Beery Christmas & Hoppy New Year Brewers - Decembeer - Brewing News

Beery Christmas & Hoppy New Year Brewers - Decembeer - Brewing News

Dermott Dowling

Alleviating the world of beer poverty one good brew at a time is hard work!  We know that you have been brewing like a pro all year just like us to fill all your bottles and kegs to entertain family and friends over the festive season.

Firstly, we wish you well for a safe and hoppy festive season and thanks for your awesome work and support brewing amazing beer with flavour from premium quality craft brewing ingredients from independent and family owned businesses.  Secondly, thanks for buying your brewing supplies from us! Without your continued support and encouragement we would not be clocking up another year in business at BeerCoAu.  Keep up your great work as there is still a lot of mediocre beer out there and a lot of other brewers need your help and knowledge sharing to brew better beer consistently. Lastly, remember what beer and more importantly great beer is all about this festive season.  Beer is here for us to enjoy with others, good company and good food.  Enjoy yourself responsibly this festive season.  In today's busy world it sometimes feels like no-one has the time any more to drop by and have a beer or two but we all should do that.  Don't forget about those mates you have not seen for a while.  Drop round and say g'day mate and drop off a wonderful beer or two - it is the season of giving after all and what better gift to give that your own brewed beer! Good beer and good food with family and friends are the memories that last, not staying another hour at the office or BOFfice (Brewery-Office) as we like to call it or bashing out another urgent project for your master. So here is to great beer and cheer and great brewers like you this festive season for putting smiles on dials and washing down a lot of good food to complement all the laughter and companionship at this very special time of the year for you and your family and friends.  That's enough from us.  On with the real brewing news...

Malt of Month - Gladfield Lager Light Malt

Author: Doug Michael | Co-Owner and Manager at Gladfield Malt Editor: Dermott Dowling | Beerly Managing Director at BeerCo Gladfield Lager Light Malt is made for exactly what the name suggests - light colour lager beers. You really appreciate this malt and beer style on a hot summer's day after working hard doing whatever it is you do for a living. When you knock the top off a homebrew or craft beer made from Gladfield Lager Light Malt and pour it into a glass, you see the beautiful light straw colour beer with creamy head, down the hatch it goes and the first one does not even touch the sides. Wow! It looks and tastes so drinkable in the glass that the second one is down as quick as the first. Lets face it, at this time of year when the sun is out it is about quenching your thirst with quality light sessionable beers that look as refreshing they taste. Gladfield Malt designed this Light Lager Malt in their our own pilot brewery so they could have plenty of fresh cold beer on tap during harvest time and they did not want it to look like or feel like the consistency of an oil change from an Angular gear box.  Pilsners and Light Lagers brewed with Gladfield Light Lager Malt worked so well at washing the barley awns from the back of the throat that the header drivers and truck drivers were queuing up from miles away to work at Gladfield Farm & Malting.  They always seemed to turn up at sunset anyway and hang around expecting to be invited to join the team @beiroclock! Gladfield Malt called the malt Lager Light "the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible". Light Craft Lager was not the only thing it stimulated. Brewers quickly recognized Gladfield Lager Light Malt as a must for this time of year and it has certainly become highly visible in the racks around leading craft breweries across Australia and New Zealand at this time of the year. Gladfield Lager Light Malt is made from only the finest 2 row high quality Canterbury malting barley with a mid to high protein range and it is well modified giving good fermentability for a refreshing dry finish with a hint of malt character. Gladfield Lager Light Malt has a typical colour range of 2.3 - 2.9 EBC.  Light but not too light if you know what we mean! Gladfield Lager Light Malt is subject to a gentler kilning cycle so that a lower colour is produced however it is still low in DMS precursors unlike some European malts which are designed specifically for DMS beers (a character trait of a European style lager but commonly seen as a fault in Australian or Kiwi style Lagers and Pilsners). Gladfield Lager Light Malt is so versatile you can use it up to 100% of the grist or else you can add it too any beer at any rate you want to reduce colour. A lot of brewers use it alongside Gladfield Wheat Malt to produce a delicate bright clean malt profile wheat beer, when a low colour formation is required. You can also use it with up to 20% Gladfield Toffee Malt to make a perfectly malt balanced light coloured IPA. Gladfield Lager Light Malt is available in the BeerCo Shop in two pack sizes:
  • 5 Kg Bags at $14.95 Incl. GST
  • 25 Kg Sacks at $59.95 Incl. GST (SAVE 20% - BULK UP AND SAVE!)

Hop of Month - Pacifica NZ Hops

Author: Doug Donelan | CEO at New Zealand Hops Editor: Dermott Dowling | Beerly Managing Director at BeerCo Pacifica is a New Zealand bred triploid variety developed with parentage from the noble German variety Hallertauer Mittelfrüher. Originally selected for its high weight of oil, citrus marmalade aroma and finesse when employed as a single hop in traditional German style lagers such as German Pilsner and Munich Helles. Pacifica is now commonly used by Craft brewers to achieve orange citrus characters in New World pale ales from single hopping right through to dry hopping. Pacifica also matches up well when used in conjunction with other New Zealand citrus driven varieties such as Motueka and Moutere (formerly known as Brooklyn). Pacifica is a class act NZ Hop. Pacifica brings something of a blend of new and old-world taste descriptors to the brewers’ table. Orange marmalade aptly describes the citrus aroma notes achieved through late addition.  Bittering quality is such that early kettle additions net a soft yet solid finish even in highly bittered beers.

Style Guidance:

  • Lagers
  • Pale Ales
  • Pilsners

Pack Sizes Available:

Pacifica NZ Hops are available now to buy in the BeerCo Shop in a variety of sizes for small batches to BIG BREWS!

Yeast of the Month - GY011 British Ale #1 GigaYeast

Author: Amelia McCullough  | Office Manager at GigaYeast Editor: Dermott Dowling | Beerly Managing Director at BeerCo GigaYeast British Ale #1 GY011 is a versatile house strain from a traditional UK brewery.  Strong attenuation over a broad temperature range and low esters make this yeast perfect for a wide variety of styles. GigaYeast GY011 British Ale #1 is a strong flocculator that creates a clear beer.
  • Attenuation Medium Gravity* 75% – 79%
  • Attenuation High Gravity* 73% – 75% (9.0% – 9.4% ABV)
  • Temperature Range†: 18˚C – 25˚C  (64˚F – 77˚F)
  • Flocculation: High

Representative Styles:

  • Amber Ale
  • Barley Wine
  • British Ales
  • English Bitter
  • India Pale Ale
  • Pale Ale
  • Scotch Ale
  • Stout
* Medium Gravity is 14˚ – 16˚ Plato.  High Gravity is 23˚- 25˚Plato. †  The working temperature range represents the range at which fermentation for a given strain produces a typical attenuation- not necessarily the ideal temperature for your particular beer style.  As a rule of thumb, start ale yeast fermentation at 68˚ – 72˚F and then lower or raise temp as desired.  Lager Yeast are typically fermented at 45˚ – 58˚F.  If desired, Lager Yeast can be given a “hot start” at 65-68˚F and then lowered to the primary temperature after active fermentation begins (10-20hrs). GY011 British Ale #1 GigaYeast is available now in the BeerCo Shop in GigaYeast Gold pitches the first homebrew yeast with a true 5 gallon / 19 litre pitch rate for consistent fermentations without the need for a starter (> 200 billion yeast).

BeerCo Recipe of the Month - KIWI AS PILSNER

lager-light-glass Who doesn't love a nice clean hoppy Pilsner when the sun is shining?  Your kegs and bottles supply might be a little low as the sun pops out so we have done a choice as fast hack forward Kiwi as Bro Pilsner recipe for you this month with a fast brew option and a traditional long lager if you want to do it Czech style cuz.  cheers #brewhappy

Vital Stats:

Batch & Boil

  • Batch Size: 21.0 L US 5 Gallon
  • Boil Time: 90 min

Properties

  • OG 1.051
  • FG 1.015
  • IBU 41
  • ABV 4.7%
  • Colour  3 SRM
  • Balance - Very Bitter

Gladfield Malts

Amount Fermentable % Grist Use PPG Colour
4.0 kg Lager Light Malt 80% Mash 37 1 °L
0.75 kg Vienna Malt 15% Mash 35 4 °L
0.25 kg Gladiator Malt 5% Mash 33 1 °L

Hops

Amount Hop Time Use Form AA
25 g Wakatu NZ 60 min Boil Pellet 7.8%
50 g Pacifica (NZ) 10 min Boil Pellet 5.4%
25 g Wakatu NZ  5 mins Boil Pellet 7.8%

Yeast

  • GY011 British Ale #1 GigaYeast (Liquid) for a fast ferment ale with lager profile.  GY011 is a strong attenuator, produces low esters and has excellent flocculation "like a brick" for clear beer.  We know for a fact a very popular craft Hoppy NZ Pilsner loved by many and credited with starting this style of NZ Pilsner is in fact an Ale!
  • GY002 Czech Pilsner GigaYeast (Liquid) for a tradition dry clean Czech style pilsner with a light malt body.  Note that GY002 need to be fermented cold 9˚C – 13˚C  (48˚F – 55˚F) and will benefit from an extended cold lagering after fermentation of 42+ days.
  • Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 Yeast (Dry) 2 x 11g Sachets

Method:

1. Mash - the brewer should do normal mash regime, probably mashing at around 67 C for at least 60 mins 2. Mash off - Infuse mash with near boiling water while stirring or with recirculating mash system raise temp to mash out at 76C 2. Sparge slowly - once again the brewer should do normal regime at around 77C 3. Boil - vigorous boil for 90 mins 4. Yeast & Fermentation - Pitch your favourite Pilsner yeast and ferment around 10C. 5. Conditioning - Rack the beer after two weeks or less when primary complete and cold condition for a month if patient at near 2C.

Sources:
Copyright © 2016 BeerCo Pty Ltd, All rights reserved.