This particular batch was a spur of the moment, Memorial day brew. There were a few different aspects of experimentation going on with this one. Firstly, this brew consisted of Rye malt … and that’s it. 100% Rye! I really do love rye, and, if you haven’t already noticed, I use it a lot in my brewing. It adds a spiciness that I love in my beer. I guess I just thought to myself , ‘what if I only used rye?’
The second expe
rimental featurette here, is my first brew of a style referred to as a Tafelbier. Dutch for Table Beer, Tafelbier was just that, beer consumed at the table, during meals and whatnot. This Belgian ale, ranging anywhere from 1-3% ABV, traditionally, Tafelbier was pretty much the session beer trendsetter. It was consumed by everyone in the household, even the young children, who were introduced to beer drinking much earlier than we are used to in American culture.
So, a 100% Rye Tafelbier was in the works this past weekend. Depending on how this beer comes out, it may find itself in constant rotation here in the hot Northern Californian summer.
I treated this beer much like I was brewing a saison with the same mash schedule and a dose of my finest farmhouse soldiers (yeast). Also, while mash tun space was not much of a concern with a 2-3% ABV beer, I still utilized a decoction for my mash-out, as I am thinking this will become per the usual on brew day for me. I have not decided yet, but I realized there is tree with some mini sour plums just behind my property, so a portion of this beer may be aged on some mini plums.
As far as the hoping schedule goes, I put a lot of thought and care in determining which hops to use by just using what hops I had in my fridge.
Anyways, enough of all that, here is the recipe:
Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 6.47 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.028 SG
Estimated Color: 3.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 88.0 %
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5 lbs Rye Malt (Briess) (3.7 SRM) Grain 1 100.0 %
0.25 oz Aurora [9.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 2 11.1 IBUs
0.25 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 3 4.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Styrian Golding (Savinja Golding) [3.90 Hop 4 5.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Aurora [9.30 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 5 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Farmhouse 1.0 (Evan's Room #) Yeast 8 -
Mash Schedule: Saison Step Mash - Decoct Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 5 lbs
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Protein Rest Add 5.35 qt of water at 120.0 F 113.0 F 30 min
Peptidase Add 3.50 qt of water at 163.2 F 131.0 F 20 min
Sacchar Add 2.25 qt of water at 200.4 F 144.0 F 30 min
Dextrine Add 2.25 qt of water at 207.4 F 154.0 F 15 min
Mash Out Decoct 3.60 qt of mash and boil it 168.0 F 15 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 3.98 gal water at 168.0 F
May 26, 2014:
Brew day: Mash efficiency at 81%. Pre-boil gravity came in at 1.024, and original gravity clocked in at 1.029.
Pitched 1L starter, and fermentation started in a matter of only a couple hours.
I did not anticipate a highly vigorous fermentation, what with the low gravity of this beer, so I did not affix a blow-off tube... that was a mistake. Around 4am I found myself moping up beer. The fermenting beer was very pungent, and smelled simply amazing. The whole room smelled like graham crackers. Not sure how this will translate to the finished beer though. Time will tell.
Will follow up with notes and tasting when this little beauty is ready to go.
Bières d'exil 