Trappist Dubbel and Tripel Beer Recipes

Trappist ale is a beer brewed originally by Trappist monks.  The style and its substyles (Enkel, Dubbel and Tripel) have also been popularized by many microbreweries over the last 30 years.  This week, we take a look at the popular Trappist style and how to formulate recipes to brew this beer at home.

History of Trappist Beer

Trappist ale has its clear origins with Trappist monasteries.  From the early middle ages, monastery brew houses produced beer throughout Europe both to feed the community and later for sale to fund other church works.  The Trappist order, which took its name from La Trappe Abbey in France, was founded as part of the Cistercian order in 1663, though it did not formally separate from the Cistercian order until 1892.  The La Trappe Abbey had its own brewery as early as 1685.

Today there are only seven Trappist monasteries that brew beer and six of them are located in Belgium while one is in the Netherlands.  The six in Belgium are the most well known, which is why Trappist ales are categorized as Belgian ales.  In the late 20′th century, many breweries worldwide started labeling their beer as “Trappist” in response to the popularity of the ales, forcing Trappist abbeys to form the International Trappist Association who’s goal is to prevent non-Trappist commercial companies from using the name.  They created a logo and convention for true Trappist beers, which must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist abbey by monastic brewers, and the gains must go to charitable causes and not financial profit.

Due to the popularity of Trappist ales, many commercial brewers still brew similar style beers which are typically sold under as Belgian Dubbels and Tripels.  (Ref: Wikipedia).

The Trappist Style

Trappist beers may be divided into four sub-styles.  By tradition, most of the true Trappist ales are bottle conditioned.  These include:

• Patersbier – “Father’s beer” which is brewed for the monks and intended for consumption by the monks within the abbey walls.  Occasionally this may be offered on site to guests.  It is a relatively weak beer in the tradition of Trappist austerity.
• Enkel - “Single” beer which was traditionally used to describe the brewery’s lightest beer.  This is a very close relation to the Patersbier.  Currently the term is rarely used, and I am not aware of any abbeys that currently produce this style for commercial sale.
• Dubbel – “Double” beer.  Dubbels are a strong brown ale with low bitterness, a heavy body, and a malty, nutty finish with no diacytl.  These beers have a starting gravity of 1.062-1.075 and 6.5-8% alcohol by  volume.  Color runs the range from dark amber to copper color (10-17 SRM) and bitterness from 15-25 IBUs.  This style is also widely brewed by commercial brewers.
• Tripel – “Triple” beer.  Tripel’s are the strongest Trappist ales, running from 7.5-9% alcohol by volume with a starting gravity of 1.075-1.085.  They are highly alcoholic, but brewed with high carbonation and high attenuation yeasts to reduce the taste of alcohol.  Color runs lighter than Dubbels in the range of 4.5-7.0 SRM and bitterness from 20-40 IBUs, though most Tripels have 30+ IBUs.

Brewing Trappist Style Ales

I’m going to focus on the Dubbel and Tripel styles as these are the only ones brewed commercially today.  For both Dubbel and Tripel, Belgian pilsner malt makes up the base ingredient.  For Dubbels, sometimes Belgian pale malt may also be used as a base.

For Dubbels, the grain bill can be complex with Munich malts added for maltiness (up to 20%), Special B malt to provide raisin falvor and CaraMunich for a dried fruit flavor.  Also dark candi sugar is used both to boost alcohol and add rum-raisin flavors.  The sugar also allows for a cleaner finish and less alcohol flavor than would be possible with an all-malt beer.  Despite the complex spicy flavor of the finished beer, spices are not used.

Tripels being lighter in color typically use a less complicated malt bill.  Starting with a pilsner malt base, they add up to 20% white candi sugar but typically lack the complex array of malts used for Dubbels.

One of the main ingredients that makes Trappist ales unique is the yeast.  Both Dubbels and Tripels use special Belgian yeast strains that produce fruity esters, spicy phenolics and higher alcohol.  Often the Trappist ales are fermented at higher than normal temperatures for an ale yeast which increases the array of complex flavors from the yeast.

For hops, noble hop varieties or Styrian Goldings hops are commonly used.  Occasionally low alpha English hops may also be added.  Despite the hop rate of Tripel needed to balance the malt, hops is not a major flavor in either finished beer style.  Large amounts of finishing and dry hops are not typically used for this beer for the same reason.

Water used for brewing is typically soft – without a large quantity of hard minerals present.  Both styles are traditionally bottle conditioned with medium to high carbonation which adds to the beer’s presentation.

Mashing is typically done with a medium to full bodied mash profile, as Trappist beers are full bodied.

Trappist Style Recipes

Here are some Trappist style recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Site:

Dubbels:

• da Tubble wi Dubbel – All Grain
• Trappist Style Loud Mouth Soup – Partial Mash
• Dubbel Dog Dare You – All Grain
• Bastogne - All Grain

Tripels:

• She Devil – All Grain
• Brian’s Big Belgium – Extract

Do you have a favorite Trappist recipe or thoughts on how to make a great Trappist style beer?  Leave a comment below.  Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please don’t hesitate to subscribe for many more great articles on home brewing.

• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• How to Brew Big – Making High Gravity Beers
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles

American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style

American Amber Ale, also known in the Pacific Northwest as Red Ale is a uniquely American beer that is robust, rich and enjoyable.  A fairly recent style, Ambers have become very popular with mainstream beer drinkers in the US.  This week we take a look at the American Amber style, how to brew it at home and some examples of American Amber recipes.

American Amber became popular in the Pacific Northwest before spreading nationwide, primarily through microbreweries and small regional brewers.  These beers are also called Red Ales or West Coast Ales in some regions, and the style itself overlaps somewhat with American Pale Ale.  However Amber ales have a stronger caramel flavor, more body, are darker and color and have a balance between bitterness and maltiness, where Pale Ales tend to have a stronger hop flavor.  Amber ale is also popular in Australia, with the most popular being from Malt Shovel Brewery (James Squire Amber).

The American Amber Ale Style

The Amber style is considered somewhat richer than pale ale, and is recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) as its own style (10-B).  Ambers can have moderate to high hop flavor, but the hops should not be dominant.  American hops are most often use which can result in a somewhat citrusy flavor.  Malt sweetness and a caramel flavor are desirable, but Amber should not have the roasted character of a brown ale.  Few esters and no dicetyl is desirable.

Stronger versions may have some alcohol warmth, but the finish should be smooth.  Medium to full body for the beer is normal, with moderate to high carbonation.  The BJCP specifies an original gravity of 1.045-1.060 and final gravity of 1.010-1.015 giving 4.5-6.2% alcohol by volume.

Bitterness is between 25-40 IBUs, giving an average bitterness ratio of 0.619 BU/GU which places amber ales slightly on the malty side as far as overall balance.  Color is amber to copper brown, with an SRM of 10-17, though some mass produced ambers run at the low end of the color range.

Ambers are moderate to highly carbonated – and typically have good head retention.

Brewing an Amber Ale

Amber Ale is traditionally made with American two row pale malt as the base, making up 60-85% of the grain bill.  Medium to dark crystal malts are used to provide color and caramel flavor, typically making up 10-20% of the grain bill.  Small amounts of other specialty grains such as a tiny amount of roast malt (for red color versions), aromatic malt, carafoam, munich or victory malts may be used to add unique character to the brew.

There is no fixed water profile associated with Amber ale, so a variety of waters can be used.  However, as the water does not add significantly to the flavor for this style, a moderate water profile (not too high in sulfates or carbonates) is desirable.

American hops are traditionally used, with citrus varieties such as centennial being popular.  Like pale ale, it is not unusual to use multiple hop additions during the boil as well as a moderate amount of fresh dry hops to provide some hoppy aroma, though overall the beer should be well balanced, with the balance slightly to the malty side.

As a full body Amber is desirable, one generally uses a full bodied single step infusion mash with the conversion step at 156-158F for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.  Since the beer is generally 100% barley malt, no special techniques are needed.

Most amber ales are fermented with American ale yeast, which provides a fairly clean finish with high attenuation.  Some of the more robust and rich Ambers may also feature use of lighter English ale yeasts that can contribute low to moderate esters and complexity to the beer without unbalancing it.  Ambers are fermented and aged at normal ale temperatures (64-68F), and should be bottled or kegged with moderate to medium-high carbonation.

Amber Ale Recipes

Here are a few Amber Ales from our BeerSmith recipe archive:

• Awesome Amber – Extract
• Max’s Last Call – All Grain
• No Sense of Decency Amber – Partial Mash
• Oatmeal Amber – Extract
• Full Sail Ale? – Extract
• Libertyish Cascade – Extract

I hope you enjoy your American Amber!  Thank you again for joining us here at the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please subscribe for many more free articles, news, and the latest in homebrewing.

• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Brewing India Pale Ale Recipes IPA Beer Styles
• Scotch Ale Recipes: Beer Styles

Russian Imperial Stout Recipes

This week on the BeerSmith blog we turn to the Russian Imperial Stout beer style, the king of stout beers.  We will explore the origin, history, beer style and some sample Imperial Stout beer recipes for home brewers.

History

Imperial Russian Stouts were actually brewed in England for the export to the court of the Tsars of Russia in the 18th century.  A high, malty alcohol content and high hop rate were intended to preserve the beer and also prevent it from freezing during its shipboard trip across the Baltic sea.  Thrale’s brewery of London brewed the style preferred by Catherine II’s court in Russia.

Later Thrale’s brewery changed hands and was taken over by Courage, renaming the beer as Courage Imperial Russian Stout.  The style has a high alcohol content of 9-10% alcohol by volume.  High gravity Russian stout’s are also brewed by Guiness and Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams). [Ref: Wikipedia]

While the style was regularly brewed in the 18th and early 19th century, this beer has enjoyed a resurgence the last few years with the rise of microbreweries.

The Russian Imperial Stout Style

Russian Imperial Stout is a rich, deep, complex beer with full bodied flavor.  It has a rich dark malt flavor that may vary from dry chocolate to slightly burnt.  A slight alcoholic warmth is normal.  It may have a fruity profile including complex dark fruits such as plum, raisin or prune flavors.   Like many British beers, it can have a caramel, bready or toasted flavor as well with roast malt complexity.

Color ranges from dark brown to jet black (30-40 SRM).  Alcohol content is usually high (8-12% alcohol by volume) with a high starting gravity (1.075 to 1.115 OG).  Bitterness generally runs high to balance the malty flavor (50-90 IBUs), but hop flavor should only be low to medium overall.   Many US versions have higher bitterness. Carbonation is generally low to moderate. [Ref: BJCP Style Guide]

Brewing an Imperial Stout

Imperial stouts start with a well-modified pale malt base, generally using UK pale malts.  The pale base typically makes up 75% of the grain bill.  Roasted malts of all kind are added, usually comprising of a mix of moderately colored caramel malt, chocolate malt and roast malt to provide complexity, body and flavor.  Together these make up the remaining 25% of the malt bill.  Other malts such as Munich and aromatic are occasionally used, though roast malts make up the bulk of the specialty grain bill.

Traditional variations use classic English hops such as Fuggles or BC Goldings, though American microbreweries often also use US hop variants.  Hops are typically added as a single boil addition, since a lingering hop aroma and flavor is not needed here.  Instead a high hop rate during the boil provides the bitterness needed to offset the malt.

Since roast malts provide a very acidic addition, it is not uncommon to use slightly alkaline water when brewing imperial stouts.  Traditionally, English Ale yeast or Imperial Stout yeast provides the fruity complexity required for this style, though again some American variants use high attenuation US yeast variants for a cleaner finish.  Very high gravity options may require high gravity yeast such as champagne or barley wine yeast.

Imperial stouts are fermented at ale temperatures in the 63-68 F range, carbonated at low to moderate carbonation rates, and stored at ale temperatures or lower (as they were during the icy trip across the Baltic).  Often Imperials require an extended aging period to achieve full maturity due to the high starting gravity.

Imperial Stout Recipes

Here are some sample recipes from the BeerSmith Recipe Page:

• Cossack Imperial Stout – All Grain
• Jay’s ‘One at a Time’ Imperial Stout – All Grain
• Spiced Imperial Stout – All Grain

Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please consider subscribing for email delivery, and don’t hesitate to tweet or bookmark us using the links below – every little bit helps!

• Brewing an Irish Stout Beer Recipe
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio
• American Amber Ale Recipes and Beer Style
• Beer Styles: Making a Porter Recipe

Brewing German Altbier Recipes

German Altbier or Alt is a top fermenting beer that originated in the German Westphalia region and later grew in popularity around the Rhineland.  This week we take a look at brewing Altbier at home.  The term “Alt” or “old beer” refers to the old methods of using a top fermenting ale yeast at ale temperatures but then cold aging the beer to form a slightly bitter, malty, well attenuated German ale.  The term Altbier first appeared in the 1800’s to differentiate this traditional ale from newer pale lagers getting popular in Germany.

The BJCP recognizes two distinct style of Altbier, the Dusseldorf Alt is primarily produced near the town of Dusseldorf, and is slightly more bitter than the more widely brewed Northern German Altbier.  The Northern version generally has a slight caramel flavor and is sweeter and less bitter than the Dusseldorf.  Some Altbiers are also produced in small quantities in the Netherlands near the German border as well as Austria, Switzerland and the US microbreweries.

The Altbier Style

As mentioned above, Altbier is an amber colored ale with a very smooth, well attenuated finish.  The beer should be well balanced with some bitterness and some maltiness.  Fruitiness from the ale yeast is appropriate.  Color is generally bronze to brown (11-17 SRM).  There is low dyacetyl flavor and the beer generally has moderate to high carbonation.

There are differences between the Northern and Dusseldorf Altbier styles.  The Dusseldorf style has medium bitterness and medium to high maltiness and is often brewed with moderately carbonate water.  The Northen style may have a malty, grainy, biscuity and even slight caramel maltiness.  The Nothern style is generally less bitter than the Dusseldorf and is sometimes made with a mix of ale and lager yeasts or even a highly attentive lager yeast alone.

The BJCP style guide specifies an original gravity of 1.046-1.054 and final gravity of 1.010-1.015 for both styles.  The Dusseldorf color runs bronze to brown, or 11-17 SRM.  The Northern can be slightly darker at 13-19 SRM.  Carbonation is a bubbly 2.5-3.1 volumes of CO2.

Brewing an Altbier

The base malt for Alts is German Pilsner malt, which typically makes up 80% of the grain bill.  A small amount of Munich or Vienna malt is often used to add some malty flavor.  Dark Crystal malt is used in the Northern style to reach the appropriate color and add a small bit of caramel flavor.  The Dusseldorf style uses less crystal malt, and instead substitutes small amounts of chocolate or black malt to achieve the desired color.

The traditional mash schedule is a German triple decoction, though a single step infusion mash is more than adequate if you are using modern highly modified malt.

Both styles require a highly attentive yeast with a clean finish.  The Dusseldorf style always uses a high attenuation ale yeast such as White Labs WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt Yeast or WLP001 California Ale or Wyeast 1056 American Ale.   The Northern Alt style also requires a high attenuation yeast, and most often lager yeasts are used though occasionally a mix of ale/lager or ale yeast may be used.  Interesting yeasts to use include various German Lager yeasts, Kolsch yeasts from both labs, and the Alt ale yeasts listed above.

Spalt hops are traditionally used for the Dusseldorf alt, though many noble hop varieties are suitable as well.  The Northern style uses noble hop varieties as well and there is some variation between breweries on which is best to use.  The Dusseldorf style may use moderately carbonate water to accentuate the bitterness of the hops while the Northern style typically does not use carbonate water.

Altbier Recipes

• 1698 ALT – All grain
• Alt ‘oids – All grain
• Dusseldorf Altbier – Extract
• Alt2 - All Grain
• Alty Beer – All Grain
• Bay 13 Alt – Extract
• Zum Uerige Clone – All Grain

Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Please visit again next week or subscribe for regular weekly delivery of our articles by email or RSS.  Don’t hesitate to retweet or vote for this article on Brewpoll (buttons above) if you enjoyed it.

• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Steam Beer and California Common Recipes: Beer Styles
• Pilsner Lager Recipes – Beer Styles
• English Pale Ale Recipes

Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes

The German Marzen and Oktoberfest beer styles are seasonal favorites of beer drinkers worldwide.   This week we take a look at the traditional Marzen and Oktoberfest beer recipes and how to brew them at home.

Marzen has a mixed origin.  Some sources note the extremely close relationship between Marzen and Vienna beers.  Ray Daniels notes that the term Marzen was first used for beers brewed in Vienna in the 1700’s.  Marzen is also close in relation to brown beers brewed in Bavaria as early as the 16th century, though the term Marzen was not originally  applied to this style.  Most modern authors attribute the origin of the name “Marzen” to Vienna, as no references can be found of Munich Marzen’s prior to the late 19th century (Ref: Daniels), though simillar styles were being brewed in Bavaria much earlier.

Marzen, the German word for the month of March, refers to the month when these beers were originally brewed.  Summer was too hot to brew and ferment beers properly, so by a 1539 ordinance in Bavaria, beer could only be brewed between the days of St Michael and Saint George (29 Sept-23 April).

As beer was not brewed in the summer, the last beers of Spring were made with a higher alcohol content and stored in cellars, often refrigerated with ice to last the summer.  This higher gravity beer was named after the month when most were brewed – March or Marzen.

The modern Marzen and Oktoberfest styles may bear little resemblence to the early Marzen of Vienna or even Munich.  The early Marzen was described as dark, brown and full bodied.  In fact, the turmoil of the wars of the early 20th century Europe nearly brought an end to both Marzen and Vienna style beers, though the modern Marzen enjoyed a resurgence in popularity when the Munich Oktoberfest started up again after World War II.  The Oktoberfest style, a slightly stronger version of Marzen, is brewed specifically for the world famous Munich festival each year.

The Marzen Beer Style

The BJCP style guide describes Marzen as as a rich, slightly malty beer with a slight hint of toasted character from Vienna malt.  No roasted or caramel flavors are present, and the beer has a fairly dry finish.  Noble hops are present though should be only lightly perceived in the finished beer which is decidedly malty.

The original gravity of a Marzen is in the 1.050-1.057 range, lightly bittered with noble hops providing 20-28 IBUs of bitterness.  Some “fest” beers are brewed at a slightly higher starting gravity.  The beer is well attenuated, with a finishing gravity of 1.012-1.016.  Color should be golden to orange-amber with a color range of 7-14 SRM.  The alcohol by volume is 4.8%-5.7% and Marzen’s are usually fairly well carbonated.

Brewing a Marzen Recipe

Marzen is generally made from a combination of Munich, 2-row Pale Malt, Pilsner and Vienna malts.  Generally, the malty Munich malts makes up as much as half of the grain bill, with either Pilser or Pale Malt making the balance of the grain bill.  For extract recipes, a Munich based extract made from Munich and Pale malt is generally best to use as a base.  Vienna may be added to substitute for 10-15% of the Munich malt to add a slightly more toasted flavor.  A small number of homebrew recipes also add 5-10% Crystal or 5% Cara-pils malt to add body and head retention.

Hops for Marzen/Oktoberfest beers is typically of the Noble German or Bohemian variety,  and the bitterness ratio (BU:GU) is generally around 0.5-0.6.  Popular hops selections include Saaz, Tettnanger, and Hallertauer though occasionally American hops are used by homebrewers.  Generally these are added only for bittering, and aroma or dry hops are rarely used.

The mash is almost always a single infusion mash for homebrewers in the middle range of around 152-154F for the conversion step.  Purists can try a traditional German decoction mash, though in most cases it is unnecessary given modern highly modified malts.

Bavarian lager yeast or Marzen/Oktoberfest yeast is the prime choice for Marzens, with Bohemian Pilsner yeast providing a reasonable backup.  Ferment ar around 50F (depending on yeast choice) and lager near freezing (33-37F) for at least 5 weeks.

Water treatments are rarely needed, but you might want to consider alternative water sources if your water is exceptionally hard.

Marzen and Oktoberfest Recipes

Here are some selected recipes from our recipe archive.  Additional recipes are available on the BeerSmith Recipe Page:

• The Wedding March – All Grain
• Bay 13 Fiesta – Extract

Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on the Oktoberfest beer style.  If you get a chance, subscribe for regular weekly delivery via email or RSS.

• Brewing German Altbier Recipes
• Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio
• Russian Imperial Stout Recipes
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles

Seasonal Beer Brewing

For many years, I’ve wanted to do a better job of matching my beer brewing with seasons and major holidays.  But I always found myself behind.  When October rolled around it was too late to brew that Oktoberfest, and my green beer was always a bit too late for St Patty’s day.  My stouts were always finished for the warm summer months.

To combat this, I’ve assembled a brewing schedule of sorts to help me have mature beers ready for the right holiday or season.  To keep it simple, I’ve listed popular styles of beer for different seasons by quarter, and a corresponding list of which quarter you need to brew them in.  The assumption here is that 3 months lead time is enough for me to assemble the ingredients, brew the beer, and have it mature properly.  While I don’t brew all of these styles each year, it gives me a list to choose from.

Winter Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Fall, Drink in Winter:

• Holiday Ales
• Christmas/Winter Beer
• Stouts, Porters and other Dark Beers
• Barley Wine (needs long aging – start a year or more in advance)
• Winter Wheats
• Smoked Rauchbier
• Scotch Ale
• Old Ale

Spring Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Winter, Drink in Spring

• Irish Ale and Irish Stout
• Green Beer for St Patty’s Day
• Bock/Doppelbock
• India Pale Ale
• Fruit Beer
• Wheat Beer, Weizen and Weisse – particularly Hefeweizen
• Saison
• Blonde Ale
• Belgian Wit/White Beer

Summer Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Spring, Drink in Summer

• Bavarian Weizen/Weisse
• Pilsner
• Cream Ale
• Steam Beer – California Common
• Kolsch Beer
• Summer Ales
• Saison
• Fruit/Wheat Beers

Fall Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Summer, Drink in the Fall

• Marzen/Oktoberfest
• Pumpkin Beer
• English Pale Ale
• Brown Ales
• Dunkelweizen
• Harvest Ale

Do you have your own seasonal beer suggestion?  Drop a comment below for all to read.  Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  As always, don’t hesitate to subscribe for free if you enjoyed this article and want to see more.

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• One Year of The BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog
• Growing Hops in the Garden: How to Grow Beer Hops
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• Brewing Marzen and Oktoberfest Beer Recipes

Brewing India Pale Ale Recipes IPA Beer Styles

India Pale Ale (or IPA) is a popular staple of homebrewers, microbrewers and hopheads who enjoy brewing some of the hoppiest beers on the planet.  This week we look at India Pale Ale beer recipes, how to brew an IPA recipe and its history.

History

According to Wikipedia, India Pale Ale traces its origins to the 17^th century in England with the earliest pale ales.  In fact, new malting techniques developed at the start of the 17^th century using coke-fired as opposed to wood-fired kilns enabled production of the first pale malts, and subsequently paler beers.  One of the popular pale styles was a beer called October beer, which was highly hopped and designed to be stored for an extended period.  Note that this October beer bears no relation to German Oktoberfest beer.

George Hodgson, owner of Bow Brewery brewed a version of October beer that was popular among the traders of the East India Trading Company in the late 1700’s.  East India traders subsequently started trading many of Hodgson’s beers including his October beer.  The highly hopped, high gravity, highly attenuated pale ale actually benefitted from the long trip to India and became popular with consumers there.

Other brewers, including several large Burton breweries like Bass, Alsop and Salt lost their European export market in Russia due to new high tarrifs on beer.  They quickly emulated the October beer of Bow Brewery and also started exporting to India.  The style, which now was now commonly called “India Pale Ale” became popular in England as well around 1840.

The IPA Beer Style

IPA is a hoppy, fairly strong pale ale traditionally brewed with English malt, hops and yeast.  The American version has a slightly more pronounced malt flavor and uses American ingredients.  The BJCP style guide for 2008 places original gravity at between 1.050 and 1.075, and highly attenuating yeasts are used to drive a final gravity between 1.010 and 1.018 for 5-7.5% alcohol by volume.

Multiple hop additions dominate the flavor profile in IPAs.  English IPA’s typically have 40-60 IBUs, though the slightly stronger imperial IPA versions can have hop rates as high as 120 IBUs.

Color is similar to many pale ales – golden to deep copper color – varying between 8-14 SRM for the finished beer.  Moderate carbonation is often used, though some English IPAs are lightly carbonated.

Brewing an IPA

Hops dominate the flavor of an IPA, so careful selection of the hop additions is critical to success.  Traditional English IPAs use popular English hops such as Fuggles, Goldings, Northdown, Target, though sometimes noble hops are also used in finishing.  Higher alpha English hops are also popular for bittering.  American IPAs use the rough American equivalents such as Cascade, Centennial, Williamette, though again higher alpha hops are often used in bittering.

Multiple hop additions are almost always used for IPAs including bittering hops at the beginning of the boil, often several additions of finishing hops in the last 5-15 minutes of the boil, and dry hops to provide a hoppy aroma.  In general, higher alpha hops are used for the base boil addition while aromatic lower alpha hops are used in finishing and dry hopping, though some traditional IPAs use lower alpha English hops throughout.

Traditional English 2-row pale malt makes up the bulk of the grain bill (or two row American malt for the American IPA), usually around 85-90% of the total.  Crystal and caramel malts are traditionally used to add color and body to achieve the desired overall color both in extract and all-grain recipes.

Chocolate and black malts are not often used in commercial examples though they occasionally make their way into home-brewed recipes.  Personally I prefer moderately colored caramel/crystal malt.  Occasionally you will see wheat, flaked barley or carapils malt added to enhance body, though these are rarely used and only in small quantities.

As many IPAs were first brewed in the English city of Burton, they share much with their English Pale Ale cousins, including the unusual Burton water profile which accentuates the hoppy profile.  The Burton water profile has extremely high concentrations of calcium carbonate and bicarbonate.  Depending on your local water source, a small addition of Gypsum (CaSO4) can sometimes help to simulate the hop-enhancing high carbonate Burton waters.

IPAs are most often made with traditional English ale yeasts, though care must be taken to choose a highly attenuating yeast and avoid some of the lower attenuating, fruity British ale yeasts.  Many brewers bypass the problem entirely by choosing a highly attenuating American or California ale yeast for a cleaner finish.

All grain IPAs should be mashed at a lower temperature than pale ales to achieve the high attenuation desired.  A mash temperature around 150F for 90 minutes will aid in breaking down more complex sugars for a clean finish that accentuates the hops.

IPAs are fermented and stored at the traditional ale temperatures, usually around the mid 60’s F.  Long storage periods are sometimes required to achieve the proper hop-malt balance.

IPA Recipes

Many more are available here on our Recipes Page:

• FPA – All grain
• Baby’s Second IPA – Extract
• Brew Free or Die IPA – Extract
• Exotic IPA – Extract
• Hopped Up IPA – All grain
• Inglewood IPA – All grain
• Lip Smakin’ Good IPA – Extract
• The Abyss IPA – All grain
• Unreal IPA – Extract

I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on the great India Pale Ale beer style.  Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or subscribe for regular delivery if you enjoyed this article.  Have a great brewing week.

• English Pale Ale Recipes
• Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles
• Balancing your Beer with the Bitterness Ratio
• Brown Ale Recipes: Brewing Styles
• Dry Hopping: Enhanced Hops Aroma

English Pale Ale Recipes

English Pale Ale is a classic beer style and a personal favorite of mine.  This week we take a look at how to brew this classic style at home including the history of the style, formulation of recipes and brewing of English Pale Ale.

The History of English Pale Ale

English Pale Ale shares much in common with classic English Bitters.  The defining example of the style is arguably Bass Ale from Bass Brewery in Burton on Trent, England.  The Bass brewery was established by William Bass in 1777 as one of the first breweries in Burton on Trent.

Pale ale and bitters both are derived from English “real ales” which were widely produced in England in the 18th and 19th century, and originally served with little to no carbonation from hand pumped cellar kegs.

Pale ale can also trace its origins to the start of the industrial revolution in England.  The availability of both coal fuel and high quality steel allowed the production of pale colored malts in the early 1700’s.  Previously only brown and dark malts with smoky aroma were available due to the use of wood in malting.

The English Pale Ale Style

English Pale Ale has a medium high to moderate hoppy flavor and aroma.  Often a malt or caramel flavor and aroma is present, with a slight alcoholic warmth.  The hops should balance the caramel and malt flavor at a minimum, though many examples have a slightly hoppy balance.

The body of a Pale Ale is medium to full, and carbonation is generally low except for some bottled commercial or export ales.  The finish is generally dry with no secondary malt flavors, and no diceytl.  Fruity esters, often a byproduct of English ale yeast, is often present.

Original gravity is generally between 1.048 and 1.062, with 30-50 IBUs of bitterness.  Color is golden to deep copper (6-18 SRM).  Alcohol by volume is a healthy 4.6-6.2%.

Brewing an English Pale Ale

The base malt for English Pale Ale is english pale malt.  The classic type is English two row barley malt with low nitrogen content, traditionally a bit darker than classic pale malt due to the use of higher kilning temperatures.  Pale malt composes about 90% of the total grain bill.  For extract brewers, start with a pale base extract and add the appropriate color steeped caramel malt to achieve your desired color.

Crystal and caramel malts are used in most pale ales, both to add color and body.  Crystal generally makes up 5-10% of the total grain bill and is selected in a color to balance the overall target color.

Maltose syrup is used in many commercial pale ales, but is hard to find for use in home brewing.  Corn or cane sugar can be used in small quantities (generally less than 10%) to give a similar effect.

Wheat, cara-pils, or flaked barley are occasionally used in pale ales to add body.  Generally only a few percent are added, as any larger amount will result in a cloudy finish to the beer.  Chocolate and black malts are used very rarely in some recipes, but I recommend not including them in your pale ale.

BC Goldings and Fuggles hops are the favorite varieties for Pale ales.  Target, Northdown and Challenger are occasionally substituted.  My personal preference is BC Goldings.  Often three hop additions are used – one for boiling/bitterness, an aroma addition at the end of the boil and finally dry hops for added aroma after fermentation.

A single step infusion mash is sufficient for mashing a pale ale, as the highly modified English malt will convert easily.  A medium to high body mash profile (153-157 F) will give you an authentic rich bodied beer.

For Burton style English Pale Ales, the water profile is extremely high in Calcium Carbonate and Bicarbonate.  Burton water has 295 ppm Ca, 725 ppm Sulfate and 300 ppm Bicarbonate.  This exceptionally hard water accentuates the bitterness in the hops giving a sharp finish to the beer.  However, achieving the appropriate water balance can be difficult for homebrewers.  Usually a small amount of Gypsum (CaSO4) added to the brewing water is sufficient to give a slightly sharper finish.

English Pale Ale yeast is used for traditional Burton ales like Bass, and the major liquid yeast manufacturers even carry a special strain for Burton ales.  Other english ale yeasts are also popular with homebrewers for all types of pale ales.  Finally, many homebrewers use American ale yeast for its clean finish and neutral flavor.

Pale ale should be fermented and aged at traditional ale temperatures (generally 62-68F), lightly carbonated and served slightly warm if you are a traditional ale fan.  American brewers may prefer higher carbonation and a colder serving temperature.

Pale Ale Recipes

Here are some recipes from our BeerSmith Recipe Archive:

• Burton Ale – All Grain
• English Pale Ale by Gregar – All Grain
• Alexander the Great – All Grain
• Battle of Britain ESB – Extract
• Bitter Bald Guy – All Grain
• Burton Pale Ale – Extract
• Lancaster Bomber – All Grain
• Pond Hockey Pale Ale – All Grain
• British Pale – All Grain

We have hundreds of other recipes and recipe packs available on our BeerSmith recipe site.

Pale ale is flavorful, robust, and smooth to drink.  I hope you enjoy your home brewed pale ale!  Thank you for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  If you enjoyed this week’s article, consider subscribing for regular weekly delivery via email or RSS.

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Cream Ale Recipes – Beer Styles

Cream Ale is a distinctly American beer style that is refreshing and smooth.  It has enjoyed a resurgence recently as many microbreweries have taken up the style and even improved upon commercial versions.

Cream ale enjoyed broad popularity in the pre-prohibition era, and was particularly popular in the Midwest.  The distinct style emerged in the latter half of the 19th century as a variation of increasingly popular pilsners.  A darker, slightly sour variation called Dark Cream Common or Common Beer was brewed in the area surrounding Louisville Kentucky. (Ref: Wikipedia)

In the UK, the term “cream ale” is also used to describe nitrogen-dispensed beers that have a rich creamy head, though these ales bear little relation to the American style.   The term “smooth ale” is now more commonly used to describe these beers.

The Cream Ale Style

Cream ale is essentially an ale brewed with lager yeast at warm ale temperatures, much like its California cousin, Steam Beer.  The beer is brewed from American 6 row barley usually with corn adjuncts.

The flavor profile of a cream ale has a hint of malt, along with a sweet corn-like aroma.  A hint of DMS is common due to the lager yeast.  The hop and malt should be balanced with neither dominating.  They generally have a crisp body with a clean finish.

Starting gravities are in the medium 1.042-1.055 range, and color ranges from pale to moderate gold color (2-5 SRM).  Bitterness is subtle but balanced, in the 15-20+ IBU range.  Cream ales are served refrigerated and highly carbonated.

Brewing a Cream Ale

The bulk of the grain bill (80%) for any cream ale is American malt, usually 6 row pale barley malt, though sometimes 2 row is used.  Corn adjuncts such as  flaked maize may be used for up to 20% of the grain bill.  Corn based sugars in the boil are also commonly added in the place of corn.  Other adjuncts are less common, but some recipes use carafoam or very light caramel malt to add body.

American hops should be used, but it is wise to avoid high alpha modern hops which can unbalance the pale malt flavor.  Noble hops are also acceptable.  The normal hop schedule uses both boil and finishing hop additions to add to the flavor profile and aroma.

The choice of yeast and control of fermentation temperature is perhaps most important to this style.  Some modern brewers often use a mix of ale and lager yeast strains, though historically just lager yeast was used.  American lager strains, perhaps mixed with an American strain ale work best.

Fermentation temperatures should be controlled, though fermentation is done well above normal lager temperature ranges.  Generally fermentation in the 65-68F range provides a reasonable balance without excess ester production from the lager yeast.

Many modern cream ales are cold lagered to enhance clarity and flavor, though historically cream ales were not lagered in this way.  If you do lager, I recommend keeping the beer at cold temperatures (around 40F) for several weeks once your beer has completely fermented and has carbonated if you are bottling before lagering.

Cream ale is designed as a cold refreshing drink on a hot day, so it should be served cold and well carbonated (2.6-3.2 vols) much like a lager beer.

Cream Ale Recipes

• Cream Corn Ale – All Grain
• Creamy Goodness Ale – All Grain
• Creamora Cream Ale – All Grain
  
• Easy Cream Ale – All Grain
  
• London Cream Ale – Extract
  
• Vanilla Cream Ale – Extract

More recipes are available on the BeerSmith Recipes Page.

Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Don’t hesitate to subscribe for regular delivery, leave a comment or drop a vote on your favorite social web site if you enjoyed this week’s article.

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Bock and Doppelbock Beer Recipes – Beer Styles

Bock beer is a classic German lager that is smooth and very drinkable.  Traditionally bock was brewed in Winter, so it is appropriate for a winter beer article.  This week we take a look at some bock beer recipes and how to brew the classic Bock beer style.

History of Bock

Bock traces its origins back to the town of Einbeck in Northern Germany as early as 1325.  The beer of Einbeck was not only popular but widely distributed to Hamburg and Bremen.  Lightly kilned wheat and barley was used in the original Einbeck beer, which had only a remote similarity to the modern bock style.  Wheat was used for approximately 1/3 of the grain bill, and barley malt made up the rest.

Alas, Einbeck was ravaged by two fires in the 16th century and then suffered greatly in the 30 years war (1618-1648), so little of the original style survives. (Ref: Daniels)  In the 16th century, Munich tried to emulate the great beers of Einbeck and started brewing variants that were called “Ainpoeckish Pier”, named in the Bavarian dialect for the city of Einbeck.

Later the name was shortened to “Poeck” and ultimately “Bock”, which means “Goat” in German.  In the 1800’s bock enjoyed a resurgence as brewing techniques and science improved.  The addition of the hydrometer and thermometer, controlled lagering and other techniques helped dramatically.  Bock also spread well beyond Munich to Vienna and throughout Germany.

German immigrants brought Bock to America in the late 1800’s where it, along with Pilsner became popular.  Best & Company (later Pabst) became one of the first to brew it broadly in America. (Ref: Daniels)  Bock, traditionally quite strong in Europe, was brewed at lower strength after Prohibition in America.

Variants of the bock style include Doppelbock, Maibock, Eisbock, American bock and Weizenbock.  Doppelbock means “double bock” and is brewed with a minimum original gravity of 1.074, which is slightly stronger than traditional bock and typically has complex chocolate and caramel flavoring.  Maibock, or “May bock” is tapped in the Spring and has a much paler color than traditional bock, and is traditionally made from a mixture of Munich and Pilsner malts.

Eisbock, or “Ice bock” which has a minimum OG of 1.093 is a very strong bock that is highly alcoholic and malty.  Though made in the tradition of regular bock and Doppelbock, the strength of the beer approaches that of some barley wines.   American bock is made primarily in the Midwest and Texas, are typically somewhat lighter in gravity than traditional German bock and may be a bit less malty in flavor.  Weizenbock is perhaps better characterized as a Dunkel-Weizen brewed to bock or Doppelbock strength, and not technically a bock beer.  It is composed primarily of around 60% malted wheat with Munich or Vienna malt filling the rest of the grain bill, and fermented with wheat yeast rather than lager yeast.

The Bock Style

The modern bock style closely tracks the traditional German style of the last hundred years.  Bock has a fairly strong original gravity of 1.064-1.072 and a dark amber to brown color between 14 and 22 SRM.  German bocks must have a minimum starting gravity of 1.064.  The flavor of the beer is malty with a slight chocolate or toasted edge.  Bocks have medium to full bodied profiles, but no roast flavor.

The carbonation is moderate, and hop flavor is minimal.  Typically German hops are used to balance some of the maltiness of the beer with an IBU level of 20-27 IBUs.  Lager yeast is used along with cold temperature storage (lagering) at temperatures near freezing.

Brewing a Bock

Munich malt makes up the bulk of the grain bill for any Bock.  In fact, most traditional Bocks are made from a single Munich malt, with variations in kilning determining the color and character of the finished beer.  Daniels recommends using Munich malt for 75-93% of the grist,with pale or lager malt making up the balance. For all grain brewers, this is your best route to an authentic bock. Where possible, choose a two row Munich malt as the base.

Analysis of many award winning homebrewed recipes indicates that crystal and chocolate are often added – especially for the dunkel (dark) bock varieties. Crystal makes up 10-15% of the grain bill and chocolate approximately 2% – primarily to add color.

For extract brewers, try to secure a munich based malt extract if possible, as it is difficult to achieve the proper malty balance without it.  Extract recipes often use some crystal or chocolate malt to achieve the appropriate color and body, but these should be used sparingly.  If you are brewing a partial mash recipe, the addition of munich and pale malt will add authenticity to the recipe.

Not surprisingly, German hops are used extensively in Bock.  Hallertauer hops is the traditional choice for bock, though Tettnanger, Hersbruck or Saaz are occasionally used.  Do not use high alpha hops in a bock as it will upset the malty balance.  Bock is not a hoppy beer, so the bulk of hop additions are used during the boil for bitterness.  Small flavor or aroma additions are OK, but hop flavor and aroma is not a dominant feature in this beer.

The traditional mash schedule for a German bock is a triple decoction, though with modern highly modified grains a double decoction will suffice. Decoction does help to enhance the color and body of the beer to bring out the strong malty profile of a traditional bock.  The protein rest should target around 122F, while the main conversion should be done at a slightly higher temperature of 155-156 F (68C) to bring out the desired medium to full body beer profile.  A single infusion mash is also an option, again in the 155F range.

Munich water profiles have a high proportion of carbonate which is why hops are sparingly used to avoid harsh bitterness.  However, most domestic brewing waters can produce a good bock style since the darker bock malts help provide the proper mash pH balance, and adding carbonate really does not enhance this particular style.

Munich/Bavarian lager yeast should be used for your bock recipe.  Cold lagering during fermentation and storage is critical.  The fermentation temperature should match the recommended range for your yeast, but fermentation is usually done around 50F.   Once fermentation is complete, the actual lagering should take place close to freezing, and continue for 4-10 weeks as these lager yeasts often take some time to flocculate (sediment).

Bock Recipes

• Lager Texas Bock – Extract
• Warner Probst Weizenbock – All Grain
• Doppelbock – All Grain
• Optimator Ale – All Grain Doppel
• German Choco – All Grain Doppel
• Bay13 Bock – Extract
• Lager Bock – Extract
• Honig Weizenbock – Extract

For more recipes, you can visit the BeerSmtih Recipe Site or our discussion forum.  Thanks again for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog.  Don’t hesitate to subscribe for regular weekly email delivery, or drop a few votes for our articles on the BrewPoll brewing news site.  I’ll be back again next week with another brewing article.

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