Authors: Marshall Schott & Malcolm Frazer

When Malcolm and I learned our Homebrew Con seminar submission was approved, we began poring over how to approach serving beer. The obvious choice was to perform a blind triangle test with the audience, but the logistics of organizing such a tasting with so many people forced to consider other ideas. We tentatively settled on brewing a couple good beers with no real purpose just so that audience members would have something to sip one while the two of us blowhards gave our talk.

It wasn’t until we started putting the slideshow together for our presentation, Modern Perspectives on Traditional Methods, that I had the idea to brew a beer utilizing all of the methods we planned to discuss. Of course! I presented it to Malcolm, who had agreed to brew the beer for our seminar given his proximity to the conference location, and was met with a resounding… well, he was hesitant. Malcolm has a strong aversion to serving people shitty beer, and as I imagine is the case for many homebrewers, the idea of cutting so many components of what we “know” to be good brewing practice had him a little worried. Furthermore, he never sampled my prior two Short & Shoddy batches and hence did not share my conviction it would all work out fine in the end.

Pressure was applied and Malcolm eventually agreed to brew what he coined his bad habits beer.

Bad Habits Hoppy Lager

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 11 gal 20 min 21.8 IBUs 3.8 SRM 1.044 1.011 4.3 % Actuals 1.044 1.01 4.4 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pilsner (2 Row) Floor Malted, Weyermann, Ger 20 lbs 91.69 Cara 8 Malt (Carapils) 1 lbs 4.58 Cara-Pils/Dextrine 13 oz 3.72 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Sterling 56 g 20 min Boil Pellet 8.4 Azacca 28 g 6 min Boil Pellet 10.3 Miscs Name Amount Time Use Type Whirlfloc Tablet 1.00 Items 15 min Boil Fining Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature German Bock Lager (WLP833) White Labs 73% 48°F - 55°F Notes



Anticipating a hectic session given the time limitations and wanting to avoid any accidental lengthening of the reduced mash and boil lengths, Malcolm did a pre-brew walk-through a couple days before tackling the real deal. With a solid plan in place, he made a starter of WLP833 German Bock Lager yeast 36 hours beforehand.

The following evening, once home from work and family obligations tended to, the training wheels came off and Malcolm got going! After collecting the proper amount of brewing liquor and putting it on the flame, he measured out and milled his grain bill consisting of a high proportion of Pils malt.

Not usually one to document the precise amounts of time everything in his process takes, Malcolm did for this Short & Shoddy batch. It took about 45 minutes for his entire volume of brewing liquor to reach the temperature recommended by BeerSmith in order to hit his target mash temperature of 152°F/67°C.

For the first time in Malcolm’s 18 years of homebrewing, he set his mash timer for a mere 20 minutes.

Once the first runnings were collected, Malcolm performed a standard batch sparge to collect just shy of 13 gallons of wort that he noticed was more turbid than usual, perhaps due to the fact he skipped his typical vorlauf routine. This took a total of 17 minutes. With the flame blazing under his kettle, the wort was at a rolling boil only 5 minutes later, at which point he set his timer for another 20 minutes.

Hops were added per the aforementioned schedule, a relatively large initial charge in order achieve the proper level of bitterness, then just like that, the timer was beeping indicating the end of the boil. Having prepared his chilling setup during the boil, Malcolm cranked the water to his Hydra IC and began chilling the wort.

It took about 22 minutes for the entire batch to drop to the target fermentation temperature, after which he racked equal amounts to separate fermentors.

A hydrometer measurement taken at this point revealed the wort was at 1.044 OG, a hair low for a traditional Helles, but just fine for this Bad Habits hybrid version.

He dosed each wort with 60 seconds of pure O2 before splitting the large starter between the fermentors. The beers were then left to ferment at the obnoxiously too-warm-for-lager temperature of 66°F/19°C.

In keeping with the Short & Shoddy nature of this brew, Malcolm made little effort to control fermentation temperature increases caused by the exothermic process and watched as it steadily climbed northward. Hey, bad habits, right? Only 3 days later, hydrometer samples confirmed FG had already been reached. Malcolm shot me a text saying the beer had a very strong sulfur aroma and was still very hazy. We decided to let them sit at 72°F/22°C for a few more days with occasional gentle agitation, reasoning it might help the sulfur dissipate. After 6 days, the FG was the same and Malcolm told me he was still detecting sulfur, but we were out of time, these beers were going to be served less than a week later to unsuspecting audience members during our Homebrew Con seminar.

Malcolm proceeded to cold crash for 1 day before racking the beer to kegs, where they were fined with gelatin. He said he noticed a slight decrease in sulfur at this point, but remained anxious the beers weren’t going to be ready in time for our talk a few days later. He burst carbonated the beers over the next 24 hours then pressure transferred them to clean serving kegs in order to leave behind any gunk that had precipitated out, as they would be going on a long drive and wouldn’t have much time to settle before being served. With slight trepidation, Malcolm pulled himself a sample…

Lo and behold, it was just about ready! Two more days in the cold chamber, 11 since the beer was brewed, and it was about as brite as any commercial lager on the market.

| IMPRESSIONS |

Malcolm admitted some concern the sulfur aroma he detected in the beer might persist, and he wasn’t terribly thrilled with my insistence to serve the beer regardless of whether it was good or not, as I viewed it as a potential learning experience for us and the audience. When we arrived to our hotel, just before turning the kegs into the AHA folks for safekeeping, Malcolm poured me a sample. The first thing I noticed was its clarity and the bright white cap of foam that clung nicely to the sides of my glass. Upon first whiff, it seemed apparent to me that either I’ve absolutely no sensitivity to sulfur or it was no longer present in the beer, as all I noticed was a delightfully bready Pils malt character and somewhat fruity hop notes. I approached my first sip with some expectation something would be off, it feels almost impossible not to with these types of batches, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was all for naught– the beer hadn’t just turned out, it was quite delicious! So much so that Malcolm poured himself and me another glass. He’s far too humble to admit it, but I think his Bad Habits Hoppy Lager, while likely a tad too hoppy to fare well in a competition, was of higher quality than many homebrewed lagers I’ve had.

What did others think?

The way we presented this beer to tasters was pretty fun and, I like to think, made for a perspective broadening experience for all involved. At the start of the presentation, we informed the audience we wouldn’t be collecting data on an xBmt during the talk due to how logistically difficult performing a triangle test would be, but that we brought a beer for them to enjoy anyways. We spent the next 30 minutes or so giving our presentation, finishing as most speakers do with a Q & A session. As Malcolm was responding to the first question, I changed the slide to reveal the processes he used to make the beer they were drinking. The bemusement was palpable and we noticed quite a few people go back seeking another sample, no doubt with a different focus.

When we were done and hanging out outside of the conference room, multiple people came by to express how much they enjoyed the beer, how they were shocked they didn’t notice any of the off-flavors they would expect given the methods used to make it, and a few mentioned their plans to try a Short & Shoddy batch for themselves.

| CONCLUSIONS |

Malcolm brought two full kegs of this beer to serve during our seminar, which by our calculations based on the approximate number of people who attended, should have left us with at least a gallon leftover. That wasn’t the case. We waltzed out of the room with two empty kegs. The fact a beer made with a 20 minute mash, boiled for 20 minutes, and fermented warm with a traditional lager yeast was good enough for a group of people to want more than the standard amount, at 10:15 AM no less, might be enough to convince some the Short & Shoddy approach is up to snuff.

However, what speaks volumes to me isn’t the fact blind audience members liked the beer, but that Malcolm, despite heaps of skepticism, thought the beer was good, so much that he told me he plans to use the same approach for a few batches of easy drinking summer brews! As Brülosophy’s longest standing homebrewer and highest ranked BJCP judge (National), I wasn’t sure if this would pass his litmus test, but it did.

One final point– the hit to brewhouse efficiency has been a constant between our three Short & Shoddy batches and is something those considering playing around with reduced brew days ought to consider, if only to ensure they hit their target numbers. For this batch, Malcolm expected a 1.048 OG based on his standard efficiency but came in short at 1.044 OG, which put him at 60% brewhouse efficiency. Not terrible, especially since as homebrewers we have the luxury of compensating by adding pennies worth of extra grain, but it is something to be mindful of.

If you have thoughts about this Short & Shoddy brew, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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