As I hope you are well aware, the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge is officially underway and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the recipes I am going to brew. I have entered each of the three categories (Malty, Balanced, and Hoppy) in an effort to win the coveted BrewUnited Homebrew Hero award, which goes to the brewer(s) with the highest sum of entry scores. Word is that the Homebrew Hero will receive a cape as a reward, so the stakes are high! I thought this might also be a good time to discuss the different elements of the competition and examine how I go about building and brewing a recipe for a maybe continuing series I am calling “Brewcrafting.”

I know, I know, I can already hear you asking, “if you give away all your secrets will you not lose your advantage for the competition!?” Now, in both my personal an professional life I am of two core beliefs:

Good ideas should be shared–a rising tide lifts all boats and all that. Good ideas are a dime a dozen–it is the execution of the idea that is important.

After all, if we remember Brulosopher’s Brewer’s Thumbprint xBmt we learned “that even when using the exact same ingredients, mash temp, and fermentation schedules, every brewer is going to produce a unique beer.” So really, if you glean enough from this to beat me in the competition you were probably going to beat me anyway. 🙂

Read on and let’s take a look!

The Ingredients

The BrewUnited Challenge has an interesting premise: whichever of the fifteen styles you choose to brew, “each entry must use the ingredients outlined and only those ingredients.” Furthermore, for hops, “you must select exactly two of the hop varietals listed and each hop must be used at a minimum of 10% of your hop bill.” While some of the styles like American Pale Ale are no-brainers, there are a few like Brown Porter that will stretch your talents as a brewer… one might say it is going to be a bit of a challenge to brew these recipes! Though as much sound and fury as I have heard over the ingredients from some of my fellow entrants, I do not think any one of the styles are impossible with what we have been given.

Malt

With the exception of flaked wheat, these malts are ingredients used in countless batches and dozens of styles; frequently within same recipe. If you feel stifled I recommend you look into home toasting malt, which is permitted within the scope of the rules. If you are in agony over being forced to use abominations like flaked wheat and crystal malt just remember you only have to use 1% in your batch. 🙂

Pilsner

The lightest base malt around and typically with the highest diastatic power. Adds a nice cracker flavor (think unsalted Saltines) and a lightly sweet grainy aroma. Still posses quite a bit of DMS precursors so it is prudent to boil for 90 minutes when using pils malt in your recipe.

Munich

(Light or 10L)

A rich, Melanoidin-heavy malt which frequently only has just enough diastatic power to convert itself. High usage (~30%+) adds toasty bread crust flavors while smaller amounts (~10%) adds a layer of malt complexity.

Crystal 60L

This is the crystal malt you picture in your head when you hear “Crystal.” It lends a caramel sweetness and contributes to both body and head retention. It is easy to go overboard with Crystal, so I would not recommend more than 15% for even the most caramel-heavy styles.

Flaked Wheat

Not technically a malt, but let us not split hairs. 😉 Used in small amounts (~5%) it adds a fluffy long-lasting head and a dash of creamy texture. If used in larger amounts (10%+) it contributes to protein haze and will add a doughy flavor.

Hops

All of these hops–minus Saaz and Centennial–trace their linage to Northern Brewer, so I hope you like woody/minty character! I think the idea was to have two American style hops, two English style hops, and two Noble/Continental style hops, but I guess it was overlooked that, while commonly associated with California Common, Northern Brewer is actually an English variety that is frequently grown in Germany–oops. If you are not looking for woody/minty character I recommend using Perle’s clean bittering as the early addition and going all-in on the other hop for the late additions.

Northern

Brewer

Woody with a dash of mint. The classic (modern) California Common hop.

Centennial

Citrusy and a dash of floral, one of my favorite hops. It is occasionally called “Super Cascade” as they share similar characteristics. Decently clean bittering.

Challenger

Woody with some green tea (i.e. vegetal) and floral character. A very British type of hop.

Northdown

Spicy and woody. Some folks say they get floral and berry out of it too.

Perle

A little spicy and perhaps a bit minty. It is like an English version of a Noble hop (or the Noble version of an English hop).

Saaz

The noble hop and the definition of “spicy” hops. It is hard to describe until you have tried it yourself, but you will know it when you have. Smooth.

Yeast

The rules are lax about yeast, so use whatever you want (including wild strains and Brettanomyces). My interpretation is that intentional use of other organisms like Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are forbidden, so no sour Bocks. 😉

The Styles

Malty Beers Balanced Beers Hoppy Beers 4B – Munich Dunkel 6B – Blonde Ale 10A – American Pale Ale 5B – Traditional Bock 6C – Kolsch 10B – American Amber ale 9E – Strong Scotch Ale 7B – California Common Beer 14A – English IPA 11C – Northern English Brown 8C – Extra Special Bitter 14B – American IPA 12A – Brown Porter 11A – Mild 14C – Imperial IPA

The styles are distributed pretty evenly amongst popular brews, though it will be interesting to see if they stats on how many entries for each style get released. Based on the ease of using the required malts as-is I have a feeling that there will be a lot of Strong Scotch Ales, Cal Commons, and American Pale Ales. The challenging brews will be Northern English Brown, Brown Porter, and Mild, as the styles require roasty/toasty malts that are not available in the ingredient list. There are ways around this, of course, but this requires the brewer to experiment with toasting their own malts.

I am a little curious as to how Mild ended up in the Balanced category, as I would consider Northern English Brown to be more balanced than malty while Mild is absolutely malt-forward. I am also a little disappointed that Pilsner or some other hop-forward lager was not included in the Hoppy category, but I suppose that is something for next year!

I have included below the rough drafts of the recipes I intend to brew. I will be making them over the next month or two, so the recipes may change as I spend more time tweaking them. Please note that if you see “Aroma” listed as ‘Use’ for a hop it will be added in the whirlpool.

Malty – Munich Dunkel

Munich Dunkel is one of my favorite styles so I figure this is a good of a time as any to brew one again. I am flipping the script from my usual M.O. of 10% Munich for complexity and instead going majority Munich with 10% Pilsner for the complexity; I am looking for rich bread crust maltiness here. At 2.5% apiece of Crystal and Flaked Wheat I am hoping to bulk up the head retention without adding too much caramelly or doughy wheat flavor. Seeing how Dunkel is an extremely malt-forward beer I am using just a dash of Perle to bitter and a dash of late Saaz for some slight spicy character. For yeast I am going with WLP838 Southern German Lager which will enhance the malt and is authentic to the region and style.

The challenge I am facing is that at the current percentages I am about 5 SRM low for the low end of color for a Dunkel. There is no way I am going to be adding any more Crystal, so I am hoping that an extra-long boil of 120 minutes will darken the wort and close the gap. I am also counting on the fact the BeerSmith frequently undershoots the color estimate by a point or two–I guess we will see how it goes! I certainly will not be decocting, that is for the birds. 😉

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 120 min 21.1 IBUs 10.6 SRM 1.048 1.012 4.7 % Fermentables Name Amount % Bonlander Munich 8.5 lbs 85 Pilsner 1 lbs 10 British Crystal 50/60L 4 oz 2.5 Wheat, Flaked 4 oz 2.5 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Perle 0.75 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 6 Saaz 0.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 3.3 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Southern German Lager (WLP838) White Labs 72% 50°F - 55°F

Balanced – ESB

I love ESBs, but I am being thrown off my game a bit due to the fact that I can not use my precious Maris Otter and Victory malts. My solution is to experiment with home toasting the Pilsner malt (the HT Pilsner listed below) to replicate some of the rich, nutty character I would expect from English malts. After a bit of research here is what I am shooting for:

Pale Gold Malt (est. 10ºL): Pale gold has a nutty but not toasty flavor; slightly sweet and mild. Roast base malt for 20 minutes at 250ºF.

Amber Malt (est. 35ºL): Amber malt is nutty, malty, and lightly toasty. Roast your base malt for 30 minutes at 350ºF.

Otherwise, this is a pretty standard English style pale ale recipe for me–toasty/nutty malt character with some fruity English esters. I am going to be bittering with the rest of my Perle from the Dunkel and will go all-in with Challenger for the late additions. I have never used Challenger before, so I hope it turns out okay. 🙂 I had the chance to do an English ale strain flight at the White Labs Tasting Room and I liked WLP023 Burton Ale the best, so I will be using that here too.

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 90 min 41.4 IBUs 10.8 SRM 1.056 1.013 5.6 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pilsner 7 lbs 62.22 Bonlander Munich 1.125 lbs 10 HT Pilsner - Pale Gold 1.125 lbs 10 British Crystal 50/60L 14 oz 7.78 HT Pilsner - Amber 9 oz 5 Wheat, Flaked 9 oz 5 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Perle 0.5 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 8 Challenger 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 7.5 Challenger 1 oz 15 min Aroma Pellet 7.5 Challenger 1 oz 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 7.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Burton Ale (WLP023) White Labs 72% 68°F - 73°F

Hoppy – American IPA

This might get me in trouble come judging time, but I have decided to get a little wild with my IPA and do an all-Brett fermentation using The Yeast Bay’s Amalgamation Brett Blend. I predict there being a ton of Centennial-heavy IPAs in this comp so I need to do something to distinguish myself. In the past when I used Amalgamation as the sole fermentor it was both extremely fruity and amazingly funk-free, so (fingers-crossed) I do not imagine I will get docked for having a funky IPA. I plan on giving it a month or so to ferment, then dry hop and keg. I am also hoping the Brett’s excellent oxygen scavenging capabilities will keep my hop character fresh between bottle turn-in and judging day (a common problem for IPAs).

For the fermentables I am trying to keep it light to let the hops shine through: a dash of crystal to satisfy the requirements, a pinch of Munich for some light complexity, and a decent amount of Flaked Wheat to bulk up the body that all-Brett fermentations can leave thin. Then it’s all-in on hops, most added in a two-stage whirlpool–15 minutes post-flameout then drop to 170ºF, add some more hops, and whirlpool 15 more minutes–finishing with a dry hop charge just before kegging.

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 90 min 68.6 IBUs 5.9 SRM 1.063 1.007 7.4 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pilsner 10.625 lbs 85 Wheat, Flaked 15 oz 7.5 Bonlander Munich 10 oz 5 British Crystal 50/60L 5 oz 2.5 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Centennial 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 10 Challenger 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 7.5 Centennial 1 oz 15 min Aroma Pellet 10 Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10 Challenger 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 7.5 Challenger 1 oz 15 min Aroma Pellet 7.5 Centennial 2 oz 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 10 Challenger 2 oz 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 7.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Amalgamation The Yeast Bay 88% 65°F - 72°F

So there you have it, the BrewUnited Challenge in a nutshell. I hope you are all okay with 2nd and 3rd place since I will be snagging the 1st place spots in each category. 🙂

Happy brewing!

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