Smoked Amber Ale

While Michael was settling on a hoppy pale ale, Christian was really thinking about brewing a smoked ale. I had both of them over to talk about homebrewing and poured a couple of my own, one of which was the Smoked Scottish 2. Even though it was his first taste of a smoke flavored beer, Christian really liked it's distinguished character. That sounded good to me, cause I love smoked beers, and was itching to brew a pale/amber version.

This beer was a little more complicated than the Cascade IPA. It received 5 gallons from the main mash. We also mini-mashed the smoked & dark crystal malts. I was contemplating getting this mini-mash done ahead of time, but didn't have cheese cloth until morning. So we fit it in right after pouring the mashout infusion for the main mash. The smoked mash went well with a decent conversion after about 30-45 minutes. We then sparged by pouring preheated water (in thermos & coffee carafe) over each grain sack to get another 1.75 gallons.

This portion boiled on its own for about an hour, and while the color really deepened, the concentrated smoke aroma was fantastic. Also, since we couldn't clarify the smoked wort, a very dark brown foamy sediment formed in the boil (I always skim that stuff out during hot break), and you can see more of it on the kraeusen in the fermenter.

Hopping this beer is dramatically different to pale ales. I used my Scottish Ale 2 and Nut Brown Ale as references. When I looked at the Hallertau hops Christian supplied, the package read a different alpha acid percent, so I quickly plugged them into the tastybrew program. Originally, I wrote in a fair amount of aroma hops, but since the smoked aromas didn't seem to be very strong, we thought it was better to take them out. This should be a nice deep colored, sweet and bitter smokey amber ale. I'm looking forward to the end result.

Smoked Amber Ale

Grains
6.25 lbs. Organic 2-Row Pale Malt
0.35 lbs. American & Faucett Crystal 40L
0.35 lbs. Faucett Crystal 60L
0.35 lbs. CaraPils
0.18 lbs. Belgian Biscuit
---mini-mash---
2.00 lbs. German Smoked Malt
0.50 lbs. Faucett Crystal 80L
0.25 lbs. Peat Smoked Malt
---extract---
2.00 lbs. Breiss Pale DME, 30min

Hops
2.5 oz. Hallertau, 3.6%, pellet, 60+min
.50 oz. Hallertau, 3.6%, pellet, 25min

Yeast
Wyeast 1056: American Ale (about 6 Tbs of collected yeast cake)

Brew Day Stats

Brewed: 6/8/08
Racked:
Bottled:

OG: 1.067
IBU: 35
Color/SRM: Amber/14-16
Ferment Temp: 75°F->Low 80's

FG: 1.020
ABW: 4.9%
ABV: 6.2%

Mini-mash
H2O/Grain Ratio: 1qt/lb
Mash Ph: n/a
Sacch. Rest Temp/Time: avg 155°F/45min
Mash Out: .5 gal hot water
Sparge: .75 gal hot water through grain sacks

Pre-Boil Vol: 1.75 gal
Pre-Boil SG: 1.040
Boil Time: 1hr
Added to main wort w/ 15min

Rauch Bock

Now for a beer style I've been longing one year to make. As you may already know, I love a deep smoke flavor in certain beers. Originally this was going to be a pale smoked lager with almost 50% rauchmalt. Then I massaged the recipe several times, and it became much bigger, and much darker. I had a good recipe going, and it was dipping into the bock category. While re-assuring myself with some recipes in Smoked Beers, I noticed it wasn't far from one listed in the book. So for this one, I've decided to simplify, and stay close to their recipe.

The all-grain mash will be a stepped infusion, with a protein rest to break up some proteins in the dark wheat. This rest, and the CaraFoam addition should provide the beer with a striking dense foam head. The saccharification rest will be held at 153°F. Unfortunately, we used the sacch-water (1.825 gal) at the beginning for the first protein rest infusion, and ended up with a thick dough-like ball. So we added hot liquor to finally end up with a thinner consistency at the high end of the protein rest range. In the end, we attained adequate temps for both rests. As you can see, in the picture we're raising our glasses (last bottle of 1 year Munich Dunkel) to celebrate the mash's end, and progression to a full wort boil. Thank you Matt for all your help.

With just one a ounce, 90min addition, the hop bitterness in the Smoked Scottish Ale 2 is just about perfect. It balanced the malts and higher FG, but it doesn't linger anywhere in the aftertaste. So for this smoky bock, I'll stick with a similar IBU level, and just give it a kiss of hop flavor in the finish. Vanguard is a US cross breed similar to Hallertau Mittlefruh.

Rauch Bock

Grains
6.50 lbs. German Pilsner Malt
3.75 lbs. German Dark Wheat 7.5L
3.00 lbs. German Rauchmalt
1.50 lbs. German CaraFoam
0.75 lbs. German CaraMunich 57L
0.31 lbs. German Roasted Wheat 413L

Hops
1.8 oz. Vanguard, 4.8%aa, pellet, 90min
.20 oz. Vanguard, 4.8%aa, pellet, 15min

Yeast
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager: Yeast cake

Brew Day Stats

Brewed: 1/27/08
Racked: 2/15/08
Bottled: 3/6/08

Water Adjustment: 1 tsp CaCl to mash waters

Protein Rest Temp/Time: 130°F/20min

H2O/Grain Ratio: approx. 1.27
Mash Ph: 5.6
Sacch. Rest Temp/Time: 151°F/1hr
Mash Out Temp/Time: 160°F/10min
1st Batch SG: 1.074

2nd Batch Sparge Vol/Temp: 3.75gal/198°F
2nd Batch Temp/Time: 171°F/15min
2nd Batch SG: n/a

Pre-Boil Vol: 7.5 gallons
Pre-Boil SG: 1.066
Boil Time: 1.5 hours
Post-Boil Vol: 5.85
Mash Efficiency: approx. 77%

OG: approx. 1.077
IBU: 28
Color/SRM: Rich Brown & Orange/21-25
Ferment Temp: 150°F

FG: 1.021
ABW: 5.9%
ABV: 7.35%

Cost: $34, .64¢/12oz., $3.84/6-pack

Tasting Notes & Photo
check back 2-3 months from post date

Appearance:
Aroma:
Taste:
Mouthfeel:
Aftertaste:
Drinkability:

Smoked Scottish 2

Though my experience with them is fairly limited, still I absolutely love smoked beers. Doesn't matter if there's only a hint, or its completely dominated by smoke. As I sit bundled up on the porch in the crisp Autumn wind, with closed eyes and clear senses, I take a deep sniff and a sip. Then, the distinctive whiff and woodsy flavor transports my mind, to a far off place in medieval European history. I love when culinary delights have the power do this. It's probably the closest I'll ever come to time travel.

I first brewed a peat smoked Scottish ale in the Spring of 2006. The Scottish yeast enjoyed a long consistent ferment in the low 60's. It came out a little lighter than expected, but at the same time, it tasted very clean and was extremely drinkable.

In my second attempt, I'm going for a bigger version. The list of grains may appear complicated for a traditional Scottish Ale, but I wanted to balance a larger percentage of smoked malt with some dark sweet malts and unfermentables. At the same time, it doesn't stray too far from recommendations in Designing Great Beers. Also, this is a perfect malty opportunity for using up some left-over ingredients (CaraMunich, Special B and Org. Crystal 60).

Smoked Scottish 2

Grains
8.75 lb. Golden Promise 2-Row Pale
1.00 lb. Torrified Wheat
0.60 lb. Peated Malt
0.50 lb. Org. Crystal 60L
0.35 lb. Amber Malt
0.26 lb. CaraMunich & Special B (split 50/50)
0.25 lb. UK Chocolate Malt
0.13 lb. UK Black Patent

Hops
1.00 oz. Target, 8%, whole, 90min.

Yeast
Wyeast 1728: Scottish Ale (.5-.75 cup slurry)

Brew Day Stats

Brewed: 11/26/07
Racked: 12/11/07
Bottled: 1/4/08

Water Adjustment:
.49 tsp B.Soda, .86 tsp CaCl & 1.2 tsp Gypsum

H2O/1lb. Grain Ratio: 1.3qt/lb
Mash Ph: ---
Sacch. Rest Temp/Time: +/-159°F/1 hour
Mash Out Temp/Time: 170°F/15min w/vorlauf

2nd Batch Sparge Rest Temp/Vol: 170°F/4 gal

Pre-Boil Vol: 7.25gal
Pre-Boil SG: 1.048
Boil Time: 2 hours
Caramelized Reduction: 30 oz down-to 8 oz.
Post-Boil Vol: 5.75 gal

OG: 1.064
IBU: 29
Color/SRM: Deep Brown/16-20
Mash Efficiency: approx. 83.9%
FG: 1.020
ABW: 4.62%
ABV: 5.78%

Fermentation Temp: 58°F
Cost: $28.40, .53¢/12oz., 3.20/6-pack

Tasting Notes
check back in 2-3 months

Appearance:
Aroma:
Taste:
Mouthfeel:
Aftertaste:
Drinkability:

Smoked Beers

My first experience with smoked beer came when brewing my own. To this day, I consider that peat-smoked Scottish Ale one of my favorite home brews. It was very clean, and had an assertive, yet smooth smoke flavor and aroma. One bottle was set aside, and after a year's passing, it tasted even better.

I truly love the smoke flavor in beer...could really go on and on about it, but I wont. I'll just leave it at that.

My brother (in Seattle) was brewing extract based beers at the time (Spring 2006). We were going to brew the same beer (his steeped/extract; mine all-grain), and then make a trade. But at the same time, he wasn't brewing as often, and didn't have time to brew in unison. Oh well.

After brewing this one, I researched what commercial smoked beers were available in the stores. Among only a couple others was the finest example Schlenkerla. They are very good, and I think it is their Urbock I liked the most. If you enjoy smoked beers, and live in the Chicago area, I highly recommend a visit to the Map Room. They serve Schlenkerla smoked lagers on tap.

To learn more about them, I've read the book called Smoked Beers, by Ray Daniels and Geoffrey Larson. Also there's an excellent BYO article about tips with smoked beers by Scott Russel.

Ever since savoring my first smoked ale, I've been anticipating brewing more of them. Finally, the time has come. Up next is...Smoked Scottish 2. It will be bigger, fuller, darker and full of smoke.

A long awaited Rauchbier is finally in the works. It's brew day is planned for the beginning of January. It will be a tad bigger than the classic style, and may delve in the realm of a Bock. At around 56% RauchMalt, it will definitely be assertive, but hopefully smoother than silk.