SMaSH Pils

As I previously alluded to in my Grande Maison saison post, the SFHG's second competition of the year will be a single-malt and single-hop (aka SMaSH) competition for club members. While I'm liking the way the Grande Maison mosaic saison turned out I always intended to brew a different beer for the competition and this is it. Crystal Light is my latest take on the Pilsner style using just 10 pounds of Viking Pilsner malt, 5 ounces of Crystal hops, and the same German lager yeast that I previously used in my Doppelbock (and have since used in a Helles).

Crystal hops are not the most popular choice these days but have a rich history since being first bred in 1983 and are somewhat common both as a supporting aspect in hoppy American styles, including Sierra Nevada's Torpedo, and as a main component in subtler styles due to it's German heritage. After receiving a half pound from Hops Direct at HomebrewCon 2018 I had been unsure how to best utilize them since I've never used it or had a beer solely hopped with it. In the end I decided to continue my effort to help clean out hops from the freezer and give them a try with a generous amount in a pilsner-ish beer.

The beer was intended to be mostly like a German Pilsner, but came out a bit more full bodied and closer to a Czech Pils, but with a different hop character. This was a really enjoyable beer to have on hand with some mild lemon character rounding out the mild herbal hop flavors and crackery malt character I expect from a pilsner. A touch of diacetyl but definitely within acceptable levels. A nice beer that I would probably tweak by using more hops or additional malts in the future.

3/26/19
Measured out 8.25 gallons of water, added 1/2 campden tablet and 5 mL 88% lactic acid. Measured and milled 10 pounds Viking Pilsner malt.

3/27/19
I accidentally broke the glass holding the first hop addition right after adding them to the boil. While I think there's less than a 1% chance that any glass got into the beer (and even lower chance that it would cause any issues if it did) I decided it wasn't worth the risk and dumped the batch. Thoroughly cleaned all the equipment and repeated the steps from previous day. On the plus side the only lost ingredients were 10 pounds of cheap malt and 2 ounces of free hops.

3/28/19
Used plastic cups for the hops this time and didn't run into any issues.

3/31/19
Fermentation appears to be going slowly but consistently.

4/4/19
Pulled out of chest freezer and kept at room temp in the low 60s.

4/7/19
Krausen has fully fallen and no signs of ongoing fermentation. Moved back to chest freezer at 50F.

4/8/19
Lowered chest freezer temperature to 45F and added gelatin following the Brulosophy method.

4/9/19
Lowered chest freezer temperature to 40F

4/10/19
Lowered chest freezer temperature to 35F

4/13/19
Kegged and place in chest freezer back to 40F. Taste is just ok, not as clean and crisp as I would like but no noticeable off flavors.

6/10/19
Entered in the SFHG SMASH competition last week, didn't place but was pretty well received. I ended up kicking the rest of the keg the next day.

Grande Maison Smash Mosaic Saison

I have made many, many, many batches of my Maisonette recipe and was planning to do the same, but was forced to change directions due to ingredients on hand, and hence Grande Maison was born. Grande Maison is designed to be a scaled up version of Maisonette but done entirely as a SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beer. There were three reasons I decided to make the change to a bigger hoppier saison today:

1. I didn't have enough wheat malt for the normal recipe
2. I had a large variety of Mosaic hops and am trying to help clean out the freezer by using more hops
3. The SFHG is having a SMaSH competition in a few months, and this could potentially be an entry or at least give me a better sense of how the Viking Pilsner tastes as the only malt.

I decided to increase the malt bill/gravity/abv by about 50% while the change in hop types being used (Cryo, Leaf, American Noble, in addition to the usual Pellet) makes it a little harder to say exactly what the increase in hopping rate is but the estimated IBUs were kept the same. Looking back through my brew logs I could only find one example of a SMaSH I had previously made: my take on Prairie's 'Merica. This beer should be similar to that due to also being a saison with heavy usage of a modern fruity hop. Like the 'Merica clone, I thought about splitting some of the batch later to age with brettanomyces and/or add dry hops, depending on how it tasted after primary fermentation, but decided to keg all of it as is and tweak the recipe in later attempts.

Tasting Notes:
Appearance:
Nice pale yellow with large dense white head. Slightly hazy but looks about what I'd expect for a farmhouse beer.

Smell:
Pretty similar aromas to the Saison de Champagne, Moderate-High fruitiness from both hops and yeast giving some bubblegum, grape/wine, and berry aromatic. Moderate phenols giving a white pepper impression. There is also some alcohol present, more than I would like for a beer of this strength, it's not a weak beer but more alcohol aroma than I would expect for ~7%.

Taste:

More phenolic and sharp than the aroma, less of the bubblegum/juicy fruit character and more alcohol present too. The bitterness is only medium but combined with the fairly high pepper phenol character the overall impression is on the high-end of my acceptable range, almost like a Farmhouse IPA in that sense. Alcohol is noticeable but not overwhelming. Again the overall character is reminiscent of the Saison de Champagne beer that used the same yeast but the hops are a little less wine like and a little more rounded with some berry and grass and the phenols and alcohol are more noticeable.

Mouthfeel:
Not as dry as most of the Saison/Grisettes I've made, likely due to a combination of higher starting gravity and less attenuative yeast (I often use the very attenuative Wyeast 3711 French Saison or brettanomyces). That said, I think the low-medium body helps keep the moderate bitterness and phenols from coming across too sharply. Carbonation was originally very high but I've knocked it down to more standard beer levels (~14 PSI at 45F) and I again prefer this level over traditional Saison levels with this amount of bitterness, phenols, and alcohol.

Overall:
Not my favorite example of the style in many ways with the phenols and alcohol masking some of the fruitier characters. If I were to rebrew I'd likely move about 50% of the 60 minute addition to late in the boil or after flameout and add a dry-hop to really emphasize the fruity hop flavors. I'm not sure if I'll use this yeast blend again, it's not bad but doesn't have some of the character that I really crave in this style, maybe adding brettanomyces or an additional yeast strain would help balance this but I might just go back to the Wyeast Belgian Saison and French Saison blend that I've liked in the past (with or without Brett). The Viking Pils malt does a nice job of just hanging around with a very low crackery malt note that's I notice when searching for it but otherwise it gets out of the way to let the other ingredients shine.

Notes:
3/9/19
Brewed on the stovetop as usual. Brewing went off without a hitch other than ending up with less than 5 gallons due to the hops soaking up wort and blocking the run off. Still able to exactly hit the expected 1.060 OG. Pitched 1 liter starter of previously used blend of Wyeast Belgian Saison (3724) and Farmhouse Ale (3726).

3/10/19
Large krausen and rapid airlock bubbling.

3/26/19
Transferred to keg and set in chest freezer at 40F and 30 PSI for 24 hours. No FG recorded as I broke my hydrometer but I would guess it's between 1.004 and 1.008 putting the ABV right around 7%. Tastes pretty nice, fairly hop forward with some of the same wine-like character from the Saison de Champagne that used the same yeast blend, but more bitter and with other complementary components from the mosaic hops. Excited to see how it ends up once carbonated.

4/6/19
Tasting above, not bad but not my favorite.

Saison de Champagne

These 3 ounces of Nelson cost about as
much as the rest of the ingredients combined

The first time I can remember trying Nelson Sauvin hops was at a homebrew meeting. At the time I was still somewhat new to brewing and didn’t really care for Pale Ales or IPAs but that all changed that day. The flavors in that Nelson IPA were so exciting and new it immediately changed my mind on hoppy beers. For weeks after I was craving that flavor: the almost wine like, bitter but refreshing, somehow both familiar and unique flavor of Nelson hops. I have used Nelson a few times since, including in a clone of ‘Merica, and have found them to be terrific. The only downside is that they tend to be some of the most prized hops so the demand keeps them hard to find and expensive when I do.

When I first heard about Hallertau Blanc hops I was skeptical that they could have the same level of tropical and wine characteristics that make Nelson so great. After hearing that they had more of a subtle wine character mixed with mostly noble hop flavors I decided that they might make for a great complement to Nelson, at a much lower price.

I bought a full pound of Hallertau Blanc on a whim

Saison de Champagne is my latest hop-forwards Saison and I wanted it to utilize these hops and the classic Saison dryness to mimic wine flavors while also having subtle yeast phenols and bitterness that keep it squarely in the Saison category. While I had originally planned on adding dry hops and lightly oaking the beer I decided against it as I liked the character and didn't want to risk messing it up, but that’s probably something I will try if I rebrew it.

A hop farm that I happened to drive past just outside Nelson when I was visiting New Zealand

8/14/18
Brewed on the stovetop with filtered San Francisco water.

9/15/18
Kegged 3 gallons. Immediately keg filled 6 bottles with 4 carb tabs each to see how this bottle conditions. The last 1.5 gallons or so was added to my Brett Saison Solera.

10/9/18
Entered 3 of the bottle carbonated version into the California State Homebrew Competition under category 34B: Mixed-Style Beer as a mix of New Zealand Pilsner and Saison.

This beer ended up scoring a 35.5 but not placing in it's category in the competition. I was really happy with how this one turned out with noticeable white wine like character and subtle yeast character. While similar to my go-to Maisonette grisette recipe the change of hops and malt bill made it unique while still being fairly easy drinking and refreshing.

Tranquility Base Bock

When I think of the great lagers I've enjoyed my mind goes to a few locations: Festbier in a tent at Oktoberfest in Munich, unfiltered Pilsner on the anniversary of Pilsner Urquell in a bar in Prague, and Doppelbock in a big field in the Virginia Mountains. The last one might not be as iconic but let me explain...

My version in a glass stein

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia is a surprising wealth of breweries: Hardywood, Champion, South Street, Random Row, Pro Re Nata, Starr Hill, and Three Notch'd can all be found in Charlottesville or nearby Crozet. During the two years my wife was attending grad school at the University of Virginia I visited almost all of these breweries and had plenty of beers from all of them, more often than not appreciating the diversity and quality of offerings. It was a little surprising to see how strong the beer scene could be in this area when the place I lived at the time, the larger and more densely populated Arlington, Virginia, only had a couple of brewpubs that turned out mediocre fare and often shut down shortly after opening.

Not far away from the Charlottesville area, just south of Shenandoah National Park, and near plenty of hiking and outdoor activity areas, is Route 151. Taking this road south takes you straight to countless drinking destinations: Blue Mountain Brewery, Wild Wolf Brewing Company, Silverback Distillery, Bold Rock Hard Cider, Blue Toad Hard Cider, Veritas Vineyard, Flying Fox Vineyard, and Cardinal Winery just to name a few. While I had made the trip this direction a few times for different reasons, in February of 2017 I made it further south on the road, nearly an hour from Charlottesville, where, for the first time, I visited one of the best known breweries in the area: Devils Backbone's Basecamp Brewpub.

Devils Backbone is a brewery that is both loved and hated in Virginia and further abroad due to their great lagers (Vienna Lager is their flagship beer and a great example of the style) and their 2016 sellout to AB-InBev. One of the many Craft breweries to be bought out by what used to be Anheuser-Busch, Devils Backbone may be known as much for their vast marketing and availability as the quality of their products.

This is the pint that I fell in love with

While their sale to AB-InBev, and subsequent tactics by their owners to market and distribute their beers at the expense of Craft offerings, rubbed me the wrong way, I still believe they are the best producers of lagers on the East Coast and would happily drink a Schwarzbier or Baltic Porter from them any day of the week. So, with minimal reluctance, I found myself at the brewpub deciding what to order and the decision ended up being easy. While they had all sorts of terribly gimmicky beers (ginger Bock and fruited Hefeweisse to name just a few) the Basecamp Bound Bock seemed like an easy choice. And oh was it the right one.

Rushing into my mouth were waves of chocolate, deep rich melanoidin laden malt, full creamy mouthfeel, but also nuanced light fruit, fresh grain, and subtle spice, all ending in a crisp, dry, refreshing, and obviously lagered finish. I'm not ashamed to admit I drank a couple more while playing Kubb on their spacious lawn (fortunately I wasn't the one driving).
This is the long way of saying: I discovered how great Bock could be not from my travels to Europe but from an AB-InBev product in the middle of Virginia, go figure. I subsequently found out that this beer was actually the bigger brother style of Doppelbock and was even more impressed with the drinkability. The beer weighed in at a fairly hefty 7.6% ABV (it's a good thing I wasn't driving!). While Devils Backbone's site didn't provide much information (this link used to go to details on this beer but no longer does...) about the beer I knew that one day I would have to try to recreate it.

This brings me to June 2018, on the other side of the country, where I set out to brew a beer that rides the line between Bock (or by the 2015 BJCP definitions a Dunkles Bock) and Doppelbock, with a particular emphasis on noticeable, but not overwhelming, chocolatey character without coming off roasty or finishing sweet. Essentially I wanted this to be a bock/doppelbock that had the harmonious blend of complexity and simplicity only a malty lager can show.

Less dark in this smaller pour than other images

While I wouldn't call my Tranquility Base Bock a clone of the Devils Backbone beer (I doubt their version used Pale Chocolate Malt or some of the other less orthodox ingredients), and while it also didn't turn out perfect, I think I nailed my goal of a super drinkable, surprisingly strong, plenty malty, ever so noticeably chocolatey, refreshing lager.

I was not as rigorous with brewing notes on this beer as most batches but here is what I remember/jotted down:
Brewed on the stove top. Cooled down to 50F overnight then pitched almost expired packs of Mangrove Jack's Bavarian Lager and Fermentis Saflager W-34/70. Raised temp control and fermented at 55F for 5 days before being allowed to rise up to 68F for another 5. Tasting at that point showed no signs of diacetyl so it was cold crashed slowly over 3 days to 33F. After another 5 days it was transferred to keg, carbonated, and kept at 33F for another 4 days before raising the temp to 45F. The temperature in the kegerator has fluctuated between as high as 55F and as low as 19F (I didn't notice the thermostat fell out and the temp controller got the freezer cranking) but the beer has only seemed to round out more over time.

Tasting:

Appearance: Deep brown but not black. Early pours were very clear due to gelatin but late pours (as this one is) have some floaters.

Smell: Very malt forward: chocolate milkshake and fresh baked bread linger together. Some hints of toast and earth but hard to tell where that comes from, otherwise no obvious yeast or hop derived components.

Taste: Lighter on the chocolate than the nose would imply but still a nice light milk chocolate character mingles with the more pronounced notes of toast, bread, and a subtle but growing in the finish clean bitterness. Again, no real hop or yeast character present.

Mouthfeel: Medium-high body with medium carbonation, hit this one exactly where I'd like for the style so that it fills the mouth but doesn't linger too long.

Overall: Again, a beer that I'm very happy with even if it isn't exactly to style. I would decrease both the dark munich and pale chocolate malt slightly if I were to brew this closer to a traditional bock and increase the regular munich a touch if I were to re-brew with a doppelbock in mind. That said, I don't know that I'd want to change this beer much unless I was trying to win a competition.

10/9/18
Bottled 3 bottles from the keg and entered into California State Homebrew Competition under category 9A: Doppelbock.

12/8/18
Still on tap and still tasting great. The beer scored a 36 and received 3rd place in the Strong Euro Lagers category at the California State Homebrew Competition, a good result for a beer not brewed exactly to be a classic Doppelbock and at the low end of the category.

2/28/19
Thought this one had kicked but found out there were still a couple pints left and created the above tasting notes, still a super enjoyable beer more than 6 months after brewing.