Group Brew by Correspondence

[silvana]

Some ESB guys recently got a lark Whisky barrel via a member who owns a meadery. Pretty sure it's a once/twice a year opportunity, he orders them for the meadery and if you want in then just pay him for the barrel and chip in for shipping.
Next time it comes up I'll let everyone know.

 

[silvana]

Bier de garde is a pretty curious style. Very open but restrained in most areas apart from malt dominance.
Reading farmhouse ales book which half is devoted they only present 2 recipes one is a simple macro type version with 2 malts and the 2nd the more farmhouse with 5 or 6 malts. OG of commercial examples seem mostly in the 1.060-70 range with 80-85% attenuation.
Heavy on malt flavour but some use sugar to dry the finish. Yeast seems to be cold ale or warm lager, minimal low fruity esters. Minimal hops just enough for balance. 4-6 week lagering.

I'm liking the idea of right in the middle 1.065, which will be about 7-7.5 abv. Grain bill from the book or could use Jamils classic styles I'll vote for dry yeast, lager, warmish ferment temp. Saaz,
Hallertauer,?? hops 20-25IBU

Never had any intention of brewing this style, but reading about it, sounds great!

 

[silvana]

Grain bill from Farmhouse brews

Pilsner 75%
Munich 15%
Aromatic 5%
Amber or biscuit 1.2%
Cara Visenna or Munich 3.5%
Debittered black (carafa) 0.3%


Ideas? Inclusions? exclusions?

 

[[email protected]]

Some ESB guys recently got a lark Whisky barrel via a member who owns a meadery. Pretty sure it's a once/twice a year opportunity, he orders them for the meadery and if you want in then just pay him for the barrel and chip in for shipping.
Next time it comes up I'll let everyone know.

This would be very cool

 

[[email protected]]

The farmhouse ales recipe looks good - I prefer dry so yes to the sugar, but in general happy to follow your lead.

 

[silvana]

I like dry also - 5-8% sugar is listed as the normal range.

 

[n87]

Beire de Garde it is!

that grain bill looks fine, and I am all for a 7-8% abv finish.

I was thinking that maybe Duane may be able to make up some recipe packs for us if we wanted to keep all the same ingredients depending on availability and willingness.
Otherwise we organise our own ingredients.

Yeast? BYO suggests belgian yeast and the mad fermentist goes for the Kolsh
http://byo.com/malt/item/217-bi%C3%A9re-de-garde-style-profile
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/09/biere-de-garde-all-grain-recipe.html

Hops: Saaz, Hallertauer are fine by me, maybe Styrian Goldings?

Sugar in kettle or fermenter is fine by me. the last couple of brews (tripel and saison) I have added 0.5kg table and raw sugar respectively per batch in the fermenter.

 

[n87]

Some ESB guys recently got a lark Whisky barrel via a member who owns a meadery. Pretty sure it's a once/twice a year opportunity, he orders them for the meadery and if you want in then just pay him for the barrel and chip in for shipping.
Next time it comes up I'll let everyone know.

That would be good, do you have any rough numbers?

I will create a new thread for this one so it doesnt muddy the current thread. Does sound promising, and something great to do.


http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/92734-group-brew-oak-barrel/

 

[Dubzie]

Hey mate, which order is this in? are you assigning points, or standing on your head?

Thought we were doing 3,2,1's

1 scottish ale
2 porter
3 kolsh

Edit: LOL didnt read the next page before replying!

 

[silvana]

That would Scottish for the win after the siren....
I'm kinda committed the the Bier de garde though.

I think Belgian yeast is out of place, everything I read emphasises low subtle esters. Either cool fermented kolsh or warmish lager. Complete malt bomb of a beer with a nice dry finish.
I was thinking dry yeast as it takes the starter element out of the equation, one less variable and not sure if everyone is using liquid yeast. If the masses want kolsch I'm in as I need to brew another kolsch too.
We could just add the 5% sugar on top of the recipe bring it up to 1.070?
I have all the ingredients so don't really need a kit, depends on how people adjust recipes for their system. I'll be doing my usual 8L so if it's a uniform kit it won't work for me anyway.

 

[n87]

Dubzie's vote has already been counted


OK, so own ingredients.
I'm happy with dry yeast, its what I use 90% of the time.

 

[fungrel]

I'll be doing my usual 8L so if it's a uniform kit it won't work for me anyway.

I'm thinking grain percentages and IBU contributions as a way of keeping things uniform.

 

[Nicstars]

Oh interesting.. hadn't thought about yeast temperature and beer choice. I might have to think about that some more once final beer selection made.

 

[Peter80]

I have been watching with interest but I am unsure if I will be able to join in due to work issues. What date are you guys looking at for finish product?

 

[n87]

I would expect to have the beer in its final vessel by the end of the year so we can compare first meet 2017... or something.
I dont think its going to be that strict, but the closer everyone packages their beer, the easier it will be to compare.

 

[fungrel]

I'm happy to go with whatever we all agree on.

I'd like it if we keep fermentation temp up to the brewer, along with water additions/packaging method. Maybe the universal guidelines should be something like:

• malt/adjunct percentages
• IBU contribution (overall, non-specific)
• Yeast selection
• Target OG
• Target brew date (+/- a week or two??)

Am I missing anything?

 

[n87]

So we all good on the malt bill Yogi suggested?

Pilsner 75%
Munich 15%
Aromatic 5%
Amber or biscuit 1.2%
Cara Visenna or Munich 3.5%
Debittered black (carafa) 0.3%

Add 5-8% sugar (table? raw?) in fermenter or kettle?


I was also thinking maybe Belle Saison fermented cold might give a truer historical result
It is a more subtle saison yeast from my understanding.

 

[n87]

I'm happy to go with whatever we all agree on.

I'd like it if we keep fermentation temp up to the brewer, along with water additions/packaging method. Maybe the universal guidelines should be something like:

• malt/adjunct percentages
• IBU contribution (overall, non-specific)
• Yeast selection
• Target OG
• Target brew date (+/- a week or two??)

Am I missing anything?

I would say target package date, I will be brewing as soon as the malt and hops are solid and cubing.

I wont be saying ferment at 15C, but a suggestion of 'low' or 'high' gives a good indication with some room to move.

 

[silvana]

Fungrels guideline list looks good to me.
I like the idea of leaving the mash and the ferment to the brewer. We never really came with a clear purpose for this group brew.
Are we trying to all make the exact same beer or show the effects equipment and process can have on a given recipe?
Same recipe and yeast, the rest is brewer discretion.
My yeast vote is a (dry) lager strain as everything I've read indicates this is most common method used.
A period of 4-6 weeks lagering is the norm also (regardless of yeast used) so I'm thinking we brew in the 1st or 2nd week of November, well and truely ready for a mid to late Jan sampling.

 

[n87]

W-34/70?