Other stuff » Biere de Garde

Tripel and overall update

Steve — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:20:22 +0000

It has been a while since I posted.

A very busy summer and severe disappointment with my Tripel. Way to sweet and about 90% of the bottles were very flat. I’m not sure if I didn’t clean adequately or if there was something in the secondary that contaminated the beer. I’ve had to pour several bottles down the drain, which kills me. The alcohol level wasn’t lacking at all though. Very strong and a pint was all I cared to drink on a conservative evening.

The Biere de Garde and Chocolate Stouts turned out well and friends/family have enjoyed thoughout the summer. I’ll definitely make the stout again. Now for something new.

I’ll be moving forward this fall with an IPA extract kit from Northern Brewer. I’ve really enjoyed IPAs this summer so I thought one should be in order. I’ll be using a yeast starter. More to come soon.

Bière de Garde – bottling

Steve — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:26:15 +0000

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. I am bottling my biere de garde tonight. I’ve cleaned and sanitized a couple cases of bottles that I’ve collected. There are some fun styles and a few really interested squatty Polish beer bottles that are about 6″ tall. I decided to go this route as I’ll be bottling a couple other beers inside the month, so I needed more bottles. I’m also going to enter this beer into the Wisconsin State Fair and they require glass bottles, not PET bottles. No doubt though, the plastic bottles are much quicker to get through the entire process because of their size reduces the frequency of bottles, plus they don’t need a capper (another recent purchase). This beer is much darker than I anticipated but I’m very excited to try it. It had the appearance of an Affligem Belgian Dubbel I just tried. If it could be as good, we’re in business.

Bière de Garde – secondary

Steve — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:06:47 +0000

Today I racked my beer to its secondary vessel. It had a pretty vigourous fermentation for about 4 days. I took a gravity reading on the 4th day and it was 1.011. It started slowing down on the 6th day to about one bubble out of the airlock every 50 seconds. Today made it 8 days in the primary with final gravity of 1.010. That would give it an attenuation of about 80% and an ABV of 6.7% with my original gravity of 1.060. It had a much darker hue than I expected but the Biere de Garde color range is pretty broad so there isn’t too much of a clear cut rule. I’ll now leave it in the secondary for a couple weeks then prepare for bottling.

The only concern I had was the water temp of my carboy bath, which was to provide a warmer and more buffered temperature and environment, was that it was about 75°-76°. I know that it is supposed to be fermented as a warmer ale, even though it is a lager yeast. I’m hoping it isn’t to fruity tasting, as I’ve read it can when warm temps are involved. Maybe the “cellaring” will diminish this.

[Show as slideshow]

Recipe – Bière de Garde

Steve — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:02:23 +0000

Bière de Garde
Northern Homebrewer, St. Paul, MN

Malt 1: 7 lbs. Pilsen DME

Grain 1: .5 lbs Dingeman’s Aromatic
Grain 2: .5 lbs Gambrinus Honey Malt

Hop 1: 1 oz Styrian Goldings

Yeast: Used – Saflager S-23 (65-75)
Also available – Wyeast 2112 California Lager Yeast (58-68)
Biere de Garde should be brew at warmer ale temps and cold stored at colder temps.

Boiling Schedule:
After the water reaches 155°F add the bag full of grain to the water in the kettle and steep like a tea bag as the water continues to heat. Remove water from heat and mix 3 lbs. of DME until dissolved @ 90 minutes. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 90 minutes. With 15 minutes left mix 4 lbs of remaining DME until dissolved @ 15 minutes left in the boil.

Notes:
Transfer to secondary fermenter after 14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to bottling or secondary fermentation. Bottle with 1.25 cups of wheat DME or .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition and store for up to 3 months.

From Northern Brewer:
O.G: 1063 / Ready: 3 months

Bière de Garde is a beer that has its origins in the northern region of France known as Nord-Pas de Calais. This style is intended to be cellared for many months, and is brewed relatively strong. Bronze in color, this beer has clean fermentation properties and a caramelly profile from a longer-than-usual boil. Our Bière de Garde kit is intended to be fermented ‘steam style’, by a lager yeast fermented at warmer ale temperatures. To enhance the cleanliness, this beer should be cold-conditioned in the bottle for two months before serving.

Bière de Garde

Steve — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:44:40 +0000

I’m really getting into trying as many styles as I can, appropriate to my fermentation temps in my basement. I’m not content on just brewing one style or recipe over and over and perfecting it. I feel there are so many recipes and styles to try. My next home brew was a Biere de Garde kit that I purchased through Northern Brewer out of St. Paul, MN. Biere de Garde is a farmhouse ale originating from northern France’s border with Belgium. I brewed it today with an OG of 1.60 (target was 1.063), balling was 15%, and potential alcohol was 8% per the hydrometer. I pitched the yeast with the wort at 64 degrees. I’m trying something new that I read on a forum to keep my fermentation temps higher in my 59 degree basement. I placed my carboy in a tubberware container where I have a 100 watt aquarium heater keeping the water at 69 degrees.

[Show as slideshow]

NB’s catalog and customer service were great and very helpful. Their own description says:

OG: 1063 / Ready: 3 months

BeerAdvocate.com‘s description of the Belgian hybrid:

Description:
The Biere de Garde is golden to deep copper or light brown in color. They are moderate to medium in body. This style of beer is characterized by a toasted malt aroma, slight malt sweetness in flavor, and medium hop bitterness. Noble-type hop aromas and flavors should be low to medium. Fruity esters can be light to medium in intensity. Flavor of alcohol is evident. Earthy, cellar-like, musty aromas and flavors are okay. Diacetyl should not be perceived but chill haze is okay. Often bottle conditioned with some yeast character.

Average alcohol by volume (abv) range: 6.0-8.0%

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this beer, with a nice photo of 3 Monts.

As you may have noticed, I’ve begun posting my current and past recipes. You can view all my recipes that I’ve tried from local and national home brew suppliers by simply clicking the “recipe” tag.