December 2024

We are currently supplying various events at Clausthal University of Technology and our beer stocks have therefore been drastically reduced. Beer is still available from us, of course, but we're now increasingly producing non-alcoholic beers (maximum 0.5% alcohol by volume) and light beers with around 1.5% alcohol by volume. Beers with our usual alcohol content of 2.5 % vol. are still maturing or had to be brewed from scratch.
We brewed around 100 liters of pale ale on 03.12.2024 , with the common wort being fermented at around 11.5 °P under various conditions. We varied the hops as well as the yeast. One partial brew is fermented with Mangrove Jack's M66, which emphasizes the fruity hop aroma with beta-glucosidase. The other part of the brew is fermented with Lallemand Brewing Verdant IPA, which itself produces aromas of tropical fruit. We expect moderate alcohol contents of 3 % vol. and 2 % vol.
We also brewed around 100 liters of dark beer, the base of which consisted of Munich and Pale Ale malt, rounded off with dark and light caramalts. The wort was boiled with a bitter hop extract from Yakimachief, followed by two additions of the Czech aroma hop "Saazer". One part of the brew is bottom-fermented with Lallemand Brewing Diamond, the other top-fermented with Lallemand Brewing BRY-97. Both yeasts sediment very well and, after a certain storage time, produce almost clear beers that can be filtered well with our cartridge filter. With an original gravity of 11.8 °P, the alcohol content should be 2.5 % vol.
 

As Christmas is just around the corner, we brewed a total of 100 liters of a "Christmas beer" on 4 December 2024 using a special Belgian malt that was flavored with gingerbread-like spices by the malt house. The specialty malt, in which we were at least able to identify cinnamon and cloves, accounted for 20% of the brew, which otherwise consisted of Pale Ale malt and Munich malt. The smell alone during mashing was enchanting, and a Christmas scent permeated the brewery and the institute. Only bittering hops were added to the wort during the boil so as not to distort the aromas from the malt.
One part of the brew is top-fermented with Lallemand Brewing Nottingham, the other is bottom-fermented with Lallemand Brewing Diamond. At least the top-fermented "beer" should be ready before the festive season. As this Belgian malt does not comply with the so-called provisional beer law of 1993, also known as the "Reinheitsgebot", we are not allowed to call the product beer in Germany; it is then simply a "Weihnachtstrunk" or "Neujahrstrunk" with the designation "Brauereierzeugnis", even though it was brewed like a beer and ultimately also tastes like a Christmas beer. With an original gravity of 11.4 °P, we expect no more than 2.5% alcohol by volume.

Brewing itself is now on hold until January 6, 2025, from then on we will immediately pursue the next ideas from the yeast search in the Harz Mountains, a bachelor student will deal with isothermal high-temperature mashing, and for the large 200 L tanks we are already brewing the first beers for the 250th anniversary celebration of Clausthal University of Technology.