Ale Of Asgard

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GoodTruble

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Found this recipe on Homebrewers Association website.

I may give it try this spring/summer.

Any thoughts, suggestions, improvements, or warnings?


Ale of Asgard
ABV: 11% IBU: 37 SRM: 6
OG: 1.102 FG: 1.021
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/ale-of-asgard/Ingredients:
First mash (to make brewing liquor)
* 7.0 lb. (3.18 kg) 6-row pale malt
* 3.0 lb. (1.36 kg) flaked maize
* 1/2 tsp. calcium chloride
* 1/2 tsp. gypsum
Second mash (for final beer)
* 5.75 lb. (2.61 kg) Pilsner malt
* 1.25 lb. (0.57 kg) Vienna malt
* 3.0 lb. (1.36 kg) flaked maize
* 1/2 tsp. calcium chloride
* 3/4 tsp. gypsum
Boil and fermentation
* 1/4 tsp. calcium chloride @ 80 min
* 0.75 oz. (21 g) Magnum 16% @ 75
* 1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient @ 15 min
* 1 tsp. Irish moss @ 15 min
* Wyeast 1056 American Ale, White Labs WLP001 California Ale, or Fermentis Safale US-05 (1-gallon yeast starter or two 11.5-g packets of dried yeast)

PARTIAL-MASH VERSION Mash 5 lb. (2.27 kg) pale 6-row malt with 2 lb. (0.9 kg) flaked maize at 154° F (68° C) for 45 minutes to an hour. Use distilled or reverse osmosis water. Strain, rinse grains, and add 6.75 lb. (3.06 kg) Pilsner malt extract syrup (or 5.62 lb./2.55 kg dry Pilsner malt extract) and 2 lb. (0.9 kg) corn sugar (dextrose) to the wort, stirring to dissolve completely. Increase Magnum hops to 1 oz. (28 g), add to wort, top up to desired boil volume, and boil 30 minutes. Dilute to 5.25 gallons (19.87 L) with reverse osmosis water, chill to pitching temperature, oxygenate, and pitch yeast. Ferment as above to yield 5 gallons (18.92 L).
 
Add a bit of brown malt to make it darker, and a bit of smoked malt. I'd go with the oak smoked, which is the common weyermann rauchbier malt, rather than the sweet breiss cherry smoked malt. Use 10% or more... otherwise you won't know it's there.

Fantasy is a funny thing. It seems medieval, but in fact has no place and time; characteristic, fantasy is both old tech and new magic. In my opinion, it's old, and the magic is the kind long forgotten. In those old times, malt was certainly dried by smoky wood fires, rather than coke fuel which would have been relatively odorless.

Hops also are a stretch, but I'll reserve recommendations there because anything else would make this a bit of a drag.
 
Add a bit of brown malt to make it darker, and a bit of smoked malt. I'd go with the oak smoked, which is the common weyermann rauchbier malt, rather than the sweet breiss cherry smoked malt. Use 10% or more... otherwise you won't know it's there.

Normally, I prefer bigger beers to be darker, but part of what seems interesting/challenging about this one though is the complicated process and high gravity, yet seemingly still relatively light color.

But darker and slight smoke does seem appealing as well.
 
Gypsum and Calcium Chloride are for adjusting your water - adding minerals to your water that it needs or doesn’t have. I would not be automatically adding those just because the recipe has them in it. Those are likely what someone else used for adjusting their water, which probably isn’t the same as your water. And when I use those, I do weight measure (i.e grams) which is always more accurate than a volume measure.
 
Normally, I prefer bigger beers to be darker, but part of what seems interesting/challenging about this one though is the complicated process and high gravity, yet seemingly still relatively light color.

But darker and slight smoke does seem appealing as well.
I saw a blonde barleywine awhile back that Firestone Walker made. Yeah I also thought that looked like a challenge.
 
Gypsum and Calcium Chloride are for adjusting your water - adding minerals to your water that it needs or doesn’t have. I would not be automatically adding those just because the recipe has them in it. Those are likely what someone else used for adjusting their water, which probably isn’t the same as your water. And when I use those, I do weight measure (i.e grams) which is always more accurate than a volume measure.

Agreed. The recipe appears to presume that you start with RO and build your water profile from there. Not sure if I will go that route. I have access to super cheap RO ($2.50 for 5 gallons), but my tap water with a campden tablet is also quite compatible/good for many beer styles.
 
Yeah, one of my first concerns was whether Saf-05 could really handle that fermentation/alcohol level. I think it pushes its upper range.

if you use multiple packs of yeast and do a good aeration also you put some yeast nutrient it will kick it out, i just brew 2 weeks ago a 15% braggot with US-05 with this method, and it was fast 2 weeks from 1.120 to 1.003
 
if you use multiple packs of yeast and do a good aeration also you put some yeast nutrient it will kick it out, i just brew 2 weeks ago a 15% braggot with US-05 with this method, and it was fast 2 weeks from 1.120 to 1.003

Good to know. Could I do 1 package to make a large yeast starter?
 
Yes that would help, as long as they are healthy that might work, but remember to use nutrients on the starter, but if not 2 or 3 pacls of yeast would do the work, thats what i used
 
Did you ever brew this? I was thinking of brewing this myself and wanted to see how it went.
 
Not yet. I bought all the ingredients, but it is 5th in line for brewing plans. So I probably won't get to it until late June. And I chickened out and got the partial mash ingredients.

If you go first, let me know how it goes. I'm still on the fence about which yeast I will use.
 
I finally got around to brewing this yesterday. I did the partial mash version just to cut down on the grain bill (but added .5 lbs of carapils and 1 lbs of vienna). For yeast, I decided to go with Mangrove Jack M41 Belgian Ale - because I decided I wanted to push belgian flavors rather than the cleaner Saf-05 or Gulo (which is a beast, but I've not had good luck with so far). And ittolerance range should be fine for my expected abv and temps.

Original gravity was 1.100, and very active fermentation so far (standard pale ale on the left; Asgard on the right). It is also the most aromatic brew I've ever brewed - the brewing smell fills the entire room.


B458399A-22EB-45C8-BEA5-A3933CF262A2.jpeg


I'll update again once it's done. But so far, it's certainly interesting.
 
After 5 days, fermentation is still very active and still churning like a snow globe (this is why I like using clear fermenters). I think the flaked corn may simply take longer to ferment out (in addition to the high abv).
 
After 8 days, still very active and still churning. No idea what this beer will taste like but smells great.
 
13 days, still very active fermentation and small particles bouncing everywhere. Starting to think that had I used Gulo, this thing would have just exploded.
 
Bottled just under 4 weeks. Great smell and taste from sample. But on day 3, and still carbing pretty slow (but it is carbing). I meant to toss in some champagne yeast, but was in a hurry and forgot. I think it may take another 1-2 weeks to carb.
 
Last update - This turned out GREAT! One of my favorite beers I've brewed. Almost 12% but tastes way smoother (I would have guessed 8%). Just a bit tart, estery, and then smooth hint of alcohol at the end. I will definitely brew this again, and definitely recommend the Mangrove Jack M41. It took almost a month to ferment, but was worth the wait (-which seems to be the story with a lot of MJ yeasts).

6FAAD691-AE84-4098-BD91-9535D7205813.jpeg
 
Quick update - I just opened my last bottle of this last night, and it aged great. A little lighter on the carb but it got really smooth and almost too drinkable for 12%. -I didn't even intend to save one this long, there just aren't too many occasions for drinking a liter of 12% beer. =c)


Cleared quite a bit over 18 months as well....

9C97F17C-5CFD-4449-A70A-2F02E0A2E86C.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Just re-visiting this - doesn’t it seem like the kind of recipe you could drop some of the malt and replace it with a few pounds of honey toward the end of the boil? I mean if we’re going ancient, right?
 
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