While no date has been set, I’m shooting for a December brew. The patio will not be completely done by winter regardless and it will have been 3 months since the last brew, so its time.

This brew will again be a double to make up for lost time. One ale (an Old Ale) and one lager (an Schwarzbier) will be brewed. Not sure on the order yet, but the recipe details are done.

Old Ale

I milled over this brew for a while, not really sure what I wanted to do. At first I was targeting a multi-grain style ale, then considered doing some kind of split batch with half going to bottles with brett and the other half being kegged.

In the end I decided to go with a more of a traditional style. The recipe calls for mostly English pale malt with a collection of specialty malts. Treacle will be added to the boil for flavor, which is also very traditional. To add to the authenticity I will add some oak chips to the fermenter and finish the beer with a brett strain found in English stock barrels (claussenii). I will use a single infusion mash around 152 degrees F to ensure there are longer strains of sugar to add sweetness and give the brett something to eat. White labs London Ale yeast (WLP013) will be used for primary fermentation. This beer will probably need to be aged a few extra weeks to help develop character.

Following primary fermentation I will bottle 3-5 gallons of the brew in two separate sets, each with different strain of brett. Most likely one half will get bruxellensis and another lambicus. The remainder will be aged in the fermenter and eventually kegged after a few weeks of maturation.

Schwarzbier

Its been a while since we have done a lager. The last one was the Hellerbock which was brewed in late March 2009. I wanted a nice dark but flavorful beer for the winter and of course something I haven’t brewed before. So, a schwarzbier seemed appropriate.

The recipe is modeled heavily off the recipe from the “Brewing Classic Styles” book. I have modified the proportions a tad for my system but its primarily the same. The recipe uses Munich malt as the main malt with pilsner a close second. Specialty malts include Crystal 40, Roasted Barley, Chocolate Malt, and Carafa Special II for color.

The mash for this brew will also be a single infusion on the warm side to ensure rich flavors. Fermentation will be with White Labs German Lager yeast (WLP830) at 50 degrees F. As with all my lagers I presume fermentation will take approximately 4 weeks with another 4 weeks needed for lagering

Recipes

• Old Ale
• Schwarzbier