Brewday: Tmavý Ležák (Czech dark lager)

Tmavý Ležák is pretty straight forward. The name denotes a dark lager with a 1.040-48 OG. This one clocks in at a lean 1.044 and has one of my favourite things: a hefty addition of Saaz. I'm a sucker for low gravity beers, both in the drinking and the challenge of brewing them well. By the look of it this one's going to be a pretty full flavoured little beast. The only problem for me is that it usually requires a decoction mash but I don't have the setup for that yet so I've had to make do with my normal stepped mash.

It doesn't exactly fit into the BJCP style guidelines. It's probably closest to a Schwarzbier although it's a Czech take on the same kind of concept and has differences that make it a distinct thing. It's a bit lower in alcohol and higher in bitterness than it's German counterpart, often more malty and roasty and uses Czech instead of German hops. There are versions that are a size up and a size down from this one, more or less the same but 1.052-56 and 1.032-40 respectively. If this one goes well I might brew the size down (called Tmavé Výčepní) soon after. I love the idea of a version that clocks in around 3.5% ABV. As is usual when it comes to all things obscure and delightful in the beer world, Ron Pattinson has a site with descriptions of the whole range of Czech beer styles.

It's spent a long time on my list of beers I'd like to brew next list, a list my enthusiasm struggles to keep below 25, so I'm glad it's finally in the game now. I originally pinched the recipe from the Asheville Brewer blog and made some small modifications. Velky Al's input on a thread on the ratebeer forum gives a good starting point for thinking about the recipe:

From my research, the four basic malts of a tmave are:

• Pilsner malt
• Munich malt
• Caramel malt - Czech maltsters generally have a light (100-130EBC) or dark caramel malt (180-220)
• Coloured malt - a Czech term for black malt essentially, usually about 1200-1300EBC

Even with the term "pilsner" malt we need to remember that Czech malts are generally under modified.

My youngest brother Ben is visiting from Sweden at the moment and he came around today to brew with me. We brewed together last year on a previous visit and he's been brewing in his apartment in Stockholm since then so it was been great to hang, talk beer and brew together. In addition to brewing this beer, we also bottled the Bohemian Pilsner I brewed back in January. From the fermenter it was tasting delicious - clean and crisp with a firm bitterness and some lovely Saaz highlights in flavour and aroma.

Tmavý Ležák (20L batch)
OG: 1.044 (1.043 measured)
FG: 1.012
IBU: 35
ABV: 4.3%
EBC: 47

Recipe
48.5% Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner
40% Best Malz Munich
6.5% Weyermann Carafa Special III
5% Weyermann Caramunich II

90g Saaz @ FWH

WY2000


Method
Mash:

• 3g CaSO4, 4g CaCl2 to get calcium up to minimum levels
• Stepped mash: 64 (20 min), 68 (20 min), 72 (20 min) and a 78C mash out

Boil:

• FWH added at mash out
• 90 minute boil
• Whirlfloc @ 10 min

Fermentation

• 90 seconds of oxygen
• Pitched an estimated 350 billion cells of yeast from the slurry of the Bohemian Pilsner we just bottled
• Begin fermentation @ 9C for a few days, increase by 0.5C each day over the following 7 days
• Diacetyl rest @ 18C for a couple of days
• Crash to 0C over a couple of days and lager for ~5-6 weeks

07/03/14 - Brewed with Ben

17/03/14 - Fermentation looks to be finished at 1.013. Raised to 17C for a diacetyl rest although the sample I took is tasting freaking amazing, all cocoa and weetbix and out of control smooth. No sign of diacetyl or sulphur so I'll probably start lagering tomorrow. It seems like the 2nd generation of the WY2000 has worked quicker and even more cleanly than the first gen. Very happy with how it's going so far.

Brewday: The Usurper Bohemian Pilsner

Pegs, an underrated piece of home brew
equipment

I've only brewed one pilsner before, it was my second extract batch and the one that really kicked my brewing off in a big way. I haven't even had many to drink so far. That's mostly a matter of opportunity rather than deliberate decision but it's fair to say that they're not in my wheelhouse. But one of my goals for this year is to get some experience brewing lagers and pilsners and Bohemian pilsner has been pretty high on the 'to brew' list for a while.

The recipe is super simple: one malt, one hop, one yeast. No fuss. Well actually some fuss it's all in the process which is aimed at getting the very best out of the simple ingredient list. I have a deep and abiding love for Saaz and I can't wait for that herbal hoppy goodness when this one is ready.

The key technical aspects to brewing this one were: a 90 minute boil to keep DMS out of the picture, a decent blast of oxygen to help the yeast flourish, high yeast pitching rates, temperature controlled cold fermentation and a diacetyl rest. No decoction mash though because I'm not set up for that yet. I'm hoping that all of those things will help it come out clean and clear with no off flavours.

The other extra step in brewing this one was to hook up an extra wort chiller in series with the one in my urn. It sat in a bucket of ice to pre-chill the water before it went through the chiller in the urn. The idea was to get the wort to chill down to pitching temp. It worked to some degree, getting the wort down to 14C but it took the chest freezer to finish the job. Next time I need more ice and a bigger bucket for the chiller.

The only thing that went wrong with the brew was that I knocked the peg that held my hop bag on the side of the urn into the hot wort just before I began chilling the beer. Hopefully it won't be a problem.


The Usurper Bohemian Pilsner (22L batch)

How clear is that hydrometer sample?!

OG: 1.048 (1.049 measured)
FG: 1.013
IBU: 43
EBC: 6.5
ABV: 4.6%

Grist
100% Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner malt

Hops
110g Saaz @ 60 minutes
30g Saaz @ 20 minutes

Yeast 
WY2000 Budvar Lager (estimated 404 billion cells)



Mash:

• 4ml lactic acid, 1g CaSO4 and 5g CaCl2 for pH correction and water adjustment to get calcium to minimum levels.
• Stepped mash: 62C (40 minutes), 68C (15 minutes), 72C (10 minutes) and a mash out at 78C.

Boil:

• 90 minutes, hops @ 60 and 20 minutes
• 1/2 whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes

Double the starters, double the yeast!

Fermentation:

• Chilled to 7C, oxygenated for 100 seconds
• Pitched an estimated 400 billion cells of WY2000
• It will be allowed to rise to 12C under its own steam and when fermentation is 90% finished (25/01/14) I raised it to 16C for a diacetyl rest.
• I'll see how it goes but I'll probably lager it at 0C at least 5 weeks

15/01/14 - Brewed. Fermentation was a bit slow to kick off despite the high pitch rate and oxygenation.

26/01/14 - Raised to 16C for diacetyl rest. I took a sample after 2 days at 16C and it's coming along very nicely. No diacetyl and the touch of sulphur it had in the aroma earlier on has gone completely.

07/03/14 - Bottled with Ben

Brewday: Belgian IPA

Belgian IPA is one of those styles, kind of cool among some beer geeks but the feedback on most Belgian IPAs is mixed at best. Recently Little Creatures released another single batch beer, Quiet American. It's hopped with big, bold American hops and uses a Belgian yeast. I haven't managed to pick one up yet but from what I've read, the main criticism is that it's cloyingly sweet, with some also saying that the yeast doesn't play nicely with the hops.

The hops, minus the first wort addition

I've been keen to have a crack at this style for a little while now and the De Ranke XX Bitter was the beer to finally push me to give it a go. These are the factors that have guided my recipe design:

• A dry finish. This suits both Belgians and IPAs although IPAs aren't usually quite as dry. For this beer I'm aiming at a FG of about 1.008
• Bold use of hops but not crazy American 'C' hops. I got a packet of the newish Aramis and some Saaz too, aiming for a bitter, spicy, herbal, lemony hop combination. I want to achieve an IPA level hoppiness without forcing overwhelming flavours into it.
• Because of the high attenuation, the IBUs don't need to be as high as a classic IPA to still have the same effect as an IPA. The balance value formula was very helpful in working out how far to go with bitterness. An OG of 1.057, FG of 1.008 and IBUs of 45 give this beer a pretty classic American IPA balance.
• I made a starter with the dregs from a bottle of XX Bitter. I liked how the De Ranke yeast was mild but still Belgian. That little touch of clove complimented the whole beer but didn't dominate the way a Belgian yeast often wants to.
• Pale colour, light body and fairly high alcohol content. I'm borrowing pretty heavily from the Belgian Blonde Ale style here. My OG is a little low for a Blonde Ale but the attenuation will boost the alcohol percentage.

This Belgian IPA is much more about Belgium than America

Brewing was pretty straight forward. I used a slightly simplified mash schedule, 55/64/78'C for 10/60/10 minutes. I added some acidulated malt to the mash to get the pH in the right range. I ended up getting better efficiency than I expected, it ended up at 1.060 so if it attenuates well it could end up around 7% abv. The Aramis hops smelled amazing when I opened the package. Lemongrass, fruity, delicious.

I chilled the starter in the fridge, then decanted most of the liquid, gave a good shake and then pitched the slurry into the fermenter. The taste of the starter had exactly the right character from the yeast. It's sitting at 20.5'C and had visible signs of fermentation in about 10 hours.

Hopefully I'll get my hands on a bottle of Quiet American and do a side by side comparison as examples of the style.