,
APPRENTICE
2011 Quarry Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may Digital edition : 978-1-61058-159-2
Text and photography 2011 Greg Koch be reproduced in any form without written
Softcover edition : 978-1-59253-731-0
and Matt Allyn permission of the copyright owners. All
images in this book have been reproduced
First published in the United States of with the knowledge and prior consent of Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
America in 2011 by the artists concerned , and no responsibility Publication Data is available
Quarry Books, a member of is accepted by the producer, publ isher, or
Quayside Publishing Group pri nter for any infringement of copyright or Design: Paul Burgess: Burge Agency
100 Cummings Center otherwise, arising from the contents of this Artwork: Pete Usher: Burge Agency
Suite 406-L publication. Every effort has been made to Front cover: istockphoto.com, except for
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101 ensure that credits accurately comply with bottom right: Foodcollection/Getty Images
Telephone: (978) 282-9590 information supplied. We apologize for any Back Cover: Belgian Tourist Office,
Fax: (978) 283-2742 inaccuracies that may have occurred and John Bollwitt (johnbollwitt.com), and
www.quarrybooks.com will resolve inaccurate or missing informa- istockphoto.com
tion in a subsequent reprinting of the book.
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN: 978-1-59253-731-0
- Greg Koch
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
I COULD GO ON.
QUITE WILLINGLY.
INTRODUCTION
And as such , this book has been born. chapter 1 and be our guest. Eager to get
Although it pays homage to the time- a brewer's-eye-perspective on trad itiona I
honored traditions of our favorite beverage, Bavarian-style hefeweizens? Skip ahead to
it is not just a repackaging of the solid, chapter 7, and learn from the best! Fancy a
classic brewing tomes. As valid, important, snifter of imperial stout while curled by the
and necessary, as they are, The Brewer's fire reading tales of conquest and woe at
Apprentice offers a more picturesque view the hands of buggers such as Pedio, Brett,
into our favorite subject. and Lactobacillus? Turn gingerly to chapter
9 on spontaneous fermentation.
In the writing of this book, we have had the
great privilege of taking many educational I once heard, and have si nce oft repeated,
sightseeing excursions along the great road- what has become a favorite saying: "Buy a
trip that is a brewing life. Although this man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to
book could certainly be read in a straight- brew, waste a lifetime." While I've known
line fashion , and is organized so it follows some who take offense to the saying, I
the steps of the brewing process, I invite feel that it is nothing but complimentary.
you to bounce around as you wish. Inter- "Wasti ng an hour" suggests a temporary
ested in a deep-dive into malt? Turn to yet rewarding pause from an otherwise hec-
tic and go-go-go Iife. However, "wasti ng a
Iifeti me" is not a true "waste," but instead,
a diversion from the rat race into one of
life's nobler pursuits: the art of brewing.
INTRODUCTION
--------------------------------
"t5ut{ a Man a beer: wa4te an hour.
Teach a Man to brew, wa4te a liIe-
tiMe." While I've known 40Me who
take oNen4e to the 4at{in91 I teel that
it i4 nothin9 but cOMpliMentart(.
As noble as brewing is (and as just about The world of home brewing is both stuck in computer system and the automatic
anyone would attest if they were anywhere old-world tradition (in the best of senses) window controls. After a brief introduc-
past the half-pint mark), a junior executive and simultaneously rocketing forward into tion to the brewing process and a glossary
might scoff at brewing, instead preferring new and barely charted territories. We've of equipment and ingredients, the book
to pursue upward mobility. He can have his had the privilege of consulting, cajoling, focuses on the technical, diverse, and the
upward mobility, as I don't care much for it. and cavorting with both old friends and spectacular. And a spectacular view it is.
new to bring you unique access into the in-
Not to say that I don't crave forward move- sights of those who live and breathe the art So, pull the owner's manual out of the
ment and progress. I admit, I do. Does this of brewing. Many of the names you'll hear glove compartment when you must review
pose a conflict? Joyfully, no. The world of in this book are familiar, and we're excited the operational basics of brewing-there
craft beer and brewing has afforded me to bring you their insights. Other names are many great ones out there, and most
all of life's rewards that I could wish for: will be new, and this introduction invites likely you already have a trusted, well-
satisfaction from a job well done, respect of further discovery, as you will no doubt be worn, perhaps even wort-stained one on
my friends and peers, standing in the com- inspired to seek out their fine work in your shelf. Leave this book on the coffee
munity, access to the world's best culinary order to back up the veracity of their table to peruse when you want to think
experiences, friends and comrades-in-arms studied opinions. about brewing (but not necessarily while
around the world, an endless opportunity you're brewing).
for creative flow, and yes, the proverbial You might expect a portion of th is book to
food on the table. be dedicated to the straightforward how-to A great beer in hand is optional, but it's
of home brewing, or a starter's guide to always in good taste.
And then there's the beer. And the oppor- professional brewing. A novice brewer
tunity to work with co-author Matt Allyn to might feel that omitting the basics of brew- - Greg Koch
bring you front-row and behind-the-scenes ing might leave one with little orientation,
access to the greatest minds and talents in as though the steering wheel, speed-
the brewing world . ometer, tachometer, and shift column were
completely omitted in favor of an on-board
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
BREWING BASICS
INGREDIENTS New brewers often use liquid or dried malt
extract to simplify the brewing process.
WATER This provides the same maltose (sugar)
Water constitutes 90 to 95 percent of a grains impart for brewing. While extracts
beer, so always use a clean source for brew- are just as fermentable, their flavors can
ing. Most tap water is acceptable as long be inconsistent and lack the subtlety and
as it's run through a carbon filter prior to complexity of true barley or wheat.
brewing. Advanced brewers learn to adjust
their water to suit their beer (see chapter 5 HOPS
for how to modify your water) . These dried green flowers contribute
bitterness, aroma, and flavor to a beer. A
MALT 5-ga lion (19 U batch of homebrew might
Malted grains bring color, aroma, and flavor need only an ounce of dried hop pellets to
to a beer, but most importantly, they are the balance a sweeter amber ale, while a
fuel for creating alcohol. Malt houses let hop-centric India pale ale could use up to
grains such as barley and wheat germinate 8 ounces (227 g) or more.
and begin to grow, creating starch. Then
they dry the grains and stop the process, YEAST
leaving a large amount of starch. The This microorganism is the engine behind
majority of any beer will use a pale malt beer. It consumes sugar derived from the
(called base malt). Darker beer adds "spe- malt starch to make alcohol. There are
cialty grains" that are roasted to different hundreds of different brewing yeast strains,
temperatures and impart various flavors each working at different temperatures
and color. and producing varying flavors. German
wheat beers (hefeweizens), for example,
owe much of their spicy character to their
special ized yeast.
BREWING BASICS
SUPPLIES
These are the supplies necessary to brew
beer from gra into gl ass like a pro. Begi n-
ners should feel no shame in skipping the
mash and lauter by adding malt extract to
the kettle, but these are the tools of the
trade for homebrewers ready to em ulate
their favorite brewmasters.
MASH TUN
Your crushed grains and hot water are com-
bined in the mash tun to produce sugar
during the first step of homebrewing. The
two most common options are insulated
coolers and metal mash kettles. Coolers,
like the ones in which you would store beer
at a party, hold the mash at a constant
temperature with minimal work, but it's
difficult to raise the mash temperature if
needed. Mash kettles are heavy-duty pots,
usually fitted with a spigot and false bot-
tom for lautering. Pictured from left to right: gypsum, crushed crystal malt, malt extract, Cluster hop pellets,
Northern Brewer hop pellets, molasses, brown sugar, Belgium candy, Irish moss, Kent Golding Hops,
LAUTER TUN yeast, maple syrup, and priming sugar.
Often the mash and lauter tun are the same
thing. A lauter tun is a large container with
a screen or false bottom under the grains
that allows the wort to drain out.
BREW KETTLE
Any large metal stock pot will do-copper,
stainless steel or aluminum-as long as it's
big enough. Your brew kettle should have
one to two gallons (4 to 8 U more capacity
than the liquid in it. Extract brewers uses BOTTLING BUCKET
5-gallon (19 U pots, and all-grain brewers This plastic bucket with a spigot allows you
use at least 7-gallon (26 U pots. to mix your beer with priming sugar and
then easi Iy dispense into bottles.
WORT CHILLERS
These copper or stainless coils have an CAPPER
in let (and outlet) for tap water to run This simple device crimps bottle caps and
through the coi I. When placed in hot wort, seals your beer.
the water-cooled coil quickly drops the wort
temperature. AUTOSIPHON
It's not a necessity, but this makes transfer-
FERMENTOR ring beer from one container to another a
Brewers need a primary fermentor, usually breeze.
a food-grade plastic bucket, and then a
secondary fermentor, typically a glass HYDROMETER AND REFRACTOMETER
carboy for aging. The bucket is easy to use These devices will tell you how much sugar
and clean, but it is also porous, letting is in your beer, indicating how much can be
small amounts of oxygen in, making it a fermented, and later, how much has been
bad candidate for aging beer. fermented out.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
The brew deck at the Firestone Walker Brewer looks endlessly complicated but follows
nearly all the same processes as a 5-gallon home brewery.
UNDERSTANDING GRAVITY, THE BREWING PROCESS: STEP 1. MASH AND LAUTER THE GRAINS
CALCULATING ABV The first step on the road to homebrewing
When the sugars from your mash AN OVERVIEW is mashing the malted grains. You need
dissolve into the hot water, the sugar to ferment beer, and this is where you
liquid (your wort) becomes denser. Brewing is a simple process that's easily create it. The mash is a mixture of crushed
As yeast ferments that sugar out, complicated . And this book assumes a grains and hot water that converts the
converting itto alcohol, the beer basic understanding of the principles that starch in barley, wheat, or other grains into
becomes less dense. By subtract- turn barley starch and hop flowers into sugar (which yeast will turn into alcohol).
ing the second, third, or final pale ales and porters. These steps provide Barley has two enzymes (proteins that
gravity reading from the first, and a basic reference for the steps to reach encourage chem ical reactions) that break
then accounting for the density of a finished (and delicious) beer, but for a starch down into sugar when they're within
alcohol (multiply by 1.31), you can more in-depth look at brewing fundamen- particular temperature ranges. Home
easily calculate a beer's alcohol tals, read Charlie Papazian's The Complete brewers typically mix their grains with hot
Joy of Homebrewingand John Palmer's
content. water and hold their mash between 145F
How to Brew. and 158F (63C and 70C) for at least
Starting gravity - final gravity x 20 minutes.
1.31 x 100 =alcohol by volume
BREWING BASICS
CHAPTER 1:
MASHING AND LAUTERING
The basic process is simple enough. Add INTRODUCTION TO MASHING STEP 4: SPARGE
hot water to grain, wait while the malt Mashing is the first big step on the trip To assist the lautering, additional hot water
starch converts to sugar, and drain out the from grain to glass. By turning the barley (around 170F [7rC]) is added to help
newly created sugar water to boil. Aside starch into sugar, you've created not only rinse out the sugar and reach the desired
from being a necessary brewing step, it's an fuel for your yeast to create alcohol but brewing volume.
opportunity to shape and mold your beer. the base of your flavor. Here are the basic
By adjusti ng the water temperature, you steps: In this chapter, you'll learn:
can make beer with the feel of a feather-
How the grinding of grains affects beer
weight Belgian, or the viscous body of a STEP 1: SELECT AND GRIND BREWING GRAINS
sticky imperial stout. While malted barley is the most commonly The different temperature steps of mashing
used grain, portions of wheat, oats, and rye How to mash, lauter, and sparge
can be added to create different tastes and
mouthfeels. Most homebrewing shops will How to perform a decoction mash
be happy to grind your brewing grains.
For mashing and lautering, you need:
STEP 2: MASH IN
Perhap4 a bit 01 the Maqic 01 beer i4 Most simple beers only need a single infu- Malted grains
that it tran4/orM4 it4el/ be/ore our sion of hot water for the grains. By soaking 5-gallon (19 L) or larger stockpot
et{e4. find the ultiMate 41eiqM 01 hand the grains and holding them at around
153F (6rC), enzymes on the barley wi II Water
on the road to beer happen4 in the break starch down into sugar. Stove or burner
Ma4h tun. Micr04copiC enZt{Me4
STEP 3: LAUTER Mash tun, such as a cooler with at least a
attack the barlet{4 4tarch, conveyofinq After most of the starch has converted, 5-gallon (19 L) capacity
it into 4uqar4 that will eventuallt{ lauter, or drain, the grains from the sugar 90 minutes
becoMe alcohol solution .
-----.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
INTERVIEW WITH:
ERIC HARPER: BREWER,
SUMMIT BREWING CO.,
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.
GROWING UP IN THE SHADOW OF SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN'S
MALTING HOUSE, ERIC HAD HIS HANDS IN A MASH TUN
BEFORE LEAVING HIGH SCHOOL. AFTER BREWING SCHOOL,
HE HONED HIS CRAFT AT NEW GLARUS, ONE OF THE
MIDWEST'S MOST REVERED CRAFT BREWERIES, AND IS NOW
A BREWER AT MINNESOTA'S CRAFT BEER BEACON, SUMMIT
BREWING.
------------------------------ HOW DOES THAT ROTATION I brewed a Belgian beer here this spring,
It '4 Amnt( how ef/icient a little WORK OUT? IS IT A
and one of the th ings I really wanted to
avoid was phenol ic characteristics later
homebY'eweY't( can be compaY'ed to a CHALLENGE? on . Ferulic acid is a precursor to phenol ic
bi1 bY'eweY't(. 'lOlA can 1et a lot of It's definitely a benefit- we have a diverse flavor. When you're mashing, if you avoid
extY'act OlAt of OIAY' malt with limited team, but everyone has professional train- a low range of 43C to 44C (l 09F to
ing and a lot of experience. Th is gets fresh 111 F), then you prevent producing these
Y'e401AY'ce4. eyes on your work. You don't get compla- phenolic precursors. Some people mash
cent and let things slide 'til something in to knock out the beta-glucans, but then
breaks. have phenol problems down the line. It's
a tradeoff.
MOST HOMEBREWERS
SINGLE-STEP MASH. IS A PROTEIN REST STILL
WHY WOULD YOU DO THE NECESSARY?
Today, so much of the malt we get is
MULTISTEP? well-modified with a lot of enzymes, so it's
If you have a lot of beta-glucan in your
not an issue. Unless you 're using a high
malt, you'll want to mash in at a lower
amount of adjunct or raw barley and need
temperature, in the 45C to 50C (l13F
to break down protein there, a protein rest
to 122F) range, to break that up for
is not necessary. But in homebrewing, if
lautering and clarity.
you want to add adjunct, flakes are a good
option. You can get pregelatinized barley
or corn, or flaked oats. Then the starch has
already been broken down.
INTERVIEW WITH: ERIC HARPER
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
WHAT CHALLENGES DO HOW DO YOU CHECK THAT TELL US ABOUT YOUR KEY
OTHER GRAINS LIKE WHEAT YOUR GRAINS ARE PROPERLY STEPS IN THE MASHING AND
OR OATS PRESENT? GROUND? LAUTERING PROCESS.
Unlike barley malt, wheat doesn 't have a At Summit, we do a sieve analysis where I'd say from the start of the mash, you have
husk to help strain and filter the lauter bed . you put a sample of the grist through a your strike water temperature. Too hot,
If you did an all-wheat mash, you 'd have a series of sieves with the coarsest on top. around 169F (76C) , and you 'll kill off
stuck mash. With rye and oats, you're going You take a sample of known weight, shake your enzymes and you can't convert your
to have a lot of beta-glucan, but a 45C to the sieve, and when you 're done, you weigh sugars . Sure, you can cool it down , but if
50C (l13Fto 122F) rest for 20 minutes the amount on each sieve to compare how you 've killed the enzymes, you can 't make
will break it up. An alternative is to use rice well your grain mill is working. beer. After stirring in the grains and water,
hulls and throw those into your mash-it check your temperature and take note of
shouldn't affect flavor. CAN THAT WORK FOR whether it's on or off.
HOMEBREWERS?
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A Sure, just buy a coarse sieve for a single
[In lautering] I run off the wort until the
grain bed just starts showing, then I sparge .
STUCK MASH? limit. If you know your grind, shake a given
And then there's how you sparge. At home,
It doesn't have to be a lost cause. The amount of your malt through, then weigh
I always liked poking holes in the bottom of
big breweries use rakes to fluff up the the remains. Now you have a control weight
a milk jug, because you get a nice disper-
grain bed. At home, turn off your flow and to test against future grists.
sal, but there are also inexpensive rotating
decompact that grain. It doesn't have to
sparge arms like you see in a brewery.
be sterile; a big salad fork works. This WHAT DOES A GOOD GRIND
happened at Davis [Brewing School] once
on the pilot system. We'd gotten a kernel
LOOK LIKE?
It should be a mix of pieces, but no powder
of grain stuck in the run-off valve, so
or huge chunks- a third of a chunk of bar-
we hooked it up to an air line to pump it
ley is too big. Even a quarter piece is big.
backwards. In the brewery we call that an
underlet.
INTERVIEW WITH: ERIC HARPER
ZIEM
1 9 71
Hops awaiting
the fa II harvest.
HOPS ARE THE BALANCING WEIGHTS IN BEER. UNLIKE
CIDER, MEAD, OR WINE, ALES AND LAGERS DON'T FERMENT
DRY. THE RESIDUAL SUGAR LEFT BEHIND WOULD TURN
EVERY PINT INTO A SWEET, MALTY DESSERT WITHOUT THE
ADDITION OF BITTERING HOPS FOR BALANCE.
CHAPTER 2:
BITTERING HOPS
INTRODUCTION TO HOPS A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOPS
After mashing, lautering, and sparging, The green, sticky harbingers of bitterness
brewers heat up their kettles of wort. Once are a relatively recent add ition to beer when
the wort reaches a boi I, they add hops to you consider the beverage dates back to
create bitterness in a beer. The longer hops the dawn of civi Iization. The first records
are boiled , the more bitterness is added. of hops cultivation come from Germany's
Hops boiled for more than 30 minutes will Hallertau region in the year 736. Monas-
contribute little flavor or aroma; however, tery (where else?) statutes from the eighth
the variety of hops used for bittering can century appear to be the first records of
change how the bitterness feels and how using hops for beer. Until hops were ad-
much is contributed. Just like some apples opted worldwide in the nineteenth century,
are more tart, with higher acid levels, hops brewers often used a mix of bitter herbs,
with higher levels of bittering acids provide such as bog myrtle, ground ivy, mugwort,
more kick. and yarrow-called gruit-to balance the
malt sweetness. Not only did most drinkers
In this chapter, you'll learn: prefer the taste of hops, but the antibacte-
rial nature of hops hel ped brewers ward off
The history of hops
beer spoi lage.
The chemicals that define their bitterness
How that bitterness is quantified
What varieties to use
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
Like most agricultural commodities, The amount of these bitter acids you can
today's hops have been bred and farmed to extract from hops is a balance of boil time
the point where they barely resemble those and wort sugar content. The greater the
used even a century ago. The alpha acid gravity of your wort, the less alpha acid in
contents of even the weakest hops today your beer. And the longer you boil, the more
are many times more potent than both acids pullout. The alpha acids in hops
their wi Id and farmed ancestors. The last isomerize during the boil, meaning the mo-
several decades have seen an explosion in lecular shape changes, and they become
the number of hop varieties thanks in large water-soluble, sticking to your wort.
part to university research farms. So now
whether you're a mega brewer looking for Your average beer (specific gravity [SG]
an efficient, super high-alpha acid hop, or l.040 to l.060) will be able to utilize
a homebrewer in search of a spicy, fruity between 20 and 25 percent of the alpha
American-European hybrid, there's a hop acids over a 60-minute boil. Bumping
for you. up to 90 minutes will only increase the
utilization by a point or two. Using hop plug
ALPHA ACIDS AND or whole-leaf hops in place of the standard
pelletized hops will also lower your overall
UTILIZATION utilization by about 10 percent due to the
Within the hop flower (technically called a
decreased surface area compared to a
catkin) are small yellow sacks of oils. Much
dissolved pellet.
like barley has starch hidden within the
husk, hops have alpha acids. In short, this
is the good stuff. COHUMULONE
There are three different al pha ac ids
in hops: humulone , adhumulone, and
cohumulone. It's unclear what humulone
and adhumulone contribute beyond bitter-
ness, but cohumulone levels control the
type of bitterness. A beer hopped with low
cohumulone-Ievel hops will have a clean
bitterness, while hops with a high level
have harsher, biting bitterness.
INTERNATIONAL
BITTERING UNITS
I BUs represent the proportion of iso-alpha
acids in a beer. In a lab, a single IBU
equals a milligram of isomerized alpha acid
in one liter of wort. A high IBU number,
however, does not guarantee a bitter beer.
The perceived bitterness is a resu It of the
balance between residual (unfermented)
sugar and hops. Big, thick beers, including
stouts and barleywines, require a high IBU
level simply to achieve a level of balance.
At the same time, a drier pale ale with the
same IBU level would feel more bittersim-
ply because there's less sweet barley sugar
to begin with.
CHAPTER 2: BITTERING HOPS
IBU LEVELS FOR POPULAR STYLES OF BEER PER THE BEER JUDGE FIRST WORT HOPPING
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM STYLE GUIDELINES If you're curious enough to try something
different, use first wort hopping on your
Add as much or as littler bitterness as you please- it's your beer after all- but knowing next batch of hoppy beer. This old , some-
the bitterness ranges for classic beer styles can help you connect what you're tasting in what forgotten, German technique calls for
your beer aisle to your homebrewery. an addition of hops while the wort collects
Style IBU in the kettle.
Light American Lager 8 to 12
The results of scientific studies on first wort
Classic Bohemian Pilsner 35 to 45 hopping found slight increases in IBUs
German Weissbier 8 to 15 and flavor and aroma, with the theory that
different chemical reactions happen to the
English Pale Ale 30 to 50 hops as they steep in the roughly 140F to
American IPA 40 to 70+ 160F (60C to 71 C) wort. If you want to
Belgian Tripel 20 to 40 try this on your next pale ale, they recom-
mend adding at least 30 percent of your
German Bock 20 to 27 hops to the first wort addition to notice a
American Stout 35 to 75 difference.
American Double IPA 70 to 100+
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
INTERVIEW WITH:
VINNIE CILURZO: OWNER,
RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING CO.,
SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.
HOPHEADS AND IPA LOVERS CAN THANK VINNIE FOR NOT
ONLY BREWING THE WORLD'S FIRST DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE,
BUT ALSO SIMPLY PRODUCING BIG HOPPY BEER WHETHER
PEOPLE WANTED IT OR NOT. CREATED BACK WHEN YOUR
AVERAGE PALE ALE WAS STILL TOO BITTER FOR CRAFT BEER
LOVERS, VINNIE'S RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING COMPANY
CELEBRATES HIS DEVOTION TO HOPS AND NOW PRODUCES
SEVERAL OF THE WORLD'S MOST-SOUGHT-AFTER IPAs.
YOUR FAMILY HAS A SO THAT LED TO OPENING
HISTORY IN THE BUSINESS YOUR OWN BREWERY, THE
OF FERMENTATION, BUT BLIND PIG.
WITH WINE. WHY BEER? Yes, that was in 1994. I had two other busi-
After high school, I moved to San Diego ness partners, but I was the brewing side.
and started homebrewing with my room- I was there three years, then ducked out.
mates. Even though the first batch was ter- They kept going a couple more years before
rible, probably near undrinkable, I knew I they shut it down .
wanted to continue on. And I liked the idea
of being able to turn a batch in, say, three In 1997, [my wife] Natalie and I came up
weeks instead of wine, which can take a to Santa Rosa. Neither of us had jobs or
year or two or even more. I loved that if you a place to stay. We had a couple of leads
didn 't get it quite right, you had another and that was it. We got hired by Korbel to
opportunity to brew and knock out another start Russian River Brewery in 1997. In
batch. Things weren't being dictated by 2003, they decided to get out of the beer
season. business, so we bought the name and
the brewery, closed for a year, and then
Eventually, I moved back to the winery and reopened as a brewpub.
started working, and that's when I really
got into homebrewing, in 1989. Down in
the basement of the winery was where I did
most of my early experi mentation that sti II
carried on into what we do today.
,.:C-
LET ME GO BACK TO THE how our industry is today. The "high tide --------------------------------
floats all boats" mind-set. I thou9ht We 4hould take our re9ular
BLIND PIG DAYS. YOU MAY
HAVE BREWED THE FIRST IPff reCipe, double the hOp4 on it and
BUT YOU BREWED THE FIRST the idea Wa4 not onlt{ would we get
DOUBLE IPA ON THE PLANET. DOUBLE IPA AT BLIND PIG.
The Blind Pig IPA was definitely a straight- It was the first beer we made at Blind Pig,
thi44uper: oVer-the-top hoppt{ beer:
up IPA and there weren't a lot of IPAs being called Inaugural Ale. We took what was but al40 that hOp4 act a4 a natural
made at the time, particularly in bottles.
Rubicon was making one at their pub.
going to be our regular IPA recipe and pre4ervative. 1?eallt{, I didn't know
literally doubled the hops on it and brought
Vince and Gina Marsaglia were making the alcohol up a Iittle bit. Everything was ant{ better: but that'4 4ti11 how We all
their first IPA at their Pizza Port brewpub . all-malt at the time-we didn't use any operate.
sugar-wh ich is someth ing we use a lot of
THE SWAMIS IPA. now in our double IPAs.
Yeah, and as a bright-eyed, fell-off-the-
turnip-truck homebrewer turning pro, I We actua Ily let it dry-hop for a year and
didn't know how to bump a recipe up or then released it. Our second year, we
take a homebrew from a 5-gallon (19 L) started brewing it on the spot.
batch and turn it into seven barrels. I still
remember Vince just giving me their entire Back then, those beers were way more
reci pe for the Swam is to use as a reference. bitter than they are now, comparing what
That sort of thing still shi nes through to I remember the anniversary beers to be,
compared to our Pliny The Elder beer. It's
got more roundness to it, more malt foun-
Master of the hops Vinnie Cilurzo dation, a little more balance.
,-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
Dried and
pressed hop
YOU CAN NO MORE BLAME CRAFT BEER DRINKERS FOR
flowers waiting RAISING THE IPA ABOVE ALL OTHERS THAN YOU CAN BLAME
for brew day.
HOPS FOR TASTING AND SMELLING TENACIOUSLY GOOD.
WHEN THE CARBONATION AND ESSENTIAL HOP OILS ARE
JUST RIGHT, A BEER'S AROMA CAN BURST FORTH UPON
HITTING YOUR GLASS, ONLY FURTHER WHETTING YOUR
APPETITE. YOU MIGHT EVEN SAY THAT A FINE HOPPY BEER
IS ATEASE.
CHAPTER 3:
AROMA HOPS
INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HOPS
AROMA HOPS American pale ales owe their hoppy begin-
Aroma hops are added to the boi I after nings to Cascade, which in 1972 became
bittering hops. Despite the name, they the first widely accepted American aroma
contribute both aroma and flavor. Byadd- hop. Innovation was slow for that gen-
ing them later in the boil, the aroma and eration of homebrewers, as most modern
flavor compounds are retained. The closer varieties didn't appear unti I the 1990s.
to the end of the boi I the hops are added,
the brighter and more crisp they'll be wh i Ie Today, about thirty American varieties
also contributing more to aroma. Any hop are available with aromas ranging from
variety can be used for aroma and bittering, pungent citrus to del icate floral spice.
but certain types have been bred for one or Hops defy concrete characterization, and
the other. to a degree are like grapes, with good and
bad years. However, the more establ ished
In this chapter, you'll learn: a variety, the steadier it becomes year after
year. Reliable standbys, such as Cascade
The different types of hops and Centennial hops, are bedrocks of
Recommended hop blends consistent brewing.
AmarilloandCentennial 1:1 Tropical fruit, lemon, grapefruit, If you're recreating classic European styles,
and mango strictly traditional hops aren't always
Centennial, Amarillo, and Simcoe 1:1:1 Fruity, pine, and citrus necessary. Going back more than one
hundred years, British brewers were known
Goldings and Target 4: 1 For English ales; earthy and
spicy with hints of tangeri ne to employ American hops when the prices
were right. Today, German brewers import
SaazandHallertau 3:1 Pepper and floral about a third of their hops from the United
Strisselspalt and Crystal 1: 1 Floral and citrus States.
(or Mt. Hood)
Blends courtesy of Stone Brewing Co. 's Head Brewer, Mitch Steele HOP TERRIOR
Hop d istri butors largely sell hop varieties as
a commodity, with only a country of origin
to d isti ngu ish them. Just like vi ntners
might have a favorite hillside of grapes,
brewers make appointments with growers
to find the perfect crop and place orders for
the year.
HOP BURSTING
Happy doesn't always equate to bitter beer. SPOTLIGHT: HOW NEW
In fact, by pulling your IBUs from aroma HOPS ARE BORN
and flavor additions (the final 30 minutes Every year, one or, if we're
of a boi I), you can create a smoother bitter- lucky, two new hops varieties
ness that lets the malt stand up for itself in are planted en masse and make
the final beer character. their way to your local home-
brew store. These low numbers
The name "hop bursting" was given by aren't for a lack of effort.
home brewers, and the technique calls for Every spring in the largest hop-
adding a large charge of hops near the end growing region in the United
of the boi I. Some brewers prefer to d istri b- States, the Yakima Valley, about
ute the hops over the final half hour their 100,000 new varieties are bred
wort is on the heat. Others drop their hops through cross-pollination and
in for the final 5 minutes. The essential planted with the hope that in ten
rule to follow is that at least half of the years one ofthese plants will
IBUs should be drawn from the aroma and produce strong, pleasing, and
flavor add itions. consistent hops.
INTERVIEW WITH:
NICK FLOYD: OWNER,
THREE FLOYDS BREWING CO.,
MUNSTER, INDIANA, U.S.
KNOWN AS THE "ALPHA WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST SO YOU MAY NOT HAVE
KING," NICK AND HIS BREWING JOB? TAKEN THE MOST PRIDE IN
The first job I could get was in Auburndale,
MASTERY OF HOPS STARTED Florida, alligator country, at the Florida YOUR PRODUCTS?
When you went in the offices, you'd see
AT AN UNLIKELY BREWERY. Brewery, which made Falstaff, Gator Lager, 300 different cans of beer brands, but
BUT OVER THE LAST DECADE, Malta, and even Hatuey, the Cuban brand. 200 of them were the same lager. And we
brewed for ABC Liquors, a big chain down
HE DEVELOPED A CULT WOW, MALTA. there. They had a Iight, an ale, a lager, and
FOLLOWING FOR BEERS THAT Yeah, unfermented [expletive] porter. a malt Iiquor, but the ale and the lager were
You'll put that in your book? the same and the malt liquor had a handful
ARE ALMOST BAWDY IN of Melomalt added to give it a slight golden
THEIR HOPPINESS. I MAY HAVE TO NOW. color. It's hard to bel ieve, but it's a good
And we were brewing with old cast-iron experience when you're 2l.
equipment.
I EXPECT THIS NEXT
I DIDN'T KNOW THERE QUESTION WILL GET SOME
WAS CASTIRON BREWING CHUCKLES OUT OF YOU-
EQUIPMENT. HOW WERE HOPS
Oh yeah, these guys didn't care. The mash REGARDED THERE?
mixer, where you mash in, and the kettle I think we had two different kinds. Nugget
were cast iron with direct steam injection. hops and Saaz for special lagers like Hat-
Metallic was the house character. uey. Alii knew about hops was that there
was a bittering kind and an aroma kind.
THAT THING MUST HAVE
BEEN A LOCOMOTIVE. WHAT TURNED YOU ON TO
I was 21, so sometimes I'd goof off and HOPPY BEER?
leave the kettle. Boilovers would shoot off a Part of it was brewing all that crap in
20-foot rainbow of wort. Florida. I had a Sierra Nevada in Tampa
and I was amazed, then I started liking
fresh German hoppy stuff.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT GOT LET'S SAY YOU'VE GOT A I KNOW OF ONE HIGHLY
YOUR ATTENTION AND HANDFULOFHOPS,BUT SOUGHT-AFTER IPA THAT
IMAGINATION. THEN WHAT? THEY DON'T NECESSARILY USES IT. DO YOU?
This uptight German dude in Chicago had a SMELL LIKE WHAT THEY'LL All our dou ble IPAs. I th ink they have a
job available at the Weinkeller Brewery. I'm place, but it's an art to usi ng them. I say
like, you have all stainless equipment and I
BRING TO THE BEER ... why not try it out for anything over 80 IBUs.
They don't, but for us, when we smell the
can make whatever I want? Ja.
hops we can visualize it. Any hint of dirt,
onions, or bad aromas will be picked up IS THERE A LIMIT TO HOP
I started bringing in all the Cascade ,
Centennial, or whatever freak-show new
later if you dry-hop. Not so much with AROMA? CAN YOU OVER-
American hops we could get our hands on .
kettle hops. The way we do it is hand to DRY-HOP?
nose to kettle. Notto me. Yeah, I'm sure when you spend a
But the German guy was so tightly wound
he must have fired half of Chicago, and the lot of money making four kegs of beer, that
place didn't last long. DO YOU HAVE CURRENT might be a limit. It tastes the same as XYZ
FAVORITE HOP VARIETIES IPA, but you can brag about it on your menu
and charge more at bars. The hop aroma
LET'S TALK ABOUT AND OLD STANDBYS? wars are like World War II tanks: The Ger-
EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW Our big three are Centennial , Cascade,
mans came out with a new panzer, and then
and Warrior. We mix different high-alpha
HOP VARIETIES. American hops to emulate what we want,
suddenly the Russians have their new tank. I
For professional brewers, it's really impor- think the war's ended, but some brewers are
basically.
tant to go to the hops harvest in Yakima. still going. I guess we 've been there, done
Set up appointments, rub and smell all the that, and know where our limit is.
hops, find out what field you like, ISOMETRIZED HOP EXTRACT:
what growing region you like, what WHERE DOES THAT FIT IN?
variety. Fi nd out wh ich farms are You might look at it as an abomination
growing experimental hops. by big breweries, 'cause they use gallons
of that. But I think it's a secret weapon
In 2010, we were one of eight breweries for making double IPAs and giant IBUs
to get EI Dorado hops. We used a control without having the vegetable matter you 'd
beer, Iike a pale ale or German altbier for a otherwise need . It has its benefits.
single-varietal batch to test it. We'll do sev-
eral batches like that a year with different
and new varieties. Whenever we find a new
hop we like, we jump on it and start making
new stuff.
VARIETIES CHANGE
CHARACTER EVERY YEAR.
I think Amarillo hops aren't as good as they
used to be; we're phasing them out. Sum-
mit, in my opinion, used to be great when
it was grown as a dwarf; now it tastes to me
like onions if you go to a hop field. Centen-
nial and Cascade are always solid, and
more varieties are becoming more reliable
every year. But you start by adjusting your
hop blends to mimic the aroma and flavor
you want, maybe mix in a hop like Warrior
or Simcoe.
INTERVIEW WITH: NICK FLOYD
ALL THIS EXTREME BREWING nuances besides getting kicked in the nostril YOU'RE KNOWN MORE
by a pinecone. Even our double IPA at eight
HAS CERTAINLY PUSHED A months, people say it's crap. Me personally, FOR NEW AMERICAN
LOT OF THRESHOLDS AND I like stuff that's aged a bit more. HOP VARIETIES THAN
FRONTIERS. ARE THERE ANY TRADITIONAL EUROPEANS.
LEFT? SO WHERE DO YOU PUT CAN EUROPEAN
Now the rush is to go back and make AGING LIMITS? VARIETIES BE USED IN
extremely sessionable, amazing quality
beers like a helles lager. Not many people
I'd go by IBUs. A day for every IBU, if it's NONTRADITIONAL WAYS?
bottled clean to begin with. Oh yeah . We now make Blackheart, an
are doing that. I think most extremes have
English version of Dreadnaught Imperial
been met. Now I'm more happy to make a
kickass lager and put it in a can. IS THERE ATHRESHOLD IPA with Styrian Golding and East Kent
AFTER THAT? Golding hops. What prevented us before is
I think anything over 90 IBUs you can give that European hops have been so expensive
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT and iffy on consistency. But once you have
at least half a year or a year. And don't call
IDEAL WINDOWS FOR IPA OR it a drain-pour, just 'cause hops have mel- a stable of American-hopped beers, why
PALE ALE, ABOUT HOW FAST lowed a bit; it's still a good, clean , bitter, not go back and experiment with European
and noble hops?
HOPS DETERIORATE? bright IPA. Look for the other nuances in
It's a big issue for double IPAs. All these the beer.
beer geeks want to drink it at two weeks old WHAT'S A BLEND OF
and say it's garbage at five weeks. It ki lis DO YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN
me because real IPAs took three or four BETWEEN WHOLE-LEAF HOPS YOU ENJOY?
months to get to India and then they were I'd use a small amount of Warrior for bit-
mellow and rounded. HOPS AND PELLETS?
We choose pellets for their stabi lity. If we terness and then large amounts of English
were closer to growers, we might favor aroma varieties.
YOU DON'T MIND A LITTLE whole-leaf. But for shipping and storing,
TIME ON YOUR BEERS? pellets make more sense. Some of the
Ilike Alpha King when it's three months old , greatest microbreweries out there use
but to the new extreme geeks, that's past pelletized hops, so I don 't think there's a
its prime. They're not looking for any other disadvantage.
CHAPTER 4: LAGER BREWING
CHAPTER 4:
LAGER BREWING
INTRODUCTION TO LAGERS LAGERING EQUIPMENT
Lagers are defined by their use of lager If you're not blessed with a consistently
yeast, also called bottom-fermenting yeast. cool cellar, or cave if you're old-school,
While the vast majority (volumetrically) of you'll need new equipment to chill your
the world's beer is lager, most homebrewers beer and keep it cold throughout the
make ales with top-fermenting ale yeast fermentation and conditioning. Profes-
because it ferments at room temperature. siona I brewers use glycol-fi lied heati ng and
Lager yeast requires colder conditions, cool ing jackets around thei r fermenters to
usually around 50F (lOe). This tempera- control their beer temperatures. The home-
ture also slows down the yeast, requiring a brewers' solution, however, is less elegant.
longer fermentation and maturation period.
Instead of attaching a cooling apparatus to
In this chapter, you'll learn: your fermenter, the common strategy is to
modify a chest freezer or refrigerator with
Lagering equipment
more precise temperature controls. While
Lager yeast strains a chest freezer is the most efficient use of
space, old refrigerators are easier to come
Lager fermentation and conditioning
by. For temperature control , you'll need a
Ingredients for traditional lager styles digital temperature control and probe to
automatically kick the refrigeration com-
pressor into gear as the fermenter (if you
attach the probe to it) or air heats up.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
FERMENTER SHAPE
Stylistically, lagers share little with Brit-
ish and Belgian ales except using open
fermenters in the recent past. Today, the
open process is used by some German-
style wheat brewers, but even the best craft
brewers use cylindroconical fermenters.
The theory behind wide open fermenters is
that the reduced air pressure encourages
richer and more complex flavor.
INGREDIENTS
MALTS HOPS
There's no right or wrong base malt for a It is no coincidence your beer aisle is
lager. Traditionally, brewers mash in six-row devoid of anything resembling an impe-
barley, and if you're recreating a specific rial India pale lager. (I challenge you to try
style of lager, you can use the traditional brewing one, of course.) By nature, longer
malt. Even the lightest pilsner malts have fermentation and conditioning time mel-
a lighter, grainier flavor profile that sets it lows hop character. And unlike British ale,
apart from the popular ale malt, two-row there is no convention of Czech or German
barley. If you're used to brewing with two- brewers adding hops postboil. Big hoppy
row, expect up to 5 percent less extract as lagers are absolutely possible, but if you're
six-row has a larger husk and less starch. chasing IBUs and alpha acids, ales are
more accommodating.
Your attention shou Id be on tai loring your
ingredients to the malts and beer you've Noble hops produce a reliably classic (and
envisioned. Homebrew shops always keep tasty) lager. The list of noble hops is up for
German six-row pilsner malt on hand, but some debate, but Saaz, Hallertauer, Spalt,
if you're interested in a Czech-style lager, and Tettnanger safely fall into the group.
look for Moravian malt. Or if the rich malty There is small, but significant, variation
bocks are calling out to you, pick a malt- between these varieties, but they're known
centric yeast such as an Oktoberfest strain. for a spicy, herbal, and floral character.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
INTERVIEW WITH: BILL COVALESKI
INTERVIEW WITH:
BILL COVALESKI: VICTORY
BREWING CO., DOWNINGTOWN,
PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.
WHILE SOME CRAFT HOW DID YOU AND YOUR
BREWERS RACE TOWARD COFOUNDER, RON BARCHET, YOU BREW A LINE OF
GET INTO CRAFT BREWING? HOPPED-UP PILSNERS LIKE
THE EXTREME, BILL AND RON OTHER BREWERS WOULD
We all started by drinking a beer that tasted
STEERED VICTORY BREWING different than the crap we were drink- WITH PALE ALES. WHAT WAS
TOWARD MASTERING AND ing the day before. In my case that could
THE INSPIRATION?
probably be traced to a bottle of Henry
THEN IMPROVING UPON Weinhard 's in 1984. My dad was also
Ron and I brewed at a German-centric
brewery starting in 1989 for him, and
CLASSIC STYLES. THE homebrewing and was getting pretty good
1990 for me. Their most impactful beer
at (believe it or not) a Heineken clone.
BREWERY'S LINE OF was an unfi Itered pi Isner that was really
firmly hopped. It was unlike other pilsners
GERMAN-INSPIRED LAGERS CAN YOU GET GOOD AT THAT? floating around Europe and the U.S . We've
SETS THE STANDARD FOR Okay, to my sensibilities in 1985, he was been keen on pi Isner flavors si nce and
pretty good at it. And it wasn't just because developed Prima Pils.
WHAT BREWERS CAN it was free. It encouraged me to try my
ACCOMPLISH OUTSIDE OF A hand at brewing. As a recently graduated But there were sti II these great hops we
arts student, I thought it was all about wanted to experiment with, so in 2000 ,
BEER'S MOTHERLAND. ingredients and how cool the label was we initiated the Braumeister Pils series.
going to look. Naturally, I overlooked some Instead of the four noble hops we use in
critical aspects of sanitation and process Prima Pils, we focus on one variety. The
and had a couple failures off the bat, which results inform our brewing decisions down
got me to study the science behind it. the road .
That's when I [discovered] the rich culture
of brewing.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
-
INTERVIEW WITH: BILL COVALESKI
WHAT'S YOUR TYPICAL ARE THERE ANY MALT WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU
LAGER FERMENTATION? VARIETIES BETTER SUITED HAVE FOR THE BURGEONING
We ferment straight through at 43F (6C), TO COLD FERMENTATION AND LAGER HOMEBREWER?
We need a larger cell countthat's going to
perform at that. We have a total of three
CONDITIONING TIME? For home lager brewing, temperature con-
Great question. It's a decision driven by trol is a hill to climb unless you're an HVAC
yeast propagators around the brewery now. guy or a true geek. The other th ing, too, is
recipe and outcome more than pairing
malt to a fermentation profile. I love to talk don't expect to make the most sensational
THERE'S ALL THE TALK about this with people. They think my reci- lager, because that in itself is an impos-
OF DECOCTION MASHING pes must be special or precious, but there's sible goal. They're sensational in their
subtlety. The aspiring homebrewer needs to
AND SO ON: WHAT'S THE so much else that goes into it. My recipe for
focus on process more than having friends
a marzen is probably like 80 percent of the
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE? others out there. So there's no secret. But exclaim it's the coolest, most kickass beer
When Ron and I started, we questioned they've had.
where I am sourcing my ingredients, how I
whether we'd have capability to do decoc-
use their primary characteristics, and how
tion mashing. It was a big decision because
it meant real money. And we arrived at yes
I achieve the flavors in my head makes the I GUESS BY NATURE LAGERS
by talking about our favorite German beers
difference. AREN'T POISED TO BE
and recognizing that most of them were OUTRAGEOUS.
decoction-brewed. That said, we've got a SO ARE YOU SUGGESTING The lagering process is almost dampening
decoction kettle and we only use it in 6 per- YOU MIGHT BE LESS A your bandwidth. You've got all these bright
cent of our beers. So it's there for the right PIONEER THAN SOME brassy flavors out of the fermenter, and
reasons, but it doesn't apply to everything. then you take them down a few notches.
PERCEIVE?
That could be inferred. What we've brought
HOW DO YOU DETERMINE to the table is a hoi istic perspective of
WHEN IT DOES AND DOESN'T "Maybe we've got a traditional marzen
APPLY? recipe, but we're going to use it as a means
The beer styles really indicate that. Our to bri ng someth ing new to the market." It's
largest-selling decoction beer is Festbier. In subtle, and it's not just better because it's
order to create that rou nd, well-developed different, but because specific improve-
body and the protein structure necessary ments in depth of malt flavor or whatever
to achieve that, a decoction is important improvement we want to see in an existing
for that beer. We tried decoction mashing style. I don't think we're necessarily huge
our Moonglow Weizenbock, because we do innovators. We've paired German Munich
decoction-mash our bock beers, and we got malt with American whole-flower hops
nothing but a lauter tun of gum we had to for Hop Devil and that might be the most
scratch out over six hours. dramatic thing we've brought to the table.
I think there are far more subtle successes
for us.
-
T
'. -
CHAPTER 5: WATER CHEMISTRY
CHAPTER 5:
WATER CHEMISTRY
Of the four basic parts of beer, water is the
most easily forgotten. It's understandable. WHAT IS HARD WATER? Water reports aren't often easy to decipher.
Despite water being the greatest ingredient Hardness is a measure of the calcium and For brewing, the key is to look for the levels
in good beer, good beer can be produced magnesium content in your water. If you're of permanent hardness. Again, this is the
without much thought to the water. Details familiar with water softener salt from your measure of calcium (Ca) and magnesium
like this make the difference between good house, this is the same characteristic we're (Mg) .
and great brewers. talking about. For homebrewing, moder-
ately hard water accentuates hop char- The report wi II also tell temporary hard-
INTRODUCTION TO BREWING acter, making for a rich and bitter taste. ness, represented by alkalinity, which is
calcium carbonate (CaC0 4 ). Temporary
WATER Conversely, soft water encourages a subtle
hardness is less important as the CaC0 4
Many new homebrewers will forget to and less biting hop flavor associated with
many lager styles. will drop out of solution when boiled. In
think about their brewing water, but as it
large concentrations, without Ca or Mg to
constitutes rough Iy 95 percent of a beer,
balance it out, CaC0 4 raises your pH . Re-
you should never overlook it. Ideal brewing UNDERSTAND YOUR WATER gions known for their dark beers, such as
water has small amounts of minerals and REPORT Dublin, often had high temporary hardness
minimal chlorine. Basic filtered water, All cities make their water reports available levels. Roasted grains are more acidic and
though not mineral-free distilled water, to the public and most can be found on lowered the mash pH . When brewers with
will work. But closer attention to your municipal government websites. Look for these conditions tried to brew pale lagers
water chemistry can optimize your brewing a water resources or management section; or ales, they would be met with a too-high,
process and sign ificantly affect flavor and there will usually be a yearly water quality inefficient mash pH that extracted unpleas-
bitterness. report for download. Home test kits are ant tannins and phenols.
inexpensive, but also imprecise. If a report
In this chapter, you'll learn about: is not readily available online, call and In addition to hardness and pH, the report
Hard water request a water quality report from your will also likely show the sulfates and
municipal source. sodium .
Water reports
Brewing salts
How much water to use
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
BREWING SALTS
When you have an idea of your ideal water,
look at your water report for what chemicals
are too low. If any are already too high,
either use filtered water or cut your liquor
with distilled water. When dosing brewing
salts, ppm is the equivalent of 1 milligram
per 1 liter. If you want to adjust the mash
pH, add the salt along with the grains; oth-
erwise, the salts can be added to the boi I.
BREWING SALTS
Calcium Carbonate One gram of CaC0 4adds 107 Also referred to as temporary hardness, th is typically undesir-
ppm of calcium and 159 ppm of able chemical raises pH but can balance out the acidity of dark
carbonate. grains.
Calcium Chloride One gram per gallon of CaCI adds Unlike when it's paired with carbonate, calcium increases
96 ppm of calcium and 168 ppm hardness, lowers pH, and enhances enzymatic mash activity.
of chloride . Chloride enhances mouthfeel in concentrations under 300
ppm; greater amounts can create unpleasant tasting chlorophe-
nols (think plastic bandages).
Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum) One gram per gallon of CaS0 4 Calcium increases hardness, lowers pH, and enhances enzymatic
adds 62 ppm of calcium and 147 mash activity. Sulfate also increases hardness and aids mash
ppm of sulfate. conversion while enhancing bitterness. This will amplify bitter-
ness more than calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate.
Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) One gram per gallon of MgS04 Magnesium works like calcium but is essentially only half as
adds 37 ppm of magnesium and effective, wh i Ie aIso contri buti ng astri ngent flavors in high
145 ppm of sulfate. concentrations . Sulfate also increases hardness and aids mash
conversion while enhancing bitterness.
Sodium Chloride (Table Salt) One gram per gallon of NaCI adds Sodium enhances mouthfeel when limited to 75 to 150 ppm.
104 ppm of sodium and 160 Beyond that, it will make beer salty and sour. Chloride also
ppm of chloride. enhances mouthfeel in concentrations under 300 ppm without
side effects; greater amounts can create unpleasant-tasting
chlorophenols (think plastic bandages).
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
BURTON-ON-TRENT, UK
Few beer lovers would have
trouble pointing out the world's
famous brewing cities on a
globe. That is, until you ask
them where Burton is (about
thirty miles north of Birming-
ham, England). While the
brewing world is usually run by
giants, this relatively small town
redefined the pale ale. The many
brewers of London, for instance,
simply couldn't match the rich,
yet drinkable hop profile created
and honed by the brewers far
outside the city.
INTERVIEW WITH:
MITCH STEELE: HEAD BREWER,
STONE BREWING CO.,
ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.
THE MAN ENTRUSTED IN BREWING SUCH CRAFT After the carbon filter, we run part of it
through a reverse-osmosis filtration system,
BEER-WORLD STAPLES AS ARROGANT BASTARD ALE and that pulls out some mineral content.
AND STONE RUINATION IPA-KNOWS THERE'S MORE Only a portion goes through the osmosis
filter. So the water comes in at 300 ppm
TO GREAT BEER THAN HOPS AND BARLEY. EVERY hardness and is leaving at 100 to 120 ppm
BATCH STARTS NOT IN THE MASH TUN OR KETTLE, after it's blended back together.
BUT IN THE WATER PIPES RUNNING INTO THE WITH THE CONTROL OVER
BREWERY. FILTRATION, IS THERE ANY
WEIGHT TO THE CLAIM THAT
WHAT IS THE WATER SOURCE CERTAIN BREWERIES HAVE
AT STONE BREWING? "THE BEST" WATER?
The municipal water. It is moderately hard That kind of thinking would go back 150
at 300 ppm hardness and it is loaded with years or so. Once the industrial revolution
chlorine to knock out microbiological activ- came about, chemists began to understand
ity. We run all the water through a carbon the process and what was happening with
fi Iter and that strips it of any flavors and Burton water, for example. People started
chlorine, so it tastes neutral. mimicking their brewing salt through addi-
tions in the mid-1S00s.
It's sti II hard, but the fi Iter's activated car-
bon ions absorb chlorine ions and any pipe LET'S GO BACK TO HARD AND
flavor you might get. SOFT WATER: HOW WOU LD
YOU DESCRIBE THESE TYPES
FOR HOMEBREWERS, WOULD
OF WATER FOR BREWERS?
NORMAL CARBON FILTRATION The best way to describe hard water is that
MIMIC THIS? it has a high mineral content and soft water
Yes. They can also boi I their water for 15 does not. Minerals in water will affect the
minutes before their mash in and that'll brewing process, such as yeast and enzyme
take chlorine out. You have to heat it any- performance in mash and yeast perfor-
way. Otherwise, chlorine will carry through mance in fermentation. Hop character is
the whole brewing process and you can radically different in hard water compared
taste it in a beer in high levels. to soft.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
BURTON-ON-TRENT
BECAME FAMOUS FOR ITS
HOPPVBEERS,THANKSTO
THE WATER. LET'S TALK
ABOUT HOW HARD WATER
INTERACTS WITH HOPS.
That's the meat of the discussion. At
Burton-on-Trent, the water is treated Iike
any other ingred ient. They have wells in
different parts of the town with different
water profiles, and then they mix the water
to get the character they want. The brewers
realized early on their water was doing
something to the beer that made it travel
better. It allowed the beer to settle out to a
higher level of clarity in a [shorter] amount
FROM A SMALL GYPSUM, CALCIUM SULFATE: of time than beer [made] with soft water.
HOMEBREWING SETUP, DO IT'S A KIND OF SALT?
YOU NEED TO FOCUS MUCH Exactly, a brewing mineral salt. Most home-
AND THE BITTERNESS OF
brew shops have gypsum, and it's fairly
ON WATER, OR JUST BOIL IT common because most drinking water is BURTON'S ALES?
AND YOU'LL BE NINE-TENTHS soft. The other thing about pale ales in Burton
OF THE WAY THERE? is they realized they could really hop the
beer up and get a really intense bitterness,
If you have clean neutral-tasting water WHY WOULD YOU ADD but it wou Idn't be harsh or coarse. It gave
you'll be fine, butthere are things you can
do to shape your beer. Boi Iing removes
CALCIUM TO THE WATER? [the ales] an enhanced hop flavor from
From a chemistry standpoint, in the mash mouthfeel of the water and interaction of
temporary hardness, which is a technical
process, calcium will enhance enzymatic calcium ions.
term for [minerals] that precipitate out.
activity of malt enzymes breaking down
You can add salts to make water harder,
starches. You get better efficiency and One of the things the brewers at Burton
or " Burtonize" it with calcium sulfate,
better conversion fairly easily with a little told me is that the water there is so old,
gypsum, or calcium chloride. When I
calcium . That turned out to be a big deal and has gone through so many layers of
homebrewed, I at least threw a teaspoon of
with IPAs, because the goal was to make rock, there is no microbiological activity.
gypsum In.
them as dryas possible and not sweet. That's why their beer never spoi Is. I'm not
sure about that, but back in 1800, they
The first IPAs were brewed in London, mashed longer and could get souring, but
where the water was fairly soft (compared that 's malt, not water. Boiling should take
to Burton). But the IPAs out of Burton were care of infection . But sometimes the brew-
clearer with more pronounced hop charac- ers back then would top off their barrels
ter. On the brewhouse side, having calcium with well water and rinse fermenters. That
in your wort is also going to give you slightly could lead to spoilage, but I'm still not sure
better hop utilization. I'm on board [with theirtheoryl.
INTERVIEW WITH: MITCH STEELE
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
The Belgian-owned
Brewery Ommegang
BELGIUM, A SLIVER OF HILLS AND CANALS, IS THE WORLD'S
produces authentic MOST UNLIKELY BREWING SUPERPOWER. STACKED
Belgian ales in Coo-
perstown, New York BETWEEN GERMANY AND BRITAIN, IT'S A MINISCULE PLOT
OF RAINY COUNTRYSIDE. BUT IT'S BEEN A STOMPING
GROUND FOR INVADING ARMIES FOR AT LEAST THE LAST
MILLENNIUM, SO IT'S A PLACE IN NEED OF A GOOD BEER.
BELGIAN BREWERS ARE REVERED FOR THEIR CREATIVITY
AND REVERENCE. THEIR BEERS ARE COMPLEX AND CAN
ELUDE THE MOST EXPERIENCED BREWERS. THEY'RE NOT
ALWAYS EASY TO MAKE, BUT HERE'S HOW TO BEGIN.
CHAPTER 6:
BREWING LIKE A BELGIAN
INTRODUCTION TO BELGIAN BREWERS WITHOUT BOUNDS
BREWING As mundane as it sounds, the trajectory of
Belgian beer and brewing is easily identi- a culture's brewing comes down to tax laws
fied for the fruity and spicy yeast-driven and ordinances. American light lagers are
character. That means that while other partially a result of Prohi bition. The UK's
ingredients contribute, a properly fer- low-strength pub ales were a response to
mented Belgian yeast strain is the essential alcohol taxes. And the rigid (though deli-
ingredient and difference between a cious) beer styles of Germany are courtesy
Belgian pale ale and English pale ale. That of their brewing purity laws. In Belgium, a
said, Belgians also stand out for higher 1919 law banned liquor from bars and pub
alcohol levels, the use of sugar, and lack of areas and helped fuel the trend of stron-
hop character. ger ales. Belgium also benefited from the
1790s French Revolution, during which
In this chapter, you'll learn: monks were chased into Belgium and later
began to set up shop, first in Westmalle.
Belgian brewing history
Belgian beer ingredients Add their unusual lack of regulation to
their culinary melting pot (thanks to the
Brewing with sugar many invading countries), plus a lack of
Belgian yeast hop farmers (unlike in the UK or Germany),
and you have a perfect storm: beer that is
Brewing spices strong and yeast-driven with no ru les for
proper ingredients. In Belgium, the fifth
ingredient in beer is "anything goes." Their
brewing is process-driven , aiming to hit
a certain flavor profile, instead of being
ingredient-driven and forced within certain
limits.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
If you want to try brewing a hop-centric ale expect a strong beer that won'tfill them up.
such as a Belgian IPA, try a mix of Noble Brewers achieve this mix of strength, com- BREWING TERM:
hops with other craft beer standbys. Hou- plexity, and drinkability by using a highly ADJUNCT SUGAR
blon Chouffe, for example, uses Tomahawk fermentable sugar for 10 to 20 percent of Brewing adjuncts are typically
for bittering, Saaz for aroma, and then the malt bill. unmalted grain additions, but
Amarillo to dry-hop. adjunct sugar refers to addi-
Most brewers use dextrose, also called tions of sugar to a beer. Sugar
Urthel's Hop-It and Gouden Carolus Hop- glucose, as a cost-effective ingredient for ferments almost completely,
sinjoor both use only Noble and European lightening the beer's body and creating a unlike malted barley or wheat,
hops, while Stone Cali-Belgique IPA and crisp, dry mouthfeel. Historically, Belgian which leave residual sugar
Flying Dog's Raging Bitch use classic brewers used sugar derived from beets (with body and flavor) behind. In
American hops. (what many think of as white sugar comes small proportions, less than 10
from cane), but both forms are refined to percent, sugar boosts alcohol
ADJUNCT SUGARS the point where there is no noticeable dif- with minimal flavor impact.
Adding adjunct sugar to a beer may seem ference in taste.
repugnant to craft beer lovers or anyone
with a distaste for mega brewers and their For brewers looking for a sugar with flavor
use of corn and rice adjuncts. However, and character, candi sugar is the most
to brew a true strong Belgian ale, sugar is traditional Belgian brewing sugar. Think of
an absolute necessity. Belgian beer lovers it like a specialty malt where the sugar is
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
FOR THE MOST CONSISTENT RESULTS TRY at the end of the boi I to flash san itize it
TWO OPTIONS: without boiling off aromatics. (For more on KNOW YOUR SUGARS
fruit and flavor additives, see chapter 10.) Any sugar can potentially be fer-
Option 1: Copy the brewery 's geometry
and temperatures. If your yeast strain hai Is mented, though some are easier
TIPS FOR ADDING SPICE: for yeast to process than others.
from a brewery with wide open ferment-
Whole spices should be crushed with a Find out how different varieties
ers, perform your primary fermentation in
coarse grind. This will allow your beer to affect your beer.
a loosely covered stainless steel pot. If you
clear and filter more quickly. If using a
can precisely control your fermentation
powdered spice after the boil, dilute in a Candi sugar rocks and syrups:
temperature, find the temperature profile
small amount of water to ensure it will mix This traditional brewing sugar
for a yeast's brewery to follow.
with your beer. is derived from sugar beets, but
Option 2: Make the yeast your own. Instead the character comes from the
of bending to a yeast strain , experiment Coriander: Make sure to crush the seeds process of heating the sugar.
with different fermenti ng tem peratures before they are added. It can add a mild, The darker sugar has more of
in your existing fermenters . It may not be spicy fruit and citrus character. a caramel and rum character,
ideal at first, but a happy medium exists while lighter (though not clear)
between what a strain is used to and what Cardamom: Similar to coriander, but also sugar is fruitier.
you can offer. close to nutmeg. Make sure to remove
the seeds from their pods and crush them Dextrose: Also known as glu-
before they are added. cose, this is a simple monosac-
ADDING SPICE charide that ferments out clean
Purity be damned , we're on the hunt for fla- Orange peel: Sweet orange peel adds an and crisp.
vor. Belgians have long used subtle spicing orange liqueur character. Bitter orange peel
as a way to accent and complement their adds more of an herbal citrus. Invert sugar: A mix of fructose
beers. Un like a fru it beer or flavored beer, and glucose broken down from
the spices in Belgian beers do not define Cumin: A peppery spice with a nutty char- sucrose, and the basis for candi
the flavor- they refine it. acter. sugar. It's largely used by bak-
ers, who consider it sweeter
One tenet for spicing beers is that you can Star anise: Simi lar to black Iicorice; can thanks to the fructose.
always add more spice, but never take it have a cola-I ike character.
away. So if you are unsure, increase spice Sucrose (table sugar): A disac-
gradually and deliberately. Add your spice charide that yeast must break
into fructose and glucose before
fermenting. While it certainly
works, it requires more energy
of the yeast and can potentially
lead to a slower and less
efficient fermentation.
INTERVIEW WITH:
TOMME ARTHUR:
BREWMASTER, THE LOST ABBEY,
SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.
BORN OUT OF THE CRAFT BREWING PIONEER BREWPUB DO YOU FIND YOURSELF
PIZZA PORT, TOMME'S LOST ABBEY IS A BELGIAN GRAVITATING TOWARD
OUTPOST IN A CALIFORNIA BEER SCENE DOMINATED BY PARTICULAR CATEGORIES IN
HOPS. THOUGH AMERICAN IPAS AND BELGIAN DUBBELS THE BELGIAN WORLD?
Farmhouse beers. I like the discovery of
MAY SEEM WORLDS APART, WITH TOMME YOU SEE new things-and they bring that, while also
bei ng food-friendly and just great session
HOW THEIR CREATIVE AND UNBOUND SPIRITS beers. They have a lot of flavor and there's
CONTINUE TO PUSH THE LIMITS OF GREAT BEER. no true style to them because they're not
market-driven beers.
CHAPTER 7:
WHEAT BEER
INTRODUCTION TO WHEAT In this chapter, you'll learn about:
INTERVIEW WITH:
HANS-PETER DREXLER: HEAD
BREWER, WEISSBIERBRAUEREI
G. SCHNEIDER &SOHN,
KELHEIM, GERMANY
INDUSTRY LEVIATHANS STICK TO THEIR YELLOW WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GO
BEERS, BUT THAT SORT OF SPECIALIZATION IS RARE TO BREWING SCHOOL IN THE
IN THE CRAFT AND SPECIALTY BEER WORLD. FIRST PLACE?
I was interested with biological systems
HOWEVER, THE WHEAT BEER-PRODUCING as well as practical systems. Brewing is
SCHNEIDER BREWERY IN BAVARIA HAS NEVER like biological science in combination with
engineering. It's very practical. Ilike that.
KNOWN ANY OTHER WAY, AND TO THIS DAY IT
MAKES SOME OF THE FINEST WHEAT-BASED I'VE BEEN A FAN OF
BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET UNDER THE GUIDANCE AVENTINUS FOR MANY,
OF HANS-PETER. MANY YEARS. ARE THERE
ANY NONWHEAT BEERS AT
-------------------------------- HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCHNEIDER?
(5Y'ewin9 i4 like biolo9ical 4cience in
BREWING WHEAT BEER AT It's all wheat beer. The portfolio has nine
combination with en9ineeY'in9' It'4 SCHNEIDER? different styles, and in the U.S. mar-
veY'f{ pY'actical. I like that I started in 1982. That's a long ti me.
ket there are five: Original, Aventinus,
Eisbock, Edelweiss, and Hopfen-Weisse.
In Germany, we have an alcohol-free hefe,
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO a light one, a plain Bavarian hefe, and
SCHNEIDER? kristalweiss.
Going back to the late 1970s, my stud-
ies in college were with weizenbier at a LET'S TALK ABOUT
research brewery at the university in Wei-
henstephan. I worked to brew hefeweizen,
TECHNIQUES OF BREWING
which at the time was a growing market in WHEAT BEERS. HOW DO YOU
Germany. I liked that the style was very dif- ENSURE GOOD LAUTERING?
ferent. The lagers were a little bit-how do We use 60 percent wheat malt and 40
you say-not so exciting. After that, I went percent barley. And we look at raw material
to Greece to brew for a joint venture for one to the mash viscosity. And the lauter tun
year then went back to Germany. I thought is a Iittle wider than in a normal brewery to
I'd like to brew Bavarian hefeweizens and reduce the height of the grains. That helps
had an opportunity to start with Schneider. the wort drain faster.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
IS THERE ANY OTHER WHY WOULD THEY USE 100 MANY CRAFT BREWERS
SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT PERCENT WHEAT? MAKE AMERICAN-STYLE
TO ASSIST WITH A GOOD I don't know-I think they had enough time HEFEWEIZENS THAT USE
for lauters.
lAUTER? A MORE NEUTRAL YEAST.
We have a second grain mill: a special mill
WHAT HOP VARIETIES DO WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF
for wheat malt and one for barley to grind
them differently. YOU FEEL WORK BEST WITH THEM?
The American and Bavarian hefe is just
WHEAT BEERS? different. Even in Bavaria, we have a
WHICH ONE HAS A FINER, Interesting. When I started my career, I few different styles. There are the more
SMAllER GRIST? thought the hops were not important. The phenolic styles, more spicy. Then there are
It's easier to make barley malt finer, be- wheat beer brewers in Bavaria think you more estery styles, which are more fruity
cause the wheat malt has no husk. only need a little hops. like banana. You know, there are also more
neutral styles in Bavaria.
After a while, I did some experiments. Now
THE TYPICAL PERCENTAGE we have the Hopfen-Weisse, together with
OF WHEAT MALT IS 60 Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery. It was
IT MIGHT BE HARD TO
PERCENT-WHAT'S THE a great experience to see what happens if FATHOM SO MUCH
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE you use a lot of hops. VARIATION IN BAVARIAN
YOU'D CONSIDER USING? WHEAT BEERS.
We don't do more than 60 percent, but I DO ANY HOP VARIETIES About 80 percent of Bavarian wheat
know in ancient times Bavarian wheats STAND OUT TO YOU? beer brewers use the same yeast stra in,
were brewed with 100 percent wheat malt. Saphir hops for the Bavarian pale wheat Weihenstephan 68, and I hear from U.S.
Now nobody uses 100 percent; it wou Id be beer. It brings a very interesting, refresh- brewers that many of them use it as well,
terrible to work with . ing citrus note in that fits in a traditional but it doesn't always act the same way for
weissbier. And for the Schneider Origi nal every brewer. We use a special very old
and Aventinus, I use Hallertau Tradition Schneider strain that has always been with
and Magnum and they work, but they're not the brewery. I don't know where it comes
spectacular like Saphir. from. It lives in the brewery.
INTERVIEW WITH: HANS-PETER DREXLER
------------------------------- WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE German market. If you brew for the German
CU4tomer4 Were u4ed to havin9 market, you have to brew according to
FUTURE FOR WHEAT BEERS?
beer with inlection. Thanldufltf, the The German focus is different. When I look
Reinheitsgebot.
market ha4 changed. to brewers from the U.S. , I see all these For example, I make a dry-hop addition
international markets interested in tradi- in a collaboration beer with Garrett Oliver.
tional beers. So I see a trend to brew more Some people here in Germany say it's not
unpasteurized craft beers. according to Reinheitsgebot, but I say it's
not forbidden. It's within reason, but it's
HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT very restricted in Germany.
FROM WHAT'S BEEN
HAPPENING IN GERMANY? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE
In Germany, we have some big players like FOOD PAIRINGS FOR A
Franziskaner, Paulaner, and Erdinger. They WHEAT BEER?
are, to me, more on the investor side of It depends on the style. Hopfenweizen is
brewing. Their beers are not very character- hard to match with Bavarian food, so go
istic-they brew beer for everybody. We try
YOU USE OPEN to keep the characteristics of a traditional
with spicy spare ribs, Thai food, things with
a lot of spices and fruits. But for typical Ba-
FERMENTATION. WHAT Bavarian hefeweizen and improve on that varian weissbier, like our Original, I'd prefer
STEPS DO YOU USE TO style. We're a Iittle bit old-fash ioned with Bavarian food like schweinebraten or a Ba-
new, modern techniques.
PREVENT INFECTION OR varian white sausage. Seafood, or pizza and
WILD STRAINS? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'RE
pasta work very, very nicely. And together
In the 1990s, we changed the yeast with Aventinus, blue cheese of course, then
management in the brewery. Before that INTERESTED IN BREWING IN dark meat such as beef or venison.
point, we always had a circulation of yeast THE FUTURE?
harvested from the top of the kettle and We have some ideas; one is to play with YOU'RE MAKING ME HUNGRY.
taken to the next room. Then we installed the influence of a traditional Belgian. They Me as well. Talking about beer and food
a propagation system so that we always have very old , very long beer traditions. It makes me thirsty and hungry.
have a new strain for every brew. That helps could be interesting to use Belgian yeast or
guard against infection. Belgian-inspired hops.
Cains Brewery began RETURN TO THE ROOTS OF U.S. CRAFT BREWING AND YOU'LL
brewing in Liverpool,
England, in 1850. FIND THE ENGLISH ALE. PIONEERS INCLUDING SIERRA
NEVADA AND BOULDER BEER QUICKLY DIVERGED AND MADE
DISTINCTLY AMERICAN BREWS, BUT THE BRITISH ISLES
LAUNCHED BREWS LIKE THE PALE ALE, IPA, BROWN ALE,
PORTER, AND STOUT.
CHAPTER 8:
ENGLISH ALES
INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH BASE MALTS
ENGLISH ALE English maltsters arguably make the finest pale malts in the world. Yes, their crystal and
Brewers producing classic British beer roasted varieties are top-notch, but the base malts are unmatched in flavor. Some malt
styles use warm, top-fermenting ale yeast houses go so far as to continue the age-old tradition of floor-malting barley by hand instead
that provides su btle flavor to the beers. In of automation. Even if this were just a marketing gimmick, such malts bring an undeni-
general , most English beers are lower in ably superior flavor compared to your standard two-row malt. On a technical note, they are
alcohol than American counterparts. And also all highly modified (ready to convert starch to sugar), so a simple single-infusion mash
while many styles are hoppy, none match wi II suffice.
the bitterness of an American IPA. British
ales are a lesson in subtlety, and the best Malt Color (Lovibond) Description
examples have a del icious balance of the Pale Ale Malt 2 to 4 The British equivalent of American two-row malt.
malts, hops, and yeast notes. Maris Otter 3 to 4.5 More robust than pale ale malt with nutty and
biscu it flavors.
In this chapter, you'll learn about:
Golden Promise 2.5 to 3 The Scottish counterpart to Maris Otter; has a
English malt and hops sweeter character.
English brewing additives Mild Ale Malt 2.7 to 5.3 Another step sweeter than other base malts with
English yeast strains more dextrins (unfermentable sugar).
Diacetyl
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
YEAST
English beer is brewed with ale yeast.
Though most American styles descended
from English originals, the American yeast
is much cleaner fermenting in terms of
flavor, while British yeast can be assertive
with fruity, sometimes candylike, notes.
The strains don't tend to dominate a beer
like a hearty or wild Belgian strain would,
but it creates complementary flavors Iike a
mild weizen yeast might.
RINGWOOD BREWING
In the late 1970s, back when
American home brewing was
only being legalized, a brewer
named Peter Austin did his part
to revive Britain's beer scene by
opening the Ringwood Brewery.
After a few years, he was
joined by aspiring brewer Alan
Pugsley, and the two made full-
flavored ales that were a mix of
malt and fruit ester that caught
the attention of Americans
K to nt Gold \"9 seeking inspiration for their own
2 ;' _, (UK
.. / molecule in check.
INTERVIEW WITH: JOHN KEELING
INTERVIEW WITH:
JOHN KEELING: BREWING DIRECTOR,
FULLER, SMITH &TURNER,
LONDON, ENGLAND
AS THE BRITISH BEER CULTURE FUMBLES WITH THE HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
NOTION OF MODERN CRAFT BEER, THANKS TO CASK THE CHARACTER OF ENGLISH
FANATICS AND FIZZY PALE LAGERS, JOHN HAS HARDLY ALE YEAST?
The yeast flavors that come through are es-
BLINKED. INSTEAD OF ISOLATING THE LANDMARK LONDON ters, fruity. I think it depends on fermenta-
BREWERY IN THE FACE OF IMPORTED LAGERS, HE'S tion cond itions and the system you use. At
Fuller's, we use cylindroconical vessels, but
DRIVEN FORWARD WITH NEW BEERS AND INGREDIENTS up to about 1983, we used open squares.
ON A CONSTANT DRIVE FOR A MORE FLAVORFUL PINT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT
THE CHANGE BETWEEN
OPEN SQUARES AND THE
CYLINDROCONICALS?
In 1982, we needed new fermenti ng ves-
sels, so we had a choice. We could find
new squares or look at modern vessels. We
actually experimented with the two types
of systems side-by-side. We found from
time to time, open squares produced a beer
that couldn't be beaten. But most of the
time, the cyclindroconical produced better
beer. On average, a better flavor and abi Iity
to settle in a cask. We said, let's make the
beer as consistent as we can at a high stan-
dard. We're not going to quite hit the high
notes from the open square, but nor will we
hit the bottom notes we get often.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
DID THE PUBLIC NOTICE? A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK OF are a key to it. With dry-hopping, you can
generate a lot of flavor without adding alco-
Oh yes, we got phone calls from people BRITISH BEER AS BALANCE. hol . When I was a you ng brewer, I went to
asking, "What have you done to my beer? Some folks misinterpret what balanced
It tastes better." Also Fuller's had not won Bass in Burton to see how they make beer.
means; they think you 're in the middle One of their old brewers told me the beer
brewing prizes for years, and all of a sud- of the road. Balance to me is making a
den we started winning again with the new with the greatest drinkability is a beer with
balance of the complexity of flavors you the yeast removed late in the day. If you're
beer. It was a strong affirmation we made generate , not being neutral.
the right decision. making a keg beer, filter it, and drink it six
weeks later; it's not Iike a beer where the
WHAT MAKES A GOOD yeast has just dropped out.
BACK TO THE FULLER'S SESSION BEER? HOW DO
YEAST. COMPARED TO OTHER YOU ACHIEVE A FLAVORFUL, STILL, ENGLAND HAS HAD
TYPICAL ENGLISH YEAST, LOWER-ALCOHOL BEER? ITS OWN TROUBLE WITH
COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE In England, beer is always drunk in pubs DECLINING CASK SALES.
CHARACTER? rather than at home. So you drink it stand- For a long time in the brewing world, flavor
A strong fruity character comes through ing up and in the company of others. You wasn 't that important. It was the profit
that's a combination of hops and the yeast. want a drink that is sociable and promotes margin and making the beer cheaper. Now
As our beers tend to get stronger, you no- that chitchat over a long period of time . with the explosion in the last twenty years,
tice this orange character like a marmalade There's no point in something that makes flavor has come back to its rightful posi-
or pithiness, and that's our yeast. you really drunk and incoherent. tion . I think flavor is now king, and the big-
ger breweries need to wake up to the fact
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SO ON ONE HAND, THAT'S that accountants decide how they make
their beer. There are two types of brewers:
THE BEST FERMENTATION WHAT PEOPLE HAVE those judged by the taste of the beer they
TEMPS FOR ENGLISH ALES? WANTED. produce and those who are judged by the
Every yeast does ferment a bit differently. Yes, and I think cask lends itself to that cost of the beer they produce. If you're
And one of the most important things drinkable, low-gravity because it allows a making beer on cost, you're being judged
in brewing is the relationship between lot of flavors to be produced. I think hops by accountants.
a brewer and his or her yeast. You get to
understand it, it gets to understand you
as well , and you can play tunes together.
We pitch in at l]DC (63F) , and allow it
to naturally warm to 20C (68F). When a
quarter of the gravity remains, we chill it to
6C (43F) .
The Fuller's Vintage Ale is released every year with slight recipe variations such as
switching the Fuggle hops to Northdown and Challenger.
YOU MENTIONED A WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT But we also make bottle and keg stronger
because processing is a bit traumatic with
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KEGS THE UK BEER CULTURE'S filters, pasteurization, and bottling. In the
AND CASKS. RESISTANCE TO FLAVORFUL, end, I just want as much or more flavor. But
With keg beer, you will get drinkability, INTERESTING KEG BEER? you cannot make a bottle taste exactly like
and bottled beers are far better made than People get into mind-sets. For example, a cask.
when I was studying at Bass. The differ- Northerners prefer a big creamy head, but
ence between cask, keg, and bottle is that's psychology. And so some people as- SO WHAT'S NEXT FOR
mostly the gas content, CO 2 , It can have a sume all beer without head has something
big effect on how you perceive flavor. wrong. Likewise, certain people assume
FULLER'S?
We're about to start making beers from
there's no good keg beer because they've the past and try to match them as best we
CAN YOU GIVE ME AN never had a good pint. If you tried it twenty can. It's interesting to look through the old
EXAMPLE? years ago and it was overpasteurized and brewing books. We were using American
Some bigger beers need effervescence to lacking flavor, that's no comparison to keg brewing hops in 1902 to make pale ale,
bring out flavor. One of our beers we made beer now. We have to be thankful to Ameri- though I think it's simply because they
recently, a brewer's reserve , is just not the can brewers for starti ng to push past those were cheaper. You also see the fam i Iy trees
same beer when you taste it flat. You need old pasteurized beers. for beers. If you follow that pale ale's his-
the bottle-conditioned fizziness and it lifts tory, it becomes Special Pale Ale. Turn a
the flavor. Then I think lower-gravity beer DO YOU BREW DIFFERENTLY few more pages and it's London Pride.
for drinking is better with lower carbon- KNOWING WHICH PACKAGE
ation, like ina cask beer. BUT WHAT'S IN THE FUTURE
IT'S DESTINED FOR?
We make our beer stronger for bottle and FOR YOU?
keg because they have to last longer. We do One of the th ings I'm determ ined to do is
pasteurize a lot but also bottle condition get our brewers exposed to the world of
some. Our bottle-conditioned beers tend brewing at a younger age than me. I do
to be stronger and will last up to six years. think younger brewers need to get a heads-
up and see different beer cultures, and
there's no finer way than to get arou nd the
world and do it.
CHAPTER 9: LAMBIC BREWING
CHAPTER 9:
LAMBie BREWING
Creating a true Iambic is as much about INTRODUCTION TO LAMBICS CHOOSING YOUR
process as patience and faith . If you're
brewing a Iambic-style ale correctly, the AND SOUR BEER INGREDIENTS
beer will be in charge and your job is just to Most brewers ferment their ales and lagers To brew a Iambic, the malt bill is a simple
encourage it along as best you can. in clean , sterile environments to guard mix of 35 percent unmalted wheat and
against infection. Lambic and sour brew- 65 percent pilsner malt. Adding a small
In this chapter, you'll learn about: ers intentionally allow wild yeasts in , to portion, 5 to 10 percent of the malt bill, of
either ferment by themselves or along with maltodextrin will help mimic a traditional
Traditional sour Belgian Iambics normal brewing yeast strains. Wild yeast Iambic mash.
Brewing Iambics can come live in the fermenters, drop into
beer from surrounding air, or be added like The hops are trickier, as traditional two-
Lambie ingredients another strain, with a specimen from a and three-year-old hops can be difficult to
Wild and sour yeast strains yeast lab. Because of their wild, undomes- buy. However, that's how the bitterness is
ticated nature, Iambic and sour beers are kept below 10 IBU. Hops are added largely
Fruit Iambics very d ifficu It to control and can take years for their antiseptic properties to protect
to mature . against unwanted bacteria (these do exist
in Iambic brewing) .
INOCULATION AND
FERMENTATION
A common misstep homebrewers make is
cooling their Iambic wort too quickly. This
can be difficult to manage, since you may
have to insulate your pot or carboy to slow
the process, but wort needs to sit, exposed
to the world, for eight to twelve hours
before racking to primary fermentation at
64 OF to 6SOF (1 SOC to 20C). Commercial BRETTANOMYCES STRAINS
brewers consider an ambient temperature
around freezing ideal, but a home brewer's B. bruxellensis This milder Brett is famously used to condition
Orval, but still holds a sweaty, horseblanket-type
smaller batch would chill too quickly in
these conditions. character.
B. claussenii A relatively low-impact strain used to sour Irish
Once wild yeast has set in, the fermenta- stouts like Guinness, with a mild fruity character.
tion is still exceedingly slow and may not B.lambicus The Brettstrain commonly used in Iambics. It's the
begin in earnest for more than a month or strongest and most distinctive strain, with barnyard
two. Well over one hundred types of yeast spice and sour-cherrylike flavors.
and bacteria will be present in the beer,
but about four of them do most of the work.
(See table at left.) They can be added
with blended culture from a yeast lab, but
will likely also be floating through the air
around your fermenter. Of course, natural, BUYING LAMBIC YEAST Souring a cleanly fermented beer is an op-
open-air inoculation is considerably less CULTURES tion favored by many brewers who produce
predictable than a yeast blend. No one will sneer or think less of you for phenomenal wild ale, but don't assume
using a sour yeast culture in place of your a packet of yeast wi II do all the work.
Typically, Iambics are brewed in the cooler local microbiota. Wyeast and White Labs Remember that Brettanomyces feed off
months and sit in oak barrels for primary both have individual sour strains and unfermentable sugars and that barrel aging
fermentation for nine to twelve months. Iambic blends for primary inoculation or also imparts a strong character to sour
About halfway through the process, the secondary conditioning. These contain the beers through the wood itself and the sl ight
beer becomes "sick" as Pediococcus takes necessary Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, oxygen it allows in the beer.
hold, with thin lines of slime appearing and Pediococcus along with an ale yeast.
throughout the beer. Th is step lasts about They differ in their proportions and
three or four months, shortly after wh ich strains, but with the right base beer and
the ale is deemed ready to be a jong, or nurturi ng, wi II prod uce wi Id beer with
young, Iambic. high attenuation.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
LAMBie GLOSSARY
Krieks: cherries
FramboiseslFrambozen:
raspberries
Peches:peaches
Cassis: black currants
INTERVIEW WITH: JEAN-PIERRE VAN ROY
(ANTILLON
U
KR\_,
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
INTERVIEW WITH: JEAN VAN ROY
INTERVIEW WITH:
JEAN VAN ROY:
BREWMASTER, BRASSERIE
CANTILLON, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
THERE EXIST OLDER BREWERIES, BUT NONE HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED
CAN MATCH THE TRADITION OF CANTILLON. BREWING OUTSIDE THE
JEAN VAN ROY LEADS THE OPERATION, BREWING LAMBIC STYLE?
Not really, because first of all, I'm not a
HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S LAMBICS FROM 1900. brewer. I learned everyth ing at the brewery
from my father and grandfather, who were
also not brewers. We learned everything
HELP US UNDERSTAND from our ancestors. It would be difficult for
BELGIAN BEER CULTURE. me, not because of the work, but because
of the philosophy, to brew another beer
WHY CAN'T YOU EASILY than Iambic. I love my product. For me,
FIND CANTILLON BEERS IN Iambic may not be the best beer in the
BRUSSELS? world for flavors, aromas. It's not the top
Belgians are not great beer connoisseurs in beer, but because the product is alive, it is
general, but they think they know everything its own life. No, it's Iambic or nothing.
about it. I think it's simply because the big
Belgian breweries control everyth ing.
THAT'S INTERESTING
BUT THERE ARE OTHER TO HEAR YOU DESCRIBE
BEERS LABELED "LAMBIC" YOURSELF AS "NOT A
THAT ARE READILY BREWER."
AVAILABLE. I didn't study to be a brewer. Even a
The majority of beer called gueuze, Iambic, Iambic brewer is not a master brewer.
kriek, and so on are fake. For the common Because a master has to control the
Belgian customer, a gueze, kriek, or fram- product, he has to dominate the beer.
boise is a sweet beer. And it's why Cantil Ion A Iambic brewer works with his product.
is not found everywhere. I'm a guide for my beer.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
IN SOME WAYS, DON'T YOU The wort stays one night in contact with steel doesn't give the same result. They
the air. At night, we have natural inocula- think ionization plays a role.
THINK BEING A GUIDE IS tion, the most important of them are the
MORE CHALLENGING THAN Brettanomyces lambicus and Brettanomy- COULD YOU MAKE LAMBIC
DOMINATING YOUR BEER? ces bruxellensis. The day after, we fill the
BEER WITH A STAINLESS
We begin to playa role in the beer concep- wooden barrels, but we don't close them ,
tion when we blend a beer. The blending is and we await the first fermentation. It can KETTLE?
very important, but before the blending, we start after two to three days, or if the wort is I think so, but probably not the same one.
have to feel our product, we have to under- cold, we can wait weeks or months. Some people-even in the U.S.-are
stand the product. The beer needs this love producing beer from spontaneous fermen-
tation [in stainless]. There's more, though .
to grow. I'm sure of it. I think that Iambic is WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF I think each building plays a role. Cantillon
alive and it's a bit crazy, but the beer feels THE LONGER BOIL?
it. The most important thing we can do for is a typical Iambic because we've produced
First of all, it's because we have to evapo- that beer at the brewery since 1900. If
the beer is when the beer is just brewed, to rate a lot of water to extract maximum
give it passion. tomorrow I built myself another brewery at
sugar from the grains . So at the Canti l- my home eight kilometers (5 miles) from
Ion brewery, we bump the boiling around the brewery, and produced a beer from
WOULD YOU GUIDE US 9,500 liters (2,509 gallons) and we evapo- spontaneous fermentation, the resu It wi II
THROUGH YOUR PROCESS rate a minimum 2,000 liters (528 gallons). be different.
AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM Lambic brewers also use copper kettles,
NORMAL BREWING? which can impart some flavor. You can
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT
The most important difference is the cool- try to get the same effect by boiling in a PROTECTING THE WORD
ing. We don 't use industrial refrigeration ; copper stockpot instead of in stainless or "LAMBIC" AS A REGIONAL
that's why we brew in the winter. The best aluminum.
temperature for us is around OC (32F), DESIGNATION?
because when the wort is coming on the No, it's too late. We are not strong enough .
A brewing engineer [once] said to me that The majority of the beers called Iambic
coolship, it is coming on at 85C or 90C boiling in copper develops special things
(l85F or 194F) and the day after we are not real Iambic. And to receive such
between water and ionization. I spoke some a certification , we have to be strong. And
have to fi II the barrels with the wort at l8C years ago with a French distiller, and they
to 20C (65F to 68F) . In the winter you that's impossible. You have one brewery
are working with copper as well. They don't and three blenders who produce 100
have a classic yeast activation , but less know why exactly distillation in stainless
bacteria than in the summer. percent in traditional Iambic. The brewery
is Cantillon.
INTERVIEW WITH: JEAN VAN ROY
At Cantillon, we (my father and mother) WHEN DID YOU DECIDE YOU
fought in the 80s to protect the name
WANTED TO CONTINUE THE THAT'S QUITE A STATEMENT.
Iambic. That's why we founded the That's true. For me , the last great white
Brussels Gueuze Museum as well. If TRADITION AT CANTILLON? beer I tasted was not Belgian but American
tomorrow some people are ready to fight to I never decided. I watched my parents; or Italian.
protect Iambic, we will do it with them . they did everythi ng for the brewery, for
beer, for the process. I was born in the
brewery. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS
ARE THERE FRUITS YOU ON AMERICAN SOUR BEER?
WOULD NOT CONSIDER It's getting better and better. At the begin-
DOES THE POPULARITY
USING? OF YOUR BEER OUTSIDE ning, the beers were not balanced enough ,
There are no limits for Iambics- you can but now I find more and more quality. I
use what you want. Each year, I make BELGIUM SURPRISE YOU? think the U.S . will produce great sour beer
a sma II experi ment. I've done it with Yes, and it's always a surprise; I can't in the future.
rhubarb, elderflower, and a special grape explain it. It's always emotional for me
variety. It's not just to see the results, but because I'm proud of my product when IS THIS GOOD FOR YOUR
also to learn about my beer. The Iambic I see that. I think a lot of my ancestors,
with elderflower was a great discovery. especially my great-grandfather. BUSINESS AND THE LAMBIC
CULTURE?
YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER I think so, because the problem with
Iambic is you don't find enough of this beer
COULDN'T HAVE IMAGINED on the market. When people drink it for the
THIS. first time, they are surprised. And if they
EVen a IaMbic bY'eweY' i4 not a No, impossible. The only people who drank don 't receive the right information, the
Iambic forty years ago were people from reaction will be , "Oooh, that's sour- that's
Ma4teY' bY'ewer'. "!5ecau4e a Ma4teY' Brussels. Belgian beers and European bad." Here I'm speaking for me and am
ha4 to contY'ol the pY'oduct he ha4 beers have to take care because those alone in thinking that the sour beer produc-
to dOMinate the beer'. f1 IaMbic countries like the U.S., Canada, and Italy tion is a good thing for Iambic. I think all
will begin to produce better beers than the the other Iambic producers are afraid.
bY'eweY' WOY'k4 With hi4 pY'oduct original ones.
I'M a 9uide .poY' Mf{ beer'.
------------------------------
CHAPTER 10:
BREWING WITH
FRUIT AND MORE
INTRODUCTION TO PREPARING FRUIT FOR
FRUIT BEER BREWING
Not to be confused with soda-like Preparing fruit for brewing is simple. Select
alcopops, fruit beer is always beer at fresh fruit from the grocery, or better, the
heart. A fruit or flavoring may complement local farmers' market, and begin by wash-
the backing malts and hops, or can even ing and freezing the fruit. As the water in
take center stage, but the majority of the fruit expands while freezing, it breaks
fermentable sugars should come from the skin, which will help the juice blend
malted grains. with your beer.
',- , ; S
, -. / '
--------------------------------
FRUIT FLAVORING BEYOND FRUIT New .fruit brewer4 often a4k "~ow
You've probably noticed those little Fruit is an enticing and easy example of MUC~ 4~ould I add?" but t~ere'4
plastic bottles of natural fruit flavor in your blend ing beer with outside flavors, but it's
homebrew store. They're perfectly capable not the only one. Most culinary elements
no ea4t( an4Wer. t{our dMin9 4~ould
of making a good beer. Adding a 4-ounce that have a manageable fat content (yes, be deterMined t~rou9~ a cOMbination
(120 ml) bottle of apricot to a 5-gallon chocolate works), and can be sterilized, of t~e .flavor inten4itt( of t~e .fruit
(19 L) batch of wheat beer at bottl ing pro- added, or infused into beer in some way.
duces a real crowd-pleaser with minimal Here are a few successful ideas: t~e aMount of .fruit c~aracter t(ou
effort, but don't expect to impress any beer de4ire, and c~aracter of t~e beer '4
snobs. The drawback with flavorings is PUMPKIN AND SQUASH Malt and ~Op4.
that often the character is very simple and Cube and roast any form of squash until the
can have a sweet, candylike taste. There's meat starts to brown. Add at least a pound
nothing morally wrong with using these per gallon (120 g per liter) to the mash tun
(although co-author Greg thi nks there is) , with the grains for a mild flavor. Be aware
but use the real th ing if you want a deeper, that the squash adds a small amount of
more complex character in your brew. Also, sugar.
check that the flavoring is either intended
for beer or doesn 't include preservatives
that will inhibit carbonation.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
INTERVIEW WITH:
SAM CALAGIONE: FOUNDER,
DOGFISH HEAD CRAFT BREWERY,
REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE, U.S.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST LET'S COVER SOME
DEVIATE FROM TRADITIONAL TECHNICAL ASPECTS. HOW
BEER STYLES? DOES THE TIMING OF WHEN
My first batch I ever brewed was a fruit YOU ADD THE FRUIT AFFECT
beer. Back in 1993, it was a pale ale made
with sour cherries. I had this recipe from
THE FINAL PRODUCT?
Different fruits work in different ways. We
the homebrew store, a malt extract kit with
like to add things late in the boil, generally.
a little bag of probably very old and useless
For homebrewing, you can always flash
hop pellets. On my way home, I stopped
sterilize things by adding them to boil ing
at the grocery store and bought a bunch of
water and then pureeing and adding them
sour cherries.
to a carboy. If it's already pureed and ster-
ile, we'll add itduring primary fermentation
WHERE'D THAT SPARK on the cold side. If we're talking raw fruit,
COME FROM? we invariably add it on the hot side unless
I always had a bit of a contrarian bent. I we're doing a sour.
figured if I wanted to start homebrewing,
I'd want to try and do things that hadn't SO WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A
been done before. I was so na'ive to the
whole brewing movement. I didn't know of
SOUR FRUIT BEER?
If you want a beer with the wild buggers in
beers like kriek and stuff, so I was reinvent-
it, wild fruit will have that, and we'll add
ing the wheel.
them during fermentation. Frankly, the
more rotten the better. For Festi na Lente,
But right from the gate, the whole inspi-
we purposely went to a local peach orchard
ration for getting into brewing was the
and said, "Give us your slim iest, gross-
opportunity for creative expression. So for
est, fly-i nfested peaches." That's what
my first beer, I wanted to flex my creative
we wanted. I know that makes it sound
muscles.
enticing.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
TALK ABOUT THE and then saying, [expletive], that worked , SO WAS THAT THE CASE OF
or oops, that sucked. We rarely do two
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN batches on the Sabco. We know enough THE WEEK OR MONTH FOR
USING FRESH FRUIT, PUREE, about brewing with exotic ingredients that THE EMPLOYEES THEN?
AND FRUIT FLAVORING. we have confidence about tweaking recipes No, but there was Au Currant with currants
We haven't played around with fruit flavor- around an idea. and people called it HAw Come On, " be-
ing, other than our vanilla extract liquid cause they were so sick of getting it, even
that we use with some beers. Usually, we PLEASE GIVE ME AN for free .
have vanilla beans and cut them open and EXAMPLE.
accentuate that with vanilla extract. That's But some general guidelines are: We like
If it's a tart fruit, like sour cherries or to add spices earl ier than we add fruit. We
the only extract we use. Otherwise, we only orange skin and rinds, we know they're go-
use pureed real fruitthat's been aseptically have spices in the mash tun and kettle,
ing to add more aroma. If it's a really sweet and most of our fruit goes in the whirlpool.
prepared or fresh fruit. fruit, like raspberries and blueberries, we For homebrewers, this is at the end of your
know it's going to add more flavor or taste. boi I when you turn off your heat source
I'm not a fan of extracts or artificial flavors . There weren't any books on that; it was just
I'm sure there are brewers making compe- and are simmering. It's hot enough to flash
trial and error of starting as a brewery that pasteurize it.
tent beers, butwe kind of philosophically only brewed 12 gallons (45 L) at a time, so
have a problem with that. we brewed two or three batches a day. But we are adding most of our whole spic-
es, whether its allspice and cinnamon for
LET'S TALK ABOUT OTHER ANY GENERAL RULES OF Punkin Ale or chicory and licorice root for
KINDS OF FOODS. WHAT'S THUMB? PLEASE SHARE Chicory Stout, early in the boil. In the case
THE PROCESS YOU GO SOME OF YOUR EXPERIENCE. of our grapes, we find red and white grapes
ABOUT DECIDING WHEN TO work well after fermentation has started.
Basically it's allover the map; there's no
Honey we found works better at end of the
ADD THEM? substitute for personal expression and sub-
boil. Honey should still be in the kettle.
We start with our little Sabco, a glorified jectivity and volume. Too much peppercorn
homebrew system on steroids, for 12- to for one person isn 't enough for another.
14-gallon (45 to 53 L) experimental We had that experience with peppercorns
batches. We don't do focus groups. We in 1996-some people wanted to vomit
vet ideas in that Sabco by doing a test because of what we loved .
INTERVIEW WITH: SAM CALAGIONE
WHAT'S YOUR MOST in Cairo and smuggled it back in a camera with that. We're friendly with the guys at
bag. We're going to brew about 22 pounds 21st Amendment who make a watermelon-
SPECTACULAR FAILURE? (10 kg) in a 5-gallon (19 U batch. wheat. Watermelon doesn't have a lot of
My most spectacular failure was 1997 acid, but brewers stayed away from it for
through 2000. [Laughs.] We kept brewing
beers like Immort Ale and Chicory Stout ANY RECOMMENDATIONS a long time because you needed so much
volume to make an impact on the flavor.
and expected people to want them and FOR BALANCING FRUIT WITH But they did a great job.
lost money at our production brewery. We THE HOPS AND BARLEY?
needed our restaurant to keep us from I'd just say there are some styles that work
going bankrupt. So besides entire chunks well in the context of hop-forward beers.
AND HOW COME YOU
of decades, our five-barrel brewpub pilot We've had no luck with raisins or cherries WEREN'T ON THE LEADING
system lets us fail publicly in a marginal working in hoppy beers. We've had great EDGE OF THE BACON BEER
way wh i Ie we swi ng for the fences with
things we've never done before.
luck with apricots . Certain raspberries and FRONT?
acidic blueberries can work well. Our Apri- Yeah, that one did get away from us. Gar-
hop came from us playing around with hop rett Oliver made a really fun bacon beer,
WHAT ABOUT INGREDIENTS varieties that the growers said had notes of with just a tiny bit a few years ago and
YOU THOUGHT WERE A apricots. brought it to GABF [Great American Beer
SPECTACULAR IDEA? Festival]. No, I don't think we'll be doing a
Lots of different hop varieties [are] de- bacon beer, but we're psyched other brew-
The ingredient was lavender buds in 1996. scribed as grapefruit notes or pineapple
We brewed a beer with lavender and pep- eries are out there flying their pork flag.
notes. Why not take one of those significant
percorns called High Alpha Wheat and it notes in the hops and amplify the fruit it's
was a wheat beer with high-alpha hops referencing? The hops you see describing a
BACON ASIDE, WHAT
and lavender, so it was a perfect storm of flavor of fruit-that's a natural jumping-off ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR
stupidity from known brewing history right
out of the gates. It probably tasted more
point. HOMEBREWERS?
Carboys are cheap. Split batches into dif-
like perfume than beer. I suffered through
most of that 12-gallon (45 U batch by -------------------------------- ferent carboys and add fru its and spices
TheY'e'4 no 4ub4fitute -PoY' peY'40nal at different points. The awesome thing
myself at the bar.
about that is you have two or three different
eXpY'e44ion and 4ubjectiVitf.{ and versions of your beer with the same wort
HOW DO YOU DETERMINE voluMe. TOo Much peppeY'coY'n -PoY' one and you're creating a conversation with
THE VARIETY OF THE HONEY peY'40n i4n't enou9h -P0Y' another. your friends when they come over. That's a
THAT YOU USE? great way to figure out what your tastes are
We make honey-based teas, such as a mild geared to.
English breakfasttea-that's what led us
to orange blossom honey and thyme honey,
IS THIS TO SUGGEST
which are probably the ones we use the WHEN YOU'RE FEELING
most. And then we use this unprocessed, CREATIVE, WE SHOULD BREWING TIP:
really raw Ethiopian honey for Bitches FRUIT AND HOPS
Brew. Homebrewers can make three super-
KEEP AWAY HOPS THAT Sam dry-hops his fruit-IPA
hot teas, to release the aromatics, and try HAVE CAT URINE? hybrid Aprihop with Amarillo
three different honeys of the same volume Oddly enough, no-they go so well to- hops. This creates a beer
and figure what they like. Have a giant tea gether. We made a beer with saliva, so all that balances fruit sweetness
party. I'm going to say is "urine-vited" to try our with bitter and combines the
newest beer. But pineapple is one fruit that floral, citrus hop notes with
I think has not been played around with the juicy apricot fruit.
ARE THERE ANY FRUITS, enough.
VEGETABLES, OR HERBS ON
YOUR RADAR? I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT
I hear you can make a good beer with pars- THAT BECAUSE OF
ley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Is that too
self-servi ng for [the collaboration beer Dog- PINEAPPLE'S HIGH ACID
fish Head/StoneNictory] Saison du BUFF? CONTENT.
This palm fruit, or dom is what it's called The acid content scares people, but
in Egypt, is a really pungent, molassesy blueberries have a high acid content and
fruit that's dried. I pulled it out of a market a lot of brewers have successfully brewed
00
12 A
The Imperial India 81 Ale
12 noz.
~GES WEll
CHAPTER 11: BREWING BIG BEER
CHAPTER 11:
BREWING BIG BEER
You can do all these things or none of INTRODUCTION TO BIG BEER
them; the biggest factor in a high-alcohol Making big beer and doing it well is less
brew is picking the right yeast strain and about ingredients and more about brewing
keepi ng it happy. In reverence for the magi- process. By pushing beer to its limits, you
cal little Saccharomyces, brewers will talk lose the wiggle room and shortcuts that
about having a relationship with their yeast, make normal beers relatively easy to brew.
or even caring for it like a child. And at the heart of big, extreme beer you
have a focus on yeast, the engi ne beh ind
brewing. To make good beer, you need
happy yeast, but for high-alcohol brews
you want euphoric yeast. Even if strong or
extreme beer doesn't appeal to you, all the
methods relati ng to it can be appl ied to any
beer for improved resu Its.
MAKING A STARTER
Starters are essentially small batches of
beer that are brewed for the sole purpose of
propagating yeast to increase your pitching
rate. Pitching your packet or vial into a
healthy environment will typically double
your yeast count.
INTERVIEW WITH:
JAMES WATT:
COFOUNDER, BREWDOG,
FRASERBURGH, SCOTLAND
JAMES WATT AND HIS BREWDOG COFOUNDER, HAVE YOU BEEN SURPRISED
MARTIN DICKIE, WERE COMPLETELY DISILLUSIONED BY SOME OF THE NEGATIVE
WITH BEERS IN THE UK. MARTIN SAYS, "THERE REACTION TO YOUR HIGH-
WAS NOTHING BETWEEN GENERIC MASS-MARKET ALCOHOL BEERS?
We've enticed negative reactions and been
MONOLITHIC INDUSTRIAL BEERS AND THE LITTLE quite good at acting surprised when it hap-
pens. The controversy over high-strength
GUYS HERE MAKING BEERS THAT WERE QUITE beer has given us a platform to communi-
SLEEPY, QUITE STUFFY, OLD-FASHIONED, AND cate ideas about beer. We want to open a
CONSTRAINED BY TRADITION." debate of what beer is, how you can enjoy
it, and just show people there is an alterna-
tive to the beers out there.
so YOU WERE STALLED. it's not just feeding on starch and it gets
a good head of steam up, so when it hits
yeast flavor characteristics. That's why with
the End of History, the flavors you develop
Later, I was on a fishing boat and think-
ing about how to do it. Instead of freezing 12 percent, it's already working quite well. in a Belgian blond ale would be really ben-
the tank, what about putting the beer in a Even then, the champagne yeast, at 15 eficial once we got up to 55 percent. We
container and taking it somewhere cold? percent, is going to start to die off. thoughtthis kind of vanilla , banana, clove,
We're in a fishing town, so the original idea ester mix would help soften and balance
was to take it to a blast freezer where they Every four hours, we'd take a tiny bit of the massive amount of alcohol.
freeze fish. So we got a 500-liter container sugar and put it into the fermenting wort,
and filled it with beer we'd aged for eigh- and it was just enough to keep the yeast FINALLY, FOR THE END
alive and keep the fermentation going.
teen months. Then the problem was that
It was a bit like having a baby. Every four
OF HISTORY, WHAT
because the blast freezer smelled quite
strongly of fish, it might taint the beer. hours, day or night, it got some care and INSPIRED YOU TO PACKAGE
We rei uctantly left it in there for twelve attention. Gave the tank a big hug and kiss, THE BOTTLES INSIDE
hours and it didn't freeze a single bit. We crossed our fingers, and hoped that it kept TAXIDERMIED STOATS
fermenting. We were able to get the base
thought if we have to leave it for ages, we
beer just over 20 percent. AND SQUIRRELS?
definitely don't want to leave it in there With the 55 percent beer we made,
and get a mackerel-infused imperial stout. because it was the last one, we wanted
A few days later I was eating ice cream DID YOU GET THE FLAVOR to do something that was quite epic with
from a local factory and I thought we could YOU WANTED? CHAMPAGNE the packaging. And it infused three things
persuade them to give us some space.
YEAST HAS A REPUTATION we're very passionate about: craft beer, art,
and taxidermy.
COULD YOU BE CERTAIN FOR NOT BRINGING ANY
THEY WEREN'T MAKING A CHARACTER.
We found when you push a champagne
MACKEREL SORBET? yeast as we did , the flavor characteristic
It was worth the risk. After three days it was was very reminiscent of classic Belgian
-3e (2JOF), despite the ambient tempera-
ture being -20 o e (-4F) . After ten days, it
got down to -JOe (l9F). Every five days,
we'd transfer and leave a little ice behind.
Tactical Nuclear Penguin took six weeks,
and when we got it tested, it was 28 per-
cent. It amazed us how much beer we lost.
We tested the water as well and it'd have
3 or 4 percent alcohol in it. You'll start out
with 1,000 liters (264 gallons) and end up
with less than a couple hundred bottles.
Firestone Walker
Brewing conditions a
IN THE STAINLESS, SANITARY WORLD OF BREWING,
portion of every pale WOOD-AGED BEER STANDS OUT AS A PLACE WHERE SCIENCE
ale batch in oak with
their patented Firestone MUST GIVE WAY TO THE ART OF BREWING. BARREL- AND
Union oak barrel brew- WOOD-AGED BEER STANDS AS ONE OF THE BEACONS OF
ing system.
EXTREME BREWING BY PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES AND
FLAVOR OF BEER. BARRELS ARE A DEVIL TO CONTROL, AND
BREWERS ARE OFTEN AT THEIR MERCY, WHICH CAN BRING
AN AMAZINGLY COMPLEX NEW CHARACTER TO OLD RECIPES,
OR DESTINE A BATCH FOR A DRAIN-POUR. IRONICALLY,
BARREL CONDITIONING IS ATHROWBACK TO THE DAYS
BEFORE COPPER AND STAINLESS BREWING VESSELS.
CHAPTER 12:
BARREL AGING
The two main options for barrels (and thus In this chapter, you'll learn about:
wood additives) are American and French
oak. Both impart vanilla, but American Types of wood used
oak has a more aggressive character with Effects of temperature and barrel size
lower tannins. Technically, American oak
can come from anywhere within the United Methods for adding wood
States, wh ich does not guarantee a consis- Preparing a barrel
tent flavor, so check with your cooperage
(barrel maker) for the origin. The white oak Dosing spirits
from Oregon, for example, is a different
species that holds more in common with
European oaks.
INTERVIEW WITH:
SCOTT VACCARO: FOUNDER,
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWING CO.,
PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK, U.S.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN Schaefer longnecks. I asked him if WHAT STARTED YOUR
he'd show me how to make beer. I couldn't
IN BUSINESS? believe you could do that at home. My INTEREST IN BARREL AGING?
We moved in August of 2005 and were This is going to sound strange, but I always
parents were happy to let me do it at home
brewing by December. had a fascination with oak barrels. At first,
as long as I kept it under control and didn't
go try to intoxicate the neighborhood kids. it had nothing to do with beer. I remember
THAT'S A QUICK I immediately bought Charlie Papazian's being much younger, fourteen, and trying
to come up with different blends of iced tea
TURNAROUND. I COULD HAVE book, The New Complete Joy of Home
I could stick in an oak barrel.
TAKEN A LESSON FROM YOU. Brewing, and that was the start of my
It was the most stressfu I four months of my brewi ng career.
When I started homebrewing, I was con-
life. I think I aged about five years. stantly trying to formulate in my head how
YOU TOOK A DIVERSION many batches I'd have to brew to fi II up an
YOU WERE AN AVID FROM BREWING IN COLLEGE. oak barrel that was 50 or 60 gallons (190
HOMEBREWER FIRST. I ended up following my father's footsteps or 227 L), but it didn't make any sense.
I was seventeen years old and went over to of going to Vi Ilanova to be an accountant. I'd have to kill myself brewing for a week
my buddy's house after school to hang out, I continued to homebrew but didn't know straight and wouldn't be able to drink it all.
like any other day. I walked in the kitchen I could make a career of it. While reading
and my friend's dad was standing over the Zymurgy my freshman year, I came across We happened to open Captain Lawrence on
stove, stirri ng a big pot. I asked what he UC-Davis, did a little research, and realized the same street as a winery, and not having
was doing and he said, "Making beer." I could get my bachelor's in fermentation anyone to tell me what not to spend my
science. I immediately called home and money on , I procured some 60-gallon (227
At that poi nt in my Iife, beer was pretty said, "Listen, accounting is great and all, L) red wine barrels to fill up with smoked
taboo. I wasn't close to being legal to but I'm going to fai lout of th is school if you porter. I just kept buying barrels. We're a
drink, though I dabbled in my fair share of keep me here. I was born to brew." pretty cramped location , but I have sixty or
seventy.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
The first time we did our Golden Delicious, tional would be perfect. I always say, for a IT TAKES ME BACK TO
we aged [it] a year, and it was extremely homebrewer as a rule of thumb, strong and
hot. The second time, we did three months, dark ages well in brown spirit barrels. THE FIRST TIME I VISITED
and that was soft. Now we've settled on CANTILLON IN '95, I WAS
six months. The rum barrels, on the other We tend to use our wine barrels primarily CLUED IN FROM MICHAEL
hand, come with some serious flavor to for sour beers because to get the flavor of
them and for those, three months is wine into a smoked porter or brown ale, the
JACKSON'S BEER HUNTER
perfect. flavors are very subtle. You'll get a nice va- SHOW.
nilla and some interesting character, [but] Yeah , it's amazing. I went over and spent
an afternoon drinking there. It was my last
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE to me the flavors don't justify the time.
stop after six weeks. I stayed in hostels and
STYLE OF BEER TO MATCH had a sheet sewn up like a sleeping bag
THE WOOD AND PREVIOUS LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT and carried three cases of Canti lion Iambic
CONTENTS? INSPIRES YOU. WHAT'S ON back with me and that was my carry-on.
We look for complementary flavors and YOUR RADAR?
then also try straight experimentation. At the beginning of it all, the inspiration WHAT DO YOU THINK
came from Michael Jackson's books. He
Using apple brandy barrels, I thought,
did such a beautifu I job of describing these
ABOUT THE UBER-
was a no-brainer. We use them for our
Golden Delicious, which is dry-hopped beers and making me want to drink them. ENTHUSIAST CROWD AND
with Amarillo. [We call it] a Belgian-style Reading about Cantillon and Boon made THEIR FASCINATION WITH
American tripel because it expresses these me realize there's this whole other world ANYTHING BARREL AGED?
really fru ity tropical flavors, and then from of beers. After reading about these beers I just see it as a function of people looking
the apple brandy barrels, it gets that kind while not being able to drink them, when for where they are going to get the next in-
of apple spice and vani Iia flavor out of that I finally got a chance to try them was a tense flavor. Maybe first it was superhoppy
barrel. For bourbon and rum, we thought whole 'nother revelation. Now I need to go and next it's going to be sour, and they
strong dark beer, something more tradi- try to make them or something in style or go for barrel aged. I just look at it as the
inspired by. search for the next [intense] flavor.
Ii,.
"'OI)IIr.7
1'11011.
fir !iT .. ",
CHAPTER 13: ORGANIC BREWING
CHAPTER 13:
ORGANIC BREWING
AN INTRODUCTION TO WHAT MAKES IT ORGANIC?
ORGANIC BEER Of beer's four basic ingredients (water,
Organic beer is defined by using organic yeast, hops, and barley), only the barley
ingredients. In the professional world, there must be certified-organic to call it organic.
are two types of organic beer. There's beer Legislation may eventually require hops,
brewed with organic malts but nonorganic but if you're a true believer in organic beer,
hops. For many organic-certification agen- you'll use organic hops anyways. Yeast is a
cies, this qualifies as organic. Then there's microorganism that only requires a clean
beer brewed with both organic hops and environment and sugar to survive and grow.
organic malts. Great brewers will go a step And so long as you brew with clean, filtered
further and look to reduce waste in their water (and why on Earth wouldn't you?),
brewing process and adopt environmentally you're safely in the organic camp.
friendly cleaning and sanitizing products.
Hops and barley farmers use different
In this chapter, you'll learn about: organic standards, but you can expect that
the products will be grown without chemi-
What organic beer is cal fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or
Organic barley additives that might find their way into your
beer. This approach also ensures a more
Organic hops careful, nurturing approach to cultivating
Growing organic hops your ingredients. Essentially, you are get-
ting a higher-quality product that's better
for the soil, limits pollution, keeps drinking
water clean, and supports sustainable
farming practices. Who knew beer could do
so much good?
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
HOPS
The fragrant green flowers that give pale
ales their zing and balance the sweetness
of barleywines have been slow to arrive
in organic options. The two-year cycle
required to produce a full harvest makes
growers reluctant to invest in new plants.
To further complicate hop farming, the
USDA and National Organic Standards
Board decided in 2008 that beers labeled
"organic" need not actually use organic
hops. Silly as it seems, many organic brew-
ers supported the exception because of the
limited supply of organic hops. Of course,
without the requirement , many "organ-
ic" brewers avoid organic hops for the
cheaper and more readily available options
anyways.
INTERVIEW WITH:
TED VIVATSON: PRESIDENT,
EEL RIVER BREWING COMPANY,
FORTUNA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.
NESTLED ON THE BANKS OF ITS NAMESAKE EEL RIVER, SO IT'S 1997 WHEN YOU
TED'S BREWERY IS A BEACON FOR GREEN BREWING. SLOWLY STARTED GOING ORGANIC.
EXPANDING THROUGHOUT AN OLD PACIFIC LUMBER MILL IN WHAT INGREDIENTS WERE
SCOTIA, CALIFORNIA, EEL RIVER BREWING IS THRIVING AVAILABLE?
I worked with Roger Briess. He was cutting
IN A SPACE FORMERLY OCCUPIED BY WHAT TED DESCRIBES edge as an American maltster, but at the
time there were very limited ingredients,
AS THE ANTICHRIST TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT. especially specialty malts.
THE BIOMASS-POWERED BREWERY IS A FIRST IN THE
BEER WORLD, JUST AS EEL RIVER WAS ALSO THE FIRST HOW DID YOU APPROACH
CERTIFIED-ORGANIC BREWERY. SINCE GOING ORGANIC, YOUR FIRST ORGANIC BEER?
Our biggest problem was perception and
TED AND HIS CREW HAVE CREATED ALES THAT RIVAL what I call the "organic carrot syndrome."
(AND BEAT) THE BEST IN THE WORLD, TAKING MEDALS AT I always remember going into a co-op for
produce . They had conventional carrots
COMPETITIONS, INCLUDING THE WORLD BEER CUP AND that were absolutely beautiful for 25 cents
GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL. a pound. And next to them were organic
carrots for 90 cents and they looked like
someone grew them through a box of rocks.
HOW'D YOU GET YOUR START
IN ORGANIC BREWING? It always struck me that people thought if
It was actually consumer driven . An older they were going to buy something organic,
customer from the hills came in. I hate they were going to have to settle. I thought
to say "old hippie," but it's what best that was total BS. Organic products should
describes him. He asked, "You make a be better and comparable in price.
naked beer? Make me a beer just like my
granddad drank. I don 't want all the crap So I decided we had to make an award-
in it: any fungicides, herbicides, synthetic winning beer that's accepted by my peers
fertilizer, or sewer sludge. I don't want none and that just happens to be certified-or-
of that cra p." ganic. The only ingredients we really had at
that time were for an amber ale with a base
That really made me start thinking. At the malt and two specialty malts. We brought
time, it was really provocative and crazy. hops from New Zealand [Hallertauer] and
We were sti II a new craft brewery and pretty started serving it in the pub.
much had the training wheels on , but I'm
thinking, "Wow, this iscool . Who's going to
have the ingredients?"
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
DOES USING ORGANIC SO CAN YOU CALL YOUR SO THEN WHAT'S YOUR TAKE
INGREDIENTS MAKE A BEER BEER 100 PERCENT ON ANHEUSER-BUSCH'S
TASTE BETTER? ORGANIC? ORGANIC BEERS?
Yes, it's a proven fact that organ ic foods Beer is impossible to make 100 percent If they're going to make an organic beer,
taste better. But it also offers peace of organic because CO 2 and oxygen are not more power to them. It's going to make
mind, and what's that worth? certified. They're considered brewery American hop growing economically viable
processing aides. So, I don't agree with and expose more people to organic prod-
CAN WE ASSUME YOU FEED that, but God doesn't certify CO 2 and oxy- ucts, so to me it's a win-win.
gen . We 're never going to be 100 percent
YOUR SPENT GRAINS TO certified-organic, but we do the best we My only problem is they don't own up to it.
LOCAL CATTLE? can and stick to what we believe in. If it's Budweiser, why didn't they come out
We actually raise our own cattle for the with Budweiser Organic Amber Ale instead
Fortuna pub. It's pretty cool. I raise them at
my place, and we get natural beef. It's not
NOW WHAT'S YOUR TAKE of Wild Hop or Stone Mill, where you have
to put on your reading glasses to find out
certified-organic, but there are no shots or ON THE USDA EXCEPTION who really made it? Be proud of what you
any of that. I take them at six- or seven- ALLOWING CERTIFIED- brew.
weight (600 or 700 pounds) to Redwood ORGANIC BEER TO USE
Meats, an organic facility in Eureka, for
finishing.
CONVENTIONAL HOPS? SO WHAT'S THE OUTLOOK
This is a huge sticking point with me. I FOR EEL RIVER?
brew purely organic, but I don't speak out Right now, we brew around 10,000 barrels.
WERE THERE DIFFICULTIES against unpure organic brewers. I believe in We're comfortable with our growth. For the
BREWING BOTH ORGANIC the organic industry. It's in its infancy, and last couple of years, we have had about 50
AND CONVENTIONAL BEER AT because a lot of people would like to see us percent growth. We've got people who say
not around, I support the exception. "Dammit, I want organic!" And we've got
FIRST?
We had to do one batch at a time and purge people who just want great beer. We cater
A few years back, major breweries bought to both. We 've got to stay innovative and
our system-the grain mill , auger system,
out all the organic hops and it would have fresh. As new ingredients come out, we've
everything. A lot of chemicals had to be
just about put everyone out of business if got to push the envelope.
switched over. We couldn't use an iodine
they required 100 percent organic hops.
cleaner anymore; we use biodegradable
Until the industry is really strong and the
cleaners like peracetic acid. It was rather
growers are there, I believe it needs to be
tedious, but when we built our new facility
that way. It's in everyone's best interest
we were all-organic.
because you don't want to give the powers
to the big ones. I don 't trust them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 14: TASTING AND EVALUATING BEER
CHAPTER 14:
TASTING AND
EVALUATING
YOUR BEER
INTRODUCTION TO Everyone has an opinion on beer, but
thoughtful evaluation requires more
EVALUATING BEER than a thumbs up or down. Judging a
Then somewhere down the road , often beer requires that you taste and enjoy a
years later, comes the good beer. Beer that beer for what it is, regardless of personal
not only tastes great, but is so wonderful preference. Most I PAs rate higher than
you actually want to taste it, not chug it, for light lagers, but a true taster also has to
a change. Forget searching for cheap beers consider which is a better representation
with no aftertaste-you want all the flavor
of their style. More important, judging beer
you can get. Drinking beer for its character, identifies imperfection and room for im-
not its alcohol content and availability, is provement so that a brewer can learn their
what craft beer, homebrewing, and beer mistakes and make better beer.
appreciation is all about.
In this chapter, you'll learn about:
Whether you want to fine-tune your home-
brew or your tongue, learning to taste and Perfecting the beer pour
evaluate beer will lead you to better bever- Judging appearance, aroma, taste, and
ages all around. mouthfeel
Diagnosing off-flavors
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
THE PROPER POUR Sti II, every beer style has an appropri-
Before you can really taste or even admire ate range of color defined by its SRM
a beer, you need to give it a proper pour. (Standard Reference Method). This scale
There are unend ing variations of what runs from 0 to about 70 with light lagers
should be a simple task. There's the classic registering a 2, imperial stouts pulling 50
no-foam pour where you let beer sneak to 70, and an amber ale in the neighbor-
down the side until your glass is filled. You hood of 20. Good homebrewing software
can squeeze a few more ounces into your will calculate your SRM along with original
cup, but this mutes the aroma. There's gravity so you can check against your style's
the showier pour straight to the bottom . guidelines.
This does a fine job of releasing aroma but
leaves a huge head between you and the Clarity: Hazy beer is appropriate and
liquid you're dying to sip. preferred for some styles, such as German
and Belgian wheat beers (hefeweizens and
Instead, hold your glass at a 45-degree witbiers). In brewing competition, some
angle and pour the beer onto the middle haze is acceptable for India Pale Ales due
of the wall . About halfway through the to chi II haze. Clear, clean beer typically
pour, turn the glass upright and pour the results from good sanitation, and using a
rest straight down to create a 1- to 2-inch bit of Irish moss atthe end of a boil draws
(2.5 to 5 cm) head. For more effervescent out tannins and proteins. Properly maturing
beers, wait longer to turn the glass; for low- your beer in the secondary fermenter also
carbonation, pour straight down earlier. It's creates clear beer; as a beer ages, yeast
a bit of an art, but it's a skill you won't mind and other particles fallout of suspension.
practicing.
AROMA
APPEARANCE The only thing that could be simpler than
You can't judge a beer by its label and drinking is sniffing, right? There's a lot you
packaging, but a quick inspection can tell can learn by smelling your beer. Aroma is
To taste better, you need to the gateway to flavor.
you what flavor is in store. Dusty bottles
buy fresh beer. So exercise
on the store shelves, for instance, may
caution buying a beer that: Beer is a complex but delicate drink,
indicate a beer is well past its prime. For
Has exposure to sunlight homebrewed beer, hold your bottle up to and the pour releases volati Ie notes that
from the shelf. UV rays create Iight to look for a ri ng arou nd the inside disappear within minutes, if not seconds.
the skunky beer phenomena . of the neck-this indicates an infection. The second you set your beer down, dive
Infections often lead to overcarbonation , so in nose first. Take several short sniffs and
Is leaking. Always check focus on both the upfront character and
open any ringed bottles over a sink.
the tops of corked bottles. If then the background .
the cork is partially pushed
Color: A beer's color only gives a small
out or there's residue around If you stop to take notes or ponder the beer,
ind ication of flavor. Two identical-looking
the edge, back away. an occasional swirl of the glass will help
red ales could have completely different
Has grown dusty. Not all characters: An all-Munich malt beer will raise the head and release a new burst of
beer is dated, but all beer have a sweet caramel and bready taste, aroma. You can also letthe aroma bui Id
can collect dust. while adding just a few ounces of black by placing a coaster or your hand over the
patent barley to pilsner malt during brew- glass during and after the swirl.
.Is on clearance sale or
ing will create the same appearance with
deep discount. This may
none of the flavor.
indicate the beer has been
hanging around too long .
Is out of season. Pumpkin
beer isn't meant for March,
and summer beers are typi-
cally stale by mid-fall.
CHAPTER 14: TASTING AND EVALUATING BEER
INTERVIEW WITH:
RAY DANIELS: BEER JUDGE
AND FOUNDER, CICERONE
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, U.S.
CALL HIM THE MAN WITH A GOLDEN TONGUE.
RAY HAS BEEN TASTING AND JUDGING BEER
FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES ON AN
INTERNATIONAL STAGE AND NOW LEADS THE
CICERONE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, AN
INDUSTRYWIDE SCHOOL TO RID THE WORLD OF
IGNORANT BARTENDERS AND DIRTY GLASSES.
DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS OR WHAT TURNED YOU ON TO BUT SOME FOLKS MAINTAIN
CHECKLIST FOR TASTING A GOOD BEER? YOU NEED TO TAKE THE
BEER? As a beer drinker, I was interested in flavor BITTERNESS ON THE BACK
and got into homebrewing. By my third
I go through every beer in front of me and
batch, I really felt like I'd made beer better
OF YOUR TONGUE.
take notes on aroma before I taste a thing. That's not entirely valid. The whole tongue
This gives a cleaner approach to each indi- than anything I could pay money for. There
map that shows bitterness on the back of
vidual sample with no beer on my palate. was no turni ng back after that batch. It was
your tongue has been repudiated. You do
So it may help to reduce biases. If you have a pale ale with grains that I toasted and
notice bitterness more in the aftertaste ,
a beer that's extremely bitter, it cou Id alter finishing aroma hops. Back in 1989, that
but it's not necessarily on the back of the
your perception of the next beer. It may was pretty radical.
tongue. But normally I take two or three
make the bitterness seem lower. si ps of beer for the eval uation process. So
WHAT ARE THE MOST one I'd swallow, and the others I'd use the
When you taste, there's a beginning, COMMON FLAWS YOU SEE IN spittoon.
middle, and end to every beer. And you
want to pay attention to all the things going
BEER?
on and pick out what is unexpected. Try to
There's a whole collection of off-flavors and YOU TRAIN BARTENDERS. IF
identify that as a starting point. At the end,
many come down to sanitation, boiling, YOU COULD FIX ONE SERVING
and management of fermentation. I find
put your critical mind-set aside, take a si p
increasingly that people who have the
PROBLEM THE WORLD OVER,
and ask yourself if you ordered this style of WHAT WOU LD IT BE?
sanitation and boiling basics down don't
beer at a bar and were presented th is, how The most unforgivable sin is dirty glasses.
give the yeast enough time to finish the
would you feel? Any time a beer is served and there are
job. Proper secondary fermentation is im-
portant; otherwise, you'll get diacetyl and bubbles clinging to the side of a glass,
HOW DOES SOMEONE acetaldehyde in the finished beer. Both are below the top of the beer, that's a clear sign
BECOME A BETTER TASTER? signs of improperly matured beer. of a dirty glass. Some sort of schmutz is
There are training programs like the BJCP stuck to glass, didn't get cleaned out, and
is giving those bubbles a place to collect.
classes. We do sensory training through ARE THERE ANY STYLES Whatever it is, I don't want to drink it.
the Cicerone program for basic off-flavors,
but really tasti ng evolves a taster. I teach
THAT ARE HARDER TO
a Master of Beer Styles class with Randy JUDGE? ANY THAT MAKE YOU THAT'S DISGUSTING.
Mosher. You get the off-flavors on the first CRINGE? Typically you 'll see a band 2 or 3 inches
day and then you spend the next three Yeah, for some styles judging twenty-five (5 or 7.5 cm) from the bottom of the glass
days tasting sixty to eighty examples of samples can be a challenge-intensely coated with bubbles. Whatever drink was
commercial beers to develop that library of flavored beers like stouts and robust porters in that glass last night dried and didn't get
classic-style flavors by tasting. really tend to push palate fatigue quickly. I washed out.
think really strong beers over 7 or 8 percent
can be a challenge. Most judges don't spit, You know, if there's noth ing objectionable
but it's something I've begun to do with in the flavor, I can chug down a beer that's
stronger beers. It's just too hard to maintain not at the peak of freshness, but to give me
your concentration. a dirty glass or a flat beer, those things are
pretty hard to get by.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
CHAPTER 15: MAKING BEAUTIFUL BEER
CHAPTER 15:
MAKING
BEAUTIFUL BEER
INTRODUCTION TO
BETTER BEER
The quality of your beer is largely de-
pendent upon two points. First there's
the character of your ingred ients, wh ich
results from their variety and freshness.
Then there's how you control the brew-
ing processes around your ingredients.
Although homebrewers don't have access
to the same technology as professionals,
many theories are easily adapted and the
ingredients available are largely the same.
BETTER INGREDIENTS,
BETTER BEER
MALT
Barley and other brewing grains remain
stable for both flavor and diastatic power if
kept dry and uncrushed. To be safe, always
taste your grains before buying or brewing
to ensure there are no stale or off-flavors.
HOPS
Hops help preserve beer, but they also lose
their alpha acids quickly if they are not
stored properly. In fact , hops begin to break
down immediately after harvesting, giving
wet-hopped ales an extra kick that is lost
during drying and aging.
THERMAL STRESS much of the oxygen while also removing avoid contact between your beer and
A longer, bigger boil isn't always better. chlorine. Also minimize splashing and copper at any stage after the boi I. Iron is
Brewing research shows that exposing the aeration of your wort before the kettle. more prevalent and finds its way into your
wort to excessive thermal stress can sl ightly beer primari Iy through new stainless steel
degrade the flavor and stability of a beer. On the cold side (postboi I), any oxygen equipment or the use of diatomaceous
That means that it's ideal to minimize your picked up after the initial fermentation can earth water fi Iters. Clean ing new stainless
wort's exposure to heat. damage the beer and bring on a papery, equipment will help remove that initial
cardboard character. Simple measures, iron, and using a carbon filter, instead of
A sixty-minute boil is a good compromise such as not splashi ng your beer when diatomaceous earth, removes the risk of
that ensures DMS and other undesirable transferring containers and, if possible, additional iron.
flavors are blown off, without subjecting purging containers of oxygen with COb
the wort to undue stress. Also try to reduce prevent i ntrod uci ng oxygen to the beer.
the time it takes to heat and cool your wort.
Think of your wort Iike any other food: The TRACE METALS
longer and hotter it's cooked, the less flavor Brewing minerals and chemicals such as
you have in the end. su Ifate and ch lori ne get more attention
in the brewing water, but copper and iron
OXIDATION AND AERATION can also wreak havoc. Both bring a harsh
Oxygen provides vital fuel for yeast growth, metallic flavor, while copper slows mash
but in all other instances, it's a sworn ene- enzymes, stunts yeast growth, and can
my of beer. Before wort even hits the kettle, cause gushing carbonation in a bottle
brewers work to reduce oxygen exposure in or keg.
the grain mill and by removing dissolved
oxygen from brewing water. This is called Thankfully, copper usually isn 't a threat
hot-side aeration , and in your brewhouse, to homebrewers unless they have bright
boiling your water premash will drive off unoxidized copper equipment. To be safe,
I
------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH: KEN GROSSMAN
INTERVIEW WITH:
KEN GROSSMAN: OWNER,
SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO.,
CHICO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.
WITH A LEGENDARY CRAFT BEER TO HIS NAME, BUT HOW DID YOU HANDLE
AN OWNER COULD BE COMPLACENT AND COAST, THE EQUIPMENT?
I built my first malt mill myself. We built a
WATCHING THE PROFITS ROLL IN. BUT KEN IS A BEER mash tun out of an old cheese vat I found,
GEEK FIRST AND FOREMOST. AFTER MORE THAN THREE and I milled a false bottom myself. I used
a lot of fundamental, but simplistic, equip-
DECADES IN THE BUSINESS, HE'S STILL RELENTLESSLY ment designs, but it was enough to get us
CHASING A BETTER BEER. into business.
SO HOW DID THAT SCIENCE WHAT SORT OF OTHER WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU
MANIFEST ITSELF? THINGS HAVE YOU FOUND GIVE HOMEBREWERS ON
We studied iron pickup in beer kegs and IMPROVE FLAVOR STABILITY? HOW TO IMPROVE THEIR
from water. A Iittle bit of iron is not detect-
able by most palates, but 40 or 50 parts
We blanket our mill with nitrogen, de- CONSISTENCY?
aereate our brewing water, and we invest in Adequate wort aeration is one thing too
per billion of iron from natural sources or analytical equipment that can look at ppb many homebrewers don't get. Getting
kegs severely impacts the flavor stability of or lower of iron or other minerals. Not one enough oxygen into the wort to get a
beer. The consumer will experience a less- of these things makes a huge impact by quick fermentation and then getting
than-ideal beer down the road. It's those itself, but all these little bits can improve active yeast in a state that it will start
subtle things that contribute to the overall the consumers' experience. That's a core rapidly fermenting.
long-term enjoyment of the product. value: We always know we can do a little
better here or there.
YOU GROW SOME OF YOUR
THAT MAKES ME THINK OF OWN HOPS AND BARLEY. IT'S
YOUR SWITCH TO PRY-OFF AN AWESOME WAY TO HELP
BOTTLE CAPS. PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE
We've done a lot of research on bottle cap CONNECTION BETWEEN SOIL
liner materials and are still working with AND WHAT WE ENJOY IN A
European manufactures to find the Holy PINT GLASS. DID ANYTHING
Grail of bottle cap liners. That'll have bene-
fits for us as well as the rest of the industry. DRIVE YOUR DECISION?
Bottle caps are an inherent detractor from Actually, I have memories of moving to
beer flavor stabi Iity. Chico in 1972. I was homebrewing and
driving up through the Sacramento Valley
We studied leaving twist-offs for many when there were still hop fields along High-
years. There was certa inIy the conven ience way 99. Then I made my first pilgrimage
factor, and hundreds of our customers to Yakima in 1975. When I was starting
voiced their discontent with our switching my homebrew shop, I picked up a hundred
over. But we were not able to find a materi- brewers' cuts to stock my homebrew shop
al that would work in a twist-off application with. Those are the I-pound (455 g) bricks
as well as the best materials in a pry-off. normally sent to brewers for selection .
The twist-off bottle caps have a mineral oil
lubricant that allows the plastic to spin off,
but it also lets more oxygen in.
INTERVIEW WITH: KEN GROSSMAN
I was always very into hops, so I thought AND HOW'S THAT SPIRIT
--------------------------------
it'd be great to show people what the raw Not all our product4 ~ave 9reat
materials look like. We got into it around CARRIED ON TODAY?
Today, we're a very public entity in our return on inve4tment but 40metime4
2004 and got a hop-picking machine from
Germany. Then we started growing barley community. We acknowledge the fact that it'4 t~e ri9M t~in9 to do and it ~elp4
because we wanted to do an estate beer brewing is a resource-heavy industry for wit~ t~e cOmpaJ1t(4 mind4et to
and had some open property. We have a equipment, barley, transportation, use of
water, and discharge of waste water. All occa4ionalll( acknowledge we're dOin9
little rai I yard near the brewery to bring
in malt [that has] 35 acres (0.1 km 2) of those things are in my face, and we try 40met~in9 lor t~e ri9M rea40n, not
to figure out how to be efficient without
agricultural land with water rights, so we
compromising quality.
becau4e it'4 90in9 to 4aVe u4 monel(.
thought it's a perfect place to grow barley.
We ~ave a 9arden lor t~e re4taurant
HOW DOES IT GROW?
Not all our products have great return on and jU4t put in a comp04tin9 4l(4tem
investment, but sometimes it's the right
Very well. We have great crops and do it all thing to do and it helps with the company's "rl1at can take up to 2.5 ton4 per dal(
organically. One of our maltsters came here mind-set to occasionally acknowledge o-P lood wa4te and produce comp04t
and said it's the best organic field he's ever we 're doing something for the right reason,
seen . We're still learning, trying to pump in twelve to lourteen dal(4.
not because it's going to save us money. We
enough nitrogen into the soi I organ ica Ily. have a garden for the restaurant and just --------------------------------
We have cover crops, fish emulsion, and put in a composting system that can take
whatnot. It's challenging. up to 2.5 tons (2 ,270 kg) per day of food
waste and produce compost in twelve to
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE fourteen days.
TECHNICAL SIDE OF
SUSTAINABILITY. SO YOU USE IT ALL?
Going back to innovating, we followed sus- We plan on it. We have a two-acre
tainable practices because we didn 't have (8,100 m2) garden that we're expand ing
any extra resources to waste. We started plus a greenhouse. We want to raise the
out with a bottle washer, and I used to go majority of our produce for the restaurant.
behind Mexican restaurants to dig out Dos After that, our hop and barley fields can
Equis and Superior bottles because they take all of it.
were close enough to our bottle.
CHAPTER 16: MEAD
CHAPTER 16:
MEAD
Often mead recipes will look like a beer SELECTING HONEY FOR PREPARING YOUR HONEY
recipe: A base honey comprises about
80 percent of the sugar, with one or two BREWING Mead makers should warm their honey in
Brewing malts and hops are relatively stan- a hot box over a day or two before add i ng
other honeys added to complement the it to the brewing water. This dissolves any
base flavor, like the malts in beer. Unlike dard from region to region. Honey, however,
draws its character from the flora bees crystal Iization (caused by long storage)
specialty malts, though , most of the honeys and makes mixing the honey in consider-
you 'd use in small doses could also be used pollinate. An orange blossom honey will be
citrusy as a result, and a desert honey will ably easier. Cold honey added to heated
for the base. water wi II si nk to the bottom of the kettle,
have a more earthy, spicy character.
splash ing the hot water and scorch i ng the
In this chapter, you'll learn about: bottom of your pot. You can simulate a hot
Although that means there are few flavor
Honey varieties standards for honey varieties, as with box by giving your container of honey a hot
picking hops or grape varieties, as long as water bath ina tub of hot water from the
Mead brewing tap. Ideally, the honey will slowly reach
you have a quality product, there are no
Mead yeasts and fermentation bad options. We recommend buying locally 110F (43C), at which point it's ready to
made honey, which can seem expensive, mix. Add honey as you would liquid malt
Conditioning mead extract, warm and with vigorous stirring.
but simply tastes better and adds true local
flavor to your mead.
YEAST
In genera I, darker honeys have a richer, Most wine yeast strains will make fine
more nuanced flavor. Clover honey, which mead under the right conditions, so choose
is stocked in every grocery store, is more one based on the fermentation tempera-
basic and generic. Wildflower, which is ture, honey strength, and desired sweet-
highly dependent on its origin, and orange ness or dryness. Taking a white wine yeast
Just as beer has its barley and hop fields, blossom honey are both rei iable, easy-to- with a lower alcohol tolerance will leave
honey has hives. find options to begin making mead . a fair amount of residual sugar in a mead
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
HONEY TO MEAD
Step t: Mix the honey and water. You
should boil water, not honey. Actually, it
doesn't even need to be boiled. Bring your
water to 180F (82C) and then turn off
the heat. Once the temperature reaches
160F (71C), add your honey and let it sit
for twenty minutes to pasteurize the must
(unfermented mead) before cooling. Honey
holds a lot of delicate aromas, so the less
exposure to heat it has, the better you'll
preserve the flavors and aromas.
Step 2: Store the mead cooler than you'd A typical recipe will have a fairly even split
ferment it. This simply slows reaction. of malt and honey, but keep in mind that
barley has a richer character than most
Step 3: Adding Campden tablets, potas- honey and can easily overpower and mask
sium (or sodium) metabisulphite, will bind a wonderfully complex variety. Honey,
oxygen to create su Ifate and remove the per pound, contains slightly more sugar
free oxygen. than base malt but ferments completely,
whereas barley conversion relies on mash
TYPES OF MEAD efficiency. To balance malt and honey
Few mead makers actually focus on simple sugar, use 1.5 pounds of grain for every
batches of fermented honey. Instead, 1 pound of honey (or 1.5 kg grain for every
there's a rich history of styles, like in beer, 1 kg honey).
calling in various types of ingredients for
drastically different drinks. FRUIT MEAD (MELOMEL)
There are generally even fewer rules to add-
ing fruit to mead than there is with beer.
A basic mead makes a great platform for
interesting or particularly delicious fruit.
CYSER
A meeting of cider and mead, cyser often
has the zest and fruit of a white wine,
but with a distinct honey character. Like
pyment (below), the two components are
fermented together and conditioned like
a mead. A common blend is 2 pounds of
honey per gallon (240 g per Iiter) of cider.
With no added water, this yields a starting
gravity near 1.100.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
POLISH MEAD
Polish meads stand out for their simpl istic, trad itional recipes and colorful
herbal character. Polish mead makers often age their mi6d in oak with local
herbs for several years and use mostly acacia honey with some buckwheat honey.
The varieties are broken down into four styles defined by their water content.
Name Water-to-Honey Approximate Approximate Strength Character
Ratio Starting Gravity Final Gravity
Czw6rniak 3-to-l l.1 l.02 9 to 11 The lightest of the meads is regarded and
enjoyed like a dry white table wine . It also can
be added to hot tea or poured over ice cubes in
the summer.
Trojniak 2-to-l 1.140 l.04 12 to 15 This registers semisweet, is often aged for a
few months in oak, and may have a fruit or herb
flavor added.
Dw6jniak 1-10-1 l.210 l.09 15 to 18 Sweet and strong, this mead approaches port
after severa I years of agi ng.
P61torak I-to-2 l.250 l.12 15 to 18 The strength increases, leaving it around 16
percent with enough residual sugar to make
this a fine dessert mead. It can be and is aged
for decades .
If you want to try replicating these sugary Pyment can be further dissected and ACID AND TANNIN
wonders, try a small batch with honey, becomes hippocras if spices are added. Honey naturally lacks the acids in most
especially acacia honey from Poland, from Historically, hippocras referred to a dry fruit, but to get more of a dry, winelike
a European food supplier. (Locust honey, wine sweetened with honey and flavored mouthfeel , some mead makers will add
which is widely available in the United with herbs, such as ginger and cinnamon, grape tannin and an acid blend . If you've
States, is similar). but today it is considered a type of mead . found after condition ing that your mead
The flavori ng doesn 't need to be anyth ing lacks mouthfeel, or seems watery, start
Fruit versions of these Polish meads will special , as normal metheglin spices make with 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) of tanni nand/or
swap a third of the water for juice, and a fantastic hippocras mead. acid, mixed in water, for a 5-gallon (19
herbs are added to the boil (these are U batch. If after a few days, that addition
boiled, not just heated) and conditioning METHEGLIN does not produce enough character, add
tank. Use a high-attenuating, alcohol- Metheglin is spiced or herb mead. The more and wait again. Be patient: As with a
resistant wine or mead strain. Otherwise, most popular infusions are simi lar to beer, strong spice, you can ru in a batch byadd-
follow the normal mead process and have with Belgian and winter spices such as ing these overzealously.
a little extra patience for behemoths like cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, and orange
these to mellow. peel commonly used. This style of mead
is an opportunity to inject your favorite
PYMENT culinary flavors; nothing is off-limits. If
This variation of melomel is distinct for someone can brew a garlic metheglin (and
its use of wine grapes. Also, although fruit they have), don't be afraid to try to make a
additions are regularly added to (but not chili-pepper mead (Capsicumel) with a half
limited to) conditioning tanks, the grape pound (225 g) of jalapenos.
juice is fermented along with the honey.
For a less dramatic start in metheglin, try a
A good starting point for making pyment is vanilla-cinnamon mead : Add the contents
to use a sugar content blend of 75 percent of three vanilla beans and three cinnamon
honey and 25 percent of your favorite grape sticks to a 5-gallon (19 U batch after
varietal. Most homebrewing stores stock primary fermentation. Taste the mead after
wine ingredients, such as grape juice con- a week, and when you're satisfied with the
centrates or, if you're lucky, frozen grapes. infusion, rack the mead into another carboy
to separate it from the spices. Metheglins only need a spice; any will do.
INTERVIEW WITH: BOB LlPTROT
INTERVIEW WITH:
BOB LIPTROT: OWNER, TUGWELL
CREEK MEADERY, SOOKE,
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
UNLIKE MOST BREWERS, BOB MAKES HIS BEVERAGE NOVICES MIGHT THINK, "MY
FROM THE SAME RAW MATERIALS HE HELPED CREATE GOD, I CAN'T GET NEAR."
That's one reaction we get quite often. The
EARLIER IN THE YEAR: HE IS ALSO A BEEKEEPER. OF other reaction is they want to just jump in
COURSE, HIS BEES DO A GOOD SHARE OF THE LEGWORK without protection. They think of bees as
benevolent and friendly, but bees can have
IN CREATING HONEY, BUT BOB'S ATTENTION TO DETAIL bad days as well. You've got to get to know
AND LIFELONG INFATUATION WITH BEES CREATES AN the livestock, as it were.
EXCEPTIONAL MEAD.
DO BEES HAVE PREDICTABLE
TEMPERAMENTS?
Yes, if we're talking about the standard
HOW DOES ONE CHOOSE TO European honeybee, which we use for
GET INTO BEEKEEPING? most of beekeeping. But it depends on the
I started beekeepi ng as free ch i Id labor breed . What we've done as beekeepers over
when I was six years old. My parents Iiter- the millennia is breed for certain charac-
ally lined me up with beekeeping equip- teristics like survival, honey foraging, and
ment and told me to get the colon ies ready attitude. Beekeepers don't want to work
for next season . Painting, scraping boxes, with bees that want to sting them.
all the light-duty stuff. From there, I just
took an interest in sticking my head into
hives and seeing what the bees were up to.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
YOU SAID EUROPEAN SO WHAT DO YOU KNOW we did when it started around 2005. It's
undoubtedly the result of a lot of factors,
HONEYBEES, BUT WHAT ABOUT NATIVE NORTH largely things like climate change, nutri-
ABOUT YOUR NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN INTERACTIONS tional stress, pesticides, and breeding.
AMERICAN HONEYBEES? WITH OTHER BEES?
The European honeybee is a European- There's a lot to be studied, particu- We 're [studying] further pesticides, which
Western Asiatic bee. They probably arrived larly since we 're moving bees around the are highly toxic to bees. It's not being
with the early European settlers. There planet with regularity now. With them, we treated seriously by researchers [who are]
are upwards of 19,000 native species in transport pests and pathogens, and some bringing it to market. Europe has banned
North America, so they're not uncommon. bee populations are undoubtedly [more] some pesticides that [North America]
Unfortunately, none of those bees produce susceptible. There are proven cases of the promotes. What's most disturbing is that
a large quantity of honey, though a lot of bumblebee industry importing bees from we're not only seeing large losses in our bee
them are good pollinators. When it comes China and transferring various nosema populations, but also other natural pollina-
to honey quantities, the European honey- diseases into native bee populations and tors, like hummingbirds, bats, moths, and
bee is on top of the pi Ie. deci mati ng them. butterfl ies.
CHAPTER 17:
HARD CIDER
INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL CIDER
HARD CIDER You cannot make great hard cider from
Take the juice from apples, ferment out store-bought apple cider. Even if high-
the sugar, and you have hard, alcohol ic quality apples are used, these ciders are
cider. Compared to beer, the ingredients typically pasteurized . This process makes
are fewer, with just cider and yeast for a the cider sanitary, but it also saps flavor
basic batch, and the process is shorter. Of and aroma while killing enzymes and other
course, like with all brewing, you can make nutrients your yeast needs. That's to say
cider as complex and time-consuming as noth ing of the preservatives that are in
you wish. store-bought ciders for improved shelf life,
which will further inhibit yeast growth.
In this chapter, you'll learn about:
If you're not pressing your own apples,
Apple and cider sources find a small, preferably local, orchard
Types of cider apples that del iberately chooses their apples to
improve the quality of their cider. Lesser
Pulping and pressing cider cider producers will simply use whatever is
Fermenting and conditioning cider left over and avai lable. Some rare orchards
in the Pacific Northwest go so far as to
create heirloom cider ju ices designed for
fermentation.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
CHAPTER 17: HARD CIDER
CONDITIONING AND
BLENDING
Ciders require at least a month's condition-
ing after primary fermentation, with more
time needed for stronger and drier batches.
Six months for an 8 percent or stronger
cider is completely reasonable, if it's not
yet deemed satisfactory.
Wandering Aengus's
James Kahn is a champion
of traditional ciders.
INTERVIEW WITH:
JAMES KOHN: MARKETING
DIRECTOR, WANDERING
AENGUS CIDERWORKS,
SALEM, OREGON, U.S.
ALONG WITH WANDERING AENGUS FOUNDERS NICK GUNN
AND MIMI CASTEEL, JAMES BUILT ONE OF THE CIDER
WORLD'S BEST EQUIVALENTS TO A CRAFT BREWERY. INSTEAD
OF PRODUCING A SWEET, INOFFENSIVE APPLE WINE, THE
WANDERING AENGUS CREW BLENDS TRADITIONAL METHODS
AND RARE APPLES WITH THE SAME INNOVATIVE SPIRIT OF
CRAFT BEER.
Green Mountain
Orchards in Putney,
BELIEVING ALL THE WORLD'S CIDERS ARE SIMPLY SPARKLING
Vermont, is a fourth- SEMISWEET BEVERAGES WOULD BE LIKE ASSUMING ALL
generation fam ily-run
New England orchard. BEERS WERE FIZZY PALE LAGERS. EVEN FOR HOMEBREWERS,
HARD CIDER IS OFTEN LIMITED TO A MIXTURE OF DEXTROSE ,
APPLE JUICE, AND WINE YEAST. BUT THIS ANCIENT BEVERAGE
HAS AN ARRAY OF FLAVOR EXPERIENCES, FROM TART, WILD,
AND CITRUSY, TO BALANCED AND QUAFFABLE, IF YOU'RE
WILLING TO TAKE ON OR ADAPT HISTORIC CIDER BREWING
PRACTICES AND STYLES.
CHAPTER 18:
TRADITIONAL CIDER
INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN CIDER NEW WORLD CIDER
Cider makers in the United States are
TRADITIONAL CIDER Unbound by tradition, American cider
more concerned with complex, enjoyable
It wou Id be no more fair to describe on Iy producers brew everyth ing from sweet,
juicy fruit ciders to dry, complex ciders than mimicking traditions or the
straightforward , apples-to-alcohol cider
farmhouse styles. commonly accepted sweet, sugary drinks.
than it would be to only teach how to brew
These ciders typically use a blend of locally
pale ales. Think of traditional ciders along
COMMON CIDER sourced apples, which create regional
the same lines as Belgian ales or German
Your most basic cider is sterile compared flavor, as varieties of cider apples wi II de-
lagers; they are regional styles based on
to wild European styles, but it is a simple velop a unique character depending on an
growing environment and local taste. These
refreshing beverage. Use a mix of dessert area's soil and climate. In beer terms, this
ciders also steadfastly follow age-old brew-
and cider apples (usually with more cider is Iike a clean American-style beer that lets
ing techniques, which help define their
apples) to create a sweet cider balanced by ingredients speak for themselves without
flavor.
mild acidity. character from yeast. (See chapter 17 for
more on craft cider process.)
In this chapter, you'll learn about:
NEW ENGLAND CIDER
American cider High in tannins and alcohol, New England
British cider cider doesn't have stylistic limitations, so
much as options. Beyond using apples
French cider grown in the region , New England ciders
Spanish cider often use flavorful adjuncts, such as brown
sugar and golden raisins, to boost the
Keeving strength ina process called chaptal iza-
tion. (For more on chaptalization, see chap-
ter 17.) Oak barrel agi ng is appropriate,
and the ciders typically finish dry.
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
FRENCH CIDER
The Norman ciders of France have much in
common with the Iambics of Belgium . Not
only are they brewed by families with a his-
tory in the business, but they use wild yeast
fermentation and long conditioning times
to produce a tart, acidic brew.
INTERVIEW WITH:
, .A.
WHAT WOULD WE EXPECT LET'S TALK ABOUT THESE DO YOU EVER USE A SINGLE
ALCOHOL TO BE FOR THIS APPLES. WOULD WE EXPECT VARIETY FOR A CIDER?
TYPE OF CIDER? TO SEE THESE ON THE Cider producers believe that the more ap-
ples in their blend, the more complex it will
We produce different styles. But they MARKET FOR EATING? be. Whether it's true or not, I don't know,
mostly depend on the vintage because the No, the cider apples from Normandy are
apples have more or less sugar content but it's very unlike wine where people talk
very special. The size is more like a golf
year to year. We don't add any sugar, so our about cepage and grape varieties.
ball. They have a very thick skin with high
cider can be 4.5 to 6.5 percent alcohol. polyphenol and tannin content. They have
also quite a high sugar content, 160 to SO WHAT KIND OF BLENDS
DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN 180 grams per liter. DO YOU USE?
ORCHARDS? It's important to have apples of all different
Eighty percent of the apples we use come It's always difficult to give a number of the styles (sweet, acidic, bittersweet): maybe
from our orchard and then 20 percent varieties of apples we have in Normandy 40 percent bittersweet, 30 percent acidic,
comes from the neighbors, but nothing because if you go from village to village, the and 30 percent sweet. It changes every
further than ten miles (16 km) around the same apple is sometimes called different year. Is a cider with twenty varieties better
domaine. The only apples we use are local names. But there are three definite styles- than a cider with six well-chosen varieties?
to Pays d'Auge in Normandy. acidic, bittersweet, and bitter-that are That's difficult to debate, but a blend of
broad Iy used. different styles is very important for final
balance.
--------------------------------
It'4 alwal(4 dil/icult to 9ive a nUWlber
01 the varietie4 01 apple4 We have in
NorWlandl( becau4e il l(OU 90 IroWl
village to village, the 4aWle apple i4
40WletiWle4 called d;.Nerent naWle4.
15ut there are three delinite 4tl(le4-
acidic, bitter4weet and bitter-that
are broadll( U4ed.
--------------------------------
WHY SLOW IT DOWN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING AND THERE'S YEAR-TO-YEAR
If you have a very active fermentation in BEFORE FERMENTATION? CROP VARIATION AS WELL?
cider during the first part, once you bottle The apples are picked , washed, and hand It is like grapes; some years have more
cond ition, the yeast wi II be very active and sorted. After the crushing machine, we sugar concentration. Our apple trees
you risk overcarbonation. The idea is to press the pulp, and the pressure is around tend to have high yield one year and
have a cider that wi II ferment slowly from two bars. It takes two hours, and we get low the next.
day one, so yeast gets used to working 60 to 70 percent extract. Just after that,
slowly. The carbonation process takes two
months, and we put the bottles in a tem-
we cool the cider to stop fermentation. WHAT YEAST ARE YOU
After a week, pectin builds up and we rack
perature-controlled room at lOoe to 12C the cider off the brown cake, warm it, and
ADDING WHEN YOU BOTTLE?
(50F to 54F). We try to put an amount of Because wild yeast can be pretty extreme
ferment.
yeast back in to continue to fermentation in flavor, close to bottling we think that the
but still leave some sugar. wild Brett-type yeast already has a strong
DO YOUR APPLES AND character, so we filter and add champagne
DESCRIBE YOUR TERROIR HAVE AN or wh ite wi ne yeast to carbonate.
Daniels, Ray. Designing Great Beers: The BREWING PUBLICATIONS Home Brew Mart
Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Brew Your Own. Battenkill Communications. San Diego, CA
Styles. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, www.byo.com www.homebrewmart.com
2000.
The New Brewer. Brewers Publications. Keystone Homebrew Supply
Hieronymus, Stan. Brew Like a Monk: Trap- www.brewersassociation.org/pages/ Montgomeryvi lie, PA
pist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales and publ ications/the-new-brewer www.keystonehomebrew.com
How to Brew Them. Boulder, CO: Brewers
Publications, 2005. Zymurgy. Brewers Publications. Midwest Homebrew Supply
www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/ Minneapolis, MN
Higgins, Patrick . The Homebrewers' Reci- zymurgy www.midwestsupplies.com
pe Guide. New York, NY: Fireside, 1996.
More Beer!
Mosher, Randy. Radical Brewing: Recipes, ONLINE RESOURCES Concord, CA
Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a BeerAdvocate www.morebeer.com
Glass. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, Beer ratings and forums
2004. www.beeradvocate.com Northern Brewer
St. Paul, MN
Noonan, Gregory. New Brewing Lager Beer: Brewing Network Forum www.northernbrewer.com
The Most Comprehensive Book for Home Brewing forums and radio
and Microbrewers. Boulder, CO: Brewers www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum Seven Bridges Cooperative
Publications, 2003. Santa Cruz, CA
Cicerone www.breworganic.com
Palmer, John. How to Brew: Everything You Cicerone certification program
Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First www.clcerone.org William's Brewing Supply
Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, San Leandro, CA
2006 . CraftBeer.com www.williamsbrewing.com
Beer guide from the Brewers Association
Papazian, Charlie. The Complete Joy of www.craftbeer.com
Homebrewing. New York, NY: HarperRe-
source, 2003 . HomeBrewTalk
Homebrewing community and forums
Schramm, Ken. The Complete Meadmaker: www.homebrewtalk.com
Home Production of Honey Wine From
Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit Northern Brewer Homebrew Forum
and Herb Variations. Boulder, CO: Brewers Popular forums connected to the home-
Publications, 2003. brew retailer
foru m.northern brewer.com
Sparrow, Jeff. Wild Brews: Beer Beyond the
Influence of Brewer's Yeast. Boulder, CO: RateBeer
Brewers Publications, 2005. Beer ratings and forums
www.ratebeer.com
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
Eel River Brewing Company, 134, l36, 139 Grossman, Ken, 155- 157 Iambic brewing
English ales blending, 94
diacetyl , 84, 85 hard cider. See a/50 traditional cider. bottling, 94
fermentation, 84, 88 acidity, 169, 175 fermentation , 92, 93, 98
flaked maize, 84 apple preparation, 170 fruit Iambics, 94
gruit, 84 apple selection, 167, 169, 175 hops, 91
hops,84 apple types, 169 ingredient selection, 91
introduction , 83 basic recipes, 169 inoculation , 93
isinglass, 84 chaptalizing, 172, 174 introduction, 91
John Keeling on, 87- 89 conditioning and blending, 171 Jean Van Roy on, 97- 99
malts, 83 fermentation, 170, 174 malt, 91
yeast , 84, 87, 88 introduction, 167 mash,92-93
European hops, 36, 41 James Kohnon, 172, 174- 175 yeast, 92, 93
evaluation local cider, 167 lautering
appearance, 142 pulping and pressing, 170 Eric Harper on, 22
aroma, 142 yeast, 170 introduction, 15
introduction , 141 Harper, Eric, 18, 20, 22- 23 sparge, 17,23
mouthfeel, 143 high-alcohol beers. See big beers. tuns, 11 , 16
pouring, 142 hops. See a/50 aroma hops; bittering hops. malts, 12, 13
Ray Danielson, 145, 147, 149 Belgian brewing, 66- 67 wheat beer, 77, 78, 80
tasting technique, 143 better beer, 152, 156-157 Liptrot, Bob, 163-165
troubleshooting, 144 disease-resistant varieties, 133 Lost Abbey brewery, 70, 72- 73
English ales, 84
fermentation growing, l32-133 malts
Belgian brewing, 69- 70, 72, 73 lagers, 45, 49 Belgian brewi ng, 66
champagne fermentation, 114 Iambic brewing, 91 better beer, 152
cleaning and sanitation, 152 noble hops, 45 English ales, 83
English ales, 84, 88 organic brewing, l30 , 132, 136, 139 introduction, 10
fruit beers, 101 , 102 pellet vs. whole-flower, 152 lagers, 45
hard cider, 170, 174, 175 wheat beer, 77 , 80 Iambic brewing, 91
introduction , 11 , l3 humulene,37 mashing and lautering, 12, 13
lagers, 43, 44,51 hydrometers, 11 , 13 mash
Iambic brewing, 92, 93 , 98 Belgian brewi ng, 66
mead, 160, 165 inoculation, l3, 93 decoction, 17,51,77
sugar types, 69 International Bittering Units (IBUs), Eric Harper on, 18,20,22- 23
traditional cider, 178-179, 182, 183 26-27,33 grist, 16
wheat beer, 81 introduction, 15
Floyd, Nick, 38, 40-41 Keeling, John, 87-89 Iambic brewing schedule, 92-93
fruit beers Kohn , James, 172, 174- 175 organic brewing, l30
adding fruit, 102, 106, 108 introduction, 12 , 13
dosing, 102 lagers steps, 16
fermentation , 101, 102 Bill Covaleski on, 47-49 , 51 temperatu res, 16, 17 , 20,23
forms of fruit, 102, 106, 108 conditioning, 44 tuns, 11 , 16
fruit flavoring, 103 equipment, 43 water-to-grain ratio , 56
fruit preparation, 101 fermentation, 43 , 44,51 wheat beer, 77
introduction, 101 hops, 49
Iambic brewing, 94 introduction, 43
mead, 161, 165 malts, 45
Sam Calagione on, 106, 108- 109 yeast, 44
san itation, 10 1
Fuller, Smith & Turner Brewery, 87- 89
THE BREWER'S APPRENTICE
ABOUT
THE
AUTHORS
Greg Koch is co founder and CEO of Stone Matt Allyn is a freelance writer living, drink-
Brewing Co. in Escondido, California. ing, and brewing in Pennsylvania. He's a
Since Greg started the company with his certified, card carrying beer judge, and has
partner Steve Wagner in 1996, Stone has been homebrewing award winning beers for
become one of the fastest-growing and five years. His writing has been published
highest-rated breweries in the world. Brew- in Men's Health, Draft, Runner's World,
ing 115,000 barrels in 2010, Stone is the and Bicycling. And although he doesn't
18th largest craft brewery in the United have a favorite beer, he prefers whatever is
States, a position it achieved without ever fresh, seasonal, and in his hand.
advertising, discounting, giving away free-
bies, or compromising. Greg passionately
believes that environmental and social
sustainability goes hand in hand with brew-
ing mind-blowing beer, and he frequently
speaks on topics ranging from craft beer to
business to food to marketing, bringing a
bold, entertaining, and often humorous
approach to public speaking engagements.
@stonegreg