The pLambic Attempt

For many years now I have been fascinated with the sensory explosions associated with Belgian beers. My first experience was with a bottle of Chimay Blue (the small bottle - not the reserve). I was so enraptured by the experience that I promptly set out to try as many different Belgian beers I could find. At the time, finding a Belgian beer in Australia was like trying to find a piece of hay in a stack of needles, but I did meet with limited success. Eventually, I stumbled upon a bottle of Bellevue Kriek, and found what remained my favourite indulgence for many years to come.

Finally, in March 2004, I made my first solo all-grain mash and, throwing all caution (and plenty of advice) to the wind I brewed up a pseudo-Lambic. After following some advice regarding gelatinising the raw wheat prior to mashing, I found I had absolutley no problems with the sparge. I did not have any really old hops on hand that did not smell like a Dutchmans crotch, so I settled for 120 grams of reasonably brown fuggles pellets. After inputing the aging factors, ProMash calculated an IBU of approximately 3, so I knew this wasn't going to be an issue. After a 90 minute boil, this was innoculated with a Wyeast Lambic Blend starter.

After three weeks of primary fermentation, it was racked into a 45 litre stainless cider keg to complete the long secondary. I was able to taste the batch as it aged and was fairly impressed with the flavour evolution as the months turned to years.
Finally, after nearly two and a half years in secondary, I decided it was time to complete the brew. I racked approximately 12 litres to a small glass carbouy on top of some blackberry juice concentrate (100%... none of this Ribena crap), and 20 litres onto roughly 4 kilograms of cherries and a litre of cherry juice concentrate. Both of these were innoculated with some EC-1118 yeast. I am still not sure if this was a mistake, but I didn't want to take the risk of unviable yeast and, since the 1118 is a fairly neutral beast, I thought it would not effect the flavour profile already present in the batch. The remainder of the brew was racked into two 12 litre kegs, one for dispensing and the other to blend with the kriek prior to bottling.

The straight pLambic that I tapped has all the hallmarks of a classic Lambic, albeit a tad subdued for my liking. I really think the Wyeast blend did a good job for what it is, but next time I may just get the seperate cultures and innoculate each at the correct stage. That being said however, I realise that both enteric bacteria and the kloekera strain of yeast play a fairly important part early in the fermentation, but I haven't been able to find a reliable source for these cultures anywhere - let alone locally. However, I don't believe the Wyeast blend contains these critters at any rate.

Either way, I am impressed with how this batch has turned out thus far and am keen to give it a go again. Hmm... maybe a stainless solero with oakchips - four 50 litre kegs should do the trick.

Hic,
TSD

Aussie Homebrew Competitions

Like many others out there, I brew my beers with only one person in mind. If I like the beer then, to me at least, it is a success. That being said however, it is sometimes nice to get favourable feedback about your creations from others; particularly those who either know a fair amount about the way beer should taste, or are in the industry themselves. Hence regular entries in regional, or even national, brewing competitions are a must if you really want to improve your brewing.

Almost every competition I have entered has mailed the results and tasting notes to me afterwards - even if I did not take a place. These notes are invaluable in two ways. Firstly they give you a good idea of what people "in-the-know" think of your beer, and how it stands up to style. Secondly, a well presented tasting sheet filled in by a concientious judge will give you an indication of what you may be doing wrong through the brewing process, and how, in the judges eyes, you could improve your methods or recipe structure.

I have watched with great anticipation, bordering on national pride, as more Australian-based brewing competitions have either started up or gotten enough advertising/coverage to be noticed by the homebrewing community. While some such as the Castle Hill and Luddenham shows will always be on a small scale due their minimal size and mostly local interest, many have grown considerably over the years. One such show is the "Bathurst Homebrew Competition", which became known in the homebrew industry (at least while I was a part of it) as the unofficial Nationals due to the fact that more prestige was given to the category winners of Bathurst than any other competition in Australia due to both the sheer number of entries and the stiff competition between competitors.

That being said, it is always wise to support the small regionals, as the more people notice that homebrew is no longer reminiscent of the foul tasting concoctions their grandfathers coughed up, the more the hobby will grow - and that can never be a bad thing.

For a list of upcoming Australian Homebrew Competitions, click here

Cheers,
TSD

A tasting at the Redoak

Last weekend I managed to get myself - wife and kid in tow - down to the Redoak on Clarence Street, Sydney for a few hours. Their selection of craftbrews is exceptional, with a multitude of different styles to chose from, but I found myself particularly impressed with the three described below.

1. India Pale Ale:- This was not available over the bar, given away on the night in 50mL sample tasters prior to its impending release. In my opinion it is a premier example of a British-style IPA, with plenty of hop character - but not enough to be "in-your-face" - and it had a slight residual sweetness to offset the strong hop bitterness. A very easy-drinking IPA, but if you are a fan of the over-the-top Imperial IPA's, you may be dissapointed. Personally, I loved it.
2. Honey Ale:- Being a mead fan, I love tinkering around with the addition of honey to my brews. To date however, I have found it exceedingly difficult to retain a large amount of honey flavour once fermentation has run the gammut, and I had all but given up on it. This particular brew blew me away with its astoundingly strong and fresh honey flavour, and has made me even more determined to brew something similar. Another easy-drinking brew that, despite the large honey flavour, is in no way cloying.
3. Redoak Reserve:- What trip to any microbrewery would be complete without a taste of their signature brew. The Redoak Reserve is a masterpiece of brewing. Malty, and with a thick mouthfeel, this brew lacks any of the cloying sweetness one usually associates with such a high gravity beer - in fact it remains quite dry, with a massive hit of flavour from the chocolate and crystal malts. The dryness is actually so significant that I am inclined to believe some dehusked specialty grains such as carafa-special may be employed. Hops were fairly low, if I recall correctly, or it may simply be that such an obvious forefront of malt subdued any hop character it may have possessed. However, this lack of hop flavour in no way detracted from what was a delightful, warming indulgence.

I had the opportunity to meet with Dave Hollyoak, the owner and brewer, and we chatted briefly about his beers and processes. It turns out we share a love of Belgian style ales and I was treated to a twelve month old bottle of his St Nicholas Tripel-style ale. Once again he not only hit the mark, but exceeded it in terms of flavour and quality.

Now The Redoak is not an inexpensive night out, but nontheless it remained virtually yuppy free for the part of the evening I was there. The prices are within the range of what I would call "average" for such high quality craft brewed beverages, with the exception of the Redoak Reserve which hits the hip pocket at a staggering $15 for 50mL - but damn is it worth it! For a good night of sampling a reasonable range, expect to fork out roughly $100 - $120. For a really good night you could pay upwards of $160, but in the end we don't treat ourselves to such an indulgence every week, so drink up!

Cheers,
TSD

P.S.- Redoak hold a special four course "beergustation" menu once a month, where each course is served with beers specially selected due to their compatibility with the food on offer (or perhaps more accurately, the food is matched to the beers). During the course of the evening the staff will talk you through the history of the beers, and David himself apparently attends to discuss the brewing methods used to create them. These dinners cost about $60, but unfortunately do not come with a glass of the Reserve. I would personally recommend coughing up an extra $30 for a double shot of the Reserve - served in a cognac-style glass - and savour the changes in flavour as the beer warms up in your hand. Apparently, if you don't give the beer at least a half-hour to fully warm up, you might miss some fairly awesome changes in profile. I only got a regular serve (50mL) and couldn't resist downing the lot in the span of only fifteen minutes - I will know better next time.

BeerTools Pro - and a simple amber ale

To the right is a screen capture of the BeerTools Pro software. I have been using BeerTools online as a recipe calculator for many years, and indeed I have crafted many an enjoyable brew using this resource. BeerTools Pro is in beta testing at the moment, and even though I have been unable to test it thoroughly - due to afore mentioned temporary lack of proper equipment - I have watched it unfold with great anticipation. Each beta release has revealed more and more of what awaits us, and I have to say that finally there will be a true competitor to ProMash. Due for release in October.

The recipe is a simple amber ale that I plan to use as my maiden brew, once the system is up and running. I have other recipes that I am hanging to brew, but I think a simple batch for the maiden is a safer bet.

Cheers,
TSD

Building the Brewery

Well after roughly eighteen months of reverting back to extract brewing, the brewery is finally reaching completion. Not that it should have taken this long, but work tends to get in the way of enjoyment. The eighteen metres of galvanised tubing I purchased way back when ended up being short by about ten metres (I think I actually planned on a two tier system initially, so I really should have expected that).
I will be purchasing the pump once I get some more overtime. The pump I will use is a March 809L. I saw a few others that I know would be a lot better, but unfortunately the budget is blowing out as it is, so the $1200 series 335 will have to wait!
I managed to get some brass 1/2" ball valves for the plumbing - eight in total - for about $7.50 each at Reece Plumbing, Wetherill Park. I purchased my copper coil at the same place, also for a bargain, at $121.00 for eighteen metres. This will be used to make 2 x 9 metre counterflow chillers (One of these will go to someone else). I am contemplating the use of that thin black irrigation tubing for the outer shell... but for the sake of a measley $20 difference, I may just use 18mm garden hose instead.
Either way, I am going to have to wait until I have the frame in place before I go ahead with any further plumbing plans. Getting very impatient, though...

Pics coming...
TSD