I am planning on making more beer within the next coming month and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on some good spring/summer beers they have made?
Spring is probably the one season that doesn’t have styles directly associated with it, but summer definitely does.
What beers do you typically like to drink?
Marzen? Dobbelbock (traditionally drunk during lent). Dry stout for St Patrick’s day? Admittedly, too late to brew any of these for this year, but it is a good time to brew for summer.
How about a nice saison? Or you could play with a wheat beer/ white IPA. Really, if you’re making beer…and you like it,…it’s for spring!!!
Last year I adapted a cream ale recipe to make a Mango Habanero Cream Ale. It was such a hit in the summer, I’m going to make it again soon.
Marzen? Dobbelbock (traditionally drunk during lent). Dry stout for St Patrick’s day? Admittedly, too late to brew any of these for this year, but it is a good time to brew for summer.[/quote]
I thought marzen was brewed in march then drunk in October? With you on the dry stout, but why the doppelbock? I think maibock is probably a better choice if looking for a true spring beer.
I guess you could make the argument for Irish Reds as well, but I don’t like any butter in my beer :mrgreen:
You’re right. I was thinking Maibock and wrote Marzen.
Dobbelbock has a story behind it that the monks who invented the style had to get permission from the pope to make it their approved lent drink. I personally don’t think it goes particularly well for warming weather, but you can’t change history.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]You’re right. I was thinking Maibock and wrote Marzen.
Dobbelbock has a story behind it that the monks who invented the style had to get permission from the pope to make it their approved lent drink. I personally don’t think it goes particularly well for warming weather, but you can’t change history.[/quote]
No but it probably goes particularly good with an empty stomach :cheers:
The Kama Citra Session IPA and the T-Can and Bearcat’s Wheaten Beatdown are great for summertime drinking. Cream ales are great too…
Make a crisp pale ale, after primary fermentation add it to the secondary with pasteurized pineapple. (It’s very easy to pasteurize your own fruit, don’t purchase that canned stuff.)
Needless to say after bottle conditioning you will have yourself a delightful summer beer.
How much mango and habanero did you pasteurize/use? I am very interested in brewing this beer.
I drink this one year round, but it is light colored, fizzy, and low alcohol. NBs’ Petite Saison d’Ete Extract
How much mango and habanero did you pasteurize/use? I am very interested in brewing this beer.[/quote]
I used a Brewers Best Cream Ale kit. I used one oz of Willamette for bittering. It came with another oz that I didn’t use. Instead, I used 0.5 oz of Citra at 15 & 5 minutes left. Let it ferment for 10-14 days.
I froze 5 lbs of cubed mango to help break down the cell walls. The day before using them I soaked them in just enough rum (you could also use vodka) to cover them while they thawed. I then mashed them up a little to help the yeast out. I put the mango/rum mixture into a carboy and racked the Cream Ale onto them and let it ferment out for about 3-4 weeks.
For the habanero, I chopped 2-3 of them and soaked them in about 5-6 oz of vodka for a week or so. After I racked into the bottling bucket I started adding some of the habanero extract and gently stirred until I got the flavor I wanted. You’d have to just add to taste. For a half batch, I used about 3-3.5 oz. How much you add depends on the strength of the extract you create. Whatever you think would be good, divide that in half and begin there. You can add but you can’t take it out!
Here’s a link
https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/mango-habanero-scream-ale
to my recipe with notes in Brew Toad.
