Biere de Garde - Biere de Noel

Hey all!

I'm currently reading the book Farmhouse Ales (great book, I highly recommend it!) and I came across something I would like to try later this year. The recipe is Biere de Noel and calls for:

Pilsener: 70% by weight
Munich: 24% by weight
Caramel Munich: 5.5% by weight
Kiln Black: .5% by weight

The IBUs is suggested at 22-24 and has an option of 10% brown sugar by extract.

I realize that Biere de Garde is more a process than a recipe or definitive style.

However, with that being said, I also realize that the caramel munich adds something very unique to this recipe. I don't have access to this malt. Can I toast some Munich to get me close to it?

Thanks!!

CaraMunich is actually just medium crystal malt (as far as I understand it does not start as Munich malt). I’d suggest replacing it with a blend of C60 and C80, because it tends to taste a bit darker than its ~50-60 L color suggests.

Sounds like a good recipe, I did a Biere de Garde based on his “artisanal producer” recipe last fall that I really enjoyed.

Thanks oldsock! I'll give that a try and see if I'm happy with it.

I'm curious, did you try the 3.5 hour boil for Biere de Garde?

I was told by the guy at my LHBS that Dingeman's Cara 45 malt is the same thing as Cara-Munich, and was formerly called that. Hope this helps.

-Adam

Thanks Adam! I'll try to hunt that down, but it looks like that is also unavailable....

I can't wait to brew in America where I can actually get the stuff I want

Like Oldsock said, you should be alright just using any of the medium dark crystal malts (I think 60L would probably be good). I am very lucky to live only 2 miles from a very well stocked brewing store.

Yeah, I'm not too worried about it, but it would have been nice to try the caramel munich.

I'm gonna try this on a 3.5 hour boil and see what I come up with...I'll probably bang out this recipe in september and let it age until christmas

I've been eying this recipe, too. I actually meant to brew it this winter, but I lost a couple months to a very busy move. If you try it, be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Will do Guld!

I'm trying to figure out how the 3.5 hour boil will work.

Do I just let it go for 3.5 hours and add water back to it to get to my target volume?

I certainly dont have a brew pot big enough to boil to account for 3.5 hours of loss (that would be what...almost 3.5 gallons?)

I think part of the caramelization would come from the reduction of water and concentration of sugars, which would lead to an increase in temperature of the liquid, no???

Therefore add it back in after the boil?

I just went with a 90 minute boil. With all of the specialty malts I used I don't think a long boil would add much. I'm hoping to do a 100% Maris Otter Barleywine for a club brew in a couple weeks with a long boil (going down past the target volume to boost melanoidin production and then topping off with water post boil).

Awesome. I'll try your topping off idea, take some notes on the flavor for a 3.5hour boil and see if we can see if it makes much of a difference.

Thanks again!

Geppu said:

Awesome. I'll try your topping off idea, take some notes on the flavor for a 3.5hour boil and see if we can see if it makes much of a difference.

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

I did a 3.5 hour boil with a top-off for a clone of Hair of the Dog's Adam. Solid beer, but I didn't get much more malt/caramel/bread etc... than I expected given the grainbill. I'll be interested to see how it does with a simple grist.

I just noticed that "Oldsock" is none other than The Mad Fermentationist! You are kind of a hero of mine, as I am a lover of sour beer. You're website is very interesting. I have been reading it a lot. I know, but I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration

-Adam

Yes, off topic!! DONT DO IT!!

Just kidding. I agree with you, I checked out his website and it ROCKS.

All hail Oldsock!

Please, please, you give me too little credit.

Glad you guys have enjoyed the blog.

Geppu said:

Hey all!

I'm currently reading the book Farmhouse Ales (great book, I highly recommend it!) and I came across something I would like to try later this year. The recipe is Biere de Noel and calls for:

Pilsener: 70% by weight
Munich: 24% by weight
Caramel Munich: 5.5% by weight
Kiln Black: .5% by weight

The IBUs is suggested at 22-24 and has an option of 10% brown sugar by extract.

I realize that Biere de Garde is more a process than a recipe or definitive style.

However, with that being said, I also realize that the caramel munich adds something very unique to this recipe. I don't have access to this malt. Can I toast some Munich to get me close to it?

Thanks!!

Click to expand...

Caramunich is kilned while it is still wet from malting. Munich is kilned after it has been dried. They are very different. Can you order some online?

I just wanted to chime in. I did a versthis of this recipe...basically straight from the book with the addition of dark brown sugar which was one of the recommeneded add-ons. It turned out really tasty and malty with lots of rum and dark fruit flavors along with nice malt, caramel and a little bit of spicy fragrance from French strisselspalt hops. For me...this is the perfect bier de Noel for sitting by the fireplace in winter! I'm not a fan of spiced Christmas ales so if your like me then you'll really like this beer. Here are the details

http://dankbrewingcompany.blogspot.com/2010/10/biere-de-noel-on-keggle-system-with.html

Cheers!
Nick
Ps...I just gave bearded brewer one of these to sample and review so that should be coming out soon on his blog. Unbiased reviews r always best

DannPM said:

Caramunich is kilned while it is still wet from malting. Munich is kilned after it has been dried. They are very different. Can you order some online?

Click to expand...

I can't. "Gondor" doesn't like it when people make their own beer and the supplies I have are decent, but a little limited. I'll sub some crystal as mentioned above.

nppeders said:

I just wanted to chime in. I did a versthis of this recipe...basically straight from the book with the addition of dark brown sugar which was one of the recommeneded add-ons. It turned out really tasty and malty with lots of rum and dark fruit flavors along with nice malt, caramel and a little bit of spicy fragrance from French strisselspalt hops. For me...this is the perfect bier de Noel for sitting by the fireplace in winter! I'm not a fan of spiced Christmas ales so if your like me then you'll really like this beer. Here are the details

http://dankbrewingcompany.blogspot.com/2010/10/biere-de-noel-on-keggle-system-with.html

Cheers!
Nick
Ps...I just gave bearded brewer one of these to sample and review so that should be coming out soon on his blog. Unbiased reviews r always best

Click to expand...

Very awesome! Thanks for the link!

I've also done the Rustic Saison out of that book which was very unique and tasty. Much different then a typical saison....many people in my homebrew club that don't necessarily like Saison's really liked the Rustic one with Spelt and French Strisselspalt hops.

http://dankbrewingcompany.blogspot.com/2010/08/st-anthony-farmhouse-ale.html

I'm really interested in brewing that Artisanal Beire De Garde from that book though. Can't find any feedback about it.

Im' about to do a few SMASH beers for summer. Vienna Simcoe, 2-row Amarillo, and then it's Saison time!

I'm ready to pull the trigger on this to start brewing at the end of September.

If I brew say...September 20th, let it sit in the primary for 3 weeks until October 18th, and then bottle it, will it be ready for xmas?

It looks like this will come in at a hefty 7 or 8% ABV so I'm unsure whether it will be ready...

EDIT: BTW, I did change my names a couple of times. I'm indecisive like that.

It'll probably be in it's PRIME at Christmas time! Get it brewed! My Bier De Noel based off this recipe is 10 months old and tasting better then ever. Mine is in it's Prime right now, but I added Muscavado sugar to the recipe and it took a while for that to mellow down!

Cheers, let us know how it turns out!
Nick

Update:

Process:
My mash temp for this beer was the recommended temp in the Farmhouse Ales book (147F) I brewed this up, with the 3 hour boil. My starting volume was somewhere around 25 liters and i boiled off about 10 liters during the process. With about 30 minutes left, I added enough water back to the kettle to bring it up to my desired volume and let it return to a boil and boil for the final 30 minutes.

Conditioning
This has now spent two months in the bottle. We have warm falls here, so the initial conditioning was done around 78F but temps have since fallen and now they have spent the last month at about 66F. I sampled it last week and this week to monitor the progress and it's coming along beautifully. It has a slight alcohol taste to it (about 7.2%ABV) with some raisin overtones. The spicy bitterness of the hops linger slightly but they are starting to fade. In another two weeks, this is going to be massively awesome.

My only regret with this beer is that I wasn't smart enough to pitch 2 sachets of yeast in. BUT I did rehydrate the yeast, so that's better than pitching one dry sachet. Live and learn and it's still delicious!

I'll have pics in two weeks once it's had a chance to age a bit more.