This post is one in a series following five brewers limiting themselves to a select set of ingredients and brewing several beers each with only those ingredients. The goal of these limitations is to push creativity and to see what can be done within the confines of a single set of ingredients. More about this concept can be found here. The ingredients chosen for this project were Maris Otter, White Wheat (malted), Light Munich, Amarillo, Nugget, WLP810 San Francisco Lager and WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast. The brewer must use all ingredients (with the exception of choosing one yeast strain). The rest of this series can be found here.

Author: M. Willis

As is often the case for me, on my first-round Limitations beer I jumped into the lake rather than wading in. My first brew in this series was a big hoppy wheat. Like the shock of cool water, I didn’t quite end up with the beer I had set out to make. Given the limitations, it was a tasty beer, but still fell short of my goals. For this second round, I quickly set my eye on an Altbier.

Altbier is somewhat of a German-style brown/amber ale. Altbiers share history with Kolsch, as both originated out of Cologne, but it is now associated with Dusseldorf. Traditionally these beers were aged for longer than normal at cool temperatures (resembling lagering), and this extended conditioning mellows it out. The end result is something like a brown/amber ale that is smooth, clean, and delicate. A friend of mine brews mostly traditional German styles, and his Sticke Altbier is the best of his many tasty beers. The Sticke is an assertive version with higher amounts of malt and hops. Think of it as a “Double” Alt. I fondly remember a boot of this beer being passed around at a holiday party, but I had never made one before.

Recipe

After a little research, I saw that most of our limited set of ingredients actually lend themselves pretty well to the Sticke Alt. It’s possible to use a single malt for this style—Munich. Munich is delicious on its own, but we have two other malts in the set of ingredients that can contribute some depth. The Sticke is a bitter beer (for German styles), so I was looking for around 50 IBUs. This could be akin to a hoppy Vienna Lager. Armed with this info, it didn’t take long to put together the following recipe:

Mashed at 152°F for 60 min. 72.1% Light Munich 18.6% Wheat Malt 9.3% Maris Otter

Boiled for 60 min. 0.4 oz. Nugget (60 min.) at 13% (16.8 IBUs) 0.4 oz. Nugget (45 min.) at 13% (15.8 IBUs) 1 oz. Amarillo (15 min.) at 8.6% (14.2 IBUs) 1 oz. Amarillo (5 min.) at 8.6% (5.7 IBUs)

Pitched Wyeast 2112 California Common Fermented at 60⁰F Increased to 67°F by day 7 Cold crashed on day 10

Kegged using low-oxygen methods on day 13

OG: 1.055

FG: 1.014

ABV: 5.4%

Brew Day

I recently switched to a Mash in a Bag system and an electric brew kettle. This two-vessel Mash in a Bag system allows me to run back-to-back batches with most of the pros of Brew in a Bag. I batch sparge in a cooler because I find it more repeatable. The kettle provides strike and sparge water for mashing as well as boiling. In effect, the one kettle is both a Hot Liquor Tun (HLT) and Boil Kettle. Heating is provided by a 5500-watt element controlled by a home-built electric system. It took many months to design and build, but I wanted to remove as many negatives of my old turkey fryer setup as possible. I now use a pump to transfer, a counterflow chiller instead of an immersion, automatic heating controls, and all my equipment, tools, and ingredients are close. Most importantly, it’s inside.

Our house water now flows through a water softener, but brew water still runs through reverse osmosis filter, which regularly tests to <10ppm of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). After collecting my RO water, I added brewing salts and Campden. I milled my grain, mashed in, and hit my target temps and pre-boil gravity. I then raised the grain bag with a pulley. I transferred the wort into my kettle and started the boil. I also have a steam condenser that allows me to keep the kettle lid on, and also results in no ventilation being necessary in the basement.

After the boil, I took a gravity reading that showed I’d hit my target OG of 1.055. A quick recirculation through the chiller to drop the temp of the entire kettle’s contents got the wort to about 100°F. This happens in minutes, so theoretically there should be little loss of hop aroma due to the minimal evaporation of volatiles once the boil is complete. I then switched hoses so I could quickly run the beer through the chiller and into the fermenter. I prefer this method rather than one slow crawl through the chiller since the quick runoff creates splashing in the fermenter to help aerate the wort.

This was a back-to-back brew day, so two fermenters were placed in my fermentation fridge and blow off tubes connected. This yeast ripped through the wort. Using my Bluetooth hydrometer, I watched fermentation start fast and the gravity just plummet.

I raised the temperature gradually to coax the yeast into finishing fermentation. Once the gravity remained unchanged for three days, I started the cold-crash phase. After another three days I kegged using a closed transfer method.

Tasting

Appearance:

Copper, more golden than red

Thick white head that dissipated to a lingering ring

Clear for a beer with this much wheat, although it was hard to see with the condensation

Smell:

Honey and bread

Grapefruit and pear are faint, but present

Taste:

Like a good brown ale should; this has big malty flavor without being overly sweet

Medium bitterness and medium sweetness, but not perfectly balanced

Mouthfeel:

Crisp lager and high carbonation bite

Sticke-y from the residual sugars and malts

I like this beer and have been hoarding it for about three months now. It’s not fallen off, and it gives my friends and I a nice break from the IPA’s and stouts I always have on tap. That said, this current recipe is too bitter and could probably use less Munich and more Maris Otter. It’s not intended to be thin like most lagers, but if I brewed this again with the same ingredients, I’d be tempted to lower everything from the stronger version (Sticke) to more of a true Alt character.

If I were to brew this again with no limitations, I’d stick to my friend’s Sticke Alt recipe. His recipe was the other beer I brewed that day, and that contributed to the reason I still have some of the Limitations Alt left. I intended to do a comparison of both at a club meeting and public event, but illness prevented that. Honestly though, these two recipes of the same style were not at all close in aroma or taste.

Of the few that did sample both beers (non-blind), my friend’s version was deemed superior. It quickly disappeared, and rightly so. A lot of time has been spent developing that recipe and the results are exemplary. He uses German yeast, so there are less fruity esters. Huell Melon is the late addition hop; I find the Huell Melon’s strawberry and honeydew melon flavors pair better with malts. He does use Munich and Maris Otter like this recipe did, but he also adds Vienna, Victory, and Aromatic. Ooof—too many different grains, right? While there’s a lot, it works in this beer and adds depth that’s missing from my Limitations Alt. Instead of a heaping dose of Munich malt, there is more to ponder in a glass of his recipe without it becoming crowded.

Maybe I have my takeaway already from this experiment we’re running. Simple works in most cases, but occasionally you need to step out of the bounds of conventional wisdom. Go ahead and put six different grains in a beer when the malt is the star. The same can be said for hops in a big IPA. My best NEIPA variations have at least three different hops. Other times a SMASH or almost SMASH works for a clean German lager or ale. One thing I’m sure of is that this hobby is limitless.

Recipe Comparison

Note: Some disparity in IBU contributions for flameout and whirlpool additions will exist in the chart below due to variation in recipe calculator software amongst contributors.

Beer 1 Beer 2 Beer 3 Beer 4 Beer 5 Style Hoppy Wheat Pale Ale/Lager IPL NEIPA/IPA Munich Lager Maris Otter 34.4% 50% 50% 82% 30% Light Munich 5.5% 25% 41% 7% 60% Wheat 60.1% 25% 9% 11% 10% Hop Addition 1 28.7 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) 41.3 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) 41.8 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) Hop Addition 2 5.5 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) 5.8 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) 23 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool 4.8 IBUs Amarillo (20 min Whirpool at 170F) 8.9 IBUs Nugget (10 min.) Hop Addition 3 7.1 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) 2.3 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) N/A 0.8 IBUs Amarillo & Nugget (20 min Whirlpool at 120F) 6.8 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) Hop Addition 4 16.8 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool 0 IBUs Amarillo (flameout) N/A N/A N/A Hop Addition 5 22 IBUs Nugget—30 min. Whirlpool N/A N/A N/A N/A Dry Hop 2.5 oz. Amarillo, 2 oz. Nugget (10 days) N/A 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 1; 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 4 1 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. Nugget @ Day 2, 1 oz. Amarillo @ Day 8; 2 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. @ Day 8 N/A Yeast WLP090 at 64°F, raised to 70°F WLP090 at 66°F, raised to 72°F; WLP810 at 63°F WLP810 at 65°F, raised to 68°F WLP090 WLP810 at 60°F, raised to 65°F OG 1.059 1.058 1.050 1.063 1.055 FG 1.012 1.009/1.014 1.010 1.012 1.013 ABV 6.2% 6.5%/5.8% 5.3% 6.7% 5.5%

Beer 6 Beer 7 Beer 8 Beer 9 Beer 10 Style California Common Hoppy Wheat American Pale Ale ESB Sticke Altbier Maris Otter 30% 21% 50% 80% + 10% baked 9.3% Light Munich 60% 12% 41% 5% 72.1% Wheat 10% 67% 9% 5% 18.6% Hop Addition 1 28.2 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) 23 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) 16.8 IBUs Nugget (60 mi.) Hop Addition 2 4.35 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) 8.2 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) 23 IBUs Amarillo (0 min.) 6.1 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) 15.8 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) Hop Addition 3 1 oz. Amarillo (165ºF Whirlpool for 20 min.) N/A N/A 2.4 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) 14.2 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) Hop Addition 4 N/A N/A N/A N/A 5.7 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) Hop Addition 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Dry Hop 2 oz. Amarillo 1 oz. Amarillo for 9 days; 1 oz. Amarillo for 4 days 1 oz. Amarillo & 1 oz. Nugget day 1 of fermentation; 2 oz. Amarillo day 4 of fermentation 1 oz. Amarillo N/A Yeast WLP810 at 65°F WLP090 at 65°F for 5 days; raised to 72°F over 5 days WLP090 WLP810 at 65°F for 4 days; raised to 70°F over 4 days Wyeast 2112 (WLP810 equivalent) at 60°F; raised to 67°F over 7 days OG 1.050 1.059 1.055 1.057 1.055 FG 1.012 1.009 1.010 1.014 1.014 ABV 5% 6.6% 5.9% 5.6% 5.4%