Dark and smooth with a crisp toasty breadiness, Schwarzbier straddles the line between malty and hoppy while remaining balanced and crushable. Why am I so obsessed? Besides being a noted lagerhead, Schwarzbier satisfies my innate desire as a homebrewer to brew beers that I otherwise would never be able to find “in the wild.” But who am I kidding, really? I love brewing Schwarzbier because it gives me statistically one of the highest chances of advancing to the final round of the National Homebrew Competition 👌. Previous attempts of mine either turned out too roasty, like a porter, or too dry and austere, not even worth a full writeup. But as they say: practice makes perfect and I feel like I am getting really close.

Having been interested in performing my own split batch experiments for a while, my wife graciously gifted me a set of three gallon Better Bottles as well as a set of 2.5 gallon ball lock kegs so I could split my typical 5.5 gallon batches. I figured why not kill two birds with one stone? This Schwarzbier is the first of what I hope will be a great many split batch experiments of varying levels of scientific significance.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Experiments, Recipes Tagged With: experiment, lager, recipe, schwarzbier, split batch

Totes McOats – New England Pale Ale

June 26, 2016 by Derek Springer 35 Comments

Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.
Totes McOats wide shot
So hot right nowI challenge you to find a topic more contentious than haze in beer. Minus the odd, typically wheat-based style, the general mandate for clarity is the clearer the better–crystal is best. Well, for one reason or another our friends over in New England have decided to buck the trend: instead of crisp, dry, crystal clear megadank hop bombs the New Englanders have opted to follow a whatever-it-takes mentality to squeeze maximum “juiciness” out of their hops and yeast. As the result of their methods, the beers have a distinct haze/turbidity to them (“hazy af“) proponents claim enhances mouthfeel and the fruity-juicy character of the high ester yeast and New World hops.

While I am personally a fan of clear beer–you drink with your eyes, etc–I do not have a problem, per se, with folks developing/enjoying their own regional interpretations of a style. By and large I wager most folks feel the same and us West Coast folks were content to enjoy our thing and let the folks in New England do their thing… until homebrewer king Jamil Zainasheff fired off the “Tweet Heard ‘Round the World” and everyone lost their friggin’ minds.

I'm sorry, you who think this is acceptable beer have lost your minds. This overly yeasty crap is offensive. pic.twitter.com/TTTrT3nbhi

— Jamil Zainasheff (@mrmalty) March 2, 2016

If you follow the thread further it turns out he was merely upset about paying $9 for a beer that has poor fermentation character, but it was already too late: the New Englanders had already grabbed their pitchforks to defend their precious haze and the West Coasters had lined up to join in on the dump-fest. Now you have to have an opinion and the other side is wrong! Oi! (Also, Jamil needs to learn to properly orient his photos)

Here is the sad truth of the matter: many West Coast folks likely have not sampled a good representation of the NE style, it simply does not get made/distributed out here; my own experience was limited to a handful of sips from smuggled cans at bottle shares. Meanwhile, New Englanders have been living under West Coast beer imperialism for the last decade or so, maybe they do know better. Not one to get too tangled up in brewing dogma, I decided to see what the hubbub was all about and brew a New England Pale Ale myself. At the urging of noted oat enthusiast Scott Janish I decided this would also be a good time to experiment with his recommendation of > 18% oats in the grist. It’s so juicy!

The new East Coast/West Coast rivalry.

Step aside Biggie, this is the new East Coast/West Coast rivalry.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: hazy af, oats, pale ale, recipe

Geburtstagsparty – “Traditional” Vienna

February 16, 2016 by Derek Springer 29 Comments

Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.

geburtstagsparty wide

Anton Dreher has a posse.

Anton Dreher has a posse.

If you have spent even a little time reading my blog you know I am a big fan of Vienna Lager. Something about it strikes all right right chords for me: crisp, clean, full-flavored, well balanced between malt and hops, and just uncommon enough that I feel motivated to brew it consistently. Also, if you consume as much Mexican food as I do you know there are few beers that are as appropriate as a Vienna Lager to pair with a burrito. 🙂 My enthusiasm is infectious enough that now even my Internet buddies Marshall & Ray, Dan, Brian, and a few others have all jumped aboard the Vienna-train for NHC this year. I like to think I am doing my part to keep this style from getting dragged into the historical category.

The last time I wrote about Vienna Lager (Fiesta Cumpleaños) I came at it from the angle of a Mexican interpretation of the style, which tends to be a bit darker and with a lightly sweet/caramelly character. After publishing the article I got into correspondence with Andreas over at Daft Eejit Brewing (who has a great series on Vienna Lager) who convinced me to try brewing a more “traditional” version, consisting of mostly Vienna malt and just enough roasted malt for color. Well, I am convinced: I have brewed this “traditional” version a few times now and have been very pleased with how it turned out. I can hardly even think of things I would want to tweak with this recipe besides making more of it!

Read on for the recipe and some thoughts on making great Vienna lagers.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: lager, recipe, vienna

Ain’t No Hallertauer Girl – IPA

December 15, 2015 by Derek Springer 5 Comments

Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.
Ain't No Hallertauer Girl wide

Bear Roots logoIt has been a little while since I have done a proper beer review, opting instead to do previews of the beers I am going to make. I was also in a bit of a rut this summer: heat, extensive travel, and brewing do not make an optimal mix for brews and reviews. Mostly, I was not super pleased with how my last few batches turned out–I will happily blame that on the goofball restrictions for the BrewUnited Challenge 🙂

Well, I am back on track! A new nano brewery/homebrew supply named Bear Roots Brewing Co has opened nearby and is issuing its first homebrew competition, focused solely on IPAs the prize is “bragging rights as the first local home brew recipe on our community tap and will also get their own customized pint glass that will sit above our bar.” As someone who 1) wants to support new and local businesses and 2) loves the idea of having my own customized pint glass above a bar I figure it is worth a shot! Entering more competitions is also the only way I can achieve my ubergoal of winning a best in show ribbon.

Read on and check out my German inspired American IPA: Ain’t No Hallertauer Girl.
(It is B-A-N-A-N-A-S)
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: ale, competition, ipa, recipe

Brewcrafting: NHC 2016

November 22, 2015 by Derek Springer 2 Comments

Part of the Brewcrafting series.

My future NHC medals.If you have not yet heard, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) recently released the guidelines for the 2016 National Homebrew Competition (NHC). This will be the first year the competition will use the updated 2015 BJCP styles [PDF warning], so many homebrewers–especially myself–have been eagerly awaiting the release of these updated guidelines. The AHA mentioned last year the NHC 2016 competition will be a transition year and will only be using a subset of the new styles; it will be especially important to closely examine the competition guidelines and not the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, as there will be significant structural differences between the two. Fortunately, the relevant updated style guides have been included within the NHC 2016 guidelines, so stick with them and you will be A-OK.

Direct download

This is a good time for another installment of my Brewcrafting series, so take a look a the guidelines, read on, and let’s get ready for NHC 2016!

Bonus: take a look at the NHC 2015 Gold Medal winning recipes to help you plan your own!
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Brewcrafting, competition, national homebrew competition, nhc, nhc 2016, recipe

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Derek Springer

Derek Springer

I write code & brew beer--if you ask nice I'll share some with you :)

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