Wellington BJCP Study Week 2
From SOBA
| Week | Date | Beer styles and tasting categories | Flavours, faults, ingredients, processes and other |
| Week 2 | 22/03/2007 | Light Hybrid Beer, Amber Hybrid Beer | Cloudiness, light body, low head retention, oxidation, yeasts |
Contents |
[edit] Styles
[edit] Light Hybrid Beer
[edit] 6A. Cream Ale
An ale version of the American lager style. Produced by ale brewers to compete with lager brewers in the North-east and Mid-Atlantic States. Originally known as sparkling or present use ales, lager strains were (and sometimes still are) used by some brewers, but were not historically mixed with ale strains. Many examples are kräusened to achieve carbonation. Classic American (i.e. pre-prohibition) Cream Ales were slightly stronger, hoppier (including some dry hopping) and more bitter (25-30+ IBUs).
BM: not sure if the Cream Ale also caters for the Boddington's and Kilkenny type Cream Ales but would have thought that they don't as these have little to do with techniques and origin but are more to do with dispensing under nitrogen gas.
Cream ales are brewed with pilsner malt and often use flaked corn, this gives them a distinct cream corn DMS note reminiscent of many lagers. The mash temperature is kept low (65C) and fermentable adjuncts such as table sugar can be added to give a dry finish. Cream ale has low bitterness (10-20 IBU) and hop flavour.
[edit] 6B. Blonde Ale
In addition to the more common American Blond Ale, this category can also include modern English Summer Ales, American Kölsch-style beers, and less assertive American and English pale ales. Generally all malt, but can include up to 25% wheat malt and some sugar adjuncts. Any hop variety can be used. Clean American, lightly fruity English, or Kölsch yeast. May also be made with lager yeast, or cold-conditioned. Some versions may have honey, spices and/or fruit added, although if any of these ingredients are stronger than a background flavour they should be entered in speciality, spiced or fruit beer categories instead. Kettle caramelisation should be avoided.
[edit] NZ Commercial Examples
- Coopers Sparkling Ale
[edit] 6C. Kölsch
A clean, crisp, delicately balanced beer usually with very subtle fruit flavors and aromas. Subdued maltiness throughout leads to a pleasantly refreshing tang in the finish. To the untrained taster easily mistaken for a light lager, a somewhat subtle pilsner, or perhaps a blonde ale. Kölsch is an appellation protected by the Kölsch Konvention, and is restricted to the 20 or so breweries in and around Cologne (Köln). The Konvention simply defines the beer as a "light, highly attenuated, hop-accentuated, clear top-fermenting vollbier." Served in a tall, narrow 200ml glass called a "Stange." Each Cologne brewery produces a beer of different character, and each interprets the Konvention slightly differently. Allow for a range of variation within the style when judging. Note that drier versions may seem hoppier or more bitter than the IBU specifications might suggest. Due to its delicate flavor profile, Kölsch tends to have a relatively short shelf-life; older examples can show some oxidation defects.
Kölsch is brewed using an ale yeast but is fermented at a lower than normal temperature (~15C) and lagered to increase clarity. The Kölsch yeast is a highly attenuating yeast resulting in a dry, crisp finish with some fruit esters apparent from the use of an ale yeast. The yeast is not particularly flocculant and can result in some cloudiness. Lagering and filtering can be used to increase clarity.
Notes from Designing Great Beers - Ray Daniels 1996,2000
Alt and Kölsch share many common attributes. Much of this results from the brewing process, which is unique among other ales and nearly identical for these two beers. These process differences relate primarily to the fermentation and conditioning of the beer.
Most of the available sources of information on commercial beers agree that Pilsener malt serves as the base for the alt and kolsch styles. When Pilsener malt is not specified, then a European two-row malt is the alternative for the majority of the grist. In the case of Kölsch , wheat can also help to achieve the pale colour desired in the style. For alt, wheat seems counterproductive, because it may dilute the malt character and lighten the colour.
The grain bills for alts are slightly more complex. After Pilsener malt, the primary ingredient of alt is usually Munich malt. Some commercial German breweries add small quantities of black malt to achieve the desired colour.
High levels of attenuation are expected in the commercial examples of both alt and Kölsch . Although yeast selection will have a certain impact on attenuation levels, the saccharification temperature used during the mash will have a greater effect. To achieve the goals of alt and Kölsch brewing with regard to both maltiness and attenuation, you can - and should - be looking at cooler mash temperatures, in the range from 63C to 65C.
It doesn't take long to cover the subject of hops with regard to Kölsch and Alt beers, for the styles typically display little, if any, hop flavour or aroma. Although several different German hops are used in these beers, it appears that Spalt gets the nod as the favourite.
Compared to other styles of beer production of alt and Kölsch follows unique steps throughout fermentation and aging. Ale yeasts are used, but the temperatures and processing are more like those employed for lager production. Two special requirements in selecting a yeast for these beers are maximising attenuation and minimizing ester production.
[edit] NZ Commercial Examples
- Mata Artesian
[edit] Jamil's Kölsch Recipe
[edit] 6D. American Wheat or Rye Beer
Refreshing wheat or rye beers that can display more hop character and less yeast character than their German cousins. Different variations exist, from an easy-drinking fairly sweet beer to a dry, aggressively hopped beer with a strong wheat or rye flavor. Light to moderately strong grainy wheat or rye flavor, which can linger into the finish. May have a moderate malty sweetness or finish quite dry. Low to moderate hop bitterness, which sometimes lasts into the finish. Low to moderate hop flavor (citrusy American or spicy/floral noble). Esters can be moderate to none, but should not take on a German Hefeweizen character (banana). No clove phenols, although a light spiciness from wheat or rye is acceptable. May have a slight tartness in the finish. No diacetyl.
[edit] Amber Hybrid Beer
[edit] 7A. Northern German Altbier
Most Altbiers produced outside of Düsseldorf are of the Northern German style. Most are simply moderately bitter brown lagers. Ironically "alt" refers to the old style of brewing (i.e. making ales), which makes the term "Altbier" somewhat inaccurate and inappropriate. Those that are made as ales are fermented at cool ale temperatures and lagered at cold temperatures (as with D̹sseldorf Alt). Typically made with a Pils base and colored with roasted malt or dark crystal. May include small amounts of Munich or Vienna malt. Noble hops. Usually made with an attenuative lager yeast.
[edit] 7B. California Common Beer
This style is narrowly defined around the prototypical Anchor Steam example. Superficially similar to an American pale or amber ale, yet differs in that the hop flavor/aroma is woody/minty rather than citrusy, malt flavors are toasty and caramelly, the hopping is always assertive, and a warm-fermented lager yeast is used. American West Coast original. Large shallow open fermenters (coolships) were traditionally used to compensate for the absence of refrigeration and to take advantage of the cool ambient temperatures in the San Francisco Bay area. Fermented with a lager yeast, but one that was selected to thrive at the cool end of normal ale fermentation temperatures.
[edit] 7C. Düsseldorf Altbier
A well balanced, bitter yet malty, clean, smooth, well-attenuated copper-colored German ale. The traditional style of beer from Düsseldorf. "Alt" refers to the "old" style of brewing (i.e. making top-fermented ales) that was common before lager brewing became popular. Predates the isolation of bottom fermenting yeast strains, though it approximates many characteristics of lager beers. The best examples can be found in brewpubs in the Altstadt ("old town") section of Düsseldorf. A bitter beer balanced by a pronounced malt richness. Fermented at cool ale temperature (60-65°F), and lagered at cold temperatures to produce a cleaner, smoother palate than is typical for most ales. Common variants include Sticke ("secret") alt, which is slightly stronger, darker, richer and more complex than typical alts. Bitterness rises up to 60 IBUs and is usually dry hopped and lagered for a longer time. Münster alt is typically lower in gravity and alcohol, sour, lighter in color (golden), and can contain a significant portion of wheat. Both Sticke alt and Münster alt should be entered in the specialty category.
[edit] NZ Commercial Examples
- Green Man Best Bitter
[edit] Flavours and faults
[edit] Cloudiness
- Water high in some ions, like Iron.
- Poor mash technique allowing excessive protein into the wort.
- Poor mash technique allowing starch into the wort.
- Poor mash technique allowing tannins into the wort.
- Improper boil which does not coagulate proteins and tannins into hot break.
- Fermentation infection.
- Non-flocculant yeast.
- Insufficient lagering.
- Insufficient or ineffective fining.
- Insufficient or ineffective filtering.
- Beer too cold at dispense.
- Tannins from dry hopping.
[edit] Light body
Appropriate in some beers (e.g. American style lagers and Lambics) but not appropriate in most malt accented beers (e.g. bocks and barleywines).
Light body is caused by a excessively low levels of dextrins or medium-length proteins.
Causes of low residual levels of dextrins:
- Wild yeast
- Low sacchrification rest temperature during mash
- Excessive adjunct usage
- Highly attenuative yeast
- Fermenting too warm
Causes of low residual levels of medium length proteins:
- [placeholder]
[edit] Low head retention
- Low protein
- Dirty serving glasses
[edit] Oxidation
- Descriptors include cardboard, wet newspaper, winy, vinous, sherry
- Exposure to oxygen during different parts of the brewing and storage process
- Hot side aeration leads to oxides of tannins which then release their oxide radicals when in the final beer
[edit] Technical topics
[edit] Yeasts
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Saccharomyces carlsbergensis Saccharomyces uvarum Brettanomyces delbrueckii
Anaerobic growth Aerobic growth
