What To Brew With This Grist?

[Kai]

A couple days ago I weighed out some grain intended for a light hoppy summer ale style (70% pils, 20% vienna, 10% wheat). Unfortunately, I got things muddled up and weighed out the same grist as for my last beer, a biere de garde.

So, now I have a grist of 80% vienna, 18% pilsner and 2% caraaroma that I definitely do not want to use for the beer I originally intended. Since it's all mixed together, the easiest thing to do is just brew another beer to suit. I'm mulling over a few options but I thought I would open this up to the forum populace and ask for suggestions. What sort of beer do you think I should turn it into?

Any gravity is fine and you can pretend that I can get my filthy hands on whatever yeast or hop variety you stipulate. I do have a small selection of additional specialty grains and adjuncts on hand that can be utilised, including sugar, flaked rice, flaked maize, flaked oats, flaked rye, crystal rye, malted rye, torrefied wheat, pale chocolate malt, brown malt and black malt.

I put it to you to suggest a recipe using this provided base grist. I'll take whatever suggestion I like the best and produce something similar. Looking forward to some bright ideas.

 

[Jye]

You could go for a Vienna lager or Oktoberfest BUT I would try a bit malty IPA with early bitterness additions and very late aroma, maybe dry hop it.

 

[newguy]

1. Marzen. Any type of hop, bittering only, no more than about 20 IBUs or so. OG 1.050. Clean lager yeast.

2. New-style american dark (red) lager, sort of like Sam Adams Boston Lager. Lager with american hop character and plenty of it. Use any american hop variety you wish, or several in combination. Shoot for about 40 IBUs total, with the bulk of that coming from late (<20 min) hop additions and dry hopping. Lots of dry hopping. OG 1.045 - 1.050, clean lager yeast OR neutral ale yeast like Wyeast 1056 since you won't be able to pick out yeast character in such a hoppy beer anyway.

3. pseudo-Southern English Brown. Just add about 300g chocolate malt to darken the colour a bit and the grain bill could pass as a brown. This style is malty with very little/no hop character. OG 1.045ish, 15-20 IBUs or so. Wyeast 1318 London III is fantastic for this style - very fruity.

I'd personally go for #2.

 

[warrenlw63]

Altbier. Not totally true to style but who gives a toss? :beer:

Warren -

 

[Kai]

Some good suggestions so far, keep 'em coming.

 

[Adamt]

Baltic Porter!

Add
~2% Pale choc
~2% Black

Brew for OG of 1.080

Northern Brewer to 30IBU

Nottingham at 16C (or liquid if you're organised )

I want some porter now

 

[bindi]

Altbier. Not totally true to style but who gives a toss? :beer:

Warren -

Agree with Warren, an Alt noble hops and Wyeast 1007 or WLP 036, 029 or 001.

Forget the style police, how about something like this, should be a good beer.

24L
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.80 kg Vienna Malt [Powells] (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.0 %
1.08 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 18.0 %
0.12 kg Caraaroma (Weyermann) (178.0 SRM) Grain 2.0 %
25.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.40%] (60 min) Hops 21.7 IBU
35.00 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00%] (30 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
30.00 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00%] (10 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007) [Starter 1000 ml] Yeast-Ale
1.062
The colour will be light for an Alt, but as Warrens say "who gives a toss".

 

[Jazman]

add some crystal and maybe a dubbel ??????

 

[bindi]

add some crystal and maybe a dubbel ??????

He he love it.
Was going to say throw some Belgian yeast at it and see [I would and don't care :blink: ], but settled on an Alt yeast.
You have won me with a Dubble It's all good Jazman.

 

[Darren]

Vienna lager? Is it called a MaiBock?

cheers

Darren

 

[AndrewQLD]

Nice Grist for a Vienna Lager Kai, but then I am partial to a Vienna. Maybe just a pinch of choc malt for color.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[bindi]

Bump <_< What's it going to be Kai ?

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

I think that grist would go well in a Belgian Pale Kai.

C&B
TDA

 

[neonmeate]

do a no-sparge, and make an amber doppelbock

 

[jayse]

Go the belgian pale ale of sorts :chug:

 

[Kai]

I think that grist would go well in a Belgian Pale Kai.

C&B
TDA

...ding! We have a winner. There have been some good suggestions spanning a far gamut of styles but they've either been a style I do not want to brew right now or a style that I would like to do better justice to when I do.

I'd decided on a Belgian pale ale with a slight emphasis towards hop flavour. This is the plan:

OG 1.050
25 IBU

80% Weyermann Vienna
18% Weyermann Pilsner
2% Weyermann Caraaroma

Hallertauer Magnum bittering
0.5g/L Goldings @ flameout
0.5g/L Glacier @ flameout
0.5g/L Hallertau @ flameout

3787 Wyeast Trappist High Gravity

65C mash
20C ferment

Thoughts?

 

[neonmeate]

Thoughts?

tasty

 

[brendanos]

If I was to make that an Alt, I'd probably add a touch of melanoidin, acidulated and something for colour... or looking at your supplies, a bit of brown and black, and conduct a mini sour mash. Noble hops & german ale yeast.

I would probably mix the grains up really well and split the batch, using half to make a Dunkelweizen (add wheat malt, noble hops & 3068) and an american or nz amber/red (add pilsener and a little carared/crystal, american or nz hops, i'd go for any combination of willamette/cascade/simcoe/amarillo/horizon/b saaz/sauvin/southern cross, and 1056 or your favourite lager yeast).

*edit grammar

 

[Kai]

That's a nice idea, brendanos. I'd considered making a fauxdunkelweizen with the original grist and 3068 but then I realised I had no 3068 left.

Similarly I would have liked to do a beer with NZ hopping, but the only NZ hop I have left at the moment is Nelson Sauvin and that's going into the next brew I do. If I had any Southern Cross then that would have been a goer.

 

[Jazman]

southern cross is a good hop vesertile hop