Month: July 2020

Summer spiced

stoutmakerLeave a comment

I have already seen the complaining about beers being released too early for their season. I dont care about that. Irish Stout in Sept? Right on. Oktoberfest in June? Yes please. And my favorite summer beer of all…? Pumpkin Spiced!

Being nearly out of the 2019 spiced beer I needed to get a batch up before the real heat of August arrives. So I dug up my regular Amber Ale recipe and tweeked down the bitterness a tad and proceeded to brew this years batch at last months brew club meet.

8lbs Maris otter
1/2 lb 40L
1/2 lb 60L
1 oz Black Pat
1oz Hallertau @60
1 oz Saaz @ 10
2 TBS Tone’s Pumpkin Spice
Mash 152 Nottingham Yeast

Now I did call this a pumpkin spiced beer, and I used Tone’s. This blend is pretty tame and balanced,, but you could of course add more of any of the single spices,, like.. cloves. (Everything needs more cloves)

But, I could have called this an actual pumpkin beer.

While pumpkins them selves are on short supply this time of year, pumpkin flowers are not! The one pictured above was more than a foot across when I cut it and threw it in the mash,, so technically I used pumpkin.

Well its already fermented and kegged and is awaiting an the next opening in the fridge,, which should be today or tomorrow.

Kveik and more Kveik

stoutmakerLeave a comment

Back in the first week of June we were getting set to have the first of the summer heat stretches. It was looking like 90s for a week. And that means that my garage would then be the perfect place to brew a Kveik yeast beer.
Last summer I did my first Kviek brew in the garage. and it turned out to be great! So I knew I had to make the most of this heat wave.
Thought that maybe a bit maltier beer may show off the Kviek a bit better, so we went with a Vienna Lager type recipe.

  • 5lbs DArk munich
  • 4 lbs 2row
  • 1 oz saaz at 60
  • 1/2 oz saas at 15
  • 1/2 oz saaz at flame out.
  • Voss Kviek — mashed the grains at 152

So the Kviek kveiked great. and as last time with it, there is about double the yeast sludge as regular yeasts. So I wanted to save some. And I remember reading some where that the old Norwegians would dry the yeast on wood planks to repitch later….

I didnt have any planks ready to go when I thought of this, so I went out and clipped off a cedar branch.

slopped it in the sludge

and let it dry in my hot garage.

For over a month of 100+ degrees of heat.

Then just dropped it into the next batch.

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It did have a day lag, but there was activity around the branch. Kinda like an alka seltzer tab. I think it was the yeast rehydrating and starting to work, because less than 5 hours after I looked at it, it was in FULL ON ferment. at 90 degrees.

The original batch with a full pack of yeast took almost 4 days to complete, and a week to clear (as much as Kveik clears anyway). This batch with just that sticks worth was pitched, fermented full and cleared in only 3 days and we were kegged and drinking it in 7 days from pitch. But I guess this yeast does work better when under pitched.

After tasting it now for a few weeks, I really have to say that the second stick pitched beer is cleaner and less yeasty tasting.

Now since I have done this, I see there are all a bunch of articles on drying an freezing this yeast, so it was a good idea after all.

I think after now doing 3 batches with Kveik, that I am ready to start incorporating it into more of the summer beers. There are more strains coming out,, so will b trying those too,, as long as the garage stays hot.