In the Garage - Sep 2018 - BeerCo Brewing News...📡📩🍻

In the Garage - Sep 2018 - BeerCo Brewing News...📡📩🍻

Dermott Dowling

In the garage, I feel safe

No one cares about my ways

In the garage, where I belong

No one hears me sing this song

In the garage

In the Garage - Weezer

We hop this Suptembeer issue of the BeerCo Brewing News finds you brewing up great things "in the Garage" where great businesses and beers are born!

Where did August go? Be gone cold wind that has kept MELbrewin' cold and dry all winter. Is it Spring yet? Its footy finals time and already the ovals are making way for willow and leather as Summer approaches. Is Oktoberfest near? Oh Yeah! 22-9 to 7-10 for those lucky enough to be in Munich, and as we brewers all know you don't have to fly halfway around the world to enjoy a good German Marzenbier or Hefe when you can brew you own at home with fresh quality ingredients...argh beer...and the gift of alchemy...long live the brewers!

This Sep 18 monthly is another bumper issue - Malt of the Month - Pilsner Malt - Adjuncts of the Month - Candi Syrup - Hops of the Month - Styrian Dragon - Yeast of the Month - GY017 Bavarian Hefe Gigayeast - Equipment of the Month - Clear Beer Draught System - BeerCo Recipe of the Month - Garage Hefeweizen and that will do for now...oh no it won't!

We share the first in what we hop will be many of our "Learn to Brew like a Pro! How to...BrewTubes" kindly put together by our good friend Andrew aka "Stass" at Stass Brewing. This month we show you "How to make a malt tea?" before you brew to check your colour and sip for some flavour indicators post boil and fermentation.

We also wrap up on a fantastic Father's Day celebration with our mates at Fury & Son (a Father & Son) Brewing Co last month and an amazing beer that Brenton their head brewer made ahead of the special occassion - Can you Brew it?

Last but not least, please do not forget to put more upcoming meetup dates into your brewing calendar

  1. Inner Sydney Brewers Club Meeting - Wed 3 Oct - at Atlassian, Bar in downtown Sydney (arguably the best brew "clubrooms" on the planet!)
  2. BeerCo Bottle Share meetup - Wed 24 Oct - 4-7 PM at BeerCo HQ - Save the Date! More details coming soon...stay tuned in
  3. anhc 6 - 26-8 Oct 2018 in MELbrewin' - early bird ticket specials close end of this week 16-Sep...don't delay! Buy your ticket NOW!

Pilsner Malt

Marshall 07/06/2018
Awesome Malt
This Pilsner malt is excellent, great clean flavour that has worked brilliantly in Kolsch, Saison, and Belgian Blonde. It is amazing when paired with Ale Malt and a touch of Gladiator in an IPA.

Gladfield Pilsner malt is made from 2 row English and European bred barley varieties. Only plump low protein barley is used which allows for higher extract potential and helps eliminate potential protein haze issues in the beer. The plumpness and even germination along with low protein gives highly friable malt and care must be taken not to over crush. Protein modification is kept relatively low with out compromising overall quality of the malt. These attributes’ make Gladfield Pilsner malt well suited for craft brewing, the lower protein modification improves mouth feel and head retention. Carefully controlled kilning gives a nice malty character with out too much colour. Gladfield Pilsner malt has sufficient diastatic power to convert the addition of 10-20% coloured malts but it is not designed for large amounts of unmalted adjuncts. It is important that mash pH is controlled properly to obtain the best efficiencies and desired outcomes. Gladfield Pilsner malt has sufficient diastatic power to convert the addition of 10-20% coloured malts, however it is not designed for large amounts of unmalted adjunct. It is important for the brewer to properly control mash pH to obtain the best efficiency and desired brewing outcomes.

  • 5 Kg Bags RRP $16.95 Incl. GST 
  • 25 Kg Sacks RRP $64.95 Incl. GST - SAVE 20% ON 5KG RRP

Specification

USAGE GUIDANCE:

  • Up to 100% of the Grist
  • Note: Gladfield Pilsner malt has sufficient diastatic power to convert the addition of 10-20% coloured malts, however it is not designed for large amounts of unmalted adjunct.
Check out: Gladfield German Pilsner Malt for a Pilsner Malt with less malt character to let the hops shine or Gladfield Lager Light Malt for a lighter colour Pilsner Malt to make your European style beers.
Buy Now! Pilsner Malt!
Tanks to Andrew at Stass Brewing for this little gemstone - "How to Brew Like a Pro"

Adjunct of the Month:  Candi Syrup

Candy, candy, candy I can't let you go
All my life you're haunting me, I loved you so
Iggy Pop "Candy"

Looking to brew happy a true to style Belgian Trappist Ale or Dubbel or Tripel? Well, you better look closely at Candi Syrup.

When added to wort, candi syrup is fully fermented and results in a beer with lighter body and more alcohol because it is more fermentable than malt sugars. This is one of the reasons that many Belgian beer styles are notably drier than most types from other countries. Typical usage rates are from 10%–30% of the original gravity.

Brewers often use the lighter-colored candi syrup for lighter-colored beers such as tripels and special golden ales. The darker-colored sugars are used in dark beers such as dubbels. Here the dark candi sugar gives flavors of high-temperature caramel, raisins, and even burnt sugar. Even though the color of dark candi sugar is similar to that derived from many roasted malts, the flavors are entirely different; for example candi sugar generally does not give coffee-like notes. Often, beers that include candi sugar are high-alcohol beers with a deceivingly smooth drinkability.

Products - 454g (16oz or 1lb) Easy Pour and Store Pouch Pack:

  • Simplicity Premium Blonde Candi Syrup ™ - 1 SRM $16.95

    Simplicity is a unique blonde Belgian style Candi Syrup unlike anything available on the market today. Excellent for Saisons, Triples, and Golden Ale's.

  • Premium Golden Candi Syrup - 5 SRM $16.95

    Golden is a decadent Golden Belgian style Candi Syrup that contributes rich caramel flavors followed by a subtle fruit back-palate. Golden is ideal for award winning Belgian Golden Ales, Tripels, Bière de Garde, Saison, Belgian Blonde, and all lighter Belgian Ales.

  • D-45 Premium Amber Candi Syrup™ $16.95

    D-45 is a rich translucent amber syrup. The unmistakable toffee, vanilla, and toasted flavors that are magically created from raw beet sugar are what make D-45 Candi Syrup uniquely aromatic and delicious. Exceedingly good in Brown Ales or medium Golden Ale's that require an aromatic nose and subtle flavor.

  • D-90 Premium Dark Candi Syrup $16.95

    D-90 is by far the most universal of our Belgian style Candi Syrups and is made with pure Beet sugar. This syrup creates an unmistakable and subtle chocolate back-palate, toffee, and toasted bread flavors that make a dark Candi Syrup truly brew-worthy. 

  • D-180 Premium Extra Dark Candi Syrup $16.95

    D-180 is our premium extra dark Belgian style Candi Syrup. D-180 has the unmistakable flavors of fresh ground coffee, dark stone fruit, and toasted bread. D-180 is the basis for the perfect cloning of Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10, and many other dark Belgian Ales. 

  • D-240 Premium XX Dark Candi Syrup $16.95

    D-240 Candi Syrup is the richest and darkest candi syrup available on the market. Created to have a rich smooth palate, D-240 is a triple-dark syrup with hints of dark raisin, extra dark stone fruit and a roasted dark caramel back-palate. For ales that require full body and indescribable flavor that will set your ales apart.
Well, what are you waiting for? Brew like a Monk and get your Belgian Brewing on with Candi Syrup!
Brew like a Monk! Buy some Candi Syrup NOW!

Hop of the Month! Styrian Dragon Type 90 SV Hop Pellets

Styrian Dragon Hops were developed by the Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing.  Styrian Dragon is one of the latest Styrian hops on the market bred from the 105/220 Breeding Line. Little is known yet of what to expect in commercial and home brewed beers with Dragon but early signs are indicating intense floral character and moderate herbal and citrus tones.

Form:

  • Type 90 Hop Pellets | 100g | 250g | 500g | 1Kg Foils

AROMA:

  • Fruity: Apple, Pineapple 
  • Citrus: Grapefruit, Lemon, Rose 
  • Floral: Rose
  • Herbal: Marjoram

Beer Styles

  • IPA
  • Pale Ale
  • Pilsner
  • Saison

Brewing Values:

  • Harvest Year: 2017
  • Alpha Acid 6.0 - 11.0%
  • Beta Acid 7.5 - 8.5%
  • Co-humulone 23 - 24%
  • Total Oil 1.5 - 2.1 mL/100g
  • Myrcene 58 - 63% of total oil
  • Caryophyllene 5.5 - 6.7% of total oil
  • Farnesene 0.1 - 0.3% of total oil
  • Humulene 12.0 - 16.5% of total oil

Craft Beer Recipes Using Styrian Dragon Hops

Pack & Price Options:

  • 100g $8.95 incl GST RRP 
  • 250g $19.95 incl GST RRP SAVE 10% OFF 100g RRP
  • 500g $39.95 incl GST RRP SAVE 15% OFF 100g RRP
  • 1 Kg $69.95 incl GST RRP SAVE 20% OFF 100g RRP
Enter the Dragon! Buy Styrian Dragon SV Type 90 Hop Pellets and Brew Hoppy!

Yeast of the Month: GY017 Bavarian Hefe GigaYeast

Gold Pitch - FRESH OFF THE PLANE TODAY $14.95 BUY NOW!!!

GigaYeast Bavarian Hefe GY017 is traditional Hefeweizen Yeast from one of Bavaria’s oldest breweries. GY017 is a robust attenuator that works over a broad range of temperatures and produces the classic banana and clove notes of the German wheat beer style. Moderate sulphide producer (will dissipate with conditioning).

Attenuation Medium Gravity*

  • 77% – 81%

Attenuation High Gravity*

  • 66% – 69% (8.9% – 9.6% ABV)

Temperature Range†:

  • 18˚C – 27˚C (64˚F – 80˚F)

Flocculation:

  • Very Low

Representative Beer Styles:

  • Dunkelweizen
  • Gose
  • Hefeweizen
  • Weizenbock
Don the Lederhosen - its Happy Hefe Season - Get your Giga on! Buy GY017

Equipment of the Month:  The Clear Beer Draught System

$74.95 incl. GST

You have to ask yourself "Why am I drinking beer from the bottom of my Keg?" The clear beer draught system is a patented floating intake that replaces your kegs long dip tube. It’s designed to draw beer from the top surface of the beer in the keg. That is where the clearest, cleanest, best tasting beer is. 

Still not convinced? Don't take our word for the quality of the Clear Beer Draught System - listen to the experts review the fantastic features with the founder on The Brewing Network - Brew Strong 

Got some more questions - need some more tips on how to use? Read the Questions & Tips CBDS

Got one and need some help and guidance with installation read the Instructions for Use We suggest you consider adding the following upgrades to your Clear Beer Draught System for no additional costs to your shipping:

Julian R. 26/07/16 5* Customer review

I gave this a go as well. Must admit its pretty good. I had no issues with the corny outlet clogging or any infections to date (3x used so far). I (funnily enough) also brewed a Brew Dog clone (Jack Hammer) which requires about 10g/L dry hopping - but I do this in my fermenter prior to filling the keg ( have a SS conical that removes most of the

 trub below the sample tube). Once transferred into the Keg, and the lid sealed, I had no problems with hops clogging the outlet post (as I have had before) and the beer poured super clear (WL001 does help that a bit). 

It's a good product. Expensive yes. But and this is the real BUT. every time you have to degas the keg, remove the outlet post and clean hop debris, you are opening yourself up to infections and most importantly oxidation. Ever since using this, I have not had to open the keg once after filling and purging/carbing. So, if you calculate how much you spend on a rather strong and hoppy IPA, and then weigh that against losing a keg to oxidation or infection, its a very handy device. 

I wouldn't say its required for lagers or similar beers if your leaving the kegs for a long time, But if your kegging, carbing and partying all in one week, then its a great device for getting the clear stuff from the top! 

So, of you have the dosh, have a go is my recommendation.
"Why are You drinking beer from the bottom of Your Keg?" Buy the CBDS!

Recipe Kit of the Month:  Garage - Hefe

$49.95 incl. GST (Milled or Unmilled - Dry Yeast)
$54.95 incl. GST (Milled or Unmilled - Liquid GigaYeast)

Sun's out and your looking to Don the Lederhosen, roll out the barrel, fire up the Oompah Band and celebrate the onset of warmer climes.  When your doing your Spring cleaning and clearing out the Garage it is time to fire up the kettle and brew up some Hefe to keep the neighbours and friends and family happy and your whistle wet! Prost!

Cheers! #brewhappy #drinkhappier #enjoyresponsibly #isitOktoberfestyet?

VITAL STATS:

Batch & Boil

  • Batch Size: 21 Litres / 5.25 US Gallons
  • Boil Time: 90 mins

PROPERTIES

  • OG 1.049
  • FG 1.008
  • IBU 15
  • ABV 5.4%
  • Colour 7 EBC

MALT:

Amt       Name              Colour                   % Grist

2.5 Kg  Pilsner Malt             (3.8 EBC)                     56%

2.0 Kg  Wheat Malt              (4.2 EBC)                     44%    

4.5 Kg  TOTAL                      7   EBC                       100%

HOPS:

  1. 10 gm Wakatu NZ Hop Pellets - Alpha: 7.8 % – 60 minutes boil addition
  2. 10 gm Wakatu NZ Hop Pellets - Alpha: 7.8 % – 10 minutes from end of boil

YEAST

Liquid | GigaYeast

Dry | Fermentis

Method:

  1. Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 3 Litres of water to 1Kg of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight). If you want to do a step mash (not required), start with a rest at 43 °C for 20 minutes and then raise to a temperature of 67 °C until conversion is complete. Otherwise, do a single infusion mash at 66 °C until enzymatic conversion is complete.
  2. Infuse the mash with near boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 76 °C.
  3. Sparge slowly with 77 °C water (est. 16.5L), collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 25 L.
  4. Boil: 90 minutes. 1st Wakatu NZ Hop of 10g at 60 min and 2nd Wakatu Hop addition of another 10 g at 10 min.  Add your Yeast Nutrient at the same time.  You can skip a Deltafloc or Irish Moss addition unless you are wanting to make a Kristallweizen (clear weissbier).

  5. Cool wort and transfer to the primary fermenter oxygenating wort and pitching Liquid GigaYeast GY017 or Fermentis WB-06 Dry Yeast at 18° C

  6. Ferment at 17 °C until the beer attenuates fully. With healthy yeast, fermentation should be complete in a week, but do not rush it. The cooler than average ale fermentation temperature can extend the time it takes for complete attenuation.

  7. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 2.5 to 3 volumes.

  8. Optional Extra: Dry hop with ≤2 g/L Wakatu for approximately 3 days at end of primary fermentation, starting at the end of primary fermentation or terminal gravity and before cold conditioning.

  9. Drink Fresh in a tradition tall German Stem Weizenbier glass. Prost!

  10. Food pairing - A Multitude of foods pair nicely with Hefeweizen, a German-style wheat beer with lots of bubbles and a slightly sweet, fruity flavor. You might like to try any or all of the following food pairings - Watermelon and Tomato Salad, Lobster & Avocado Salad, Smashed Beets with Goats Cheese, Prawns, Smoked Salmon, Raspberry Shortcakes and Banana Pudding.

BeerCo Recipe Kit Contents:

  • Malt - 4.5Kg (Milled or Unmilled - You Choose)
  • Hops - 20g Wakatu NZ Type Hop Pellets
  • Yeast - 1 x Liquid Gold Pitch of GY017 Bavarian Hefe GigaYeast or 2 x 11.5g Dry Yeast Sachets of Fermentis Safale WB-06 

Credits & Sauces of Brewspiration & Further Reading on the Style:
Garage | Hefe - All Grain BeerCo Recipe Kit is here! Buy NOW!

Beer Brunch for Father's Day

Smoked Maple Bacon Dark Ale

Fury & Son Brewing Company launched a great initiative for Father’s Day in 2018 to bring families together over beer and brunch creating meaningful connections and generously giving all proceeds of the event to their local Men’s Shed Association.  Crisp Malting Group and BeerCo.com.au were proud supporting partners to the event.  Head Brewer – Brenton Aylward and the team at Fury & Son Brewing Company put together a 3-course beer matched brunch which featured their award-winning Scotch Ale and two unique rate “LIMITED EDITION” strictly one-off batches:
  1. A Coffee Imperial Stout and
  2. Smoked Maple Bacon Dark Ale.
Fury & Son Brewing Company - Smoked Maple Bacon Dark Ale was the first commercial beer brewed using the first batch of Crisp Chevallier® Malt to hit Australian shores and Brenton, took it upon himself to make the least boring single malt beer he could think of.  Read on for Brenton's Brewers Log and we issue you the challenge - Can You Brew It?

The Smoked Maple Bacon Dark Ale recipe itself is quite simple as far as the brew day is concerned but it is the ingredient preparation that gives this brew its unique colour, aroma and flavour. Using Crisp Chevallier® as the single malt is ideal in a brew like this where the savoury pallet allows a full flavoured malt to come through, it adds a depth of flavour that a mass-produced modern malt simply cannot match.

SMOKED

To get a heavily smoked flavour into your malt you will need access to a Smoker. If you’re into BBQ get your hands on a decent second hand one and consider this a sound investment. If your good with hand tools you can easily bang one up in a morning out of a 44-gallon drum. There’s plenty of tutorials online on “how to” make these and some of them are even specific to smoking malt.
Get your malt spread out onto a perforated surface (a wire screen door covering works great but make sure it is not plastic coated) and use a spray bottle to evenly wet the malt with approximately 40mls of water per kilo. The water will help the smoke flavours be absorbed by the grain and prevent the husk of the malt from drying out and deteriorating. No one wants a stuck bed!
Get a fire running and a good coal base then load the malt into the smoker. The amount of time required to impart a smoke flavour will depend entirely on the smoker. I went for 4 hours which gave a pretty decent amount of smoke to balance the sweetness of the beer but it’s all up to you if you smoke for a shorter or longer time than this.

MAPLE

Getting maple flavour into any beer is hard. The aromatics in maple syrup are very volatile and will blow off very quickly during fermentation. The amount of simple, readily fermentable sugar in maple syrup pretty much guarantees you’ll start a fermentation if you put it in at any stage.  Brenton, hedged his bets with this and put maple syrup in at three different stages: In the whirlpool on brew day, in the fermenter at the end of the initial fermentation and in the keg to bulk prime as a natural sugar carbonation in the keg. Tasting at various stages suggested that bulk priming was probably the most effective of these three methods to infuse maple flavour and character into the beer.  However, each maple input into the brewing process, late in the kettle and into the secondary fermentation also added flavour at various levels and hell, this is a complex beer, it’s all about layering. Its worth noting that different maple syrups will taste and ferment differently as they all have different sugar profile.  Brenton used BeerCo 100% Pure Canadian Maple Finishing Syrup. If you using something different and want to get really sciencey you can dilute out your maple syrup and take a gravity reading as this will tell you exactly how much sugar is in the brand you’re using.

BACON

This was Brenton’s favourite part of the brewing process hands down. He loves cooking meat “slow and low”. Get a good amount of pork shoulder or pork neck. Brenton used 5kgs because he wanted left overs, but if you’re not so much of a pork addict then you can go with less. Place the pork in the hottest section of the smoker and ensure that the smoke is directed past the pork onto the malt. Glaze the pork with maple syrup at thirty-minute intervals and cook for at least 3 hrs per kilo at 120°C smoker temp.

DARK

Brenton was making a single malt beer, so he did this himelf which was fun and smelt delicious.  He took 10% of the grist and tipped it into the bottom of the kettle. He then cranked up the Mongolian jet burner and stirred the grain until it was toasted. Aim for a dark roast, something in the territory of chocolate malt. If you have a rotary drum then definitely use that, it will make life a lot easier and result in a far more consistent colour.

ALE

To give the beer sweetness reminiscent of maple syrup and juicy bacon Brenton wanted a low rate of attenuation. He achieved this by using GY031 British Ale #2 GigaYeast combined with a higher mash temperature. True to form the GY031 British Ale #2 GigaYeast also flocculated well making for a bright beer and an easy kegging day.

Malt:

  • 80% Crisp Chevallier®
  • 10% Heavily Pork Smoked Crisp Chevallier® over fruit wood and Pork on the Smoker!
  • 10% Dark Toasted Crisp Chevallier® in the Kettle

Hops:

Adjuncts:

Method:


Mash at 68°C for 45 minutes with a 3.3:1 liquor to grist ratio. Brenton always adds some calcium sulphate into his dark ales, as that really helps the flavour profile. Sparge until last runnings read around 4° Plato (no nasties, keep it sweet). Once you reach a boil throw in the Fuggles and let it roll for an hour. Aim for a post boil gravity of 14.9° Plato. Too low? Boil some more! Too high? Get some water in there! If you’re adding water, boil the kettle and measure out how much you need to bring it to the right gravity this will keep everything nice and sanitary. Start a whirlpool and pour in your first lot of maple syrup. Chill to 20°C at pitch with GY031. Ferment at 20°C.
Once the fermentation has stopped take a gravity reading then pour in your second lot of maple syrup. Take another reading once the maple syrup has mixed in to see how much sugar you have added, this will help with calculating the final alcohol. As mentioned earlier this will restart the fermentation as all those simple sugars in the maple syrup will get chewed through. After all this was said and done a final gravity should end up at 6° Plato but this will vary depending on the maple syrup you use.
Once your second fermentation has finished chill the fermenter then rack off into your conditioning/bottling vessel and leave cold for at least another week. To prime for bottling or kegging mix in 17ml/L of maple syrup the package as desired (if you have done your science homework on the syrup you’re using now is a great time to calculate exactly how much you will need to add for the correct carbonation).
Brenton had pork loads of fun messing around with the ingredients to make this brew, it took a day longer than a normal brew, but he learnt a new few things about Malt and he felt like he created something unique by the end of it.
Father’s Day at Fury & Son Brewing Company was a fun beer brunch with over 70 people in attendance and a heap of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons and grandchildren mixing and mingling over good food and libation all for a good cause. $1,000 was raised for the local Men’s Shed Association and all parties agree this will become an annual event in the Fury & Son – Father & Son event calendar!
Prost!

The Georgiou, Aylward and Dowling Families enjoying the 2018 Father's Day Beer Brunch at Fury & Son Brewing Company