Jung und Alt

I could write this post in German, but that would be both difficult and probably terrible for any readers out there. Yes, I know most of you are just stumbling on this blog because Google told you it had a recipe for a beer of some sort. But for the faithful -- and I'm convinced there's at least one faithful reader out there, because otherwise I wouldn't bother at all -- I'll assume that while you're willing to read English dreck, your desire for German Dreck is less certain.

To this week's brew! Inspired by a local homebrewing club event, I decided to do an altbier, a German style associated with the Rheinland -- basically east-central where Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium meet. Altbiers are unusual for the traditional continental brews in that they're ales, meaning they're "high-temperature" fermented; in this case, the fermentation temperature is 60-65F, somewhat above the mid-50s lagers that are predominant in much of Germany.

The aim here was to produce an extremely simple altbier while also clearing out some stores of grain that had begun building up in the basement. As a result, I modified the recipe given to me by another homebrewer to come up with a slightly more complicated version. The "simple" version, of course, does away with the base malt variety and goes straight to pils. I probably would have also picked a saaz hop to go on top, but since I had 10.5 oz of Tettnang from October, I decided that would have to do. 

Unfortunately, I think the mash temperature slipped a little overnight. It started a little low (149F by my thermometer), and as we have guests, my usual stable of blankets was occupied. By morning the mash was at 142F, and my target of 1.070-1.072 OG came up short around 1.067. I'm normally more annoyed when efficiency drops, but since these were the spare grains, it was hard to be too broken up about it. Better to just move on and finish the brew.

In keeping with my tradition of splitting all recipes to make at least two different beers, this one was given over to a 5-gallon US05 yeasting, while the other 11 gallons (approx.) were spiked with the recipe-selected WLP036 (Dusseldorf Alt Yeast). The US05 is being allowed to ferment about 5 degrees warmer; my hope is that the flavors in the two will be sufficiently distinct that I can convince people they really are two different beers.

​It so happened that this brew was sort of a job change celebration. Leap Day for me was a day of actual unemployment, a day after my final one at a previous job and the day before I started afresh in another (less far-flung) town. What else was I to do on such an auspicious occasion?

Today's helper was my youngest daughter, who is approximately 1/3 the size of the 20-gallon pot. She and a couple of her friends could easily turn that thing into a fort. Alas, in this case that potential fort was flooded with 18 gallons of beer, so instead she took up the paddle and stirred away happily, which is a heck of a lot more than most 4-year olds would do. 

Altbier

Boil vol: 18 gal
Batch vol: 16 gal
Mash temp: 150F
OG: 1.070

25 lbs     Pilsener malt
10 lbs     Munich light
3.5 lbs    Munich dark
1.5 lbs    Vienna malt 
4 lbs       CaraMunich (crystal)
0.25 lbs  Carafa III special (dehusked)

Hop schedule: 3 oz Tettnanger (fwh) -- 4 oz Tettnanger (60 min) -- 3.5 oz Tettnanger (30 min)

Yeast: White Labs WLP036 -- Dusseldorf Alt Yeast

​Mash out. Spin on.