the-search-for-the-ultimate-australian-beer

Disaster and great things

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:47:47 +0100

It has been a time of highs and lows. The Saisons succumbed to an infection. I still don't know what it is but temperarture control appears to be the main player. But the new brewery is working well. A Kolsch and an Alt have gone down and the Kolsch has been kegged ready to try.

The brewery has had an addition, a chest freezer that will be converted to hold a couple of kegs at ideal serving temperature. This is particularly exciting. It means the kegs can stay cold while the old fridge gets used solely for controlling the fermentation temperature.

There are a number of brews ready to be trialled over the next few weeks but my brewing has had to take a back seat to life in general. With a bit of focus the brewery will be back producing more beer again soon.

The new brewery

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:58:24 +0100

The new brewery is up and finished. I will post pictures as soon as I can. It has already had a couple of runs and it works well. Three tier gravity fed system with plenty of opportunity for an upgrade to include HERMS or RIMS functionality. Maybe sometime later.

Two Saisons have also gone down, both on the new system. The weather has been warm without being extreme so keeping the temps up have been difficult. The first Saison is a traditional type Saison using the Belgian Saison yeast from Wyeast. The second is an Australian variant using the French Saison yeast. The second is the more interesting of the two using Aussie hops. Topaz and Pride of Ringwood as FWH additions for the bitterness and 20 mins and 5 minutes with 1g per litre using Summer Saaz. The Summer Saaz and POR should work well with the yeast's spicey notes and the Topaz will add a slightly different flavour in the background. It has fermented well so far. I should be able to keg it soon.

Summer of Saaz and Wheat

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:26:12 +0100

The two next test beers are done. Summer of Saaz, a simple recipe of ale malt and a touch of wheat is now in secondary and tasting great and the Aussie Wheat is now in the bottle. It was tasting good when it got racked just before bottling. Hopefully it continues to do so. There was a hint of something on the nose when I tipped the yeast out from secondary. Stupidly I didn't taste at the time.

Neither of those beers got test yeasts in them, the focus was on getting the beers easy to drink for summer. So they got Nottingham and Kolsch. A bit more temp control needed but I wanted some control over the potential for infection.

The next beer also got done yesterday afternoon. More a beer for fine summer drinking than great Aussie summer brewing. It is a combination of New Zealand and Australian hops, Nelson Sauvin, Riwaka and Galaxy. Again it has gone onto the Kolsch yeast cake. I really like this yeast and the flavours it imparts but it doesn't settle well and needs temperature control.

The next planned beer is a Belgian Saison. I am going with a more traditional recipe for this one and plan to reuse the yeast in an Australian version. I am hoping it works out well otherwise I am going Lambic...

Disaster...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:47:57 +0100

The test beer with the various yeasts turned out to be a disaster. I am sure because of my continuing wild yeast problems. Fermentation temperatures were around the 26 mark which is well within the range for the chosen yeasts. But they all suffered from serious banana aromas and taste. Due to delays in getting yeast and fermenters in place I fear fermentation started thanks to wild yeast stuffing the whole batch. I'll do another trial later but on the weekend the Aussie Wheat got a run as well as the test beer for Summer Saaz.

New hops

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:20:57 +0100

I have just received a few new hops in the mail for testing. The first is a new Australian variety, Summer Saaz. This will go into a small test batch to test the flavour in the same way I tested Topaz. If it is half as good as the other new Australian varieties I have tried, Galaxy and Topaz, then I'll be very happy.

The other variety I picked up was Millennium. From all all reports this make a great bittering hop and thats about it. the flavour and aroma properties are not strong enough to complete with other hops. I will do another small batch with a strong focus on flavour and aroma to test it but it's job may be simply bittering releasing other great Australian hops to take centre stage.

The final purchase was Australian grwon Tettnang. It will be interestin to see how this one compares to the original.

Since the test beers I have done have used a combination of POR, Galaxy and Topaz it will be interesting to see where these new hops fit and how they would go in blending with the others.

It has begun

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:20:54 +0100

The test beer got started on Sunday. 42 litres of wort into the main fermenter awaiting some smaller fermentation vessels for the test. The starters for the Proculture Belgian Golden Ale, Wyeast Ardennes, Wyeast Biere De Garde are set and a few litres have been put aside for Ringwood ale yeast as a 'test' batch without too much yeast flavour, and 5 litres for a lambic blend. The lambic was a last minute decision. The yeast blend pack was originally purchased to 'fix' a problem ferment on the first Aussie Ale of the season but instead it will be used as a test lambic on the same recipe rest of the test beers.

Around 8 litres for each of the 4 large test batches 5 litres of lambic and 2 litres of ringwood. It is looking good for the week for a warm ferment, Night time temps in the 20's and day time temps over 34 until next Saturday night.

Testing times

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:18:27 +0100

Well the temperature here in Adelaide is expected to push up into the high 30's by easrly next week with over night temp's around 20 degrees. Seems like it could be the perfect time to do a test batch on a series of yeasts with higher temp tolerance to see if I can still get a crisp, tasty easy drinking beer. Plan is for a large single batche split into 4 smaller batches using different yeasts (biere de garde, saison, ardennes and golden ale - all Belgian).

65% Pale Malt
17.5% Vienna
17.5% Munich

Bittering only to about 28 but FWH (Galaxy and Topaz) to get a bit of aroma in there and a hit of flavouring at about 0.6g/litre (Topaz and POR). Not much for some but plenty for this test. The yeasts will play a bigger role in the flavour than the hops and I want to see if I am getting off flavours from the higher temps. I don't want those flavours hiding behind masses of hops. I may add some more galaxy in as a flavour addition, but I hvae to see if I have any left after the FWH.

I want a bit of malt backbone to help support the Australian hops which tend to be a bit harsh on bittering so that's why the Munich and Vienna are in there although that's less important with such low IBU's.

Infection update and some great beer

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:17:39 +0100

I'm getting confused now. There is no doubt that the first Australian ale of the summer has gone awry, but it may not be the same infection I've had. There are some similarities, but I tasted it again and its very easy to drink. I'm thinking it may be a fermentation problem rather than an infection. The temperature on this raced a little. I pitched around 22 degrees, a little high to begin with and then there were a few hot days. As a result I think fermentation has been affected by the temperature more than anything. Its disappointing but I couldn't chill it as I normally would as the fridge was taken up with a couple of lagering beers that are simply divine and the other options of bath or laundry sink weren't ideal as they are both on the western side of my house and get a lot of sun. I should have tried the old wet towel wrap. Once there is some room in the fridge this will get cold conditioned and it should clear it up a bit. The lesson - Bristish cask ale yeast Wyeast 1026 is not suitable for Australian uncontrolled fermentation. Next up will be a wheat yeast and a series of Belgian farmhouse yeasts, Biere De Garde, Saison, Ardennes and Golden Ale all of which rate well for high temperatures. I'm thinking I will use my new base receipe of Pale malt for about 60%, Vienna 20% and Munich for around 20%, all Aussie grown and malted.

The beers that have worked recently have been beers subject to control to the max. A kolsch and an alt. Both fermented with 2565 Kolsch yeast and they are simply divine. Theya re both really well suited to summer drinking here in Australia but they are also both poorly suited to the Australian summer brewing climate. Lower ale fermentation temps (16-20 degrees) with a lagering period to help clear them up. The alt is smooth and silky with a beutiful dry finish out of the fermenter. The pils malt really shines and works well with teh Kolsch yeast throwing some winey characteristics. This is despite th fact it is about 60IBU - or really bitter in theory. It will be interesting to see how this turns out once it is bottled.

The kolsch is delicate with the same great yeast flavours coming through. The pils malt is lovely and sweet but the finish crisp and dry. Both beers would be highly suited to the Australian market in sales I would have thought. Perhaps they will form part of my entrance into the beer sales market and support cast for my quintessential Australian beer collection.

Infection

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:42:51 +0100

Infection stikes again, this time my first Australian ale of the season. This infection seems to taste a lot like a traditional wheat beer might. I've got a wild wheat infection. I'll let this one go and see if it works with the Australian hops Galaxy, Topaz and Pride of Ringwood but I expect I'll be tipping it.

Meanwhile the non Australian beers on the go are all fine. Typical.

Progress on the Brewery

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:04:18 +0100

The pots have been purchased and the design selected. The build should start soon. Hopefully pictures will come along to show how it is progressing. It's all happening.

Other news - competition results are back and there are two third placings in one competition and another in the second competition. A good result considering some of the beers were infected. Not very Australian but my Traditional Bock scored well with a third place in both competitions. It now goes into the nationals.