Vienna Dark Lager, on bottling day

 

On bottling day, the Vienna Lager is supremely tasty. It's a little smoky, a little sweet, a little herbal, and a little spicy, but not quite, yet, smoothed out in flavor. In a couple weeks, I expect the flavors to merge a little more. I hope the strong and prominent vanilla flavor remains present in the brew when it's settled down. It tastes like it has vanilla in it, at bottling. And, it doesn't.

It is a beer that would be perfect with barbecue, or in barbecue sauces. The sweet and smoky notes, balanced by the spicy hops, are reminiscent of good barbecue sauce. With spicy food, the beer really shined. The hard hit of spicy, Mexican bean soup was cut by the mouth-filling vienna malts.

Next time, what I would do differently? Well, give it a couple weeks to age and I'll speculate more, but, for now, maybe cutting down the honey malt to 6 ounces instead of 8, maybe. Maybe, a little stronger hop - Magnum, or Tradition, or somesuch. Maybe reducing the Vienna Malt half a pound and putting in a little more flaked maize for a lighter body in the depths of Texas heat. But, for 18.50, this is a fantastic beer, on bottling day.

The saflager yeast is not a popular one, but, in this case, I see no reason to hate. The cheapness of the yeast is exacerbated by its unpopularity, and the results are quite pleasant. It is hard to imagine a tastier batch for less than .40 cents per 12 ounces! I may have discovered my favorite new cheap beer! Depths of complexity, easy-to-drink 4% ABV, and perfect for Tex-Mex, I could have kept going after sipping through the dregs!

Recipe:
7 pounds American Vienna Malt
1 pound flaked maize
8 ounces Gambrinus Honey Malt
4 ounces Caraffa I
1 ounce Santiam at about 6 IBUs @60minutes
Saflager s-23, fermented cold, followed by a rest to warm to room temperature, then into the secondary with a couple weeks to lager close to freezing.

The mas schedule was fairly simple, as well. A beta-glucan rest at about 110 for fifteen minutes, followed by a saccharification rest at about 153-154 for an hour.

The depth and complexity of a fairly simple grain bill and hop schedule is very surprising to anyone accustomed to Negro Modelo's clean and watery mouthfeel. This one really fills the mouth with malt sweetness, without being cloying. Initially, it has the clean flavor of a good Negro Modelo, but as it passes over the palatte, all these notes rise up, carried underneath smoke and vanilla. At bottling, there was so much aroma of vanilla, that it was hard not to picture the pleasure of pouring it over ice cream. It tastes like a Tex-Mex beer. It feels rich and sweet like a Mexican Mercado. I want to grab a bunch of barbecue fajitas, horchatas and Mexican street food and throw back my dark lagers one after another with good friends!

I'm calling it either Possum Stomp, or Ochociento. Probably Ochociento. It tastes like 800 pesos well spent.

I am pleased.

Many Brews, Much News

Swamped with work, and work, and more work. I didn't stop brewing, but I did stop posting about it.

Things I have done include a first lager, a robust porter, that came out just fine.

A cranberry-chipotle porter with dehusked caraffa for all the roasted malts and all nugget hops, otherwise quite like any porter out there, came out supremely pleasant and tasty. Losing coffee notes for caraffa was a wise call, as the fruit sings over the top.

I brewed and Oaked a 2nd round of the house red that was very pleasant with bourbon-soaked oak chips. I expect to do it again, to try and get it down solid. Adjusting always. Not quite right.

Witbiers are great for beer nerds and casual drinkers alike. My preferred recipe is probably the one thing I have made  most. I made it fi r Thanksgiving and it was a smash success.

Call it Simplicity
5.5 gallons spring water
2 pounds Vienna Malt
2 pounds American 6-row
2 pounds Red Wheat
1 pound Quaker quick oats or flaked oats
1 pound honey
Noble-origin, floral hop (Saaz, Goldings, Glacier, etc.) As bittering and aroma @60 and @15. Aim for 15 IBU, max 18.
Chamomile, coriander, black pepper, fresh orange peel to taste.
Wyeast Belgian Saison
Do a protein rest for 15, followed by a saccharification rest at the low end around 151-152 for 60 minutes. Mash out at 175. Add honey at the end of the 60 minute boil.
Ferment cool at first and raise the temp up to 90-95 by the end. (In south Texas, that is very easy to do...)
Simple and beautiful and easy-drinking, witbiers are homebrew winners.

It is my most-popular brew to date, and I have happily resigned myself to being ready to brew it for family functions.

Now, with my lager fridge, I have been trying my hand at lagers. I have two brews with one yeast running, both in Secondar y.

First, I brewed a Tex-Mex Vienna Lager I am calling the Possum Stomp, in honor of what I will be doing when I am drinking it in the garden...

5.5 gallons San Antonio tapwater
7 pounds Vienna Malt
1 pound flaked maize
6 ounces Honey Malt
4 ounces Caraffa I
1 ounce Santiam Hops@60
Saflager yeast
Step mash with 15 minute Beta-Glucan rest, then a saccharification of 154 for an hour.

This one is sitting in Secondary, layering in my fridge. The greatest thing about this recipe was how cheap it was. Total cost of ingredients was 18.50 at the local homebrew shop, and the dregs were quite pleasant.

With the washed yeast of that possum stomp, I put together a simple steam beer recipe, again with copious Vienna Malt.

Possum Steam
6 gallons san antonio tap water for 5.5 gallons beer
8 pounds Vienna Malt
1 pound crystal 60l
1 pound flaked maize
.5 ounce Northern Brewer hops @60
.5 ounce Northern Brewer hops @30
.5 ounce Northern Brewer hops @15
.5 ounce Northern Brewer hops @0
Washed Saflager Yeast from Vienna Lager
With a very simple, single step mash at 154 for an hour, no fuss, no muss.
Ferment at ale temperatures, like an ale.

I just racked it off this morning. It is the color of suede, and blazingly hoppy at one week of pitching the yeast. It should smooth out as it ages. I hope it does!

Dont know how to post pictures from my new phone. Hm. I hope that worked