Batch #41: Alt

An attempt at a 100% Munich-malt alt, bittered like an IPA and fermented with American Wheat (i.e. Zum Uerige strain, according to most sources) to keep from being sweet. This was the third batch brewed using a pump to move wort from the mash tun to my converted sanke kettle. As you can see from the notes, I still haven't learned to eyeball volumes, and I have an efficiency problem to work out :-(

Recipe

Grain Bill

Hops

Yeast

Wyeast 1010 American Wheat yeast, 3 quart starter.

Mash

Single infusion, 65 minutes at 152F.

Vitals

Timeline

Brew day: October 26, 2004 Fermented in low 60s. Yeast was a fairly flocculent top-cropper, making it easier to collect yeast for the next batch.

Kegged November 6, 2004. Excess filled about 10 bottles, primed with primetabs.

Tasting notes

11/21/2004

[I sneaked a bottle of it a couple days ago, and was pleased enough to forget to write about it. Here's to the second bottle]:

Has a deep, crystal clear amber-red color, contrasted by an excellent white foam. Very picturesque. Toasty malt aroma is tinged with resiny, perfumy hops that didn't quite boil out. Nutty, dark toasted malt flavor gives way to a dry, bitter finish, perfectly preparing the palate for another sip (or another glass).

Overall, very well-balanced and crisp. Equally good for quaffing and sipping. Still a little rough around the edges: hop harshness hasn't subsided, and the mild yeast character needs to mellow with a little more cool aging. Patience? I'm sure I have some around here somewhere..... I'll go look for it; be right back.... <Pfft!> :-)

1/1/2005

Finished the first keg. I was going to take a growler to a New Year's Eve party, but the keg blew after two pints. I'm now a convert to trimming dip tubes -- the last bit of beer was crystal clear, avoiding the yeasty muck that is a blown keg usually....

Flavorwise, it's a great beer for such a disappointing brewday. Even at 1.038-1.040, it's a very full-bodied, full-flavored beer. Definitely dry and easy-drinking overall, but with a full silky-smooth toasty malt profile, and only a slight astringency in the finish (probably from the quantity of hops). I'm glad I did 10 gallons of this, the next keg will probably come in handy soon.

2/17/2005

I finally got a couple bottles of Zum Uerige. I had previously had a bottle at the Muddy Pig, and some Sticke from a cask at the Upper Mississipi Mash-Out 2005, but couldn't really taste it side-by-side with mine in those settings. Now I can, and it's really shocking how close they are in flavor, since the recipes are completely different. I was basically aiming for the same ballpark as Uerige: a crisp, drinkable, bitter malty session beer. I got quite close.

Visually, Uerige is somewhat darker than mine, and it has a more caramel malt flavor, rather than the deeply-toasty Munich flavor. The bitterness level and body are almost exactly alike. Uerige has a lot more caramel malt flavor, and I will have to begin experimenting with German crystal malts.... It might be a side-effect of the extra malt sweetness, but Uerige also has more apparent yeast character, probably due to the fact that I fermented mine at the lower end of the yeast's range, while Uerige ferments at warmer temps.

All in all, mine was quite pleasing and quite close to the mark, a good alt in its own right. And you can't beat the simplicity of the recipe. I'll have to keep this one around, even while I take stabs at cloning Uerige. This 100% Munich formula and the pils+caramel+roast Uerige approach make an equally dry, drinkable, malty beer...

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