NoIguanaForZ
Well-Known Member
So, a local community organization of which I'm a member had a service auction event recently, to which I donated 2x Service Items constructed as follows:
-The use of my knowledge and resources in crafting a recipe consistent with/specifically appealing to the winner's beer preferences
-$35 worth of grain, hops, and yeast, consistent with that recipe
-The use of my knowledge, skill, and equipment to transform the grain, hops, and yeast, of which the winner was now the proud new owner, into beer consistent with the recipe we'd worked out, which (the beer) would naturally remain the property of the winner (like its precursors) after fermentation
With timing TBD and the winner responsible for ingredient costs in excess of the $35 worth I agreed to donate.
Of the two winners, the one who's been communicative listed Anchor Steam as her favorite beer, and Guinness (dry Irish stout) and Negro Modelo (McDonald's version of a Vienna Lager) as others she was familiar with. She also specified a disinterest in "weird" ingredients like chocolate, etc., IPA-type beers, or highly bitter beer. What those beers had in common, that I could see, was some general sort of "toasty" grain flavors, a "clean" fermentation, balanced-to-bitter balance, and being fairly dry. Anchor Steam being her favorite, I figured using a California Common style as a basis made the most sense. Using Vienna malt instead of Pale seemed like a nice nod to the Vienna Lager angle. This left Guinness as somewhat of the odd flavor out, and after some thought I reflected on the Schwarzbier style and decided something analogous using a California Common instead of an amber lager as a basis might work nicely.
When we had a chance to sit down and chat a couple weeks ago, I ran this idea past her. I think most of my explanation went over her head (she was at the point where she wasn't 100% sure on the differences among Ales and Lagers, for instance) but she was enthused. I have a tentative recipe worked out, that I wanted to run past the usual cri...err, the board:
Black Common (working title, final name will either be a rose pun in the winner's honor or some reference to coal-fired steam engines)
Mixed-Style Beer ("Schwarz California Common")
OG: 1.054
Est ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 35.7
Color: 33.1 SRM
Grain Bill:
- 9lb Vienna Malt (80%)
-12oz Carafa III (6.7%)
-12oz Victory Malt (6.7%)
- 8oz Crystal 60 (4.4%)
- 4oz Crystal 120 (2.2%)
Tentatively mashing at 150 F with about 1.25 or slightly more qts/lb -- one thing I'm hoping for suggestions on.
My thinking was to emphasize bready, grainy, toasted malty flavors while retaining a dry finish, hence the restrained-for-me use of crystal malts. When I ran this past her, she was enthusiastic about having some caramelly flavors, as well as bready-grainy-toasty flavors, in balance. Thoughts on the grain bill are welcome, however.
Hops:
Northern Brewer, calculations assume 8.5% AA:
-1oz at 45 min (29.3 IBU)
-1oz at 5 min (6.4 IBU)
(This is a bit less hop than I typically see in California common recipes, but I don't want to overbitter or overhop it, and my LHBS sells them in units of 2oz. Should I up it to 3, though, and hang on to the others for something?
Yeast: WLP810 San Francisco Lager or Wyeast equivalent (...IS Wyeast 2112 the same strain? Would one be better than the other here?)
Fermenting somewhere between 60-65 F. Will be bottled rather than kegged. What is this going to require in terms of cold conditioning, etc. to get a clean lager-like California Commonesque profile?
-The use of my knowledge and resources in crafting a recipe consistent with/specifically appealing to the winner's beer preferences
-$35 worth of grain, hops, and yeast, consistent with that recipe
-The use of my knowledge, skill, and equipment to transform the grain, hops, and yeast, of which the winner was now the proud new owner, into beer consistent with the recipe we'd worked out, which (the beer) would naturally remain the property of the winner (like its precursors) after fermentation
With timing TBD and the winner responsible for ingredient costs in excess of the $35 worth I agreed to donate.
Of the two winners, the one who's been communicative listed Anchor Steam as her favorite beer, and Guinness (dry Irish stout) and Negro Modelo (McDonald's version of a Vienna Lager) as others she was familiar with. She also specified a disinterest in "weird" ingredients like chocolate, etc., IPA-type beers, or highly bitter beer. What those beers had in common, that I could see, was some general sort of "toasty" grain flavors, a "clean" fermentation, balanced-to-bitter balance, and being fairly dry. Anchor Steam being her favorite, I figured using a California Common style as a basis made the most sense. Using Vienna malt instead of Pale seemed like a nice nod to the Vienna Lager angle. This left Guinness as somewhat of the odd flavor out, and after some thought I reflected on the Schwarzbier style and decided something analogous using a California Common instead of an amber lager as a basis might work nicely.
When we had a chance to sit down and chat a couple weeks ago, I ran this idea past her. I think most of my explanation went over her head (she was at the point where she wasn't 100% sure on the differences among Ales and Lagers, for instance) but she was enthused. I have a tentative recipe worked out, that I wanted to run past the usual cri...err, the board:
Black Common (working title, final name will either be a rose pun in the winner's honor or some reference to coal-fired steam engines)
Mixed-Style Beer ("Schwarz California Common")
OG: 1.054
Est ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 35.7
Color: 33.1 SRM
Grain Bill:
- 9lb Vienna Malt (80%)
-12oz Carafa III (6.7%)
-12oz Victory Malt (6.7%)
- 8oz Crystal 60 (4.4%)
- 4oz Crystal 120 (2.2%)
Tentatively mashing at 150 F with about 1.25 or slightly more qts/lb -- one thing I'm hoping for suggestions on.
My thinking was to emphasize bready, grainy, toasted malty flavors while retaining a dry finish, hence the restrained-for-me use of crystal malts. When I ran this past her, she was enthusiastic about having some caramelly flavors, as well as bready-grainy-toasty flavors, in balance. Thoughts on the grain bill are welcome, however.
Hops:
Northern Brewer, calculations assume 8.5% AA:
-1oz at 45 min (29.3 IBU)
-1oz at 5 min (6.4 IBU)
(This is a bit less hop than I typically see in California common recipes, but I don't want to overbitter or overhop it, and my LHBS sells them in units of 2oz. Should I up it to 3, though, and hang on to the others for something?
Yeast: WLP810 San Francisco Lager or Wyeast equivalent (...IS Wyeast 2112 the same strain? Would one be better than the other here?)
Fermenting somewhere between 60-65 F. Will be bottled rather than kegged. What is this going to require in terms of cold conditioning, etc. to get a clean lager-like California Commonesque profile?
