- Recipe Type
- All Grain
- Yeast
- Wyeast 1272 -- American Ale II
- Yeast Starter
- YES
- Batch Size (Gallons)
- 4
- Original Gravity
- 1.054
- Final Gravity
- 1.012
- Boiling Time (Minutes)
- 60
- IBU
- 14
- Color
- 13
- Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 21
- Tasting Notes
- See Below
I've posted about this brew before but I felt that I should put it in the recipe database after I found out it won 1st Place in Category 23 and 2nd Place in "Best in Show" at the local Brew Basin Brew-Off competition this weekend.
This is not a traditional Sahti. I've refrained from using Finnish bread yeast and multiple-rest mash. I've also added a tiny amount of hops to make it actual beer.
The Recipe:
5# US 2-row
2# Rye Malt
1# Munich Malt
0.75# Crystal 120L
0.5oz Cascade (6.9%) 60min
0.25oz Juniper Berries 60min
0.25oz Juniper Berries 15min
0.25oz Grains of Paradise 5min
1.5L starter of Wyeast 1272 Am. Ale II
The Process:
- Go to the hills and collect a backpack full of juniper branches
- Boil the majority of the branches with some berries in cheese cloth in your mash liquor... 15-30 minutes is sufficient (VERY IMPORTANT)
- Dough-in with the juniper liquor, mash 60min @ 154* F
- Take a couple extra branches and push them down onto the manifold so you lauter through fresh branches as tradition dictates
- Sparge with juniper liquor
- Follow 60 min boil schedule
Brewing Notes and Advice:
- This year I didn't do salt additions and just let the juniper liquor chemistry dictate the balance. It seemed to work out well.
- If you're collecting juniper be sure you know whether or not they're sprayed with pesticides. Best bet is to get it from the wild.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: There is no way this guy is going to clear out considering all of the sappy, barky goodness the juniper added to the water. But the orange-brown hue is a nice color.
Aroma: Intense aroma of juniper but with plenty of malty, nutty, breadiness to accompany (man I love Wyeast 1272.) Zero hop aroma.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, no bite from alcohol or CO2 since it's supposed to be low-carb.
Taste: Initially as you're sipping you get the blast of juniper aroma, but then as soon as you take a sip you get a good amount of spiciness from the rye malt and grains of paradise. At mid-palate there is a fantastic chewy malt flavor. And finally, you're refreshed with a bit of juniper at the end. Not at all like drinking a Christmas tree (like people associate with gin and other juniper stuff.)
This is not a traditional Sahti. I've refrained from using Finnish bread yeast and multiple-rest mash. I've also added a tiny amount of hops to make it actual beer.
The Recipe:
5# US 2-row
2# Rye Malt
1# Munich Malt
0.75# Crystal 120L
0.5oz Cascade (6.9%) 60min
0.25oz Juniper Berries 60min
0.25oz Juniper Berries 15min
0.25oz Grains of Paradise 5min
1.5L starter of Wyeast 1272 Am. Ale II
The Process:
- Go to the hills and collect a backpack full of juniper branches
- Boil the majority of the branches with some berries in cheese cloth in your mash liquor... 15-30 minutes is sufficient (VERY IMPORTANT)
- Dough-in with the juniper liquor, mash 60min @ 154* F
- Take a couple extra branches and push them down onto the manifold so you lauter through fresh branches as tradition dictates
- Sparge with juniper liquor
- Follow 60 min boil schedule
Brewing Notes and Advice:
- This year I didn't do salt additions and just let the juniper liquor chemistry dictate the balance. It seemed to work out well.
- If you're collecting juniper be sure you know whether or not they're sprayed with pesticides. Best bet is to get it from the wild.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: There is no way this guy is going to clear out considering all of the sappy, barky goodness the juniper added to the water. But the orange-brown hue is a nice color.
Aroma: Intense aroma of juniper but with plenty of malty, nutty, breadiness to accompany (man I love Wyeast 1272.) Zero hop aroma.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, no bite from alcohol or CO2 since it's supposed to be low-carb.
Taste: Initially as you're sipping you get the blast of juniper aroma, but then as soon as you take a sip you get a good amount of spiciness from the rye malt and grains of paradise. At mid-palate there is a fantastic chewy malt flavor. And finally, you're refreshed with a bit of juniper at the end. Not at all like drinking a Christmas tree (like people associate with gin and other juniper stuff.)