Please Evaluate My Steam Beer/California UNcommon Recipe

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EinGutesBier

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Here's the ingredients list:

10 lbs. American 2-Row (Rahr)

1 lbs. Honey Malt

1 lbs. Munich 40 Durst Malting

1/2 lb. Flaked Rye

Yeast: two 7 gram packets of Superior Lager

I'm not sure what I'm using for hops, though I have some Galena and Magnum I'm considering for bittering. Then, for finishing and aroma, I'm thinking of using my infamous hop suey (for those who don't know, it's a mixture of left over hop pellets in one ounce bags) from Austin Homebrew.

So that's what I've got right now. I'm thinking of adding 1/2 lb. of my 80L or 1/4 lb. of my 120L Crystal malt. Does anyone have suggestions for some of the quantities that I've got? It's too late to really get anything else, though I do have some peated malt, heh. Other than that, any ideas for techniques on brewing this would be appreciated.

Thing is, I want this beer to be a more wild version of the steam beer, but have plenty of fermentables. The idea of getting such a variety of different malts was to have tastes that were different, malty and yet complimentary. Though to be honest I haven't used flaked rye before, though I do know that it's a strong grain. I suppose I ought to oven toast some of my quick oats and add them too. Maybe 1/2 lb to 1 lb of that? Hm....
 
EinGutesBier said:
Here's the ingredients list:

10 lbs. American 2-Row (Rahr)

1 lbs. Honey Malt

1 lbs. Munich 40 Durst Malting

1/2 lb. Flaked Rye

Yeast: two 7 gram packets of Superior Lager

I'm not sure what I'm using for hops, though I have some Galena and Magnum I'm considering for bittering. Then, for finishing and aroma, I'm thinking of using my infamous hop suey (for those who don't know, it's a mixture of left over hop pellets in one ounce bags) from Austin Homebrew.

So that's what I've got right now. I'm thinking of adding 1/2 lb. of my 80L or 1/4 lb. of my 120L Crystal malt. Does anyone have suggestions for some of the quantities that I've got? It's too late to really get anything else, though I do have some peated malt, heh. Other than that, any ideas for techniques on brewing this would be appreciated.

Thing is, I want this beer to be a more wild version of the steam beer, but have plenty of fermentables. The idea of getting such a variety of different malts was to have tastes that were different, malty and yet complimentary. Though to be honest I haven't used flaked rye before, though I do know that it's a strong grain. I suppose I ought to oven toast some of my quick oats and add them too. Maybe 1/2 lb to 1 lb of that? Hm....
Click to expand...

I would suggest only using the 2-row and a # of c-60 with San Fran Lager Yeast.
 
RICLARK, that'd be a great idea if I was doing a common California Common. This is a California UNcommon. :rockin: Just wanted some input on how the ingredients will come together.
 
EinGutesBier said:
RICLARK, that'd be a great idea if I was doing a common California Common. This is a California UNcommon. :rockin: Just wanted some input on how the ingredients will come together.
Click to expand...

Well im not sure What the Rye will do to it but Im thinking the honey malt might make it a touch dryer, But hell man if you are doing this for an Experiment, brew it Im sure it will end up great and then when it's done I can make it.:D
 
i would add 1/4 lb of Crystal 120L for color.

Anchor uses a small amount of chocolate malt, i think. I used some in my last steam beer recipe and it turned out fantastic!

i would go with the San Francisco Lager yeast if you're planning to ferment this at the proper cal common temperature (60F.) Not sure that Superior will work so well.

And really, adding honey malt and rye, the different yeast strain and not using Northern Brewer hops, you are currently far from the mark for a true steam beer.
 
DeathBrewer said:
i would add 1/4 lb of Crystal 120L for color.

Anchor uses a small amount of chocolate malt, i think. I used some in my last steam beer recipe and it turned out fantastic!

i would go with the San Francisco Lager yeast if you're planning to ferment this at the proper cal common temperature (60F.) Not sure that Superior will work so well.

And really, adding honey malt and rye, the different yeast strain and not using Northern Brewer hops, you are currently far from the mark for a true steam beer.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input DeathBrewer. I think I will add some of that 120L, then. I assume if I have that, that's the only Crystal malt I'll need, right? Luckily, I combined ingredients in one shipment from Midwest and I happen to have some chocolate malt on hand, so lucky me! How much would you say I should add, DB? 3 or 4 ounces?

I know that this is kind of not the true California Common but I'm trying to do my own take on it. I figure that the main think that makes a Cali Common what it is, is the unique fermentation style, and probably the yeast too. Still, I heard that the lager yeast I'm using should be pretty hardy (anyone have some experience with Superior Lager?), so I'm not too worried about that.

Last question - should I just shoot for moderate hop-bitterness and moderate flavor and aroma or is there a hopping rate for bitterness, aroma and flavor that'd be more suitable to this style and my grain bill?

Thanks! :mug:
 
BJCP Guidelines

I would hop it up a bit. They're comparable to American Pale Ales in regards to hops.

If you use both the chocolate and the 120L, i would do no more than 6 oz total...maybe 3 of each? i think i used 5 oz chocolate in my steam beer and it came out in the flavor a little more than i expected...a pleasant suprise, tho ;)

and reading more about it, the superior lager might actually work very well. Let me know how that turns out!

:mug:
 
Hey, thanks DB. Great input. I'll try the 3 oz. of each that you suggested. I'm pretty confident in Superior Lager (I have to be because otherwise I'm out of luck), but I'll definitely keep you guys posted on how this works out.

Maybe nextime, I'll do the opposite thing. Do a Belgian style beer either with a lager yeast or with an ale yeast at colder temps. Maybe I'll get a different flavor dynamic if I stay farther away from the fruity esther temperatures.
 
Update: Despite a couple difficulties, I got it through all right, and it smelled great. Ended up using some Galena and Cascade hops on this one - IBUs around 55 or 60. The only question I have is that it took about 20 or 21 hours to start fermentation. That's because I had to warm it up to about 70 to get the yeast jump started, though I pitched them at 60 degrees.

Does anyone know if that'd be enough time for the beer to get infected? I'm fairly sure that the hops I introduced should keep it safe, but I wanted to ask anyway. Finally, just to check my understanding, lager yeast does tend to make a stronger odor than ale yeast, right? This is my first time using lager yeast, so I'm just trying to get some input.
 

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