August 2022

As part of the student internship, a bottom-fermented and a top-fermented dark bock beer were to be brewed last June. At 14.6 °P and 14.7 °P, these two beers unfortunately fell short of the lower limit for a bock beer (at least 16 °P), which is why we simply call them "dark beer". The bottom-fermented beer now reached 4.5% alcohol by volume in the analysis, while the top-fermented beer, which was fermented with a maltotriose-negative yeast, reached around 3.7% alcohol by volume.
The two beers, whose brews were identical, are quite different in character. The bottom-fermented beer is malty, while the top-fermented beer is more aromatic. The beers will mature a little longer and will then be released at the beginning of the fall.
Before we brew the bock beers originally planned for the Christmas season (probably in mid/end September), we first brewed two pale bock beers with the BrewTools 150 Pro. Pale ale malt was used for the grain bill, rounded off with "Cara Crystal". The beer was hopped in 3 batches with "Northern Brewer" and Blanc Wethop was added to the whirlpool at around 80 °C, which releases subtle fruity aromas into the beer.
The brew was split and fermented once with the Lallemand "Diamond Lager" and once with the Mangrove Jack's M15. This time we achieved an original gravity of 16.5 °P. Both beers will only have a subtle bitterness, and we expect alcohol levels of around 5% and 4% by volume.
 

To round off the summer, we brewed another wheat beer. This time, the rather simple malt bill consisted of 50% Munich malt and 50% pale wheat malt, resulting in an amber-colored beer with subtle malt aromas. Mashing was isothermal at 72 °C and we achieved an original gravity of 12.0 °P. Northern Brewer was used as the bittering hop, whereby the set bitterness of approx. 15 IBU will be very subtle, typical for a wheat beer, and we have dispensed with aroma hops this time.
The brew was fermented with WYeast 3068, which corresponds to the widely used Weihenstephan W68 yeast. We expect an alcohol content of around 4% by volume. As wheat beers are easy to drink quite quickly, it should be ready to be served around mid-September. Until then, our (real) dark wheat beer and our dark "wheat beer" brewed only from barley malt will be available.

After a short break, we resumed brewing operations on August 13. At the beginning of May, we brewed a so-called NEIPA, whereby this abbreviation stands for "New England IPA", sometimes the term "Hazy IPA" or "Hazy Pale Ale" is also used. This type of beer differs from classic IPA's (India Pale Ale, Imperial Pale Ale) in that a turbidity is expressly desired, whereas a clear beer is the aim with classic IPA's.
Furthermore, a rather mild bitterness together with a pronounced fruity aroma is desired. This is achieved using moderately sedimenting yeasts that are rich in beta-glucosidase as well as dry hopping, also known as "hop plugging". Hops are added to the fermenting wort, from which the numerous fruit aromas are extracted.
The disadvantage is that common hops, whether cones or pellets, have enzymes that break down the higher and basically unfermentable sugars produced during the brewing process, making them fermentable for the yeast. As a result, the alcohol content increases noticeably. While a classic Pilsner with 11.5 °P achieves an alcohol content of approx. 5 % by volume, a Pale Ale with a comparable original gravity can easily reach 6 % by volume, and even 8 % by volume is quickly achieved with a Pale Ale if the original gravity is 15 - 16 °P. The NEIPA brewed in May was brewed using the isothermal mashing process (reduces the amount of fermentable sugars), and the original gravity achieved was around 11.5 °P.
The new "Spectrum" product from Bart Haas (Citra variety) was used for dry hopping, and Ebbegarden Kveik was used to create further tropical aromas in the beer. The beer had a pleasingly low alcohol content of just 3.8% by volume and was highly praised by everyone, even traditional Pilsner drinkers, for its balance between mild bitterness, fruity aromas and comparatively low alcohol content. We therefore decided to brew it again on 13.8.
We made only minimal changes to the recipe by replacing Carapils with Carahell as the base malt with Pale Ale malt, supplemented by a small amount of Melanoidin malt, which deepens the malt aromas and color a little. We have also increased the amount of "Spectrum" to increase the fruit character a little. We expect the alcohol content to be around 3.5% by volume again. The beer has already been fermented and is currently maturing in our "Tank Siegfried". It will be ready around mid-September in time for the "Indian Summer".