Home Brew Mart News Letter – June 18, 1997
Wednesday, June 18th, 1997Hello all,
Hope everybody had a good Father’s Day. Things were busy around here, so
brewing must be a good way to spend the day. Just a short Ballast Point
update this week with a few small items. I’ve included some info on Golden
Ales along with a couple of recipes. The Solana Beach store has a few used
5 gallon carboys for $10 each. And the 15 gallon brewing system is up
there with Yuseff building new gadgets for it every day. Call him at
794-2739 if you are interested. And finally, both stores will be closed on
July 4th to celebrate Independence Day (and to drink a lot of beer).
Have a good one.
Cheers
Tom
CONTENTS:
BALLAST POINT
GOLDEN ALES
NEW BEERS
CLASSES
RECIPES
FACTOID
BALLAST POINT
The big news this week is that our Copper Ale is now on tap at the Del Mar
Fair in the Paddock Area. The Fair has about 10 different beers including
Stone, Sierra Nevada and Guinness. We also have a booth with pictures of
the brewing process as well as a history of Ballast Point. At the booth we
have our new T-Shirts and Hats for sale for $12 a piece. The shirts now
come in white, tan, green and blue and the hats are available in dark and
light blue. Stop by to have a beer and say hello.
In other news the barleywine and cask conditioned ale are back on tap at
the tasting bar.
And starting Friday we will be on tap at George’s At the Cove in La Jolla.
Check the store or the Del Mar Fair booth for the latest tap list.
Ballast Point Kegs will be available for the Fourth of July but make sure
to pick them up on the 3rd, since we will be closed on the 4th.
GOLDEN ALES
Too often Golden Ales are character-less transition beers aimed at people
just starting to drink craft beer instead of Bud, Miller or Coors. Just
because the color is light doesn’t mean that the flavor has to be. Two
lightly toasted malts can help add body, color and malt flavor to light
colored beers: Vienna and Munich malt. Both of these grains need to be
mashed since they are full of starch. For those of you unfamiliar with
mashing or partial mashing you can find instructions for both on our web
page, or ask for a handout at the store.
Vienna Malt is a lightly toasted 6-row grain that rates at a 4 Lovibond.
It gives off a slight toasty flavor while adding body and color to the
beer. It is lighter and milder than Munich malt and can make up to 40% of
you grain bill. Like Munich, Vienna malt is very easy to convert to sugar,
though much of its enzyme power has been cooked out. Just use it with
equal parts of 2-row and you will be fine. It goes great in any German
Lager style of beer, Kolsch, Cream Ale, Golden Ale and anywhere an
increased malt flavor is desired. Many Octoberfest recipes will call for
Vienna malt. It also will work in Belgian Ales.
Munich Malt is more heavily toasted than Vienna and rates at a 10 Lovibond.
The Belgian variety we usually carry is 2-row malt, though the domestic
munich is 6-row. This grain gives off incredible malt flavor. Many Bock
beers will have massive amounts of Munich in the grain bill- up to 75%.
This grain will give off a decent amount of color if used in quantity. In
small amounts it helps accent lighter beers with a nutty-malty flavor (the
nuttiness ages out well in lager beers). In larger amounts it helps add
intense malty flavors to beer. I’ve seen Munich malt in almost every type
of beer around. Like the victory toasted malt it is one of those universal
grains that would go in almost anything except maybe a stout. It is ideal
for German Lagers and Ales and works well in small amounts in most British
ales–though toasted malt is probably more common. This is also a great
one for many Belgian styles of beer.
I’ve included two golden ale recipes, one extract and one all-grain.
Either one can be done with a mini-mash.
NEW BEERS
A new company has started to import even more Belgian beers. The most
interesting among the 15 or so new beers are the Lambic beers by
Cantillion. This is one of the most traditional Lambic producers in
Belgium. The beers have a marked sourness that blends with complex malt
flavors to make a unique drinking experience. Their Framboise is
considered to be the best made. I tried the lambic blended with Muscat
grapes and it was wonderful. The beers come in 750ml bottles and can be
found at any of the Beverages & More stores. These beers are not for the
timid or thrifty ($10-$12 a bottle), though they are a wonderful insight
into the distinct brewing culture of Belgium
CLASSES
The next beginning brewing class will be this coming Sunday, June 22nd from
10-11:45am at the Linda Vista Store. Class is free, so just show up.
Because of the Del Mar Fair, there will be no mead or all-grain classes
until at least July 13th. I am going to try and do one of each before
August. If you are interested in either class you can sign up at the
store, or just wait for more details on this list. The grain class will be
on a Sunday from 12-4pm, possibly the 20th of July.
RECIPES
So here are two Golden Ale recipes, one all-grain, one extract.
Extract Golden Ale
This is a light basic beer with a decent hop flavor to it. The Belgian
Biscuit malt helps give the beer a slight nutty flavor that complements the
malt flavor of the crystal. The East Coast Ale yeast will help keep fruity
esters low during the warmer months. Honey helps lighten the color,
without sacrificing fermentable sugar. Another option on this beer would
be to cut the malt extract back to 5# and add in a pound of dried rice
extract to go for a Corona-type beer.
7# Pale Malt Extract
.5# Honey – Boil
.5# 10L Crystal
.25# Biscuit
1.25 oz Mt. Hood 5.1%AA – Boil
.75 oz Mt. Hood – Finish
East Coast Ale Yeast
All-Grain Gold
This beer uses Munich and Vienna malts to create character in a very light
beer. I used the California Ale yeasxt when I made this, but the East
Coast will give a little less fruitiness and a bit more body. A pound of
rice or corn in place of 2-row will give the beer an even lighter body and
color.
6# Great Western 2-row
1.5# Vienna Malt
.5# Munich Malt
.25# Wheat
.25# Carapils
1 oz Mt Hood 5.1%AA – Boil
.75 oz Mt hood – Finish
East Coast Ale Yeast
Mash at 150-152F for one hour. Sparge to 6.5 gallons and boil l hour. For
a dry-beer, mash at 149-151F to create fewer unfermentable sugars.
FACTOID
This is worth passing along. Sent in by Henry Ptasinski:
Taken from Q&A in NEW SCIENTIST magazine:
Q. I have heard that it is possible to live on Guinness and milk alone. Is
this true, or even partially true?
A. This is not quite true. Guinness does contain many vitamins and minerals
in small quantities, but is lacking vitamin C, as well as calcium and fat.
So, to fulfil all of your daily nutritional requirements you would need
to drink a glass of orange juice, two glasses of milk and 47 pints of
Guinness.
NIGEL GOODWIN
University of Nottingham
Start Drinking Early!
Cheers