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richenrygarcia · 09-28-2007, 04:59 PM

I'm looking into brewing Ommegang Hennepin and found this recipe on the BYO website. What do you all think? Does it sound about right?

Brewery Ommegang Hennepin
(5 gallons, extract only)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.008 IBUs = 24 ABV = 8.0%

Ingredients
6.6 lbs. Muntons light malt extract syrup
0.5 lbs. Muntons light malt extract powder
2 lbs. light candi sugar
6.5 AAU Styrian Golding hops (bittering hop)
(1.25 oz. of 5.25% alpha acid)
1.75 AAU Saaz hops (bittering hop)
(0.5 oz. of 3.5% alpha acid)
1 tsp. Irish moss
1 oz. dried ginger root
1 oz. bitter orange peel
White Labs WLP550 (Belgian Ale) or Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) yeast
O.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by step
Heat three gallons of water to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in the malt syrup, powder and candi sugar. Resume heating and bring the wort to a boil. Add Styrian Golding (bittering) hops, Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. Add the ginger root and bitter orange peel for the last 15 minutes of the boil. Add 0.5 ounce of Saaz (aroma) hops for the last two minutes of the boil.

When done boiling, strain out hops, add wort to two gallons of cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º F, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68–70º F, and ferment for 10–14 days. Bottle your beer, age for two to three weeks and enjoy!

All-grain option:
Replace the light syrup and powder with seven pounds Belgian Pilsner malt and two pounds Belgian pale malt. Brewery Ommegang uses a multiple-step mash starting at 122º F and ending at 152º F. Decrease the amount of Styrian boiling hops to one ounce.

mitch171 · 09-05-2009, 07:58 PM

Sorry to bring back an old post, but I was wondering if anyone could clarify the multiple-step mash.

Also can/how would I culture yeast form the bottle for these beers since they are bottle conditioned. I think that would help get a closer match and I would rather spend my $6 on a bottle of beer with yeast rather than just yeast.

Bob · 09-06-2009, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch171

Sorry to bring back an old post, but I was wondering if anyone could clarify the multiple-step mash.

What do you want to know?

Quote:

Also can/how would I culture yeast form the bottle for these beers since they are bottle conditioned. I think that would help get a closer match and I would rather spend my $6 on a bottle of beer with yeast rather than just yeast.

There are any number of instructions on the Internet on how to culture yeast from a bottle.

I do caution you to ensure the yeast that's in the bottle is actually the primary fermentation yeast. Many breweries sterile-filter the beer before seeding with sugar and a completely different yeast for bottle-conditioning. I have no idea if Ommegang is one of them; perhaps someone else does and will chime in. If nobody knows, the only way to find out is to culture the yeast and brew a test batch with it. Not only will you get an idea of the yeast's characteristics, you get a nice starter.

Cheers,

Bob

mitch171 · 09-06-2009, 01:57 PM

I would like to know how I can go about the multiple-step mash with a simple cooler mash tun with a copper manifold on the bottom.

I have spoken with the brewmaster when he visited the New York Wine and Culinary Center. He said they use the same yeast for every beer along with bottle conditioning. They even have some locked up at a lab with strict sterile containment (other than the yeast of course). This is used to replenish what they use at the brewery because he said it will mutate over time when being used.

BackAlleyBrewingCo · 09-06-2009, 11:00 PM

YMMV, but I've tried and failed* several times to harvest yeast from bottles of Hennepin. I suspect that the high alcohol content and aging process greatly reduces the viability of the yeast.

*Of course each time I tried I did get to drink a bottle of Hennepin, so they were pretty enjoyable as far as failures go!

mitch171 · 09-07-2009, 05:15 AM

I have a bottle of witte that was used during a demo class at the NYWCC so I am going to give that a try. Wish me luck! How do you all feel about freezing the yeast from the bottom of the bottle before trying to harvest as I am not quite ready to do another bathch yet? I just did an ash tray porter as many think as posted on another thread.

BackAlleyBrewingCo · 09-07-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch171

I have a bottle of witte that was used during a demo class at the NYWCC so I am going to give that a try. Wish me luck!

Good Luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch171

How do you all feel about freezing the yeast from the bottom of the bottle before trying to harvest as I am not quite ready to do another batch yet?

I'm not an expert by any means, but that sounds like a bad idea. Those yeast are probably already fairly stressed, and the freezing might just do them in. I'd recommend you harvest and step them up a couple of times to get them healthy, then freeze them.

I've followed FlyGuys' process outlined here:

Guide to Making a Frozen Yeast Bank

with success. I use a 20% glycerin solution, which is right in the middle of the 15% and 25% recommendations I've seen floating around.

Just make sure you give the yeast plenty of time to wake up before you plan to pitch them; two weeks ago I tried to use a batch of frozen yeast, but it was just starting to get active in a starter on brew day - 5 days after I had thawed them. I had to use a packet of dry yeast instead.

Joos · 09-07-2009, 03:37 PM

I guy I know recently cultured from some ommegang bottle(i dont remember which).So it is possible.

Bob · 09-07-2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch171

I would like to know how I can go about the multiple-step mash with a simple cooler mash tun with a copper manifold on the bottom.

Gotcha.

In that case, you'll have to start fairly dry and execute multiple infusions of liquor to ramp up your temperatures. The HBT Wiki has a pretty good article on the process. It is difficult to do more than two infusions by simple addition without excessively diluting the mash.

Frankly, with the excellent modification of modern malts, there's no reason to step mash other than tradition. But if you wish to repeat exactly the process of a commercial brew, do so; it's also fun to try until you get it down, as you'll learn quite a lot and add considerably to your skill as a brewer.

Quote:

I have spoken with the brewmaster when he visited the New York Wine and Culinary Center. He said they use the same yeast for every beer along with bottle conditioning. They even have some locked up at a lab with strict sterile containment (other than the yeast of course). This is used to replenish what they use at the brewery because he said it will mutate over time when being used.

Again, gotcha. Propagating from the bottle is a tricky business, as others have noted. It takes the freshest bottle you can find, skill and a generous helping of luck (finding the fresh bottle, primarily).

Have fun!

Bob

mitch171 · 09-07-2009, 09:19 PM

Thanks everyone for your help. I was thinking that I would want to culture the yeast before freezing thanks for conferming that. It isn't all that important to re-create the exact prosess that the brewery did I am just trying to get a very similar tasting beer because I like it so much.

As for fresh bottles Ommegang delivers to us some good fresh beer so I will keep my fingers crossed.