Doppelbock '22

Doppelbock has been my go to autumn beer for the past few years. The first iteration of the beer scored a medal at the California State Homebrew Competition. While I usually like to change things up I was very happy with how that beer turned out and have been trying to recreate it in the years since. Last year's version was enjoyable but seemed to be missing something in the maltiness category so I went out of my way to source the Briess Dark Munich (30L) that I had used in the original version and also increased the amount of Caramunich to a full pound. I otherwise kept the recipe largely the same with equal amounts of Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich malts and the pale chocolate malt that may not be traditional but seems to give a nice note of chocolate without being too roasty.

Tasting notes:

Smell: Big malt character pops out with milk chocolate and dark fruit (plum and raisin). The roast and fruit characters are probably a little higher than desired and mostly over power the more subtle bread and crust character from the Munich and Vienna malts. A touch of alcohol comes through as it warms. No hop or yeast derived aromas.

Appearance: Dark brown with nice garnet tints, especially in the light. Fairly clear but has a touch of haze that makes it seem darker. Head is small and off white and quickly fades to a ring of small bubbles.

Taste: Up front there’s a big sweet bread crust-like malt character but this quickly shifts toward a more roasty chocolate and burnt sugar character. Finish had notes of dried fruit and moderate bitterness that blends with the roast character to give a bittersweet chocolate impression. No hop character other than the bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Moderately carbonated and fairly full bodied. Alcohol is not hot but does give a warming sensation over time.

Overall: While not an overly bad beer this is probably the worst of the doppelbocks I’ve made. The roast character seems stronger than in past batches and overshadows the other characters of the beer. While this one seemed to have some rough, near metallic, off flavors when first kegged the additional time at cool temperatures and carbonation seem to have rounded them out. While I was excited to get the 30L dark Munich malt I think it was overwhelmed by using so much Caramunich, especially with the pale chocolate malt also in the mix and I will probably only use a quarter pound of each of those in my next attempt at this style. The failure to set my mill correctly and try to correct it by adding malt extract was also a mistake as it meant there was less of the Munich malt character in the end product to balance the roast and caramelized flavors.

8/19/22
Made a starter from a mason jar of yeast previously used on a Helles and a Pilsner. First time using this 2L Erlenmeyer flask and first time using a stir plate in a long time but both seem to work well. The starter should have been created a few days earlier for maximum viability but this should provide some increase to the amount of yeast available and provide vitality to the yeast already in the mix.

8/20/22
Brewday

Forgot to adjust my mill setting until half way through milling which led to undercrushing and low efficiency. I also added too much sparge water and ended up with ~7.5 gallons pre-boil. Between both of these I ended up with a pre-boil gravity ~1.040 which is no where near what was expected. In order to resolve these issues I did a 2 hour boil and added a pound of dry malt extract. Despite both of these adjustments the post-boil gravity was still only 1.066, a ways short of the planned 1.072 and more in the middle of the Dunkles Bock range than the low end of the the Doppelbock range as intended.

Hops were split between a first wort addition that was boiled the full 2 hours and a later addition that was boiled for only 45 minutes.

After cooling to 80F the wort was transferred to a plastic carboy and placed in the chest freezer at 50F. 

8/21/22
Approximately 18 hours after putting the wort in the chest freezer I shook the carboy to oxygenate and pitched the yeast starter from the stir plate.

8/22/22
Almost 24 hours since pitching it isn't show any real signs of fermentation so I increased the temperature slightly to 52F.

8/23/22
Fermenting strongly.

8/24/22
Fermentation seems to be slowing slightly so I increased the chest freezer temperature to 62 for a diacetyl rest.

8/26/22
Still fermenting, increasing the temperature seems to have kicked it back up a bit. Hopefully this will be able to get rid of any diacetyl without producing esters.

8/29/22
No signs of fermentation at this point. Began cooling off by lowering to 55F. Will continue decreasing temps for a few days until it gets down to lagering range.

9/28/22
I got a terrible sinus infection that hit me hard for nearly a month and took very poor notes during this time. The beer was eventually lagered, then kegged only to have my CO2 tank kick. 2 CO2 tanks later (I setup another one while still sick only to find out later a different keg was leaking) it is finally carbonated and starting to taste close to expectations.

9/29/22
Tasting above.

12/29/22: This batch kicked after adding a 1/2 gallon to a growler and drinking/dumping the remaining ~1/2 gallon. This one got pretty mixed reviews, no real complaints (other than one person saying it was watery(?) and it received a few strong compliments but very few people went back for a second pour and I rarely found myself choosing to reach for it during the 3+ months it spent on tap. I’m interested in rebrewing this with less character malts and a greater eye toward yeast health and fermenting temperatures but that likely won’t be any time soon.

First Hop Harvest Bitter

When brewing this beer and starting to write this post I was dealing with a terrible sinus infection and hadn’t been doing a good job keeping up with my brewing or my blog. I was out of CO2 in my kegerator and had multiple beers that had recently been kegged or were in need of a keg, so they were likely getting oxidized and I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with them. While I thought about also cancelling this brew day to rest and recover I didn’t want my first year hop cones to whither on the vine so I picked them and brewed a small bitter of sorts.

Centennial Hops a couple weeks before harvesting

I ended up with only a touch over 1.5 oz of fresh wet hops (1.115 oz centennial, .385 oz Comet and just .125 oz Goldings), which is around the equivalent of .3-.4 oz of dry hops per most conversions I’ve seen, so any ideas about making a super hoppy IPA (or even American pale ale) went out the window and I instead reworked the Special Bitter I had been planning to brew later in the year to instead be a lower gravity and half volume batch in order to give the hops some chance of shining through in the finished beer. Just 3 pounds of base malt (equal parts Maris otter and golden promise) and a quarter pound each of a few flavoring malts (victory, torrified wheat, and crystal 70/80) hopefully got the recipe in the ballpark of what I was looking for: a very small beer with an emphasis on hops but enough malt backbone to remain balanced and drinkable. Due to bad weather and my struggles with illness I brewed in a bag on my stovetop, only popping outside at the end to chill the wort. While half an ounce of commercially bought Goldings pellets were added for the full 60 minute boil to provide bitterness the fresh wet hops were added post-boil during the “whirlpool” around 150F and left in until the full chill and transfer to carboy had completed. While I slightly undershot my expected gravity and came in at only 1.030 I’m hopeful this will still be an enjoyable, if not overly expressive or impressive, beer. 

The hops smelled great off the vine, all three seemed pungent with classic pine and citrus hop goodness (though I had a sinus infection so I was working hard to smell much). After picking I found myself too tired to start the brew day so I packed them up and went back to bed. After sitting in ziplock bags in the fridge for a day they had changed a bit with the Goldings only really smelling of leaves and unripe fruit, maybe they were underripe? The comet had a bit of tropical mango aroma mixed with a floral, earthy, and grassy character reminiscent of a meadow, and the centennial carried aromas of tangerine, pine, and fresh cut grass. It was interesting to see what these fresh scents were like after having only experienced dried hops for so long and I was excited to see what, if any, of that character comes through in the beer.

Tasting notes:

Smell: Not strong on the nose but what does come through is nice: predominantly malt character of graham crackers, granola, and sugar cookies with more moderate yeast and hop notes giving a touch of orange peel, grass, and basil. Searching hard I also find some very subtle dried fruit/raisin character that may be from the crystal malt or a combination of factors.

Appearance: Surprisingly clear after a few weeks in the keg. Small very white head with nice bubbles lasts throughout. Head was larger previously but this hasn’t had any CO2 added in a while. Color is somewhere between a copper and gold depending on the glass and lighting. All around a very appetizing look to my sensibilities. Nice lacing shows as the glass empties.

Taste: Leads off very subtly but the malt, hops, and bitterness catch up and come through late in the swallow. The malt slightly leads with lightly toasted bread, honey, and graham cracker. This is followed by mild green/herbal/earthy notes that are reminiscent of black tea followed by a moderate bitterness that helps balance the subtle malt character and lead to a surprisingly long finish that includes characters from the malt, hops, and bitterness. The malt character builds some as I continue to drink but it all seems well I’m balance. None of these characters are strong but everything about this beer seems more interesting and characterful than a 3% abv has any right to be.

Mouthfeel: One of the things that initially jumps out, even when pouring, is that, as intended, this beer is very lightly carbonated. This probably wouldn’t appeal to a lot of American palettes but I find it very nice for letting the subtle flavors shine through. The body is fairly light but doesn’t feel too thin due to the low carbonation, moderately low attenuation, and maybe the torrified wheat.

Overall: I don’t think this is a great beer and most of the people who have tried it (albeit mostly non-beer drinkers) haven’t been very impressed. I don’t drink many ordinary bitters (in part due to them being very hard to find in the US) but I doubt this would be considered an exceptional example of the style. That said, this is a beer I’m extremely happy to drink and proud to have made. Nothing about the beer is necessarily exciting yet every time I pour a pint of it and raise it to my lips I find a big smile come across my face. Everything in the glass is enjoyable and balanced. The homegrown hops don’t exactly shine through but they seem well integrated with the malt and I’m happy with the decision to have used them here. Like some of the other pale British beers I’ve made over the years it’s a nice beer that I’m happy I made and my only real complaint is that I don’t have a nice dimple mug to quaff it from.

9/11/22
Brewday. No real notes beyond what's listed above.

9/15/22
Kegged with very little pressure (10PSI in several short bursts). Aiming for just over 1 vol CO2 for a cask-like effect. Beer is surprisingly flavorful but unfortunately it’s mostly malt flavor. A small herbal note but hard to tell if that is from the fresh hops. At worst this seems like a pretty enjoyable and ultra-low gravity drinker, if not the best expression of my homegrown hops.

9/16/22
Hit the beer with another short burst of CO2. Pours pretty well off the stout tap giving a nice big head and a lovely copper to gold body (lighter than it appears in the photo). A touch hazy but no complaints for less than a week grain to glass. Hops are still subdued compared to malt but there seems to be a lot going on for a 3% abv beer and overall it’s quite nice. One of those beers that makes me wonder why I don’t brew beers like this more often.

9/22/22
Found a few hops that were either missed during the harvest or were late bloomers. Added a comet cone to a glass of this beer, no obvious flavor impact but a fun visual.

 

9/28/22
Finally recovered enough to provide the full tasting above.