Style Of The Week 17/02/10 - California Common (steam Beer)

[Stuster]

So this week we have the Mash Paddle style for this year, an old US style, California Common (Steam Beer). Steam beer is an older West-coast US style which was revived by Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco who then snaffled the name (hence the Cal common name now used). There are a few defining features, mostly the use of Northern Brewer hops and the use of a lager yeast at close to ale temperatures. Anyway, there is a lot of information in these links.

Links
Brewing Techniques articles
Craftbrewer article by a certain local brewer
The Jamil show on the style
BYO article on the style
Another BYO article on the style
AHB thread on the yeast management
AHB thread on the style


So what type of grains do you use? Do you only use Northern Brewer hops or do you add any other kind? US Northern Brewer only? Have you done an extract brew that worked? Kits and bits? There are yeasts from the two big liquid yeast companies - which one do you use and why? Have you used a different yeast and how did that turn out? What temp do you ferment at? How long do you condition for? Tell us all about how you drank Anchor Steam in San Fran.

Tell us all you know so we can all brew Mash Paddle winning beers. :icon_cheers:

 

[Pennywise]

I've got my first Cal common in the fermenter right now, it's been in there a week. It's a recipe out of BYO mag for Anchor Steam. Because it's the first one I've done I don't have much to offer but I did notice that the yeast (Wyeast 2112) doesn't throw off any sulphur, which I thought it would being a Lager yeast and sitting at 18 degrees. Odd

 

[Supra-Jim]

Last year I brewed the Jamil BCS Cal Common recipe. Was a very tasty beer. Quite easy to session on. The US Northern Brewer hops gave a nice almost woody flavour (nice change from the regular american C hop flavours ).

Didn't get any sulphur from the 2112 yeast, brewed at 17degC.

Can't say much more than that, as i've not tried the Anchor Steam beer (or any of this style), except to say it was a nice easy brew and very tasty. Definitely on the list to re-brew!

Cheers SJ

 

[fraser_john]

Brewing one this weekend, so excellent timing for this thread. Will be focusing on water treatment, malt profile and hopping schedule. Not sure that I am going to bother with the 2112 yeast though, it attenuates pretty poorly. Not 100% sure on what yeast to sub it for though. Still researching.

 

[Stuster]

Fj, how about 1007. I made one batch of cal common with this yeast and it turned out just fine I thought. Just need to give it a bit of time to settle as it's a low flocculator.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Stu,

What temp did you ferment 1007 with?

Cheers SJ

 

[Stuster]

I don't have that info with me and it was a couple of years back. Will have a look tonight but probably fairly cool. I've fermented it at around 15C or lower before, it's even kept going down to 12 but with a good amount of yeast to start it off.

 

[Hutch]

Brewing one this weekend, so excellent timing for this thread. Will be focusing on water treatment, malt profile and hopping schedule. Not sure that I am going to bother with the 2112 yeast though, it attenuates pretty poorly. Not 100% sure on what yeast to sub it for though. Still researching.

Hmmm, definitely on the cards for me again this year, with a few tweeks.
I'd agree with FJ on the attenuation. I made one similar to the recipe in Brewing Classic Styles last year, and felt it finished a little too high, but still scored quite well at VicBrew and AABC. My advice with the 2112 is to pitch a large healthy starter, aerate well, and ferment around 17 deg (middle of the range). I'd also probably shoot for a low sac temp as well (say 62-63).

It goes without saying that the style calls for all US Northern Brewer hops (which imparts a distinctive woody character), and aim for a sizable flameout addition, as it's not the most assertive hop in terms of aroma profile. For me, judges comments last year all suggested that I could have done with more aroma (according to BJCP), so would recommend a bigger flavour/aroma addition than Jamil's recipe.
No chilling, I would definitely add flame-out hops to the cube.

 

[Thommo]

My first ever AG was a Cal Common. Did a bit of research on the net, and the article I read said you could sub US56 in, so I did. Also subbed German Norther Brewer in for US Northern Brewer, because at the time I brewed it the US stuff was apparently hard to get over here.

So having said all that, it probably wasn't a great example of a Cal Common!!! Was still bloody nice though. Got good reviews in the case swap I entered it into. I think it was the first NSW Xmas case swap that we had.

I always pictured is as being a mild/medium APA, just with a warm fermenting Lager Yeast and only NB hops (although the style guidelines do say somewhere that you can put Cascade for some aroma in there.) [I think]

Found a bottle of it in Tescos in Shrewsbury when I was over in the UK about 18 months ago. Not sure what it's like on tap in San Fran, but I found it quite subdued, which can happen with bottled beers, but it was definitely different to what I was expecting. It was basically just a lager with a bit more flavour, but nothing over the top like the Homebrewed versions I've tried. I'd be very interested to try it on Tap in SF though.

 

[Supra-Jim]

I' m pretty sure there are some comments in Ray Daniels DGB book that also speak about late hopping with cascade for Cal Common.

Cheers SJ

 

[fraser_john]

Fj, how about 1007. I made one batch of cal common with this yeast and it turned out just fine I thought. Just need to give it a bit of time to settle as it's a low flocculator.

Don't think I have 1007 in stock at home. Thinking of dry lager yeast to be honest, will have to be careful about the crystal malt component to ensure I get the final gravity I'm looking for.

Hutch also mentioned the big late additions, will have to think about that as well.

Lots of reading to do.

 

[Effect]

What is the consensus about subbing german NB for us NB?

 

[Bribie G]

Although I haven't made a Cal Common as such, I did use the yeast in an Aussie Standard Lager last year and it actually chucked a lot of sulphur at 13 degrees. It was part of my "Bulimba Draught" experiment and I won't be using it again - but I was surprised to read here that it doesn't produce sulphur when fermented at ale temperatures.

 

[seemax]

Brewed my first steam beer month back now.

Wyeast 2112 fermented @ 15C, even with a large starter it wouldn't go below 1.020. I also added a late addition of cascade.

It's turned out really nice, an excellent flavour combo of malt/yeast/hops.

Apparently the US NB hops are the key to cloning the popular bottled versions.

 

[jbirbeck]

What is the consensus about subbing german NB for us NB?

I've got one planned as one of my upcoming brews and I'll be using the German variety. Price was better. But from what I've read there is a difference between the two but having never used either I can't say what the difference is and whether it would be significant enough to warrant using the US one.

 

[RobboMC]

When I first started brewing and didn't have a fridge or heater I wanted to keep on brewing thru the winter
when the water temps were around 15 deg, so I would chuck Saflager yeast in with the kit and kilo.

Made some very interesting and different beer from ordinary old kits using this method.
All were quite drinkable and downed by all who tried them. I used all sorts of hops
so they weren't exactly California Common, but the idea of brewing wityh lager yeast at 15 deg C
made for cheap and easy brewing.

 

[Bribie G]

:icon_offtopic: For those interested in doing lagers at ale temperatures, S-189 and also Mauribrew Lager yeast (sold as Morgans Lager Yeast) do a good job at around 17-20 degrees. Also in my KnK days I used S-23 as previous poster, and it turned out just fine.

 

[BoilerBoy]

As I understand it, 2112 though called a lager yeast it technically isn't, its an ale that can be fermented cooler, but having used it a number of times I have found that its worth ramping up the temp (18-20C) towards the end of primary to get good attenuation.

I've always enjoyed the results of this yeast though,

cheers,
BB

 

[jbirbeck]

System issues at working meaning I can't work...Some comments about the style.

I've had a bit of a look at the guidelines and the examples provided. Only Anchor seems to use NB. So of the 4 examples of the style only one that I can see uses NB. The others use German and English hops.

I've not used any NB hops so I can't compare but both German and US NB hops list Chinook as a possible sub...interesting.

The style guidelines uses words like typically and usually around the use of NB hops with the exception of the overall impression comments where is is very specific about NB. The guidelines could be read very broadly and it then comes down to the interpretation of any judge on the day, or very narrowly. At first read the style is very narrow but it could be quite broad with a lot of room to interpret. Clean ferment, good malt and good bitterness with hop flavour/aroma in the woody/earthy range rather than citrus ... I might do a few of these. One with NB hops and a few with other German and English varieties. It would be interesting to see how they are judged.

 

[Pennywise]

I've had a clone from BYO on tap for the last few days. NB all the way, it really has a nice woody/earthy taste to it. It pretty much came out exactly as you (or the guidlines)describe Rooting Kings, nice malt profile and good bitterness. I'm glad I split the yeast pack up cause I'll be brewing this again in the not to distant future. I bottled 4x500ml bottle so I can see how it ages, so I'll give em' a crack at 4,8,12 and 26 weeks. Will try to remember to report back