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If you want it done right, you have to brew it yourself!
Strange Brew Review
The Newsletter of the Green Bay Rackers - - September 1999Club News
I understand there was pretty good attendance at the picnic, despite the inaccurate directions on how to get there. I apologize for that. When I drew up the map, I was using a Green Bay city map. The map showed exactly what I had drawn out on the mewsletter, unfortunately the road that I had you turning on does not yet go through! Mea culpa! I had to work at Door County Hospital that weekend - I'd have MUCH preferred to have been at the picnic after the weekend I had!
If you have not visited the website lately, you will be sad to learn that Brewing Techniques is going out of business and will no longer be published. Matt has an article on the web's main page outlining the reasons for this. It would appear that the June/July issue is put to bed and they are still trying to find someone to publish that last issue. No word yet on those of us who subscribed as to refunds on our remaining issues.
Our next club meeting will be held at the Green Bay Brewing Company, the new home of Bill Tressler's Hinterland label beers. It is located on Dousman Street, just kitty corner from the Titletown Brewing Company. That will sure make pub crawls a bit easier - you can literally crawl from one to the other, if you can beat the traffic! We have two big items of business to discuss, specifics for next year's competition and the great brewing experiment we talked about doing.
The July club brew pale ale, as we expected, took off like a violated primate before I even got back to Kewaunee. I fermented it for 3 days at 67 degrees F in darkness in my brewery, then racked it to secondary (glass again) for another 4 days. I then transferred it to a Corny keg and primed it with corn sugar.
Unfortunately, the prime never took and the beer never cask conditioned like I had wanted. I will be force carbonating the brew and bring the keg to the September club brew and the October meeting.
In this issue, you will find a tome written by our own Matt Arnold on altbiers. Now, we all know about Matt's fetish with Alts (and I cannot say that I blame him), and since its a shame he can't get a good one here in the USA, he has taken to what all good homebrewers do, making his own. He does a fine job of it! So, enjoy this issue- devoted to alts!
Styles & Evaluation
Real Düsseldorfer Altbier
By Matt ArnoldIntroduction
Altbier definitely falls into this category. Unless you plan on flying to Düsseldorf, there is no way to get the real thing. The king among Altbiers is Zum Uerige Alt, which Michael Jackson calls a world-classic. Anyone who has tasted this beer has become obsessed with imitating it.
I've never been to Düsseldorf, and chances are I won't get there anytime soon. Al Korzonas, author of Homebrewing, Volume I and frequent contributor to the Homebrew Digest, has been there. He has spoken so passionately about Zum Uerige Alt, that I just had to try to brew it myself. Most of the information presented here comes from him.
Alt is one of the few German ales (along with Kölsch, Bavarian Weiss, and Berliner Weisse). It is brewed to about 12deg Plato (1.048). They are amber to light brown in color. The best examples are aggressively hopped (Zum Uerige sports about 50 IBUs). Altbier means "old beer" which refers to the old (ale) style of brewing.
The Alt brewers favorite hop is Spalt. Spalt is a noble hop, reminiscent of Hallertauer or Tettnanger. Fortunately for us, L.D. Carlson recently started carrying real German Spalt pellets and Life Tools has them in stock. As was mentioned before, the hop levels are rather aggressive for bittering. Düsseldorfer Alts do not add flavor or aroma hops, although some is carried over from the huge bittering additions. An exception to this rule is "Sticke" (secret) Alt which the brewers release without fanfare to their loyal patrons. Sticke Alt is brewed to a slightly higher gravity, is even more aggressively hopped (!), and is often dry-hopped. Rumor has it that Sticke Alt will soon be added as an official BJCP style.
Korzonas prefers Wyeast #1338 European Ale for his alts and I agree with him. #1338 gives a nice, malty flavor that helps balance out all those hops. Others prefer Wyeast #1007 German Ale which will give a drier flavor. Rumor has it that the new American Hefeweizen strain from Wyeast is the one used by Widmer Brewing. If that is true, then it is the Zum Uerige yeast, because the Widmer brothers brought that yeast back with them from Germany. I know they use the same strain in their Alt and their Hefeweizen.
One unique facet of Alt fermentation is that while it is fermented at the low end of ale temperatures to minimize ester production (60-65deg F), it is "lagered" for a period of time to smooth out the flavor profile. Usually these lagering temperatures are not the near-freezing that traditional lagers lager at, but are closer to 45deg F, so the yeast will still be active, albeit extremely slowly.
Das Holzfäller Altbier (The Lumberjack Alt)
All Grain, 1.049, ~60 IBUs
8.5 pounds Weyermann Dark Munich malt
1 pound Weyermann Melanoidin malt
2.5 oz German Spalt pellets (6.0% AA--60 minutes)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Starter of #1338 European Ale
Instructions: Do a single-step infusion mash at 158ø F (any where in the upper 150s will do) for sixty minutes. Sparge to the brewpot and begin the boil. Once the hot break has died down, add all the hops and boil for sixty minutes. With ten minutes left in the boil, add the Irish Moss. Chill, transfer to the fermenter and pitch the starter. Try to keep the primary temperature between 60-65deg F. After primary fermentation is done, rack and "lager" the beer at fridge temperatures for two to three weeks (or as long as you can stand it). Carbonate via your favorite method and enjoy!
Extract 1.046-1.050, ~60 IBUs
6.6 pounds Irek's Amber liquid malt extract
(Optional: partial mash of 1 pound of Weyerman Dark Munich)
.25 pound Chocolate malt (skip this if you do the partial mash)
2.5 oz German Spalt pellets (6.0% AA--60 minutes)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Starter of #1338 European Ale
Instructions: Follow the same basic guidelines for the all-grain version. If you are doing a partial boil, you will need to increase your hopping rate.
The Secret Policeman's Other Alt (Sticke Altbier--this will be my Christmas beer)
All Grain, 1.056, ~66 IBUs
10 pounds Weyermann Dark Munich malt
1 pound Weyermann Melanoidin malt
4 oz German Spalt pellets (6.0% AA--3 oz for 60 minutes, 1 oz dry hops)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Starter of #1338 European Ale
Instructions: Follow the instructions for Das Holzfäller Altbier, except use three ounces of hops for bittering and reserve one ounce for dry-hopping in the secondary.