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THE , APPRENTICE 2011 QuarryBooks Text andphotography 2011 GregKoch andMatt Allyn First publishedin theUnitedStates of Americain2011by QuarryBooks,a member of Quayside Publishing Group 100 Cummings Center Suite 406-L Beverly,Massachusetts 01915-6101 Telephone:(978) 282-9590 Fax:(978) 283-2742 www.quarrybooks.com Allrights reserved.No part of this book may bereproducedinany formwithout written permissionof the copyright owners.All images in this book havebeenreproduced with the knowledge andprior consent of the artists concerned, andno responsibility is acceptedby theproducer,publ isher,or pri nter for anyinfringement of copyright or otherwise, arising fromthe contents of this publication.Every effort has beenmade to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. Weapologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurredand willresolveinaccurate or missing informa-tionina subsequent reprinting of the book. 10987654321 ISBN:978-1-59253-731-0 Digitaledition publishedin2011 978-1-61058-159-2 Digitaledition : 978-1-61058-159-2 Softcover edition : 978-1-59253-731-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationDatais available Design:PaulBurgess:Burge Agency Artwork: PeteUsher: Burge Agency Front cover:istockphoto.com, except for bottom right:Foodcollection/Getty Images Back Cover:BelgianTourist Office, JohnBollwitt (johnbollwitt.com), and istockphoto.com PrintedinChina Thanks to my family, friends,colleagues, fellow brewers (pro andamateur),andev-eryone else generous withadvice,insight, and a freshbeer. - Matt Allyn Toallthe great brewers whohaveprovided me with their liquidinspiration, andwho showedmemany years ago that " beer" was so verymuchmore than the insipid nonsense of the TV commercials. Today, Craft andArtisanalbrewing is alive and well ... andgrowing innearly everybrewing culture. Here's to adding onemorelog to that fire,aswellas anotherlog to the funeralpyre of the notion that beer should bereduceddown to nothing more than a cheap,flavorless,commodified fizzy yellowliquid! - GregKoch THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE TOOTHERCRAFT BEERENTHUSIASTS, OURWILLINGNESS TO ENGAGEINNEAR-CONSTANT DIALOGUEONOURFAVORITE SUBJECT OFTENCONFOUNDS THOSE WHOHAVEN'T CHOSEN TOLIVE A LIFEOFSUCHSUDSY IMMERSION. TOBEHONEST, THEY CONFOUNDUS, TOO.WHENYOUTAKEA MOMENT TO TRULY CONTEMPLATEGREATBEER, THEPATHISCLEAR ... ANDCOMPELLING,REWARDING,ENRICHING,SATISFYING. I COULDGOON. QUITEWILLINGLY. INTRODUCTION Andas such, this bookhas beenborn. Althoughit pays homage to the time-honored traditions of our favoritebeverage, it is not just a repackaging of the solid, classic brewing tomes.Asvalid,important, andnecessary,as they are,TheBrewer's Apprentice offers a more picturesque view into our favorite subject. In the writing of this book,wehavehad the great privilege of taking many educational sightseeing excursions along the great road-trip that is a brewing life. Although this book couldcertainly bereadina straight-line fashion, andis organizedsoit follows the steps of the brewing process,I invite youtobounce aroundas youwish.Inter-estedina deep-dive into malt? Turnto chapter 1 andbe our guest.Eager to get a brewer's-eye-perspective ontrad itiona I Bavarian-style hefeweizens? Skip ahead to chapter 7,andlearn from the best!Fancy a snifter of imperial stout while curledby the fire reading tales of conquest andwoe at the hands of buggers suchasPedio,Brett, andLactobacillus? Turngingerly to chapter 9 onspontaneous fermentation. I onceheard,andhavesi nce oft repeated, whathasbecome a favorite saying:"Buy a mana beer, wasteanhour. Teacha man to brew,waste a lifetime." WhileI've known some who take offense to the saying,I feelthat it is nothing but complimentary. "Wasti ng anhour"suggests a temporary yet rewarding pause fromanotherwise hec-tic andgo-go-go I ife.However,"wasti ng a Iifeti me"is not a true "waste,"but instead, a diversion fromthe rat raceinto one of life's nobler pursuits: the art of brewing. Asnoble as brewing is (andas just about anyone wouldattest if they wereanywhere past the half-pint mark),a junior executive might scoff at brewing, insteadpreferring topursue upwardmobility. He canhavehis upwardmobility, asI don't caremuch for it. Not to say that I don't crave forwardmove-ment andprogress.I admit,I do.Does this pose a conflict? Joyfully,no.The worldof craft beer andbrewing has affordedme alloflife's rewards that I couldwishfor: satisfaction froma job welldone,respect of my friends andpeers,standing inthe com-munity, access to the world's best culinary experiences,friends andcomrades-in-arms around the world,anendless opportunity for creative flow,andyes,the proverbial foodonthe table. Andthen there's the beer. Andthe oppor-tunity to work with co-author Matt Allyn to bring youfront-row andbehind-the-scenes access to the greatest minds and talents in the brewing world. The worldof home brewing is bothstuck in old-world tradition (in the best of senses) and simultaneously rocketing forwardinto new andbarely charted territories. We've had the privilege of consulting,cajoling, and cavorting withbothold friends and new tobring youunique accessinto thein-sights of those wholive andbreathe the art of brewing. Many of the names you'llhear in this book are familiar, andwe're excited tobring youtheir insights. Other names willbenew,and this introductioninvites further discovery,as youwillno doubt be inspired to seek out their fine workin order tobackup the veracity of their studied opinions. Youmight expect a portion of th is book to bededicated to the straightforward how-to of home brewing,or a starter's guide to professionalbrewing.A novice brewer might feelthat omitting the basics of brew-ing might leave one withlittle orientation, as thoughthe steering wheel,speed-ometer,tachometer,and shift column were completely omittedinfavor of anon-board INTRODUCTION --------------------------------"t5ut{ a Mana beer:wa4te anhour. Teacha Manto brew,wa4te a liIe-tiMe." WhileI've known 40Me who take oNen4e tothe 4at{in91I teel that it i4 nothin9 but cOMpliMentart(. computer systemand the automatic window controls. After a brief introduc-tion to the brewing process anda glossary of equipment andingredients, the book focuses onthe technical, diverse, and the spectacular.Anda spectacular viewit is. So,pullthe owner's manualout of the glove compartment whenyoumust review the operationalbasics of brewing-there aremany great ones out there, andmost likely youalready have a trusted, well-worn,perhaps evenwort-stained one on your shelf . Leave this book onthe coffee table to peruse whenyouwant to think about brewing (but not necessarily while you'rebrewing). A great beer inhandis optional,but it's alwaysin good taste. - GregKoch THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE BREWERSUSE ONLYFOURINGREDIENTS TOMAKE A BASIC BEER-WATER, BARLEY,HOPS, ANDYEAST.EACHPART IS IRREPLACEABLE ANDESSENTIAL TOTHEPROCESS, SO UNDERSTANDINGITS ROLEANDWHAT IT BRINGS TEACHES YOUHOW TOMODIFY, TWEAK,ANDUSE THEINGREDIENTS TOCREATENEARLY ANY BEER,WILDORMILD, YOUCAN DREAMUP. BREWINGBASICS INGREDIENTS WATER Water constitutes 90 to 95 percent of a beer,soalwaysusea cleansource for brew-ing.Most tap wateris acceptable aslong asit's runthrougha carbonfilter prior to brewing.Advancedbrewerslearnto adjust their water to suit their beer (see chapter 5 for how tomodify your water) . MALT Malted grains bring color,aroma,andflavor to a beer,but most importantly, they are the fuel for creating alcohol.Malt houses let grains suchasbarley andwheat germinate andbegin to grow, creating starch. Then they dry the grains andstop the process, leaving a large amount of starch. The majority of any beer willuse a pale malt (calledbasemalt).Darker beer adds"spe-cialty grains" that are roastedto different temperatures andimpart various flavors and color. Newbrewers oftenuseliquid or driedmalt extract to simplify the brewing process. This provides the samemaltose (sugar) grains impart for brewing.While extracts arejust as fermentable, their flavors can beinconsistent andlack the subtlety and complexity of true barley or wheat. HOPS These dried green flowers contribute bitterness,aroma,and flavor to a beer.A 5-ga lion(19U batch of homebrew might needonly anounce of dried hop pellets to balance a sweeter amber ale,while a hop-centricIndia pale ale coulduseup to 8 ounces (227 g)or more. YEAST This microorganismis the engine behind beer.It consumes sugar derived fromthe malt starch tomake alcohol. There are hundreds of different brewing yeast strains, eachworking at different temperatures andproducing varying flavors.German wheatbeers (hefeweizens),for example, owe much of their spicy character to their special izedyeast. SUPPLIES These are the supplies necessary tobrew beer fromgra into gl asslike a pro.Begi n-ners should feelno shameinskipping the mashandlauter by adding malt extract to the kettle,but these are the tools of the trade for homebrewers ready to em u late their favoritebrewmasters. MASH TUN Your crushed grains andhot water are com-binedin the mash tun toproduce sugar during the first step of homebrewing. The two most commonoptions areinsulated coolers andmetalmashkettles. Coolers, like the onesinwhich youwould store beer at a party, hold the mashat a constant temperature withminimal work,but it's difficult to raise the mashtemperature if needed.Mashkettles areheavy-duty pots, usually fitted with a spigot and falsebot-tom forlautering. LAUTER TUN Often the mashandlauter tun are the same thing. A lauter tunis a large container with a screen or falsebottomunder the grains that allows the wort to drain out. BREWKETTLE Anylarge metal stock pot will do-copper, stainless steelor aluminum-as long asit's big enough.Your brew kettle shouldhave one to two gallons (4 to 8 U more capacity thanthe liquid init.Extract brewersuses 5-gallon(19U pots,andall-grainbrewers use at least 7-gallon(26Upots. WORT CHILLERS These copper or stainless coils have an in let (andoutlet) for tap water to run through the coi I.Whenplacedinhot wort, the water-cooledcoilquickly drops the wort temperature. FERMENTOR Brewers needa primary fermentor,usually a food-gradeplastic bucket, and thena secondary fermentor,typically a glass carboy for aging.Thebucketis easy to use and clean,but it is alsoporous,letting smallamounts of oxygenin,making it a bad candidate for aging beer. BREWINGBASICS Pictured fromleft toright:gypsum,crushedcrystalmalt, malt extract, Cluster hop pellets, Northern Brewer hop pellets, molasses, brownsugar, Belgiumcandy,Irishmoss, Kent Golding Hops, yeast,maple syrup,andpriming sugar. BOTTLINGBUCKET This plastic bucket witha spigot allows you tomix your beer withpriming sugar and then easi Iy dispenseinto bottles. CAPPER This simple device crimps bottle caps and seals your beer. AUTOSIPHON It's not a necessity,but this makes transfer-ring beer fromone container to another a breeze. HYDROMETER ANDREFRACTOMETER These devices will tell youhow much sugar isinyour beer,indicating how much canbe fermented,andlater,how muchhas been fermentedout. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE Thebrew deck at the Firestone Walker Brewer looks endlessly complicated but follows nearly all the sameprocesses asa 5-gallonhome brewery. UNDERSTANDING GRAVITY, CALCULATING ABV When the sugars fromyourmash dissolveinto thehot water, the liquid (your wort) becomes denser. As yeast ferments that sugar out, convertingitto alcohol, the beer becomes less dense.By subtract-ing the second, third,or final gravity reading fromthe first,and then accounting for thedensity of alcohol(multiply by1.31), youcan easily calculate a beer's alcohol content. Starting gravity - finalgravity x 1.31x 100 =alcoholby volume THEBREWINGPROCESS: ANOVERVIEW Brewing is a simple process that's easily complicated . Andthis book assumes a basicunderstanding of the principles that turnbarley starchandhop flowers into pale ales andporters. These steps provide a basic reference for the steps to reach a finished(anddelicious) beer,but for a more in-depthlook atbrewing fundamen-tals, readCharliePapazian'sThe Complete Joy of Homebrewingand JohnPalmer's How to Brew. STEP1. MASH ANDLAUTER THEGRAINS The first step ontheroadtohomebrewing is mashing the malted grains.Youneed sugar to ferment beer,and thisis where you createit. Themashis a mixture of crushed grains andhot water that converts the starchinbarley,wheat,or other grainsinto sugar (which yeast will turninto alcohol). Barley has two enzymes (proteins that encourage chem icalreactions) that break starchdowninto sugar whenthey're within particular temperature ranges.Home brewers typically mix their grains withhot water andhold their mashbetween145F and158F (63C and70C)for at least 20 minutes. STEP 2. LAUTER Once enzymes have convertedmost of the starch to sugar, drain the liquid out ina process called"Iautering." Addadditional hot water (around170F [7rC)) to help flushout the sugar.The first couple gallons of liquid drained out shouldbe gently pouredback over the grains. Water clarity shouldimprove, and smallbits of husk will stop coming out.This recirculation creates a filter tokeep grain out of the wort.In total, youshouldhave5.5 to 6 gallons (20 to 23 L)of wort to create a five-ga lion(19 L)batch of beer. STEP 3. BOIL Boiling wort sanitizes theliquid and absorbs bitter acids fromthe hops.The longer hops areboiled, the more bitter-ness they add.Thelater they're added,the more flavor andaroma theyinfuse. After 60 minutes, coolthe wort as quickly aspos-sible to preventinfectionby wildbacteria. Homebrew stores sellwort chillers that coolbatches to roomtemperaturein20 minutes or less,but placing the kettleinan ice bathfor 30 to 60 minutes also works. STEP 4. INOCULATION Whenthe wortis at least belowlOOF (38C)-h igher tem peratures ki IIbrewing yeast-you'll mix inoxygenandadd the yeast.Theeasiest way to aerate andadd oxygenis bypouri ng the wort back and forthbetween the fermentor andkettle until there's a tallheadof foam.Youcan also transfer the wort to the fermentor, sealthe top,andshakeit for 45 seconds. Before youaddthe yeast andsealthe fermentor,measure the gravity (density) of your beer witha hydrometer or refractome-ter.This tells us how much sugar isinthe wort.For reference,a beer that is aiming tohit 5 percent alcoholby volume(ABV) willhave a starting gravity aroundl.052. Finally, addthe yeast andclose the top of the fermentor.Use anairlock to allow CO2, a byproduct of fermentation,to escape. STEP 5. FERMENTATION Every yeast has a particular temperature range forits ideal fermentation, but most beers ferment wellat roomtemperature. After tendays,most of the sugar willhave beenconvertedinto alcohol. Youcantake a second gravity reading to seehow much sugar has fermented.Beer yeastleaves about a quarter of the totalsugar behind (unlike a dry wine,for example).A common beer willhave a final gravity aroundl.012 tol.016. STEP G.CONDITION Conditioni ng acts I ike a filter.After the first (primary) fermentation, almost all the alco-holhas beencreated,but letting the beer sit for at least two weeks willallow the yeast to stay active andliterally cleanitself up. Witha siphon,transfer the beer to a condi-tioning fermentor,leaving thelayer of yeast behindin the bottom of the primary.Tiny hops,barley,and yeast particles willalso slowly sink to the bottom of the condition-ing fermentor,clarifying the appearance and further improving the flavor. STEP 7.BOTILING After your beer is fermented, conditioned, and tasti ng satisfactory (that one's up to you) , the finalstep is to bottle.Byadding a little (about anounce per gallon[7 g per liter)) sugar to your beer andsealing it, the yeast will createboth a smallamount of alcohol andenoughCO2 to carbonate the brew. Five gallons (19 L)of beer needs about two cases of bottles,plus a six-pack (54 total), but don't be surprisedif youlost beer along the waywhentransferring fromthe kettle and thenagain to the conditioning fermen-tor.Tobottle,boilthe priming sugarina cup of water for15 minutes to sanitize it, thencooltheliquid andaddittothe beer. Then either siphoneachbeer individually into bottles, or transfer to a bottl i ng bucket with a spigot near the bottom.Cap the beer,letit sit at roomtemperature for two weeks,and thenenjoy.Congratulations, you've made beer. BREWINGBASICS BARLEY TOBEER, SIMPLIFIED Select your grains andcrush them(most homebrew shops willdo this for you). For every poundof grain, mix in1 to2 quarts of hot water (2 to 4 liters per kilogram), creating themash. Hold the mashat a tempera-ture between145F and158F (G3C and70C) for 30 toGO minutes. Addsparge water anddrain out theliquid (now called the wort). Heat the wort toa boiland hold there for GOminutes. Addhops:1) at the start of the boil for bitterness,or 2) within the final30 minutes for aroma and flavor. Cool the wort tobelow 80F (27C) and transfer to the fermentor. Shake theclosed fermentor vigorously, then add yeast.Fer-ment the wort for10 days asit becomes beer. Siphon the beer toa second fermentor andageit for at least two weeks. Addpriming sugar (0.5 to1 ounce per gallon [4 to 7 grams per liter]), thenbottle the beer. Let thebeer carbonate for two weeks, thenenjoy. CHAPTER1: CHAPTER1: MASHING ANDLAUTERING ANALL-GRAINMASHSEPARATES THENOVICES FROM EXPERT HOMEBREWERS. YES,MALT EXTRACTIS A GOOD START FORSMALL KITCHENS ANDSIMPLE BREWING,BUT ONCEYOU'REMASHING, YOU'REPLAYINGONTHESAME FIELD ASPROFESSIONALS. MASHING ANDLAUTERING The basicprocessis simple enough.Add hot water to grain, wait while the malt starch converts to sugar,anddrain out the newly createdsugar water toboil.Aside frombeing a necessary brewing step, it's an opportunity to shape andmold your beer. By adjusti ng the water temperature, you canmake beer with the feelof a feather-weight Belgian,or the viscousbody of a sticky imperialstout. Perhap4 a bit 01 the Maqic01 beer i4 that it tran4/orM4 it4el/ be/ore our et{e4.findthe ultiMate 41eiqM 01 hand onthe road to beer happen4 inthe Ma4htun.Micr04copiCenZt{Me4 attack the barlet{4 4tarch,conveyofinq it into 4uqar4 that will eventuallt{ becoMe alcohol INTRODUCTIONTOMASHING Mashing is the first big step onthe trip from grain to glass.By turning the barley starchinto sugar,you've creatednot only fuel for your yeast to create alcoholbut the base of your flavor.Here are thebasic steps: STEP1: SELECT AND GRINDBREWINGGRAINS Whilemaltedbarley is the most commonly used grain, portions of wheat,oats,andrye canbeadded to create different tastes and mouthfeels.Most homebrewing shops will behappy to grind your brewing grains. STEP 2: MASHIN Most simple beers only needa singleinfu-sionof hot water for the grains.By soaking the grains andholding themat around 153F (6rC), enzymes onthe barley wi II break starchdowninto sugar. STEP 3: LAUTER After most of the starchhas converted, lauter, or drain, the grains fromthe sugar solution. STEP 4: SPARGE To assist the lautering, additionalhot water (around170F [7rC]) is added tohelp rinse out the sugar andreachthe desired brewing volume. In this chapter,you'lllearn: How the grinding of grains affects beer The different temperature steps of mashing How to mash,lauter, and sparge How to perform a decoction mash For mashing andlautering, youneed: Malted grains 5-gallon (19 L) or larger stockpot Water Stove or burner Mash tun, such as a cooler with at least a 5-gallon (19 L) capacity 90 minutes -----.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE GRIST The grind of your grain andthe amount of water in the mashcanfurther complicate your mash.Keeping a consistent grind and water-to-grainratio will save youconsider-able headaches.If youmill your grain at home,know that too coarse of a grind will prevent the starch from getti ng wet wh i Ie alsoinsulating it fromthe hot mash water. If yougrind too fine andhave a mix of dust inyour grist, yourisk clogging your mash andextracting tannins fromthe grain. For your water-to-grainratio,1 quart (0.9 L) to1 pound(455 g) of grainis considered thick and2 quarts 0.9 L) to1 pound (455 g)is thin. A thicker mashprotects those enzymes fromdegrading, allowing them to worklonger.If youuse a thinner mash, your extractis more soluble andwashes out of the grainbetter.A ratio of1 % quarts (1.2L)per1 pound(455 g)is considereda safe,efficient middle-ground ratio. MASHING STEPS Your averagehomebrewedbeer gets all the diastolic conversionpower (enzyme activ-ity)it needs fromanhour-long mashsome-wherebetween146F and158F (63C and70e).For a thinner beer, suchas a Belgianale,aimfor thelower end of the scale.For a chewybeer withless ferment-able sugar,mashhotter, and for something like aneveryday pale ale,shoot for153F or154F (6rC or 68e). Brewing tradition calls for additional steps tolower pH,increase starchsolubility, andbreak downproteins andbeta-glucan. However,today's basemalt is packedfullof enzymes andbredforlower proteinlevels. Furthermore,not being constrained within the restraints of Reinheitsgebot , Germany's restrictive brewing purity law,lowering the mashpHis aseasy as dropping a teaspoon of lactic acidinto the mash tun.If youfeel like goi ng the extra mile for the sa ke of trad ition,look at the table to the right. Note:For most brewing purposes, the only additional step worthnoting is the beta-glucanrest at 98F to113F (3rC to 45C)for 20 minutes.If you're using large amounts of rye,oatmeal, or unmalted grains, this restbreaks down the gummy beta-glucanmolecules that would other-wise create a stuck mash. MASH ANDLAUTER TUNS Professionalbrewers useinsulated copper andstainless steelvessels,complete with stirring rakes and steamheat.Homebrew mashtuns,while decidedly less glamorous, are just as effective. Themost commonop-tion for homebrewers is aninsulated cooler witha falsebottom or screen filter to drain out the wort. This cooler works as a com-bination mash andlautertun, saving you the hassle andmess of transferring the hot, sticky grains to a secondvesselto sparge. Whenyoumashin a cooler, your only chal-lenge is hitting the mash temperature.You canpreheat your cooler witha quart (0.9 L) of hot water,but because your grains are at roomtemperature, they'lllower your strike water temperature asmuch as20F (11C) depending onhow much water youadd. A thick mashona coldday willneed that extra20F 01 C),but a th i n mashmight only needanextralOoF (6e). Typically, though, a thick mashneeds about 16F (9C)fromthe strike water. Brewing software, suchas BeerSmithand many online calculators, cangive youa better estimate of strike water tempera-tures to begin,but it is best to takenotes onhow your mash tunreacts so youcan calibrate future batches.Should youmiss your target mash temperature, don't fret. Adding cold water to the tunorleaving the tunlid openwilldrop the temperature, while adding a quart (946 ml) of boil-ingwaterwill raiseit.Monitorthe mash temperature closely with aninstant-read thermometer. ADDITIONAL RESTSTEPS Rest DoughIn Temperature 95F to113F (35C to 45C) Protein113F to131F (45C to 55C) Beta-Glucan95F to113F (35C to 45C) Beta-Amylase131F to150F (55C to66C) Alpha-Amylase154Fto 162F (68C to 72C) MashOut170F to175F (7rC to 79C) BREWING TERM: REINHEITSGEBOT In1516, theBavarian govern-ment created strict standards for brewing beer tomaintain quality, as well asprotect wheat and ryedemand for bakers. The Reinheitsgebot famously limited beer to threeingredients-wa-ter, thebarley, andhops (yeast wascenturies away frombeing identified). Thelaw was later adoptedby allof Germany.It is still followedby brewers today. Some seeit as a statement of purity;adventurous brewers see it as anarchaic and unneces-sary restriction. Time (Minutes)Benefit 20This initial step mixes the starches,enzymes,andwater. It raises efficiency by a few points. Tolower thepH, ex-tend this rest to atleast two hours. 20 to 30If youhavepoorlymodified malt or a large share of un-malted grain, this willbreak downprotein that would otherwise adda haze andad-d itionalbody to the beer. 15 to 20 15 to 60 20 to 30 5 to 20 This breaks down the sticky beta-glucans that come with rye,oatmeal, andunmalted grains. Beta-amylaseproduces malt-ose andis themain contribu-tor instarch conversion. Some maltose is created,but so areunfermentable sugars. This finalstep ends the enzy-matic activity. LAUTER ANDSPARGE Lautering is theprocess of removing liquid fromthe grains. The spargeis a step in lautering that flushes convertedsugars out of the grains andinto thebrew kettle.Fur-ther,youdon't mashwith the finalamount of water that you'llboi I.The sparge water will fill the gap to reachyour desiredbatch size (usually 5 gallons, or19 L). Preheat your sparge water to168F to 180F (76C to 82C)to stop the diastolic conversionof your mashandoptimize wort flow without extracting astringent tan-nins fromthe grainhusks.Plan to use a lower temperature, however,if youwant to continue the starch conversion throughout thelautering.Stop once you've hit your boil volume or a specific gravity of1.012 (3 Plato) with your runoff. CHAPTER1:MASHING ANDLAUTERING A MASHFOR THEAGES: DECOCTION If youwant tomake a truly old-schoolbrew, start witha decoctionmash.This age-old Europeanbrewing technique predates thermometers yet achieves the same processes of a modernmultiple-step mash. I nstead of adding hot water or heati ng the entire mashup to the next rest,brewers pulloff andboilup to a third of the mashin a secondvessel.Boiling aidedwithstarch breakdown, andwhenthe boiledmash was returned to the main vessel,it raisedthe overalltemperature to thenext rest. Theboiling caramelizes sugars and combines sugars andamino acids to create sweetmelanoidins, flavorslost with a step mash.For this reasonmany Germanbrewers still swear by a full four-step tri pie decoction.Fortunately, youcanget similar results athome from a single decoction. MASH Beginwitha standardmashat148F to158F (64C to70C)to convert your starchfor atleast 30 minutes. PULL Removea third of themash to a pot and gradually heat to a boi lover10 to15 minutes. STIR As youreacha boi I, stir the mashoften anddon't leaveit unattended. Youneed to keep the decoction at a boi I,but not scorch grains onthe bottom of the pot. MASHOUT After boiling for15 to 30 minutes,return the decoction to the mash.It shouldraise the temperature to about16rF (75C) and end the enzymatic activity. THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE INTERVIEW WITH: ERICHARPER:BREWER, SUMMIT BREWING CO., ST.PAUL,MINNESOTA, U.S. GROWINGUPIN THE SHADOW OFSHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN'S MALTINGHOUSE,ERICHADHISHANDSINA MASH TUN BEFORELEAVINGHIGHSCHOOL.AFTERBREWING SCHOOL, HEHONEDHIS CRAFT ATNEW GLARUS, ONEOF THE MIDWEST'SMOST REVEREDCRAFT BREWERIES, ANDISNOW A BREWER ATMINNESOTA'S CRAFTBEERBEACON,SUMMIT BREWING. LET'SGOBACK TOTHE BEGINNING.DOYOU REMEMBER YOURFIRST ALL-GRAINMASH? I was somewhereinMilwaukee [Wisconsin] at a friend's place,andit was a pale ale.We had a 5-gallon (19 L)cooler witha piece of braidedcable in the bottomfor my false bottom.I actually bought the cooler and the valves to build my mashandlauter tun. I stoppedat threeHomeDepots onthe way tomy friend's house to get all the pieces. Wewerebuilding it onthe fly andwould realize weneededanother hose clamp. DID YOUHAVE A BREWING PARTNER? Yes,but I basically did all the work and theylistened tomebecauseI was the"ex-pert."I made sure the mash temperatures were good,then we'dlet it sit andwalk down the street to a bar. YOUFELTCONFIDENT ENOUGH TOGODOWN THE STREET FORA BEER? It wasI iterally at the endof the block,it was this tikibar called the Foundation. Maybe my friends weren't all that inter-estedinhomebrewing,but that wasmy first all-grain. HOW'DIT TURNOUT? I think the wort turnedout really well,but the endresu It was defi n itely undercarbon-ated.Not a stellar effort. HOW DIDYOUMOVEFROMA WISCONSIN-ONLY BREWERY TOA LARGERREGIONAL BREWERY LIKESUMMIT? Well,I married a girl fromSt.Paul,Minne-sota and she wantedto moveback.Summit hadanopening.I'm one of sevenbrewers andwe alldobrewhouse,cellaring, and filtration, rotating ona monthly schedule. ,---------------------------THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE ------------------------------It '4Amnt( how ef/icient a little homebY'eweY't( can be compaY'ed toa bi1bY'eweY't(.'lOlAcan 1et a lot of extY'act OlAt of OIAY'malt with limited Y'e401AY'ce4. HOW DOESTHAT ROTATION WORK OUT?ISIT A CHALLENGE? It's definitely a benefit- wehave a diverse team,but everyonehasprofessionaltrain-ing and a lot of experience.Th is gets fresh eyes onyour work. Youdon't get compla-cent andlet things slide 'til something breaks. MOST HOMEBREWERS SINGLE-STEP MASH. WHY WOULD YOUDOTHE MULTISTEP? If youhave a lot of beta-glucanin your malt, you'll want tomashinat a lower temperature,inthe 45C to 50C (l13F to122F)range,to break that up for lautering andclarity. I breweda Belgianbeer here this spring, andone of the th ingsI really wanted to avoidwasphenol ic characteristics later on. Ferulic acidis a precursor tophenol ic flavor.Whenyou're mashing,if youavoid a low rangeof 43C to 44C (l 09F to 111F),then youprevent producing these phenolicprecursors. Some people mash intoknock out the beta-glucans, but then have phenolproblems down the line.It's a tradeoff. IS A PROTEINREST STILL NECESSARY? Today, somuch of the malt we getis well-modified with a lot of enzymes,soit's not anissue.Unless you'reusing a high amount of adjunct or rawbarley andneed tobreak downprotein there,a proteinrest is not necessary.But inhomebrewing,if youwant to addadjunct, flakes are a good option. Youcanget pregelatinizedbarley or corn, or flakedoats.Thenthe starchhas already beenbrokendown. INTERVIEW WITH:ERICHARPER THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE WHAT CHALLENGESDO OTHER GRAINSLIKEWHEAT OROATSPRESENT? Unlike barley malt, wheat doesn't have a husk tohelp strain andfilter thelauter bed. If youdid anall-wheat mash, you 'd have a stuck mash.Withrye andoats,you're going tohave a lot of beta-glucan,but a 45C to 50C (l13Fto 122F)rest for 20 minutes willbreakit up.Analternativeis to userice hulls andthrow thoseinto your mash-it shouldn't affect flavor. WHAT DOYOUDOWITHA STUCK MASH? It doesn't have to be a lost cause.The big breweries use rakes to fluff up the grainbed.Athome,turn off your flow and decompact that grain.It doesn't have to be sterile; a big salad fork works.This happened at Davis [Brewing School] once on thepilot system.We'dgotten a kernel of grain stuck in the run-off valve,so wehookedit up to anair line to pumpit backwards.In the brewery we callthat an underlet. HOWDOYOUCHECK THAT YOURGRAINS AREPROPERLY GROUND? At Summit, we do a sieve analysis where youput a sample of the grist througha series of sieves with the coarsest ontop. Youtake a sample of knownweight,shake the sieve,andwhenyou'redone, youweigh the amount oneach sieve to comparehow well your grainmill is working. CAN THAT WORK FOR HOMEBREWERS? Sure,just buy a coarse sieve for a single limit.If youknow your grind, shake a given amount of your malt through,thenweigh the remains.Now youhave a controlweight to test against future grists. WHAT DOESA GOODGRIND LOOKLIKE? It shouldbe a mix of pieces, but nopowder or huge chunks- a third of a chunk of bar-leyis toobig.Evena quarter pieceisbig. TELLUS ABOUT YOURKEY STEPSINTHEMASHING AND LAUTERINGPROCESS. I'd say fromthe start of the mash,youhave your strike water temperature. Toohot, around169F (76C) , andyou' llkill off your enzymes and youcan't convert your sugars. Sure,youcancoolit down, but if you 'vekilled the enzymes,youcan't make beer.After stirring in the grains andwater, check your temperature and take note of whether it's onor off. [Inlautering]I runoff the wort until the grainbedjust starts showing, thenI sparge. Andthen there's how yousparge. Athome, I alwayslikedpoking holes in thebottom of a milk jug,because youget a nice disper-sal,but there are alsoinexpensive rotating sparge armslike youseeina brewery. SPARGEWATERISHEATED TOSTOPENZYMES,BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHENIT'S TOOHOT? If yougetit toohot, youextract things youdon't want, like tannins, undegraded starch,andsilicates, and there is a potential for haze formation.I think 76C (169F)is a good temperature number for sparge water temp. ANDWHAT ABOUT WHEN YOUDOA MULTISTEP MASH? Look at what rate you're heating the grains andwater (we raise the temperature1C [1.8F]per minute) . If you're heating slowly, yougive your enzymes more time. More importantly, alwaysheat the same way to recreate a beer.Be consistent. ZIEM 19 71 HOWIMPORTANT ISPH? HOW DOYOUCONTROLIT? If your pHis off, the enzymes arenot going tobe happy.A mashpHof 5.3 orlower is typically goodfor the enzymes.Youwant to look at your water composition.Getting a pHmeter is a goodstep for a homebrewer. If youmashinat5.4, that's okay. If youget downinto theupper-fours, that's also good. The enzymes willbemore active. HOW DOYOUADJUST YOUR PH? Aninteresting wayis to create a sour wort to dose your mash. That's a natural tool that goesback toReinheitsgebot andthe Germans.TheLactobacillus is actually living onbarley. Take a cheesecloth or con-tainer andfillit with grain.Dunkit in your wort andkeepit warm.You'llget a soured wort overnight, and that's aneffective and fun way to acidify your mash. INTERVIEW WITH:ERICHARPER ANY FAVORITEMALTS? ARE YOUA PILSNER MALT GUY OR A PALEMALT GUY? Yeah , I like Germanpilsner malt.It's easy tousein the brewhouse,andthe kernels just seemtolook somuchnicer thanAmer-ican two-row malt. They'rebigger, plumper, rounder. They taste goodwhenyouchew them,andtheymake better-tasti ng worts. For specialty grains,I like to use Victory. It's reallynutty andbiscuity, a really toasty malt.It tastes andsmells good- kindof dusty-but it's a neat product.Munichhas a si m i lar toasty character, but th isis a lot nuttier. I'm alsointerestedinmaking beer with flakedcorn,or somekind of whiskey mash. Have youheardof theKentucky Commonstyle? They takepartially what's like distiller's mash- about 50 percent cornand50 percent distillers malt-and thenblend that withbrewers malt andhave it be a sour mashandthen fermentit with anAmericanale yeast. Hops awaiting the fa IIharvest. CHAPTER 2: CHAPTER2: BITTERINGHOPS HOPS ARETHEBALANCINGWEIGHTSINBEER.UNLIKE CIDER,MEAD,ORWINE,ALESANDLAGERSDON'T FERMENT DRY.THERESIDUAL SUGAR LEFTBEHIND WOULD TURN EVERY PINT INTO A SWEET,MALTY DESSERT WITHOUT THE ADDITIONOFBITTERINGHOPSFORBALANCE. BITTERINGHOPS INTRODUCTIONTOHOPS After mashing,lautering, and sparging, brewers heat up their kettles of wort.Once the wort reaches a boi I,they addhops to createbitternessina beer.Thelonger hops areboiled, the morebitterness is added. Hops boiled for more than30 minutes will contribute little flavor or aroma;however, the variety of hops usedfor bittering can changehow thebitterness feels andhow muchis contributed. Just like some apples aremore tart, withhigher acidlevels,hops withhigher levels of bittering acids provide more kick. In this chapter, you'lllearn: The history of hops The chemicals that define their bitterness How that bitterness is quantified What varieties to use A BRIEF HISTORY OFHOPS The green,sticky harbingers of bitterness are a relatively recent add ition tobeer when youconsider the beverage dates back to the dawn of civi I ization. The first records of hops cultivation come fromGermany's Hallertauregioninthe year 736.Monas-tery (where else?) statutes fromthe eighth century appear tobe the first records of using hops for beer.Until hops were ad-optedworldwide in the nineteenth century, brewers oftenused a mix of bitter herbs, suchasbog myrtle, groundivy,mugwort, and yarrow-called gruit-to balance the malt sweetness.Not only did most drinkers prefer the taste ofhops,but the antibacte-rialnature ofhopshel pedbrewers wardoff beer spoi lage. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE Likemost agricultural commodities, today's hops havebeenbredand farmedto the point where they barely resemble those usedevena century ago.The alpha acid contents of eventhe weakesthops today are many times more potent thanboth their wi Idand farmedancestors.Thelast severaldecades have seenanexplosionin the number of hop varieties thanks inlarge part to university researchfarms.Sonow whether you're a mega brewer looking for anefficient, super high-alpha acidhop, or a homebrewer in searchof a spicy,fruity American-Europeanhybrid, there's a hop for you. ALPHA ACIDSAND UTILIZATION Within the hop flower (technically calleda catkin) are small yellow sacks of oils.Much like barley has starchhidden within the husk,hopshave alpha acids. In short, this is the goodstuff. The amount of thesebitter acids youcan extract fromhopsis a balance of boiltime andwort sugar content. The greater the gravity of your wort, theless alphaacidin your beer.Andthe longer youboil, the more acids pullout. The alpha acids inhops isomerize during the boil,meaning the mo-lecular shape changes,andthey become water-soluble,sticking to your wort. Your averagebeer (specific gravity [SG] l.040 tol.060) will be able toutilize between20 and25 percent of the alpha acids over a 60-minute boil.Bumping up to 90 minutes will only increase the utilization by a point or two.Using hopplug or whole-leaf hops inplace of the standard pelletizedhops willalsolower your overall utilization by about10 percent due to the decreasedsurface area compared to a dissolvedpellet. COHUMULONE There are three different al phaac ids inhops:humulone, adhumulone,and cohumulone.It's unclear what humulone andadhumulone contribute beyondbitter-ness,but cohumulone levels control the type of bitterness. A beer hoppedwithlow cohumulone-Ievelhops willhave a clean bitterness, while hops witha highlevel have harsher,biting bitterness. Whenpicking hops,look beyond the alpha acids percentage whenconsidering the bitterness of your finalproduct.If youwant a tongue-ripping bitterness in your pale ale, pick bittering hops withatleast a 30 per-cent cohumulone share of the alpha acids. INTERNATIONAL BITTERINGUNITS I BUs represent the proportion of iso-alpha acids ina beer.In a lab,a singleIBU equals a milligram of isomerized alpha acid inoneliter of wort.A highI BUnumber, however,does not guarantee a bitter beer. Theperceivedbitterness is a resu It of the balancebetweenresidual(unfermented) sugar andhops.Big,thick beers,including stouts andbarleywines,require a highI BU levelsimply to achieve a level of balance. At the same time, a drier pale ale with the sameIBUlevelwouldfeelmore bittersim-ply because there's less sweet barley sugar tobegin with. IBULEVELSFORPOPULAR STYLESOFBEERPER THEBEER JUDGE CERTIFICATIONPROGRAMSTYLEGUIDELINES Addasmuch or aslittler bitterness as youplease- it's your beer after all - but knowing the bitterness ranges for classic beer styles canhelp youconnect what you're tasting in your beer aisle to your homebrewery. StyleIBU Light AmericanLager8 to12 ClassicBohemianPilsner35 to 45 GermanWeissbier8 to15 EnglishPale Ale30 to50 AmericanI PA40 to 70+ BelgianTripel20 to 40 GermanBock20 to 27 AmericanStout35 to 75 AmericanDoubleIPA70 to100+ CHAPTER2: BITTERINGHOPS FIRST WORT HOPPING If you're curious enough to try something different,use first wort hopping onyour next batchof hoppy beer.This old, some-what forgotten,German technique calls for anaddition of hops while the wort collects inthe kettle. Theresults of scientific studies onfirst wort hopping found slight increasesinIBUs and flavor andaroma, with the theory that different chemicalreactionshappen to the hops as they steepinthe roughly140F to 160F (60C to 71 C)wort.If youwant to try this onyour next pale ale,they recom-mendadding atleast 30 percent of your hops to the first wort addition tonotice a difference. THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE KNOW YOURBITTERINGHOPS INTERVIEW WITH:VINNIE CILURZO INTERVIEW WITH: VINNIECILURZO:OWNER, RUSSIANRIVERBREWINGCO., SANTA ROSA,CALIFORNIA,U.S. HOPHEADS ANDIPA LOVERSCANTHANK VINNIEFORNOT ONLYBREWING THE WORLD'SFIRST DOUBLEINDIA PALE ALE, BUT ALSOSIMPLY PRODUCINGBIGHOPPY BEERWHETHER PEOPLEWANTEDIT ORNOT.CREATEDBACK WHENYOUR AVERAGEPALEALEWASSTILL TOOBITTER FORCRAFT BEER LOVERS,VINNIE'S RUSSIANRIVERBREWINGCOMPANY CELEBRATESHISDEVOTION TOHOPS ANDNOW PRODUCES SEVERAL OF THE WORLD'SMOST-SOUGHT-AFTER IPAs. YOURFAMILY HAS A HISTORY INTHEBUSINESS OFFERMENTATION, BUT WITHWINE. WHY BEER? After high school,I moved to SanDiego and startedhomebrewing withmy room-mates. Eventhough the first batchwas ter-rible,probably near undrinkable,I knewI wanted to continue on.AndI liked theidea of being able to turn a batchin,say,three weeksinstead of wine,which cantake a year or two or evenmore.I loved that if you didn't getit quite right,youhadanother opportunity tobrew andknock out another batch. Things weren't being dictated by season. Eventually,I movedback to the winery and started working,and that's whenI really got into homebrewing,in1989. Downin the basement of the winery waswhereI did most of my early experi mentation that sti II carried oninto what we do today. SOTHATLEDTOOPENING YOUR OWNBREWERY,THE BLINDPIG. Yes,that wasin1994. I hadtwo other busi-ness partners, but I was the brewing side. I was there three years,thenducked out. They kept going a couplemore years before they shut it down. In1997, [my wife]Natalie andI cameup to SantaRosa.Neither of ushadjobs or a place to stay.Wehad a couple of leads and that wasit. We got hiredbyKorbelto start RussianRiverBreweryin1997. In 2003, they decided to get out of the beer business,so webought the name and the brewery,closed for a year,and then reopenedas a brewpub. ,.:C---------- - - - ; ; . ; - - ~ LETME GOBACK TOTHE BLINDPIGDAYS. YOUMAY HAVEBREWED THEFIRST DOUBLEIPA ONTHEPLANET. TheBlindPigIPA was definitely a straight-upIPA andthere weren't a lot ofIPAs being made at the time,particularly inbottles. Rubiconwasmaking one at their pub. Vince andGinaMarsaglia were making their firstIPA at their PizzaPort brewpub. THE SWAMIS IPA. Yeah,andasa bright-eyed,fell-off-the-turnip-truck homebrewer turning pro,I didn't know how tobump a recipe up or take a homebrew froma 5-gallon(19 L) batchandturnit into sevenbarrels.I still remember Vince just giving me their entire reci pefor the Swam is to use asa reference. That sort of thing still shi nes through to Master of the hops Vinnie Cilurzo how our industry is today. The"high tide floats allboats"mind-set. BUT YOUBREWED THEFIRST DOUBLEIPA ATBLINDPIG. It was the first beer wemade atBlindPig, calledInaugural Ale.We took what was going to be our regularI PArecipe and literally doubled the hops onit andbrought the alcoholup a I ittle bit.Everything was all-malt at the time-we didn't use any sugar-wh ichis someth i ng weuse a lot of nowinour double I PAs. Weactua Ily letit dry-hop for a year and then releasedit. Our second year,we startedbrewing it onthe spot. Back then,thosebeers were waymore bitter than they arenow, comparing what I remember the anniversary beers tobe, compared to our Pliny TheElder beer.It's got more roundness to it,more malt foun-dation, a little morebalance. INTERVIEW WITH: VINNIE CILURZO --------------------------------I thou9ht We4hould take our re9ular IPff reCipe,doublethe hOp4 onit and the idea Wa4not onlt{ would we get thi44uper:oVer-the-top hoppt{ beer: but al40that hOp4 act a4 a natural pre4ervative.1?eallt{,I didn't know ant{ better:but that'4 4ti11how Weall operate. ,-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE I REMEMBER THE ANNIVERSARY IPA HAD SOMEHARSHER BITTERNESS. As someoneput it,it waslikelickingthe rust off a tin can.That definitely was very true of thosebeers.Oneof these days,I'm going tohave tobreak out the recipes and rebrewit.I th in k a part of thosebeers at BlindPig cannever berecreatedbecause of the equipment wewereusing. YEAH, YOUHAVE TOGET YOURSELF SOMEPLASTIC FERMENTERS. Well,that too,but the kettle was soin-effic ient,andthen the uti Iization was so poor,that you'dhave to pour gobs ofhops into achieve any sort of bitterness. When youdid that, youwere obviously also ex-tracti ng allsorts of flavor fromthe hops. THEREHAD TOBEMORE TO THE VISIONTHANSEEING VINCE'S SWAMIS RECIPE. WHAT ONEARTHCAUSED YOUTOMAKE A BEER THAT IS JUST SOHUGELY BITTER? I washomebrewing our BlindPigIPA recipe for a long time, taking it to the homebrew club in Temecula andthe SoCal Homebrewers Festival.I was getting a lot of great remarks for it.Whenwelookedat the market, there werepale ales,but wekind of wanted to do something different andthe IPA was the flavor weliked. For the anniversary beer,the double I PA-that waspurely because we thought the equipment andthe plastic fermenters might not yieldsomething that was sellable onthe first batch.SoI thought we should take our regularIPArecipe,double the hops onit, and the idea wasnot only would we get this super,over-the-top hoppy beer, but also that hops act as a naturalpreserva-tive.Really,I didn't know anybetter,but that's stillhow we alloperate. CANI QUOTE YOUONTHAT? THAT YOUMADE A BIG HOPPY BEERBECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER? It's true.Th ink witha IIthe beers [we]put out-it's not like we're out doing market studies.We'reputting beers out because welike them.Andwe've convinced the consumer to drink our style of beer,not the other way around. LET'SGETINTO TECHNICALITIES. WHEN WE'RE TALKINGABOUT BITTERINGHOPS,HOW LONGOF A BOIL DOYOU RECOMMEND? I know a lot of brewers willcut to a 60-minute boil,but weuse a gO-minute boil for blowing off all the dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that might be thereinthemalt. We typically have three hop additions,some-times four. Now that we're all-steam at bothour breweries,we're getting a ripping boil. The efficiencies are muchhigher.I knowBlindPigIPA was somewhere around 92I BUs.Compared tohow many hopsit takes now ona per-barrelbasis,wewere probably using one and a half times as many hops back then, but indoing so we capturedjust a tonof hop flavor. WHENYOUCONSIDER YOURBITTERINGHOPS, DOYOULOOK AT THEIR COHUMULONE CONTENT? WhenI started, I didn't really think about cohumulone.A textbook will tell youthat youhave touse a low-cohumulone hop oryou'll get a harshbitterness.I think an IPA or doubleIPA benefits froma hop like Chinook,whichweuse as the bittering hop inBlindPig,and the ColumbuslTomahawkl Zeus (CTZ) , alsousedas bittering hops. These aren't low cohumulone hops, andI like thembecause they adda bit of anedge to a beer anda little more personality, as opposed to only using a hoplike Magnum, Warrior,orHorizon, whichhave a superlow cohumulone and translate to a really nice, cleanbitterness. ARETHEREANY NEW HOP VARIETIES YOU'REEXCITED ABOUT? I travelto Yakima once a year andoften I'll be fortunate enough to rubsomenew varieties that arein their experimental phase. Thehop growers,througha couple of different researchgroups, are always looking to breednew varieties.But, it takes about tenyears for a hop variety to go from its first planting to commercialavailabi lity. I n most cases,each year eachhop breed-ing program willstart withat least 20,000 plants,but most often they will only have less thana dozen that might have a chance of making it. INTERVIEW WITH: VINNIE CILURZO A beer sampler at the Russian River Brewing Co.Brewpubincludes Vinnie's Blind Pig IPA (far left). DOYOUTHINK THERE'S A LIMIT TOHOW MUCH BITTERNESS WECAN PERCEIVE? ASIN,IS THERE A RELATIVELEVEL OFIBU AFTER WHICH YOU'RE WASTINGHOPS? Yes,thereis a point where youcan't taste the bitterness andit becomes unpleasant. Wehave th is th ing at our brewery that we call theLupulin ThresholdShift. This is theidea that as a persondrinks more and more hoppy beers, their palate cravesmore hop flavor andmore hop bitterness.So someone who started out drinking a pale alemight eventually move to anIPA and eventually move to a doubleI PA,andso on. --------------------------------Wehave thi4 thin9at our brewerf.( that Wecalf the LupulinThre4hold ~ h ; . f t ;Thi4 i4 the ideathat a4 a per40n drink4 Wloreand Wlorehoppf.( beer4,their palate craVe4 Wlorehop .flavor and Wlorehop bifferne44. --------------------------------Dried and pressedhop flowers waiting for brew day. CHAPTER 3: CHAPTER3: AROMll(J(II!I YOUCANNOMOREBLAMECRAFTBEERDRINKERSFOR RAISING THEIPA ABOVE ALLOTHERS THAN YOUCANBLAME HOPSFOR TASTING ANDSMELLING TENACIOUSLY GOOD. WHENTHECARBONATION ANDESSENTIAL HOPOILSARE JUST RIGHT,A BEER'S AROMA CANBURST FORTHUPON HITTING YOURGLASS,ONLYFURTHER WHETTING YOUR APPETITE. YOUMIGHT EVENSAY THAT A FINEHOPPY BEER IS A TEASE. AROMA HOPS INTRODUCTIONTO AROMAHOPS Aromahops are added to the boi I after bittering hops.Despite the name, they contribute botharoma and flavor.Byadd-ing themlater in the boil, the aroma and flavor compounds areretained.The closer to the endof the boi I the hops areadded, the brighter andmore crisp they'llbe wh i Ie also contributing more to aroma.Anyhop variety canbeusedfor aroma andbittering, but certain typeshavebeenbred for oneor the other. In this chapter, you'lllearn: The different types of hops Recommended hop blends When to addhops Hop flavor compounds AMERICANHOPS Americanpale ales owe their hoppy begin-nings to Cascade,whichin1972 became the first widely acceptedAmericanaroma hop.I nnovation was slow for that gen-eration of homebrewers, asmost modern varieties didn't appear unti I the1990s. Today,about thirty Americanvarieties are available with aromas ranging from pungent citrus to del icate floralspice. Hops defy concrete characterization, and to a degree arelike grapes,with goodand bad years.However, the more establ ished a variety,the steadier it becomes year after year.Reliable standbys,suchas Cascade and Centennialhops,arebedrocks of consistent brewing. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE SUGGESTEDHOPBLENDS Forlesser-knownhops,most postharvest descriptions fromdistributors leavemuch tobe desired.How helpfulisit toknow a new variety's aromais"mild andpleasant"? Tohelp supplement your ownbatch-to-batchhopping experiments, try some of thesehop mixes for flavor andaroma. VarietiesBlendRatio AmarilloandSimcoe1:1 Crystal(or Mt.Hood) andSimcoe3: 1 AmarilloandCentennial1:1 Centennial, Amarillo, andSimcoe1:1:1 Goldings andTarget4: 1 SaazandHallertau3:1 Strisselspalt andCrystal1: 1 (orMt.Hood) Character Tropicalfruit andpine Pine withherbal and floralhints Tropicalfruit,lemon, grapefruit, andmango Fruity,pine, andcitrus ForEnglish ales;earthy and spicy withhints of tangeri ne Pepper andfloral Floralandcitrus Blends courtesy of Stone Brewing Co. 'sHead Brewer,Mitch Steele EUROPEANHOPS The classichop fields inKent,England, orHallertau, Germany, grow beautiful, wonderfully subtlehops.Where American hops tendtoward the big andboldcitrus flavor,many GermanandEnglishhops hold a more delicate spicy character.If blending bothtypes of hops,andyoushould try it at somepoint,be wary of overpowering the milder hops. If you're recreating classicEuropeanstyles, strictly traditionalhops aren't always necessary.Going backmore thanone hundred years,Britishbrewers wereknown to employ Americanhops whenthe prices wereright.Today,Germanbrewersimport about a third of their hops fromtheUnited States. HOP TERRIOR Hop d istri butorslargely sellhop varieties as a commodity,withonly a country of origin to d isti ngu ishthem.Justlike vi ntners might have a favoritehillside of grapes, brewers make appointments withgrowers to find theperfect crop andplace orders for the year. Homebrewers can't alwayshave the lUxury of rubbi ng freshcones between their fingers,but smaller independent growers may selldirect tobrewers online in small quantities for homebrewing.Eachfarm's soil, climate, and tending bring a slight, but unique, character to hops. HOP BURSTING Happy doesn't always equate tobitter beer. In fact,by pulling your IBUs fromaroma and flavor additions (the final30 minutes of a boi I),youcancreate a smoother bitter-ness that lets the malt standup for itself in the finalbeer character. The name "hop bursting" was givenby home brewers,andthe technique calls for adding a large charge of hops near the end of the boi I.Somebrewers prefer to d istri b-ute thehops over the finalhalf hour their wortis onthe heat.Others drop their hops infor the final5 minutes. The essential rule to follow is that atleast half of the IBUs shouldbedrawn fromthe aroma and flavor add itions. POSTBOIL ADDITIONS Once the heat is off, there are twopopu-lar spots toboost the hop aroma.I n both cases,about 2 ounces (57 g) of hops will have a noticeable effect ina 5-gallon(19 U batch of I PA. HOPBACK Immediately out of the kettle,before the wort evencools,brewers willpump the hot liquid througha hopback. Think of it as adding backhop aromas and oillost to the boil. The device goesback atleast a couple hundred yearsinbrewing history andis essentially a sealedcontainer witha filter that allows wort topass through the hops, absorbing the fragrant oi Is.The wort would thenbe cooled andretain the aromatic compounds. Somehopback advocates claim exposing the hops to hop wortis more sanitary,but hops have their ownaseptic properties, and infection throughhops is rarely,if ever, anIssue. DRY-HOPPING This simple,but slow,process canpotentially add a crisper,more pungent hop aroma than a hopback. Brewers typically add the hops for the last five to fourteen days of conditioning, but if that's all the time your beer will mature, rack the batch onto the hops.Unless added to a sterile, weighted hop bag, your addition may float on top of the beer,not maxi m iz-ing contact area. This is more a problem for whole-leaf hops. For anextrahop punch, try the technique of double dry-hopping.Split your dry hops into two equalcharges.Thenif, for example,you'redry-hopping for tendays, add the first charge with tendays remaining and the second with five days remaining. The twolevels of dry-hopping wi IIadddepth to your aroma. HOP CHEMISTRY Homebrewers cancreate moreinteresting beerif theyunderstand the roles of the chemicals that make up those delicious alpha acids. MYRCENE Alpha acids andcohumulone help usunder-standbitterness (see chapter 2 for more), but myrcene is aneasyi nd icator of pu ngent citrus andpine character.It's one of four essentialoils that contribute to flavor and aroma.Hop distributors willlist the share of myrcene just like alpha acids.The classic noble hops of Europe arelowinmyrcene (about 20 percent of the oi Is), whi Ie stereo-typically richAmericanhops,suchas Amarillo,Simcoe, andCascade,are higher inmyrcene (about 60 percent). HUMULENE Humulene represents a spicy,herbal central European character.Hops that areparticu-larly strong in this sense,suchasFuggle, Saaz,andHallertau, will have one to two times more humulene thanmyrcene. CHAPTER 3: AROMAHOPS SPOTLIGHT:HOWNEW HOPSAREBORN Every year,oneor,if we're lucky, twonew hops varieties are planted enmasse andmake their way toyourlocalhome-brew store. Theselow numbers aren't for a lack of effort. Every spring inthelargest hop-growing regionintheUnited States, the YakimaValley,about 100,000 new varieties are bred throughcross-pollination and planted with thehope that in ten yearsoneofthese plants will produce strong,pleasing, and consistent hops. Over the first year, about half the breeds will simply die, while others are quickly eliminated for reasons such as poor dis-ease resistance,weak cone structure, andbad yield. The fol-lowing year, about one hundred potential varieties remainand theplanting expands so farmers canbegin topredict how they'll act if widely planted. Some will develop strong onionor garlic aromas while otherslack con-sistency. After fiveor six years, growers beginletting brewers experiment.If the feedbackis positive, the next Simcoe or Amarillo may beborn. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE INTERVIEW WITH: NICK FLOYD:OWNER, THREEFLOYDSBREWINGCO., MUNSTER,INDIANA,U.S. KNOWNASTHE"ALPHA KING,"NICK ANDHIS MASTERY OFHOPS STARTED AT ANUNLIKELY BREWERY. BUT OVER THELASTDECADE, HEDEVELOPED A CULT FOLLOWINGFORBEERSTHAT AREALMOST BAWDY IN THEIRHOPPINESS. WHAT WASYOURFIRST BREWING JOB? The first jobI could get wasinAuburndale, Florida,alligator country,at the Florida Brewery,whichmadeFalstaff,Gator Lager, Malta,andevenHatuey, the Cubanbrand. WOW,MALTA. Yeah,unfermented [expletive]porter. You'llput that in your book? I MAY HAVE TONOW. Andwe werebrewing witholdcast-iron equipment. I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WASCASTIRONBREWING EQUIPMENT. Ohyeah,these guys didn't care.Themash mixer,where youmashin, andthe kettle were castiron with direct steaminjection. Metallic was the house character. THAT THINGMUST HAVE BEENA LOCOMOTIVE. I was21, sosometimesI'd goof off and leave the kettle.Boilovers would shoot off a 20-foot rainbow of wort. SO YOUMAY NOT HAVE TAKENTHEMOST PRIDEIN YOURPRODUCTS? Whenyouwentinthe offices, you'd see 300 different cans of beer brands,but 200 of them were the samelager. Andwe brewed for ABCLiquors,a big chaindown there.Theyhada I ight, anale,a lager,and a malt I iquor,but the ale and the lager were the same andthe malt liquor hada handful ofMelomalt added to giveit a slight golden color. It's hard to bel ieve,but it's a good experience whenyou're 2l. I EXPECT THISNEXT QUESTIONWILL GET SOME CHUCKLESOUTOFYOU-HOW WEREHOPS REGARDEDTHERE? I think wehad two different kinds.Nugget hops andSaaz for speciallagers like Hat-uey.Aliiknew about hops was that there was a bittering kindandanaromakind. WHAT TURNED YOUONTO HOPPY BEER? Part of it wasbrewing all that crapin Florida.I hada SierraNevadainTampa andI was amazed, thenI startedliking freshGermanhoppy stuff. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE IT SOUNDSLIKEIT GOT YOUR ATTENTIONAND IMAGINATION. THENWHAT? This uptight GermandudeinChicago hada job available at the Weinkeller Brewery.I'm like, youhave allstainless equipment andI canmake whateverI want? Ja. I startedbringing inallthe Cascade, Centennial, or whatever freak-shownew Americanhops we could get our hands on. But the German guy was so tightly wound hemust have firedhalf of Chicago, and the place didn't last long. LET'S TALK ABOUT EXPERIMENTING WITHNEW HOP VARIETIES. For professionalbrewers, it's reallyimpor-tant to go to the hopsharvest inYakima. Set up appointments,rub and smell allthe hops, find out what field youlike, what growing regionyoulike, what variety.Fi ndout wh ich farms are growing experimentalhops. In2010, wewere one of eight breweries to getEIDorado hops.Weuseda control beer,I ike a pale ale or Germanaltbier for a single-varietalbatch to test it. We'lldo sev-eralbatches like that a year with different andnew varieties. Whenever we finda new hop welike, wejump onit and start making new stuff. VARIETIESCHANGE CHARACTER EVERY YEAR. I think Amarillo hops aren't as good as they used tobe;we'rephasing them out.Sum-mit,inmy opinion,used tobe great when it was grownas a dwarf;now it tastes tome like onionsif yougo to a hop field.Centen-nialandCascade are always solid,and more varieties arebecoming more reliable every year.But youstart by adjusting your hopblends to mimic the aroma and flavor youwant,maybe mix ina hoplike Warrior or Simcoe. LET'SSAY YOU'VEGOT A HANDFULOFHOPS,BUT THEY DON'T NECESSARILY SMELL LIKEWHAT THEY'LL BRING TOTHEBEER ... They don't, but for us,whenwesmellthe hops we canvisualize it.Any hint of dirt, onions,or badaromas willbepickedup later if youdry-hop.Not somuchwith kettle hops.The way we do it is hand to nose to kettle. DOYOUHAVECURRENT FAVORITEHOP VARIETIES ANDOLDSTANDBYS? Our big three are Centennial , Cascade, and Warrior. Wemix different high-alpha Americanhops to emulate what wewant, basically. ISOMETRIZEDHOP EXTRACT: WHEREDOESTHAT FIT IN? Youmight look atit asanabomination bybig breweries,'cause theyuse gallons of that.ButI think it's a secret weapon for making doubleI PAs and giant I BUs without having the vegetable matter you 'd otherwiseneed. It hasits benefits. I KNOWOFONEHIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTERIPA THAT USESIT.DOYOU? Allour dou bleI PAs.I th ink theyhavea place,butit's anart tousi ng them.I say why not try it out for anything over 80 I BUs. ISTHERE A LIMIT TOHOP AROMA?CANYOUOVER-DRY-HOP? Notto me.Yeah,I'm sure whenyouspend a lot of money making four kegs of beer, that might be a limit. It tastes the same as XYZ I PA,but you canbrag about it on your menu andcharge more at bars. Thehop aroma wars arelike WorldWarIItanks: The Ger-mans came out with a new panzer, and then suddenly the Russians have their new tank. I think the war's ended,but somebrewers are still going. I guess we'vebeen there, done that, andknow where our limit is. ALL THIS EXTREMEBREWING HASCERTAINLY PUSHED A LOTOF THRESHOLDS AND FRONTIERS.ARETHERE ANY LEFT? Now the rushis to goback andmake extremely sessionable,amazing quality beerslike a helles lager.Not many people are doing that.I think most extremes have beenmet.NowI'm more happy tomake a kickasslager andput it ina can. WHAT DOYOUTHINK ABOUT IDEAL WINDOWSFORIPA OR PALE ALE,ABOUTHOWFAST HOPSDETERIORATE? It's a big issue for double I PAs. Allthese beer geeks want to drink it at two weeks old and say it's garbage at five weeks.It ki lis me becauserealI PAs took three or four months to get toIndia and then they were mellow androunded. YOUDON'T MIND A LITTLE TIME ONYOURBEERS? Ilike AlphaKing whenit's three months old, but to thenew extreme geeks, that's past its prime. They'renot looking for any other nuances besides getting kickedin the nostril by a pinecone.Evenour double I PAat eight months,people sayit's crap. Me personally, I like stuff that's ageda bit more. SOWHEREDOYOUPUT AGINGLIMITS? I'd gobyIBUs. A day for everyIBU,if it's bottled clean tobeginwith. IS THERE A THRESHOLD AFTER THAT? I think anything over 90 IBUs youcangive at least half a year or a year.Anddon't call it a drain-pour, just 'causehops have mel-loweda bit;it's still a good,clean, bitter, bright I PA.Look for the other nuances in the beer. DOYOUHAVE A PREFERENCE BETWEEN WHOLE-LEAF HOPS ANDPELLETS? Wechoosepellets for their stabi lity.If we were closer to growers, wemight favor whole-leaf. But for shipping andstoring, pellets make more sense.Some of the greatest microbreweries out thereuse pelletizedhops,soI don't think there's a disadvantage. INTERVIEW WITH:NICK FLOYD YOU'REKNOWNMORE FORNEW AMERICAN HOP VARIETIESTHAN TRADITIONAL EUROPEANS. CANEUROPEAN VARIETIESBEUSEDIN NONTRADITIONAL WAYS? Ohyeah. Wenowmake Blackheart,an English version of DreadnaughtImperial IPA with Styrian Golding andEastKent Golding hops.Whatpreventedus beforeis that Europeanhops have beenso expensive andiffy onconsistency.But once youhave a stable of American-hoppedbeers,why not goback andexperiment withEuropean andnoble hops? WHAT'S A BLENDOF AMERICANANDEUROPEAN HOPS YOUENJOY? I'duse a small amount of Warrior for bit-terness and thenlarge amounts of English aroma varieties. Schwaben Brau Festbier at the Stuttgart Oktoberfest. Like a traditional Oktoberfest beer, it's lighter in color than the amber lagers that are exported. CHAPTER 4: CHAPTER 4: LAGERBREWING COLD-FERMENTEDBEERSDATEBACK ABOUT 500 YEARS, BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL1883 THAT A SCIENTIST AT THE CARLSBERGBREWERY IDENTIFIED ANDSEPARATEDLAGER YEAST. ALONGWITHTHEPRODUCTIONOFPALEBARLEY MALT A FEW DECADESEARLIER,LAGERSHAVEINFAMOUSLY COME TODOMINATE THEWORLD'SBEER-DRINKING POPULATION-ALBEIT WITHWATERY CORRUPTIONSOF FORMERLY GREATBEERS.BUTUNLESS YOUWANT TOBREW SUCHA BEERPURELY FORTHE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE-A LIGHT LAGERREQUIRESGREAT SKILL TOTASTESOBLAND-LOOKINGTOTHE FULL-FLAVOREDLAGERS,INCLUDING GERMANPILSNERS, VIENNA LAGERS,ORSCHWARZBIER,IS A PALATE-SATISFYINGENDEAVOR. LAGERBREWING INTRODUCTIONTOLAGERS Lagers are definedby their use of lager yeast,also calledbottom-fermenting yeast. While the vast majority (volumetrically) of the world's beerislager,most homebrewers make ales with top-fermenting ale yeast becauseit ferments at roomtemperature. Lager yeast requires colder conditions, usually around50F (lOe). This tempera-ture also slows down the yeast,requiring a longer fermentationandmaturationperiod. In this chapter, you'lllearn: Lagering equipment Lager yeast strains Lager fermentation and conditioning Ingredients for traditional lager styles LAGERINGEQUIPMENT If you'renot blessedwith a consistently coolcellar,or caveif you're old-school, you'llneednew equipment to chill your beer andkeepit cold throughout the fermentation andconditioning. Profes-siona I brewersuse glycol-fi liedheati ng and cool i ng jackets around thei r fermenters to control their beer temperatures.Thehome-brewers' solution,however, isless elegant. Instead of attaching a cooling apparatus to your fermenter,the common strategy is to modify a chest freezer or refrigerator with more precise temperature controls.While a chest freezeris the most efficient use of space,oldrefrigerators are easier to come by.For temperature control , you'llneeda digital temperature controlandprobe to automatically kick the refrigeration com-pressorinto gear as the fermenter (if you attach the probe toit) or air heats up. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE LAGER YEAST Conventionalwisdom states that lager yeasts are a clean,cold-fermenting type of Saccharomyces.But to think of them as simple strains does a disservice to their potential.Like ale yeast,certain strains can accentuate the malt or hops while bringing their owndistinctive signature notes. LAGERSTRAINS Thelager yeasts available don't number nearly as great as ale strains,but there's sti IIa fi ne variety for fermenti ng anylager imaginable. Though this simplifies the se-lection,picking a geographical yeast region is a first stepinbuilding your next beer. GERMAN Emphasizes malt character.SouthGerman orBavarianstrains may produce more diacetyl. Oktoberfest-oriented strainmakes exceptionalmalt-forwardbeers. CZECH Dry,but still malty andmay produce more esters. ThePi Isenstra intends toward cleaner profile andis the Chico equivalent of Iager yeast. SWISS High-attenuating anddesigned to take on high-gravity lagers withpotential alcohol levels greater than11percent. AMERICAN Dry andclean,but not without character. Slight fruit , some wouldsay greenapple,is characteristic. LAGERFERMENTATION Primary lager fermentationis not much colder thanale fermentation,but it's below roomtemperature. The general tempera-ture targetis around50F (lOC),thougha smart brewer will check the yeast specifica-tions. Th is stage req u ires refrigeration. The colder tem perature creates two d iffer-ences beyondneeding refrigeration.First, eventhough the yeastis bred for the brisk cond itions, expect topitch twice asmany yeast cells.For a 5-gallon(l9 L)batch, that's two WhiteLabs vials or Wyeast smack packs.Second,lager yeast ferments slowly, with a ten- to fourteen-day primary fermentationbeing typical. FERMENTER SHAPE Stylistically,lagers sharelittle withBrit-ishandBelgianales except using open fermentersinthe recent past. Today,the openprocessis usedby some German-style wheatbrewers,but eventhebest craft brewers use cylindroconical fermenters. The theorybehind wide openfermentersis that the reducedair pressure encourages richer andmore complex flavor. If youhave a knack for sanitation, youcan compare the differences yourself: Split a batchof beerinto openand closed vessels. For your open vessel,use a normal fer-menter or stain less steelpot,andplace a loose-fitting lid over the top.Aluminum foil canalso serve as a lid; yousimply want to prevent larger contaminants likepethair anddirt fromfalling in.Fermentforthe normal amount of time andageina closed conditioning tank asusual. CONDITIONING Here's where your beer gets chilly. The notion of a lager is rootedinthe act of conditioning.Historically, Germanlagers were storedincoolcaves over the summer. Thebeer wasnamedafter this process,as lager inGermanmeans to stock or store something. During lagering, flavorsblend withoff-tast-ing compounds including diacetyl, sulfur, andaldehyde-a chemicalthat gives some mainstreambeers a tart apple flavor. A goodruleis to condition your standard lager for four weeks at just-above freezing temperatures (33F to 34 OF,or O.6C to 1C). Stronger beers, of course,benefit from extendedaging.Giving a 9 percent doppelbock three to sixmonths tomellow anddevelopis reasonableif youhave the patience andspace. INGREDIENTS MALTS There's no right or wrongbasemalt for a lager.Traditionally,brewers mashinsix-row barley,andif you're recreating a specific style of lager, youcanuse the traditional malt.Eventhelightest pilsner malts have a lighter, grainier flavor profile that sets it apart fromthe popular alemalt, two-row barley. If you'reused tobrewing with two-row,expect up to5 percent less extract as six-row has a larger husk andless starch. Your attention shou Idbe ontai loring your ingredients to themalts andbeer you've envisioned.Homebrew shops alwayskeep Germansix-row pilsner malt onhand,but if you're interestedina Czech-style lager, look for Moravianmalt.Or if the richmalty bocks arecalling out to you,pick a malt-centric yeast suchas anOktoberfest strain. HOPS It isno coincidence your beer aisleis devoid of anything resembling animpe-rialIndia palelager.(Ichallenge youto try brewing one,of course.)By nature,longer fermentation andconditioning time mel-lows hop character. Andunlike British ale, thereisno conventionof Czechor German brewers adding hopspostboil.Big hoppy lagers are absolutely possible,butif you're chasingIBUs andalphaacids, ales are more accommodating. Noblehops produce a reliably classic (and tasty)lager.Thelist of noble hops is up for some debate,but Saaz,Hallertauer,Spalt, and Tettnanger safely fallinto the group. Thereis small,but significant, variation between these varieties,but they'reknown for a spicy,herbal, and floralcharacter. CHAPTER 4: LAGERBREWING THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE INTERVIEW WITH:BILLCOVALESKI INTERVIEW WITH: BILL COVALESKI: VICTORY BREWINGCO.,DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA,U.S. WHILESOME CRAFT BREWERSRACETOWARD THEEXTREME,BILL ANDRON STEERED VICTORY BREWING TOWARDMASTERING AND THENIMPROVINGUPON CLASSIC STYLES. THE BREWERY'SLINEOF GERMAN-INSPIRED LAGERS SETS THESTANDARDFOR WHAT BREWERSCAN ACCOMPLISHOUTSIDE OFA BEER'SMOTHERLAND. HOWDID YOUANDYOUR COFOUNDER,RONBARCHET, GETINTOCRAFT BREWING? Weallstartedby drinking a beer that tasted different thanthe crap wewere drink-ing the day before.Inmy case that could probably be traced to a bottle of Henry Weinhard's in1984. My dadwas also homebrewing andwas getting pretty good at (believeit or not) a Heineken clone. CANYOUGET GOODAT THAT? Okay,to my sensibilities in1985, he was pretty goodatit. Andit wasn't just because it was free.It encouragedme to try my handatbrewing.Asa recently graduated arts student,I thought it was allabout ingredients andhow coolthe labelwas going tolook.Naturally,I overlookedsome criticalaspects of sanitation andprocess andhada couple failures off the bat , which got me to study the science behindit. That's whenI [discovered] the richculture of brewing. YOUBREW A LINEOF HOPPED-UP PILSNERSLIKE OTHER BREWERSWOULD WITHPALEALES.WHAT WAS THEINSPIRATION? RonandI brewedat a German-centric brewery starting in1989 for him, and 1990 for me.Their mostimpactfulbeer was anunfi Iteredpi Isner that was really firmly hopped.It wasunlike other pilsners floating aroundEurope and theU.S. We've beenkeenonpi Isner flavors si nce and developedPrimaPils. But there were sti IIthese great hops we wanted to experiment with, soin2000, weinitiated theBraumeister Pils series. Instead of the four noble hops weusein PrimaPils,we focus onone variety.The results inform our brewing decisions down the road. THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE Mf{ Y'ecipeloY' a l'vlaY'zeni4 pY'obablf{ like gO peY'cent 01 the otheY'4 out theY'e. ~ otheY'e '4 no 4eCY'ettut wheY'eIal'vl40UY'cin9 I'vlf{in9Y'edient4,how Iu4etheiY' pY'il'vlaY'f{ chaY'acteY'i4tic4,and how Iachievethe IlavoY'4 inI'vlf{head I'vlakethe di#eY'ence. WHAT HAVE YOULEARNED? We'velearned a lot of what weliked and verylittle of what we disliked. Say, how Tettnanger hops at a certainpoint become minerally andmetallic. Saaz at a certain thresholdislemony andbright. This hashelpedus whenwe're creating other lager beers andlooki ng for specific hopprofiles. Weknowhow they react to Germanmalt at a low fermentation tem-perature.Weknow what hop to useif we make a schwarz pils. SCHWARZ PILS,LIKE A BLACK PILS? Yes,it's more of a deep chestn ut,but it sti II has roast flavor toit. CANYOUREALLYCALL THAT A PILS? I'm talking to the guy who shouldknow the answer to that question. Alii cansayis we have one,so they do exist.[Laughs.] WHAT ARESOME OF YOUR FAVORITEHOP VARIETIES FORLAGERS? It became taboo to useHallertauMittle-fruehafter SamAdamsBostonLager came out becauseit was sucha signature flavor for that beer. That's beenina lot of our beers,however. After we starteda relation-ship with our grower in Tettnang, Germany, Tettnang became a little more prominent inthe overallmix of things because of the quality we're able to get. HAVE ANY FAVORITE COMMERCIAL LAGERS INFLUENCED YOURBEERS? No,but there were milestones along the way that informed whatI think lagers shouldbe.Waybackinmy drinking history, I know RonandI werebothfondof Beck's. Andin1987 onour first tour of Germany, we drank WaldhausPils andRothaus Pils. They werereally stand-out beers. I HAD A ROTHAUSPILSNOT TOOLONGAGO.I'D WAGER IT WASBETTER WHENYOU TRIEDIT.IT SEEMSGERMAN BREWERSHAVEBEENON A TEAR TOWARDCOST CONSCIOUSNESS. It's sadtohear,but not surprising. You knowinGermany,beer has a cost [thresh-old],andif youexceedthat cost,people don't buy you.Most breweries are self-lim-iting andrefuse tokeep theI BUsup there inorder to hit a certainprice point. INTERVIEW WITH:BILLCOVALESKI IS DRY-HOPPING TRADITIONAL INLAGER BREWING? Wedo verylittle dry-hopping in this brewery at all. I RECENTLYHEARDDRY-HOPPINGISN'T ALLOWED BY REINHEITSGEBOT IN GERMANY. I haven't encountered Germanbrewers that dry-hop,but hops are part of the process-come onpeople,lightenup.[U.S.] craft brewi nghasbrought a lot of th i ngsinto question.But all their nontraditional things aren't killing or poisoning people. Quite the opposite-it's making people veryhappy. THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE -The a4pirin9 hOMebrewerneed4 to IOCU4onproce44 Morethanhavin9 Iriend4 eXclaiMit4 the coole4tMMt kicka44 beer thet( 'Vehad. WHAT'S YOUR TYPICAL LAGERFERMENTATION? Weferment straight throughat 43F (6C), Weneeda larger cell countthat's going to performat that. Wehave a totalof three yeast propagators around the brewery now. THERE'S ALL THE TALK OFDECOCTIONMASHING ANDSOON:WHAT'STHE RELATIVEIMPORTANCE? WhenRonandI started,wequestioned whether we'dhave capability to do decoc-tionmashing.It was a big decisionbecause it meant realmoney.Andwe arrivedat yes by talking about our favorite Germanbeers andrecognizing that most of them were decoction-brewed. That said,we've got a decoction kettle andwe only useit in6 per-cent of our beers.Soit's there for the right reasons,but it doesn't apply to everything. HOW DOYOUDETERMINE WHENIT DOESANDDOESN'T APPLY? The beer styles reallyindicate that.Our largest-selling decoctionbeer is Festbier.In order to create that rou nd,well-developed body and the protein structure necessary to achieve that,a decoctionisimportant for that beer.We tried decoctionmashing our Moonglow Weizenbock,because wedo decoction-mash our bockbeers,andwe got nothing but a lauter tunof gum wehad to scratch out over six hours. ARETHEREANYMALT VARIETIESBETTER SUITED TOCOLDFERMENTATIONAND CONDITIONING TIME? Great question.It's a decision drivenby recipe andoutcome more thanpairing malt to a fermentationprofile.I love to talk about this withpeople.They think my reci-pes must be specialor precious,but there's somuch else that goesinto it.My recipe for a marzenis probably like 80 percent of the others out there.So there's no secret.But whereI amsourcing my ingredients,how I use their primary characteristics, andhow I achieve the flavorsinmy headmakes the difference. SOAREYOUSUGGESTING YOUMIGHT BELESSA PIONEER THANSOME PERCEIVE? That couldbeinferred.What we've brought to the tableis a hoi istic perspective of "Maybe we've got a traditionalmarzen recipe,but we're going touseit as a means tobri ng someth i ng new to the market."It's subtle,andit's not just better becauseit's different, but because specific improve-ments indepth of malt flavor or whatever improvement we want to seein anexisting style.I don't think we'renecessarily huge innovators.We'vepairedGermanMunich malt withAmericanwhole-flower hops forHopDeviland that might be the most dramatic thing we've brought to the table. I think there are far more subtle successes for us. INTERVIEW WITH:BILL COVALESKI WHAT ADVICEWOULDYOU HAVEFORTHEBURGEONING LAGERHOMEBREWER? For homelager brewing, temperature con-trolis a hill to climb unless you're anHVAC guy or a true geek. The other th i ng, too,is don't expect tomake the most sensational lager,because that initself is animpos-sible goal. They're sensationalin their subtlety. The aspiring homebrewer needs to focus onprocess more thanhaving friends exclaimit's the coolest,most kickass beer they've had. I GUESSBYNATURELAGERS AREN'T POISED TOBE OUTRAGEOUS. Thelagering processis almost dampening your bandwidth. You've got all thesebright brassy flavors out of the fermenter,and then youtake them downa fewnotches. -T '.-Stone adds gypsum,a brewing salt, to their Stone14th Anni-versary EmperiallPA tomimic the famousBurton-On-Trent water character andenhance the bitterness. CHAPTER 5: CHAPTER 5: WATERCHEMISTRY TODAY WEHAVE THE ADVANTAGEOFBREWINGCHEMISTRY TOALLOW ANY BREWER TOTWEAK HISLIQUOR (THE BREWING TERMFORWATER)TOMIMIC THEPROFILESOF FAMOUSBREWINGCITIES.HOWEVER, THEREASONCITIES DEVELOPED TRADEMARK STYLES, SUCH ASTHEPILSEN PILSNER,IRISH STOUT INDUBLIN,ORHOPPY ALESFROM BURTON,ENGLAND,ISBECAUSEBEFOREBREWINGHAD ADVANCEDTOTHEPOINT OFRADICAL WATER ADJUSTMENT, BEERSWEREBREWED AROUND THE AVAILABLEWATER SOURCES. WATER CHEMISTRY Of the four basicparts of beer,water is the most easily forgotten.It's understandable. Despite water being the greatest ingredient ingoodbeer,goodbeer canbeproduced without much thought to the water.Details like this make the difference between good and great brewers. INTRODUCTIONTOBREWING WATER Many new homebrewers will forget to think about their brewing water,but asit constitutes rough Iy95 percent of a beer, youshouldnever overlook it.Idealbrewing water has smallamounts of minerals and minimal chlorine.Basic filteredwater, thoughnot mineral-free distilled water, will work.But closer attention to your water chemistry canoptimize your brewing process andsign ificantly affect flavor and bitterness. In this chapter, you'lllearnabout: Hard water Water reports Brewing salts How much water touse WHAT ISHARD WATER? Hardness is a measure of the calcium and magnesium contentinyour water.If you're familiar with water softener salt fromyour house, this is the same characteristic we're talking about.For homebrewing,moder-ately hard water accentuates hop char-acter,making for a richandbitter taste. Conversely,soft water encourages a subtle andless biting hop flavor associatedwith many lager styles. UNDERSTAND YOUR WATER REPORT Allcities make their water reports available to the public andmost canbe found on municipal government websites.Look for a water resources or management section; there willusually bea yearly water quality report for download.Home test kits are inexpensive,but alsoimprecise.If a report is not readily available online, calland request a water quality report fromyour municipal source. Water reports aren't often easy to decipher. For brewing, the keyis tolook for thelevels of permanent hardness.Again,this is the measure of calcium(Ca)andmagnesium (Mg) . Thereport wi IIalso tell temporary hard-ness, representedby alkalinity, whichis calcium carbonate (CaC04).Temporary hardness is lessimportant as the CaC04 will drop out of solution whenboiled.In large concentrations,without CaorMg to balanceit out,CaC04 raises your pH. Re-gions knownfor their dark beers,such as Dublin, oftenhadhigh temporary hardness levels.Roasted grains are more acidic and lowered the mashpH. Whenbrewers with these conditions tried tobrew palelagers or ales, they wouldbemet with a too-high, inefficient mashpHthat extractedunpleas-ant tannins andphenols. In addition tohardness andpH, the report will alsolikely show the sulfates and sodium. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE WATERPH Tap water fromyour faucet wi IItypically have a pHaround7.5. A goodmashneeds tobeat a pHof 5.3,but just adding your grains willautomatically lower the acidity near the range of 5.0 to5.5. Aside fromstocking brewing salts,home-brew shops willoften carrylactic acid. Or for a classic approach,use acidulated malt. This extra-low pHmalt was developedby Reinheitsgebot-bound Germanbrewers looking tolower mashpH. FILTERING WATER If youdo nothing else to your water,filter it before brewing.A basic carbonfilter in the formof a pitcher, faucet attachment, or countertop filter willremoveunpleasant flavors andchlorine. Some volatiles, such as chlorine, canalsobe driven off byboil-ing your strike water andthenletting it cool down tomashin. After filtering their water,somebrewers wi II use reverse-osmosis filters for a portion of their brewing water.This distills a portion of theliquor,making it devoid of miner-als, soit canlower the overallhardness of the water.Evenwithout a reverse-osmosis fi Iter,youcanget the same effect from blending distilled water purchasedat a grocery store.Keepinmind that distilled water contains none of the nutrients (zinc, copper,iron, etc.) that yeast requires for healthy growthandfermentation. SOFT WATER Most beer styles are brewedusing moder-ately hardwater (calciumlevels from100 to120 ppm) , but for subtler beer styles suchas the Czechpilsner,brewing with soft wateris a must. The townof Pilsen's incredibly soft wateris what defined the style as a smooth, but full-flavoredpilsner. The filtering methods mentioned, such as distilling water, canhelp create a malty beer with a mild, cleanbitterness, though a shortcut wouldbe to obtain spring water, whichis usually fairly soft but rich enough inmineralnutrients. A bonus ofusing soft wateris that because of thelow temporary hardness level, there's little trouble hitting a desiredpHwithpale base malt. BREWING SALTS Whenyouhave anidea of youridealwater, look at your water report for what chemicals are toolow.If any are already too high, either use filtered water or cut your liquor withdistilled water. Whendosing brewing salts, ppmis the equivalent of1 milligram per1 liter.If youwant to adjust the mash pH,addthe salt along withthe grains; oth-erwise, the salts canbe added to the boi I. BREWING SALTS Calcium Carbonate Calcium Chloride Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum) MagnesiumSulfate (EpsomSalt) Sodium Chloride (Table Salt) One gramof CaC04 adds107 ppm of calcium and159 ppmof carbonate. One gramper gallon of CaCIadds 96 ppm of calcium and168 ppm of chloride. One gramper gallon of CaS04 adds 62 ppm of calcium and147 ppm of sulfate. One gramper gallon ofMgS04 adds 37 ppmof magnesium and 145 ppmof sulfate. One gramper gallon of NaCIadds 104 ppmof sodium and160 ppm of chloride. CHAPTER 5: WATERCHEMISTRY Also referredto as temporary hardness, th is typically undesir-able chemicalraises pHbut canbalance out the acidity of dark grains. Unlike whenit's paired with carbonate,calciumincreases hardness,lowers pH,andenhances enzymatic mashactivity. Chloride enhances mouthfeelinconcentrations under 300 ppm; greater amounts cancreateunpleasant tasting chlorophe-nols (think plastic bandages). Calciumincreases hardness,lowers pH, and enhances enzymatic mash activity. Sulfate also increases hardness and aids mash conversionwhile enhancing bitterness. This will amplify bitter-ness more than calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate. Magnesium workslike calciumbutis essentially only half as effective, wh i Ie aIso contri buti ng astri ngent flavorsinhigh concentrations. Sulfate alsoincreases hardness andaidsmash conversion while enhancing bitterness. Sodium enhances mouthfeel whenlimited to 75 to150 ppm. Beyond that , it willmake beer salty andsour.Chloride also enhances mouthfeelin concentrations under 300 ppm without side effects; greater amounts cancreate unpleasant-tasting chlorophenols (think plastic bandages). THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE HOWMUCHWATER DOYOUNEED? Water chemistry aside,your brew day won't go farif youdon't knowhowmuchwater to usein your mash. STEP1 To calculate how much water youneed,use a water-to-grainratiobetweena 1 quart (0.9 L)per pound of grain to 2 quarts (l.9 L)per pound of grain. A th icker mash wi IIresu It inhigher-gravity wort,andisuseful for big beers that reach thelimits of your mashcapacity. A thinner mashhas a less-efficient conver-sionbut canpullmore sugar fromthe grains. STEP 2 Once youcalculated your mash's strike water,youwi IIneed to workbackward from yourintended finalvolume of brew to deter-mine how much to addbackin.Add: The evaporationloss (5 to10 percent per hour) for your system The waterlost to grain absorption(0.21 gallons per pound[l.8 liters per kg]) --------------------------------------------- ----------------Any other losses fromyour systemandthe kettle trub (hopmatter andother precipi-tates) STEP 3 Subtract your strike water fromthat total, anduse the rest as sparge water. One warning:Measure the gravity of your wort asit drains fromthe grains. Onceit measures only 3 degrees Plato,stop and addany remaining water to the kettle.As the wortbecomes especially diluted,it canextract tannins andother undesirable flavors from grain. CHAPTER 5: WATERCHEMISTRY THEWATERINMAJORBREWINGCITIES(INPPM) Tomore accurately recreate or mimic classicbeer styles,always consider the chemistry of the original water supply.That said, theiconic cities listedinthe table below a IIbreweda variety of styles of beer that benefited fromtheir water's unique chem ica I profi Ie,so don't lim it yourself to the single stylelisted. Classic Beer StyleCalciumMagnesium AntwerpBelgianPale Ale611 BurtonEnglishPale Ale27540 DortmundExportLager22540 DublinIrishDryStout1205 EdinburghScottish Ale12025 LondonEngl ishPorter905 MilwaukeeAdjunctLager9647 MunichHelles Lager7518 PilzenCzechPilsner72 ViennaViennaLager20060 SodiumSulfate 3784 25450 60120 1255 55140 1540 726 210 25 8125 BicarbonateChloride 7657 26035 18060 12520 22565 12520 10716 1502 155 12012 BURTON-ON-TRENT,UK Few beer lovers wouldhave trouble pointing out the world's famousbrewing cities ona globe. That is, until you ask themwhereBurtonis(about thirty miles north of Birming-ham,England). While the brewing worldisusually runby giants, this relatively small town redefined thepale ale. The many brewers of London, forinstance, simply couldn't match therich, yet drinkable hop profile created andhonedby thebrewers far outside thecity. Despite thelast century's trend of consolidation,Burtonstill has four craft breweries. With theexception of Burton's largest brewery, Coors Brewers, the UK branchof theU.S.'s Molson Coors, whichproduces Bass and Carling, theremaining brewers take fulladvantage of their town water toturnout phenomenal ales as richas thebrewers before them. THEBREWER'SAPPRENTICE INTERVIEW WITH: Before finding his true home at Stone Brew-ing, Mitch spenttime working at a small brewpub, a large international brewery, and a large winery. MITCH STEELE:HEADBREWER, STONE BREWINGCO., ESCONDIDO,CALIFORNIA,U.S. THEMANENTRUSTEDINBREWING SUCHCRAFT BEER-WORLD STAPLES ASARROGANT BASTARDALE ANDSTONERUINATIONIPA-KNOWS THERE'SMORE TOGREATBEER THANHOPS ANDBARLEY.EVERY BATCHSTARTSNOT INTHEMASH TUNORKETTLE, BUT INTHEWATERPIPESRUNNINGINTO THE BREWERY. WHATIS THEWATER SOURCE AT STONE BREWING? Themunicipal water.It is moderately hard at 300 ppmhardness andit isloadedwith chlorine to knock out microbiological activ-ity.Werunallthe water througha carbon fi Iter and that strips it of any flavors and chlorine, soit tastesneutral. It's sti IIhard,but the fi Iter's activated car-bonions absorb chlorine ions andanypipe flavor youmight get. FORHOMEBREWERS, WOULD NORMAL CARBONFILTRATION MIMIC THIS? Yes.They canalsoboi I their water for15 minutes before their mashinand that'll take chlorine out.Youhave to heat it any-way.Otherwise, chlorine willcarry through the wholebrewing process and youcan tasteit ina beer inhighlevels. After the carbonfilter,werunpart of it througha reverse-osmosis filtration system, andthat pulls out somemineralcontent. Only a portion goes throughthe osmosis filter.So the water comes inat 300 ppm hardness andisleaving at100 to120 ppm after it's blendedback together. WITHTHECONTROL OVER FILTRATION,IS THERE ANY WEIGHT TOTHECLAIM THAT CERTAINBREWERIESHAVE "THE BEST" WATER? That kind of thinking wouldgoback150 years or so.Once the industrial revolution came about, chemists begantounderstand the process andwhat washappening with Burtonwater,for example.People started mimicking their brewing salt throughaddi-tions in the mid-1S00s. LET'SGOBACK TOHARD AND SOFT WATER:HOW WOU LD YOUDESCRIBE THESE TYPES OFWATERFORBREWERS? Thebest way to describe hard wateris that it has a highmineral content and soft water does not.Minerals inwater willaffect the brewing process,suchas yeast andenzyme performanceinmashandyeastperfor-mance infermentation.Hop character is radically different inhard water compared to soft. THEBREWER'S APPRENTICE FROMA SMALL HOMEBREWING SETUP,DO YOUNEED TOFOCUSMUCH ONWATER,OR JUST BOILIT AND YOU'LL BENINE-TENTHS OF THE WAY THERE? If youhave cleanneutral-tasting water you'llbe fine,butthere are things youcan do to shape your beer.Boi I ing removes temporary hardness, whichis a technical term for [minerals] that precipitate out. Youcanaddsalts tomake water harder, or " Burtonize"it withcalcium sulfate, gypsum, or calcium chloride.WhenI homebrewed,I atleast threw a teaspoonof gypsumIn. GYPSUM, CALCIUMSULFATE: IT'S A KINDOF SALT? Exactly, a brewing mineralsalt.Most home-brew shops have gypsum,andit's fairly commonbecausemost drinking water is soft. WHY WOULD YOUADD CALCIUM TO THE WATER? Froma chemistry standpoint,in the mash process,calcium willenhance enzymatic activity of malt enzymes breaking down starches.Youget better efficiency and better c