Hazelwood Brewday

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Today I’m going to brew the third beer of four, a Belgian Tripel. Again a very simple recipe and much like the Single but with more malt and more candi - all amber this time for a bit more colour and maybe a little fruitiness. Hops will be Styrian Goldings.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Today is the day for my last of four brews that will be fermented warm and this one is a bit different, for me at least. I’m going to brew a raspberry sour. I’ve been toying with the idea of brewing a sour for ages and now I’m actually going to do it.

I decided I would use a very soft Chloride rich water profile. I don’t know if this is the best choice but it “feels” like the right choice for a fruity beer.

The mash water is heating now…

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The mash is well under way now, a simple grist of Pilsner and Wheat malts.

These are the “secret ingredients” that are going to make this simple brew into a raspberry sour.

 

[samale]

Today I’m going to brew the third beer of four, a Belgian Tripel. Again a very simple recipe and much like the Single but with more malt and more candi - all amber this time for a bit more colour and maybe a little fruitiness. Hops will be Styrian Goldings.

What's your OG and predicted final gravity for your tripel. I have one brewing that started at 1.084, not sure what to expect as a final gravity. Maybe 1.015 range.
I used WLP 550

 

[Clint]

Tell us what your process will be for the puree please H.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

What's your OG and predicted final gravity for your tripel. I have one brewing that started at 1.084, not sure what to expect as a final gravity. Maybe 1.015 range.
I used WLP 550

OG was 1062 and I’m expecting FG to be in the range 1004-1006. ABV will be somewhere around 7.5% or maybe just a little short.

I’ve used WLP previously and had OG of 1076, FG was 1008, ABV just a tad under 9%. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are nearer 10% unless you mashed very high!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Tell us what your process will be for the puree please H.

Hi Clint. Mash and sparge as for a regular beer, low bitterness (because this is a sour), ferment for a week using Philly sour. Then transfer to secondary leaving the yeast cake behind, add the fruit to secondary, continue to ferment for another week. Keg.

 

[Clint]

Does using the Philly sour yeast require any special cleaning afterwards regards to yeast infections carried to other brews?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Does using the Philly sour yeast require any special cleaning afterwards regards to yeast infections carried to other brews?

You need to give everything that comes into contact with the yeast a thorough clean - but you’d do this anyway. As it happens I have two fermenting buckets that need to be replaced because they’re scratched so I will use these and scrap them - but only because replacing them was already the plan.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I checked my four warm fermenting beers this morning. All good but when I opened the door to my fermentation cabinet I choked on what seemed like an almost pure CO2 atmosphere!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

These days I’m almost exclusively using cornie kegs, primarily because my brew-shed is temperature controlled and I can’t be opening the door several times a day to pour another beer. With my cornies the taps are on the outside so easy to get at without opening the door. However, I do still have some cornies in the brew-shed from last year/early this year and thought that as I hadn’t much else on I would see how they are doing…

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

First up are two beers I actually brew for my eldest daughter; a cardamom saison and a plum porter.

The 5.6% saison was brewed in November last year and kegged on December 7th. There’s not much left of this one, maybe 8-10 pints.

You can see it’s still well carbonated and is crystal clear. The cardamom aroma is still there but unfortunately the flavours are all a bit muted. The beer certainly isn’t unpleasant but it’s also not enjoyable so this one will go down the drain. I’ll probably not brew another batch now until next spring - that will go in a King Keg because my daughter only has one or two at a time.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Next the plum porter. This 4.7% ale was brewed in December and kegged on December 31st.

This is better. It has lost a little of the plum flavour but it’s still very apparent and the beer is just as porter-like as I remember so this one is a keeper and might be one of the beers around the table come Christmas.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I also have a couple of other beers in King Kegs that were put aside to age. The first is a vintage ale that was inspired by a Fullers Vintage Ale. The other, a Russian Imperial Stout flavoured with hazelnut.

The 9.2% vintage ale was brewed and kegged in February this year. After spooning off the “sundae” head the flavour is really good and very much along the lines of what I was looking for. On top of that, the crystal clear deep ruby colour is really attractive. This one is definitely a keeper and will most likely be my winter ale this year.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The 9.8% RIS, brewed and kegged in December, is strong. The hazelnut flavour is also strong, too strong I think. At the moment this is more like a hazelnut liqueur! I might leave this for another year

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Exciting day on my brewing calendar today - I’m kegging the first of my four warm-fermenting beers. This one is the saison. I’m hoping for classic saison flavours with a good measure of pepper and acid tartness from the Belle Saison yeast along with some fruity hints, and earthy pepper notes from the Styrian Goldings hops. Just cleaning up an empty keg at the moment so I’ll post a picture in a little while…

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

It’s done, the saison is kegged. It’s been fermenting at 26C for the last 12 days and I don’t think there’s anything left to ferment!

The beer is nice and clean too as you see looking into the fermenting bucket.

The flavour is mostly what I was looking for although I’d have been happy for it to be a little more tart. It’s not quite clear in the glass but it’s just been pulled from the 26 degree fermentation cabinet. I expect it will clear within a few days in the keg. I’m looking forward to tasting it after a few days conditioning and when it’s carbonated.

Next to be kegged is the Trappist Single on Monday. Also on Monday I’ll be transferring the raspberry sour to secondary and adding the raspberry purée.

 

[YeastFace]

The 9.8% RIS, brewed and kegged in December, is strong. The hazelnut flavour is also strong, too strong I think. At the moment this is more like a hazelnut liqueur! I might leave this for another year

View attachment 56473 View attachment 56474

How much hazelnut and what type (extract/essence) did you use?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

How much hazelnut and what type (extract/essence) did you use?

I used 9ml in 23 litres and it’s too much, 5ml would probably be enough. It was from Special Ingredients.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

As planned I kegged my Trappist Single today. The beer is clean looking and is already fairly clear. The yeast has done a really good job too so this beer is highly attenuated and very dry. Because of the high attenuation this beer finished at 5.8% so quite close to the upper limit for the style.

The flavour is pretty close to what I was looking for, maybe a touch more pepper spice than I’d expected - probably a result of the higher fermentation temperature (26C). There’s a little citrus and just a hint of something floral, the malt is cracker-like. The finish is very dry with a lingering bitterness - the kind that makes you want more.

The beer is yet to condition but so far I’m happy with the result.