As October was approaching fast (at least when I brewed this beer), I decided to make a little Oktoberfest at home. The concept was to brew four German style beers or four beers that’s somewhat related to Germany. Today's beer is the first one on the list and as such I went with the most iconic beer of the festival, the festbier. As I never brewed this style and wanted at least one not experimental recipe, I went with the Meanbrews Festbier recipe. However, as usual I went with a kveik strain, due to the lack of temperature control.
Read MoreSurf in Jovaru | Experimental Recipe
In my never ending search for new kveik strains I came across Jovaru™, which had quiet the publicity in the past few years. Jovaru™ is a Lithuanian yeast strain originated in the JOVARU® Brewery, which is run by the famed brewer Aldona Udriene’s also known as “the queen of Lithuanian farmhouse beer”. The yeast tested positive for the STA1 gene, which indicates that it can metabolize dextrins, thus resulting in a higher attenuation.
The description published by Omega Yeast list lemon pith and black pepper character combined with a soft mouthfeel, which makes the yeast ideal for Belgian style beers.
Read MoreAnd Then There Were Drunks | Experimental Recipe
One night I got my hands on a beer called Zen Mode from Ugar Brewery. The beer was a session pale ale with oats and infused with green tea. It was so good it immediately got me thinking, what if I do a similar beer but try to achieve the green tea flavor without any green tea. In my search for hops with such a character, I came across the fairly new Diamant.
Read MoreSolitude in Drunkenness | Experimental Recipe
The first grodziskie I tried was the magnificent Dëwla from Pänel Brewery. Although it was a grodziskie, it was hardly a traditional beer with its dry hop addition. Hyped up on this new experience, I decided to brew one myself, but there was a minor issue: originally grodziskie requires polish hops and a specific yeast. Neither of these is available in Hungarian homebrew shops.
Read MoreBad Karma Schwarzbier | Brewday
The first time I tried a schwarzbier was a few years ago at a beer festival. There were booths where they served Köstritzer. I really liked the beer, but in Hungary they are the only widely available brand of schwarzbier so I never really had the chance to experience other brands. When I started homebrewing, I bought the Mashmaker from Michael Dawson, in this book resides today's recipe. This is my first time brewing this style of beer, so I was very excited to get my hands dirty.
Read MoreJoin The Platoon | Experimental Recipe
I wanted to brew a similar beer to one of my all-time favorites, Kattegat Kitty from Zentus. So I checked the ingredient list and put together a recipe which I thought could be a close match. It’s important to note, that the goal of this first attempt was not to replicate the beer, but to get a similar beer which I can fine tune.
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