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As Seen In |
Pilot Brewery Report BY Douglas King (Published in the December 1996 Brews and News)
Trois Lambics
Nine brewers were at the Home Wine and Beer Shop on Nov. 9th for a brew session. While there were 9 brewers from the sign-up sheet, and there were quite a few others stopping by to see what was happening and to lend a hand. All in all, there was a lot of activity at the 'ole shop system this day. Maribeth Raines-Casselman was our brewmaster, and the "official" crew consisted of Doug King, Dick Watson, Johathan Rocks, Ed Alderette, Tom Wolf, John Aitchison, Sam Greene, and Jim Raymond. The brew style was Lambic, MB's third club brewed version, which tied in with this month's style of the month. At the November meeting we tasted the last 2 year's efforts, and there was some more for tasting during this brew. MB also brought many bottles of various Lambics direct from her recent European trip. This made brew day seem more like a tasting than a brew at times! Thanks for sharing all those great Lambics MB!! Some other beers we brought as well, including a keg of Pilsner Urquell and some S.N.Celebration Ale from John Aitchison, and a keg of Dougweiser from Doug King. Doug gets the bozo of the day award for his failure to check his beer line connections carefully. The beer line fitting was not tightened correctly, and leaked approximately 2 1\2 gallons of his homebrew into the ice at the bottom of the cooler, creating Dougweiser on the Rocks!! Lesson learned-check your kegs fittings often!! Lunch was BBQed burgers with all the trimmings, chips, salad, side dishes, etc. Thanks to Ed for toiling over the BBQ for us, and to everyone for bringing the goodies. We ate lunch in shifts, with half the crew tending the boiling wort while the other half ate, and vice versa. The brew went very smoothly with all the hands available for stirring and tending. A big crew definitely makes for less work for everyone. Left more time for socializing and tasting those Lambics! The recipe was the same as for the last Lambic brew, since it turned out exceptionally well. We did a side by side tasting of MB's last homebrew with a bottle of F. Boon lambic, and they were nearly identical. Some felt the homebrew was actually better! MB may try some different ideas(not sure about this) when it comes time to add the "nasties", the Pediococcus and Brettanomycies that make this style what it is. That will take place after the wort is fermented normally with ale yeast. MB and John will be handling that task, as well asaging for nearly a year, something best suited to those with dedicated equipment for this style. It wouldn't be a good idea to try to use the equipment for normal beers after Lambics, the "nasties" are very difficult to get rid of. Here's the recipe we brewed, tune in next year at this time for the first tastes! 15.5 lbs. Domestic 2 row, 10 lbs. German wheat malt, 3 lbs. carapils, 1 lb. 10L crystal, and 1\2 lb. honey malt. 3 ounces 1988 vintage Northern Brewer Whole hops, 8.8% original Alpha acid. Mashed at 120 degrees for 30 min., 140 degrees for 15 min., 158 degrees for 60 min., and 170 degrees for 15 min. Boiled with hops for 90 min. Chilled and pitched with Sierra Nevada yeast.
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