Home Brew Competition - Wort Provided by Brewery

[bloom_brewer]

A local brewery is doing a home brew competition for craft beer week. I think this is a really cool idea but I have some questions regarding the options for fermentation/secondary, etc.

Here is what is being provided:
Base Recipe: OG 1.050-52; 33 IBU; 7 SRM

Malt Bill
61% Pils
17% Vienna
7.5% Wheat
7.5% CaraPils
3.5% C20
3.5% C40

Hop Additions
10 IBU Nugget - FWH
20 IBU Nugget - 60 min
3 IBU Willamette - 10 min

When I first heard about the competition, I was thinking - Wheat beer since well 1. its getting near summer and 2. there are a lot of different things you can do with a wheat beer in secondary to make it unique.

With pilsner being the main malt, does this wort seem like it has to be a pilsner/lager of some sort? I have only been brewing for about a year and do not yet have a temp controlled fridge that I can lager in during the warm months.

I would like to participate in this contest but I really don't have great ideas of what can be done with this wort (at ale fermentation temps) to make it stand out.

 

[philippst]

Ferment with classic english ale yeast, secondary on toasted oak chips, priming with dark muscovado sugar;
Should get you a nice english ale;

 

[Schemy]

That would get a huge pitch of Brett Brux from me. And screams for some Citra dry hop.

What are the restrctions on the comp? Can you reboil, modify the wort in any manor? Or is it more of a fermentation and secondary additions type comp?

 

[tmendick]

Raspberry Jalapeno with WLP300 is what I would do.
Or if you're gutsy enough, just had a competition last night and the guy who won did a blueberry sour.

 

[bloom_brewer]

That would get a huge pitch of Brett Brux from me. And screams for some Citra dry hop.

What are the restrctions on the comp? Can you reboil, modify the wort in any manor? Or is it more of a fermentation and secondary additions type comp?

They really didnt provide many restrictions or details aside from bringing the beer to judge in 6 weeks. I am guessing the Brett would need longer to finish than the time limit.

I think it is more for the sake of getting local people involved more with brewing. Winner gets to brew a beer with them but they didnt say if the beer you made would be what is brewed.

Raspberry Jalapeno with WLP300 is what I would do.
Or if you're gutsy enough, just had a competition last night and the guy who won did a blueberry sour.

Raspberry jalapeno sounds very interesting. I am still on the fence on if I want to participate.

 

[chickypad]

Honestly raspberry jalapeno sounds disgusting to me, but different strokes and all that .

Are you getting a full 5 gal and just submitting a few for judging? If you want something a little safer you could ferment this with Wyeast 3787/WL530 and get a nice Belgian pale out of it. That's kind of my house Belgian strain, I get good results pitching around 65 and letting it rise to about 75 over the course of a week. Maybe not as flashy as some of the other suggestions but it should be a nice drinkable beer if you're making a whole batch.

 

[pmonti80]

Have you thought about a saison beer? Danstar Belle Saison is a dry yeast and will go well with high temperature.

 

[mrdauber64]

Boil it for 15 min and hop burst it with 6 ounces of galaxy hops to make it an IPA(15, 10, 5 and flameout additions at 180 degrees and 145 degrees). Also add a pound of sugar to boost the gravity and dry it out.


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