It all started on a stormy day a couple of years ago. I was working on a clone of Magic Hat’s hIPA, when a hurricane blew in. That hurricane went on to cause all kinds of damage in Vermont, so I dubbed my bet hurricane Irene pale ale, a nod to the storm and to hIPA.
This year while making an IPA, Isaac blew in…
Now, with plans in place to brew a schwarzbier on Saturday, here comes Sandy.
So much for the back story.
I’ve only had two or three of these in my life but I remember the first one. Not too roasty but with a very nice hop profile.
What do you all think are keys to a great schwarzbier?
Using debittered black malt such as Carafa III, pilsner malt for the base, and a good clean fermenting lager yeast. I don’t think hops are supposed to be up front, but it’s your beer…
Nice back story, I don’t have any back stories for my beers really. Guess I’m not creative like that.
Sandy Schwarz, sounds uncomfortable.
You might try cold steeping your black malts for maximum smoothness. Otherwise, standard lager procedures apply.
[quote=“tom sawyer”]Sandy Schwarz, sounds uncomfortable.
You might try cold steeping your black malts for maximum smoothness. Otherwise, standard lager procedures apply.[/quote]
Or putting the malt in at the end of the mash would do well also. You don’t necessary want the schwarzbier to be blacker than the blackest black times infinity either. You should be able to see a red tint when held up to the light, in my opinion. But that is kind of arbitrary, just means that you don’t want to overload it with dark malt so it’s too roasty.
All of that sounds about right, and in line with bjcp guidelines, except maybe the hop bit.
I know what the guidelines say, but I swear the first time I cracked a kostritzer (sp?) The first thing that hit me was a pleasant noble hop aroma.All the others I’ve had were craft examples so they don’t count;)
I had carafa 1 on hand and a friend tossed me some carafa 3, so I should be able to keep the roastiness under control. On the other hand, in a byo article on schwarz, they’re talking about only 2 oz of carafa 2. This seems pretty slim…
Incidentally, not trying to minimize what has happened with Sandy. Really not a good scene. Looks like people really kept their word about them though. Hopefully what can be repaired will be fixed in short order and the rest will be rebuilt. Would be nice to be in the seawall business I guess.
