Beggar de Garde

[sdixon]

So considering beggars can't be choosers, I am adjusting my recipe based on what I can get. "Brew" was kind enough to front me some grain. Here is my adjusted plan (an experiment). I have 3 yeasts to choose from an S-04, Wyeast 1214 (would have to repitch) and a Wyeast Kolsch 2565 slant in my fridge. After looking at Wyeasts website to see about the characteristics of the 2565 I decided on a Biere de Garde. Several sources suggest a Biere de Garde can be fermented with lager or ale yeasts, but it's better if you ferment on the low temp side... I should be ok, since by basement fermentation temps hover around 65 - 68.

Biere de Gardes can be made with an ale, lager, or wild yeast //([url=http://www.bieredegarde.com]http://www.bieredegarde.com[/url])

I'm using BrewMate to build my recipe and I'm bumping up against the style limits for SRM and IBU. I'm going low on the SRM for a lighter color and towards the high end of the IBU (24.3 where the max is suggested at 28).

Beggar de Garde (Biere de Garde)

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L):              22.0
Total Grain (kg):              6.450
Total Hops (g):              25.00
Original Gravity (OG):       1.063  (°P): 15.4
Final Gravity (FG):           1.016  (°P): 4.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  6.19 %
Colour (SRM):                  7.6
Bitterness (IBU):             24.3   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%):70
Boil Time (Minutes):         60

Grain Bill
----------------
6.000 kg (13 lbs) Pilsner (93.02%)
0.450 kg (1 lb) Crystal 40 (6.98%)

Hop Bill
----------------
15.0 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
5.0 g Willamette Pellet (7.1% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
5.0 g Hallertau Tradition Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 151°F for 90 Minutes.

Comments welcome :-)

[Richard]

I think Biere de Garde's are generally considered to be malty counterpoint to the hoppier saisons... I read that a 90-minute (or even longer boil) to bring out the malty/caramel flavours in the wort for a Garde is a good idea. Can't remember where though.

[sdixon]

You are quite right Richard. I had the mash and boil times reversed in the BrewMate program. I meant to have a 60 min mash and 90 min boil. Boil for 30 min then start hop schedule. I also just added 1 lb of honey to the recipe, bringing OSG to 1.069 and ~ 7% ABV. May also be able to call this a Belgian Winter Warmer ;-) But since I begged the grains... I'll stick with Beggar de Garde... kinda a good ring to it I think.

[sdixon]

Made a starter for this from a Kolsch slant tonight in order to pitch on Saturday. I'm still pretty new to making starters from slants, but it went well last time with the Belgian 1214. This time I started with a much larger starter, 1L vs. 500ml.

[Kyle]

sounds really good. Now, I have no idea what impact spunding would have, but I find beers with honey in them take a while (up to 3 months) to reach their peak, by which time, hops are faded/fading. You've only added a pound, so it will probably be less time than that.

[Richard]

Also if you add honey to the boil (or even the hot wort) it just ends up as a bunch of sucrose/fructose with some proteins floating about - all the aromatics are lost. Save that stuff for the cold side.

[sdixon]

Starter from slant is working nicely... I have good activity after 36 hours. I plan to let it peak and then put in fridge to slow, then drain off beer and pitch slurry. Doesn't seem to be a lot of slurry yet though. But last time Belgian 1214 worked well. On that one I pitched the whole jar of starter, beer and all (it was only 500ml though). This time it's 1000ml.

I'm liking this slant library thing we have! Thanks to Thomas (and others) for making it happen! Much appreciated.

[Richard]

if it's active, the yeast will be in suspension doing their thing. If it's krausening, supposedly that's a good time to pitch (the whole thing). The refrigeration shocks the yeast into flocculating out, but according to the book "Yeast", it's not a good idea to pitch that as the yeast are "expressing shock proteins", which I take to mean "freaking the f*** out".

[Jake]

Ok, so when is it good to chill, let everything drop to bottom and dump out beer? after the krausen has settled?

[sdixon]

Jake - That's what I understood from Thomas' post yes.

[Jake]

Mine's just starting to get goin now. Heading home from work here shortly and looked like the krausen was just starting to form ... so still have a couple days yet to go it looks like.

Or I may dump it all in at high krausen, which I also think is fine based on what I've been reading.

[sdixon]

Actually I think dumping at high krausen would be good, I just can't hit it right on which is why I do the cold crash route.

[Richard]

Yeah tbh I don't think it's an issue either way.

I'll have to re-read that and see if there's some quotable wisdom there.

[sdixon]

Wow, came home tonight and Kolsch starter was working like mad... it had a 6" layer of krausen on it! I'm using a 1.7L wine bottle... it was ~ half full of starter and krausen went to the top of the bottle. Busy little yeasties :-)

[Thomas]

What does your Kolsch starter smell like? Mine smells slightly sour/sulfur, but with hints of the typical "bready" yeast smell.