Glass of export in the winter sunset |
While leads me to today's post/beer, a Dortmunder-style lager ('German Helles Exporbier' in the new style guidelines) that Mike and I brewed a little over a month ago. I brewed this beer using the fast-lager method I've developed (based on Brulosophy work) over the past year, using another vial of the W34/70 frozen down in my "Freezing Yeast" video. The "warm lager" method I've settled on works as follows:
- Pitch a healthy dose of a warm-lager-comparable (e.g. W34/70) lager yeast into cellar-temperature wort (10-16C).
- Ferment ~ 1 week at cellar temperature, then warm beer to 20C for another weeks fermentation.
- Keg after 14 days fermentation, or transfer to secondary and age further at cellar temperatures .
This has turned around 5 lager beers, most in 2-3 weeks, all of which tasted excellent and without significant flaws. This is now my go-to method of brewing lagers. This Dortmunder was no exception - a fantastic beer whose only notable flaw was a mis-balance in bitterness and maltiness, due to a higher-than-expected starting gravity.
Mike's Export |
German Helles Exportbier |
Type: All Grain | Date: 06 Nov 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batch Size (fermenter): 42.00 l | Boil Size: 52.28 l | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boil Time: 90 min | End of Boil Volume 46.28 l | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ingredients
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Beer Profile
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Est Original Gravity: 1.054 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.058 SG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.3 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bitterness: 28.2 IBUs | Est Color: 6.3 SRM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mash Profile
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Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge | Total Grain Weight: 10.11 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sparge Water: 36.03 l | Grain Temperature: 19.0 C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C | Tun Temperature: 19.0 C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE | Mash PH: 5.20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (9.77l, 26.27l) of 75.6 C water |
Notes: Uneventful brew-day, only 'flaw' was the pre-boil gravity was higher than the planned for post-boil gravity.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Pours with a thick white head, and a golden effervescent body.
Aroma: Aroma is Pilsner malt (breaddy/malty) and a nild but spicy hop aroma.
Flavour: The beer is malt-forward, with a wonderful pilsner-malt flavour. This is balanced by a rather modest hop bitterness and subtle hop flavour (spicy/herbal). I really enjoy this beer, but it is somewhat off-style (and now quite what I was hoping for), as there should be a more perceptable bitterness. This mis-balance is due to the higher than expected starting gravity, without a correction in the amount of bittering hops added (due to the absence of any extra hops in my freezer). As a consequence this beer is not as balanced between hops and malt as is expected of the style, and instead is more malt-dominant - an "imperial helles" captures the character rather accurately. Beer ends malty, but dry.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel on this beer is spot-on; malty, but not overly so, and quite thirst quenching.
Overall: A good - but not great - beer. The higher-than-planned gravity, combined with my failure to dilute the wort or add extra hops, led to an overly-malty beer. And while the final beer is quite good, the relatively low bitterness leaves it a little too malt-forward for my tastes.
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