Kings Pointer Collaboration 1.0: Belgian Dubble

The Story: Over the past three years, I've been lucky enough to see many of my best friends from college get married. Just last week, we were down in Austin, Texas for Luke and Cheryl's spectacular wedding. Luke had the full spread of brews being served included a wonderful Belgian Brune and even a Melomel (Fruit Mead). As I was the first of the group to get married I was pretty excited to see the tradition of wedding homebrew continuing at each of the weddings!

Unfortunately, distance and schedule keeps most of us apart so we can't share many beers throughout the year. To combat this, we decided earlier this year, I believe over brews at Adams wedding,  to take a stab at one of the latest craft beer phenomenon's: Collaboration. Brewing the same of very similar recipes on our individual setups around the country and seeing how they turn out. This is the first in our series of collaborative brews! Cheers.

The Brew: To start things off we wanted a style of beer that could really take on some individualized personality. The Belgian family of beers seemed perfect because of their inherent individuality even amongst the same style. This beer is our take on a Belgian Dubble and seeks to provide the appropriate balance between moderate alcohol warmth, richness, and superior drink-ability or "digestible" as the Belgians might say. The grain bill may seem involved, but at the end of the say the signature ingredients are the yeast choice and Dark Candi Sugar. Minor variations in fermentation characteristics such as temperature or yeast strain will likely produce nuanced variations on the same theme.


Some tasting notes: A remarkable clean fermenting Belgian with reddish-ruby highlights and low to moderate yeast fruity esters that possess a pleasant but distinct banana quality. The rich quality of caramel and plum undertones is coupled with round notes of toasty bread and biscuit and concluded with a slight dryness.

Check out the great book Brew like a Monk for more information on Belgian breweries and their wonderful history and beers.

Ingredients:
Malt (148-150F; Filtered Water w/ 1/4tsp CaCl2,CaSO4 per 5gl):

• 11# American 2-Row (Great Western)
• 1# Belgian Aromatic
• 1# Belgian Biscuit
• 0.5# Briess Crystal 40
• 0.25# Briess Crystal 135-165
• 0.15# German Carafa II

Hops:

• 2oz. Liberty 4.9%AA 60min 

Extras: 1# Dark Rock Candi Sugar, Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: WhiteLabs WLP500 Trappist (Source: Chimay) (68F allowed to free rise)
Specs: 1.064 O.G., 7.2%abv, 28 IBU

KP Collab 2.0: Munich Dunkel

The Story: Some styles are harder to come across than others, and Munich Dunkel is certainly one of them in the US. But, one of the joys of homebrewing is the ability to brew just about any style you want, the way you want it. To continue our collaboration series, we're brewing a lager with some true German character, perfect as we start to enter the colder winter months.

The Brew: As with all lagers, a clean and vigorous fermentation is key to success. To showoff the richness needed for this style without being overly sweet or full, we'll use German Munich malt for the majority of the grain bill, accented with a bit of Carafa, Caramunich, and Vienna to round out a slightly toasty caramel quality. Hops are of the noble variety and restrained to let the grain and yeast shine through. To really develop a traditional Munich Dunkel malt profile, a decoction mash is called for, but I leave that choice and time commitment up to you. Prost!

Ingredients:
Malt (Filtered Water w/ 1/2tsp CaCl2 per 5gl):

1. Protein rest at 122F for 25 min

2. Saccharification rest at 152F for 45 min

3. Mashout at 165F for 10 min

• 80% German Munich
• 10% German Vienna
• 5-8% Belgian CaraMunich II
• 2-5% German Carafa II

Hops:

• 1.5oz. Czech Saaz 3.5%AA 60min 
• 0.5oz. Czech Saaz 3.5%AA 10min 

Extras: Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: **Double Pitch or make a 2L Starter**
WhiteLabs WLP833 German Bock (48-50F (primary), 66-70F at end of primary, 1 month at 32-35F)
Specs: 1.050 O.G., 5.2%abv, 23IBU

Christmas Brew 2013: Biere De Noel

The Story: Beire De Noel has been said to be a seasonal offering from many Belgian and French brewers that is typically stronger and more robust than the breweries year-round offerings to reward their most loyal customers. This year I wanted to make a offering along the same characteristics as Scaldis Noel, which I recently had on-tap at a great local beer bar called Rustico. At a whopping 12.5% abv, I didn't have the time or inclination to attempt such a bruiser for this year's holiday season. So this is my attempt at capturing Christmas in a glass, the Belgian way, without any spices or gimmicks. Happy Holidays!

Check out this great book for more info on this style: Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition. 

The Brew: Festive but restrained, this strong Belgian ale sits nicely between a Dubble and Quadruple. A low mash temperature and additional fermentables in the form of honey near the end of the boil helped dry it out and enhance overall drink-ability. A modest hopping rate is used for the bittering addition to simply stand up and balance the large grain bill. Finally, the Belgian blend yeast strain was pitched on the cooler side at around 66F and allowed to free rise;  after being hit with pure Oxygen for about 1 minute. The lower temperature helped keep the yeast esters in check for a moderate yeast character of dark fruits and spices. This batch was split between an unblended version and one with Kriek added to the keg for a touch of Cherry goodness.

Ingredients (8gl batch):
Malt (147F for 1.5 hour; Filtered Water w/ 1/2tsp CaSO4, CaCl2 each):

• 15# Dingeman's Pils
• 3# German Munich
• 2# White Wheat
• 0.5# Belgian Biscuit
• 0.5# Belgian Caravienna
• 0.5# German Carafa II
• 0.25# Gambrinus Honey Malt
• 0.33# Belgian Aromatic

Hops:

• 2oz. Zythos 9.4%AA 60min 

Extra: 2# Clover Honey, Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: 3 viles WhiteLabs WLP575 - Belgian Blend (68F Allowed to free rise)
Specs: 1.080 O.G., ~8.6%abv, 40IBU