strange-steve
Quantum Brewer
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- Apr 8, 2014
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This was my first attempt at a biere de garde and I was really happy with how it turned out so I entered it in the Irish national competition and was pleasantly surprised that it came second in the farmhouse ale category. The beer which beat me was a saison which went on to win best of show!
For those not familiar with the style (I have very limited experience with the style too) it's a malty, flavourful, lagered ale originating from France, somewhat related to saison but richer in malt flavours and without the spicy phenols. There are 3 types: blonde, ambree and bruin.This recipe is for an ambree version.
Le Maléfice
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21
Total Grain (kg): 6.965
Total Hops (g): 32
Original Gravity (OG): 1.078
Estimated Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 8.3 %
Colour (SRM): 9
Bitterness (IBU): 30
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 74
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
4.800 kg Pilsner (69%)
1.500 kg Munich I (21.5%)
0.350 kg Carared (5%)
0.300 kg Granulated Sugar (4%)
0.015 kg Roasted Barley (0.5%)
Hop Bill
----------------
18 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% AA) First Wort
15 g Hallertau Mittlefrueh Pellet (3% AA) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
Water Treatment (added to RO water)
----------------
0.08g/L Gypsum
0.3g/L Calcium Chloride
Notes
----------------
Single step Infusion at 64ðC for 60 Minutes.
Fermented with Wyeast 2565 - Kolsch at 18ðC with 1.6L starter.
The judges comments said that the alcohol flavour was a little too strong and that a lower ABV would probably improve this. I don't think that was the problem, I think the brew was just a little young (4 months old at the time of judging) and that another few months would smooth it out a bit.
Another comment was that it was slightly too sweet on the finish, so maybe a lower mash temperature or a higher sugar percentage would help dry it out a tad. Otherwise the comments were all very positive.
For those not familiar with the style (I have very limited experience with the style too) it's a malty, flavourful, lagered ale originating from France, somewhat related to saison but richer in malt flavours and without the spicy phenols. There are 3 types: blonde, ambree and bruin.This recipe is for an ambree version.
Le Maléfice
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21
Total Grain (kg): 6.965
Total Hops (g): 32
Original Gravity (OG): 1.078
Estimated Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 8.3 %
Colour (SRM): 9
Bitterness (IBU): 30
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 74
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
4.800 kg Pilsner (69%)
1.500 kg Munich I (21.5%)
0.350 kg Carared (5%)
0.300 kg Granulated Sugar (4%)
0.015 kg Roasted Barley (0.5%)
Hop Bill
----------------
18 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% AA) First Wort
15 g Hallertau Mittlefrueh Pellet (3% AA) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
Water Treatment (added to RO water)
----------------
0.08g/L Gypsum
0.3g/L Calcium Chloride
Notes
----------------
Single step Infusion at 64ðC for 60 Minutes.
Fermented with Wyeast 2565 - Kolsch at 18ðC with 1.6L starter.
The judges comments said that the alcohol flavour was a little too strong and that a lower ABV would probably improve this. I don't think that was the problem, I think the brew was just a little young (4 months old at the time of judging) and that another few months would smooth it out a bit.
Another comment was that it was slightly too sweet on the finish, so maybe a lower mash temperature or a higher sugar percentage would help dry it out a tad. Otherwise the comments were all very positive.
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