From postmaster at longs.lance.colostate.edu Mon Mar 7 03:04:36 1994 Received: from longs.lance.colostate.edu by goodman.itn.med.umich.edu with SMTP id AA09164 (5.65b/IDA-1.4.3 for spencer at hendrix.itn.med.umich.edu); Mon, 7 Mar 94 03:04:33 -0500 Received: from localhost (daemon at localhost) by longs.lance.colostate.edu (8.6.5/8.6.5a (LANCE 1.01)) id AAA29779 for reallambic at longs.lance.colostate.edu; Mon, 7 Mar 1994 00:30:07 -0700 Message-Id: <199403070730.AAA29779 at longs.lance.colostate.edu> Reply-To: lambic at longs.lance.colostate.edu (postings only - do not send subscription requests here) Errors-To: lambic-request at longs.lance.colostate.edu From: lambic-request at longs.lance.colostate.edu (subscription requests only - do not post here) To: reallambic at longs.lance.colostate.edu (subscriber distribution list) Subject: Lambic Digest #293 (March 07, 1994) Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 00:30:07 -0700 Lambic Digest #293 Mon 07 March 1994 Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles) Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator Contents: Phil's how-to-bru, Belgian style ("Phillip R. Seitz") Send article submissions only to: lambic at longs.lance.colostate.edu Send all other administrative requests (subscribe/unsubscribe/change) to: lambic-request at longs.lance.colostate.edu Back issues are available by mail; send empty message with subject 'HELP' to: netlib at longs.lance.colostate.edu A FAQ is also available by netlib; say 'send faq from lambic' as the subject or body of your message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 06 Mar 94 16:26:44 -0400 From: "Phillip R. Seitz" Subject: Phil's how-to-bru, Belgian style Yesterday I made my judging debut at the American Home Wine and Beer Trade Association nationals, where I joined three judges to evaluate 22 Belgian-style entries. As a judging newbie I have a newfound respect for the people who try to provide constructive comments on all those beers, particularly as there are an astonishing number of bad ones. The scoresheets will be going out shortly, and there'll be plenty of time for people to curse and harass me for my stupidity, lack of knowledge, etc. (I'll probably deserve it.) In the meantime, the opportunity to try 22 beers distributed throughout the Belgian style spectrum has prompted me to reflect on the State of the Union, at least Belgian-style homebrew-wise. What follows are my ruminations, which I hope will generate some discussion and maybe a few good beers. The good news is that there were at least three beers that seemed quite close to Belgian commercial standards--a double, a white, and (gasp!) a lambic. Unfortunately, the bad news is that there were ONLY three beers that seemed up this standard. Given the all the information we lack as brewers this may not be as bad as it seems, and I think I can say that in almost every candidate SOMEONE was brewing beers that had many of the difficult-to- achieve tastes or other factors that will lead us to Belgian homebrew nirvana. With luck and work I think the quality of Belgian-style homebrew (including my own) will continue to improve. First, some general observations: 1) I think that anybody reading this who has a package of the original Wyeast Belgian should throw it out. Do this NOW, please! While I have had one or two beers made with this that have had authentic Belgian character, the VAST majority of beers I've tasted are full of banana and solvent notes that are totally inappropriate. There are now many other yeasts on the market that merit exploration, and I think this one has lived out its useful life. 2) Do NOT ferment your beers over 70F. Pierre Rajotte mentions in his book BELGIAN ALE that some Belgian brewers ferment as high as 80F; while I'm sure it was not his intention, this one statement has led to the spoilage of more batches of beer (including many of mine) than I care to think about. Over the course of eight trips to Belgium including many brewery visits I have never seen a high-temperature fermentation, and most brewers there recoil at the very thought. Your beer will be MUCH better if you keep it cool while it ferments. 3) I think that anyone seriously interested in brewing Belgian style beers needs to learn simple yeast culturing methods. Perhaps this will change in the future, but for the moment every usable Belgian yeast I've seen for sale (except the new Wyeast White) requires buildup from a yeast slant to a full starter. This process is not difficult, and will open up a much larger world of yeast possibilities for you. Just as British pale ales are hoppy and German lagers are malty, Belgian beers are inextricably linked to yeast flavors. You owe it to yourself and your beer to use the best yeasts you can find, whatever form they may come in. Now some comments on the various styles we encountered at the AWHBTA: 1) White beers. Things look very promising here; many net contributors have conducted experiments in this area, and the beers we're getting now are looking quite good. Overall this is not that hard a beer to make, and if we aren't getting professional-quality beers by next year I'll be very disappointed. A few notes: A) Many white beers have an orangey flavor, but it's now apparent that this comes from fresh coriander seed rather than from orange peel. Boiling dried standard-type orange imparts a ham-like aroma that will lose you points and contribute little to the finished beer. Better to find some fresh coriander for your brew, and to use bitter orange peels, which contribute an herbal bitterness. These are now available from a number of homebrew dealers. B) Lactic acid can contribute tartness to your finished beer, but don't overdo it; many Belgian whites aren't tart at all. Taste varies, but you should be sure you know what you're doing before adding more than, say, 10 ml per 5 gallon batch. Keep it subtle. Also, large additions need a lot of time to blend in with the other flavors--as long as 2-3 months. C) Carbonation should be more than your average pale ale, but not so much that it interferes with your ability to taste the beer. My guess is that 7/8 cup corn sugar (about 125 grams) per 5 gallons is about right. 2) Doubles. This is a tough beer to brew, as there still isn't a lot of conventional wisdom regarding how to do it. Keep your maltiness subtle, and go for a fair amount of carbonation. Most Belgian beers are more mousse-like than liquid on the tongue, and you may want to carbonate with up to 1 cup corn sugar per 5 gallons. 3) Oud Bruin. If doubles are hard, these are excrutiatingly hard to brew so far, and I'm not convinced that anyone over here really knows how to do it. However, there are a few things to keep in mind: A) The flavor and aroma should be a mix of fruity esters and some acetic sourness. Some commercial examples (Oud Zottegem, Rodenbach) can be quite sour, while others (Liefmans, Vichtenaar, Felix) are much sweeter. However, these sweeter brews are quite sour in the fermenter, and are later filtered and sweetened. This is very hard for a homebrewer to do. B) Experimentation is what's needed here. Try working with a partial sourmash a la Greg Noonan, or even with some lambic bacteria, and perhaps combine this with some lactose for residual sweetness to match the sourness. Liefman's is made with pilsner malt and caramel malt, and the latter could also be used to compensate for sourness. Additions of sour cherries might also work. And if you have access to a 2-micron filter, go for it! 4) Triples. These should be high in strength (1.090s, for instance) but have nice, light body. They should not have fruity esters, but can be a bit malty or spicy and even show some noble hop character. Carbonation should be high--use 1 cup for priming. A typical five gallon recipe will have 2 pounds or more of sugar, which provides the warming strength without adding to the body (this is one of the factors that separates these beers from barleywines--that and they've got 100 fewer IBUs). As with all strong beers, pay particular attention to your fermentation temperature, and if possible keep it between 60 and 65F. Higher temps will only give you a headache in a bottle. Remember, these beers might be strong, but they shouldn't taste of alchohol, solvent, medicine, or any other similar fermentation by-products. This may be the one area where Wyeast Belgian might be of use. Under the right conditions it can produce a lot of Chimay-type flavors. However, ferment very cool (60F) if you try this. 5) Belgian ales. This, too, is a tough category. One reason it is because it embraces so many different-tasting commercial examples. By comparison, most contests have at least three different stout categories! Even worse, none of the the appropriate commercial examples are available here for evaluation. In general, shoot for something with a standard gravity (1.046- 1.052) that's got some subtle Belgian-tasting yeast esters and also has a restrained noble-hop character. This is the only Belgian category where noticeable hop bitterness isn't out of place, nor is noble-type hop aroma. Don't overdo it--subtlety and balance are the most important factors here. Judicious use of caramel malts (.5-1 lb/5 gallons) and maybe even some Munich in small quantities should yield the desired results. 6) Belgian strong ales. This is where the next person to use Wyeast Belgian gets shot. I MEAN it; if I have another strong banana/solvent beer again I'm gonna go ballistic. Yes, brew strong beers. Yes, use interesting yeasts. NO, do NOT ferment above 70F. This should NOT be that tough a beer to brew if you use a good yeast, keep your hopping quite low (max 18 IBU), and do a good ferment. The idea is to let the yeast flavors stand out; everything else should provide subtle counterpoint. Don't be afraid to try small quantities of spices or sugar, and make sure you carbonate well (1 cup/5 gallons). This is a yeast showcase, so be be judicious about large additions of caramel or Munich malts; exclusive of sugar your malt bill should be almost entirely (90%) pilsner. If you can brew a strong beer with good, clean yeast flavor (perhaps offset by some orange, vanilla, or coriander), fermented cool, you should be in the running. And if you brew with Wyeast Belgian, you WILL be running, because I'll be coming after you! (Once my headache subsides, that is.) 7) Lambics. This was my first exposure to pure-culture lambics, and I will admit that I was nervous. Instead, these nearly stole the show. We did have one beer that I suspect was made with a Papazian sour mash and exhibited a rather rancid, rotten character. However, there's no question that those brett and pedio cultures work! We had one beer that had ALL the right flavors and no obvious defects other than being a bit too UNattenuated and mild; presumably this will be best of show material next year. Since I don't brew these beers I'll let others provide most of the how-to commentary. My only notes are that would-be lambic brewers should focus on brewing a good, clean base to work from; your "uninfected" beer should be reasonably neutral in character, with the possible exception of some wheatiness. This will allow your added bugs to do their work and stand out. There you go, folks--Phil's Belgian how-to book. I'm sure there are some mistakes and misconceptions here, so let's get at it. We're not going to brew better beer until we get them cleaned up and fill in the blanks! Finally, I might as well spill the beans. My brew club, BURP, is seriously considering holding an AHA-sponsored Belgian-styles-only contest in November. Since it was my idea I'll probably be running it. In any case, details will be forthcoming, but in the meantime you may want to do some planning and brewing--ESPECIALLY you lambic-tarians. Assuming we go forward with this I will make every effort to see that our judges are up to snuff and know their Belgian beers. With luck this will stimulate many of you to new levels of experimentation and to the discovery of new methods for the fabrication of quality Belgian-style beer. ------------------------------ End of Lambic Digest ************************ -------