Jaggery Pale Ale

It's time to start experimenting! 


My new resolution is to move away from extract brewing, and to start brewing smaller batches of all grain beer. By brewing in smaller batches (11.4 litres which gives me 15 bottles) I can experiment more and have a higher turn over, hopefully developing a better sense for making beer.


This Jaggery Pale Ale is a recipe found in Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing which adds a twist to a classic pale ale recipe with the addition of jaggery and fenugreek.


Turns out, jaggery sugar, adds a maple flavour to the beer while the fenugreek enhances those tones in the final beer. It also has a lot of hops - 65g of East Kent Goldings in the flavouring boil which is approximately three times as much as I add to a brew twice the size. It will be interesting to see what it turns out like - I figure this would be a nice beer to accompany a curry!

Gravity: Original Gravity: 1.064 (target 1.076) Final Gravity: 1.010 ABV: 7.5% (target 6.5 - 7.3%)
Yield: 12 litres
Brew method: All-grain with US batch sparging.

Notes: Once again, my original gravity is off by almost ten points, which makes me think that possible my mash tun efficiency is quite low. The odd thing, is that I always seem to hit the ABV after fermentation. Go figure.

The Two Metre Tall Company

The Two Metre Tall Company are the sort of people you want to be making beer. They use their own locally grown products from their 600 ha property in the Derwent Valley, supplemented with other locally produced products from around Tasmania. Priding themselves on naturally grown ingredients, they use their own malt, hops, apples and pears in the brewing of 4 ales and 2 ciders. We were fortunate enough to get hold of three of their ales; the Derwent Real Ale, the Forester Real Ale and the Huon Dark Apple Ale.

I haven't tasted such well brewed beers, made from quite obviously fresh ingredients, and with all the love that a homebrewer goes through in production of a beer in quite some time. These are beers worthy to be proud of, and each is bottle conditioned, adding natural variation and a softer carbonation to the enjoyment. If I had my way, this is how all commercial beer should be produced.

The Forester Ale instantly conjures that immortal line from the Simpson's; "there is a party in my mouth and everyone's invited".
I find it difficult to write a review that does this beer justice. It was so good, I was planning to cultivate yeast from the bottle so I could try to replicate it back home (Two Metre Tall Ales being unavailable in Sydney). It's 5.3% and is made as a true British Pale Ale with a dark amber body under an off-white head. The bottle conditioning means softer carbonation which to me makes this more drinkable than your average beer.
They use Australian sourced Pride of Ringwood and Hallertau hops with Vienna,  Pale, and Crystal malts. It's well balanced for a crisp finish chased by a slight smokiness. It's unassuming yet all the while boasting a lovely medium sweet malt body with enough hop flavour to keep a decent bitterness in the mouth. I really, really, loved this beer.

5/5 Coasters

The Huon Dark Apple Ale is definitely an ale, not a cider which may be disappointing those who where thinking they were getting the latter, but it definitely stands on it's own. Whilst I may not be a fan of fruit beers, I did enjoy this ale as a cleansing drink, but found it unremarkable in it's lack of body
It's sweet malt body is accentuated with  apples and that is about all you can taste. I'm not sure if this is the style but my palate kept asking for more; more punch, more apple, and more flavour.

I probably wouldn't bother with this again, but I would recommend it to cider lovers who have a hard time with beer as I think it might be a happy medium for those trying to escape the cloying sweetness of mass produced ciders.

3.5/5 Coasters

The Derwent Ale was as spectacular as the Forester. AS you can see, it's a much lighter bodied beer with a very generous white frothy head over a light golden straw body. A combination of wheat and barley malts makes for an excellent summer beer; light in body, very little bitterness, and a refreshing finish. It has no stand out flavours, but instead of this being disappointing, it manages to deliver a session beer with character and a great mouth feel. Whilst most of the flavours are attributable to the yeast; Stella, Williamette, Fuggles and Tettnanger hops are used to bitter and flavour. Once again, bottle conditioning ensure this a smooth and refreshing drink.

5/5 Coasters

Van Dieman Brewing

Another brewery I tried whilst on holiday was Van Dieman Brewing. They produce a range of 6 beers from their brewery in Evandale, Tasmania. Very craft beer in focus, they have a decent range that includes an Imperial Stout, an Extra Special Bitter, and a Moreish Ale flavoured with sloe, rose hip and hawthron berries.

I managed to lay hands on the Ragged Jack Pale Ale (4.2%) and the Jacob's Ladder Amber Ale (4.2%).

Ragged Jack is a decent Pale Ale, pouring with the customary white frothy head over a clear golden coloured beer. It's a true Pale Ale (rather than the Australian Lagers that masquerade as such) using English Pale Malt and boasting a floral hop aroma with hints of sweet caramel. It has a full bitter mouth feel which lingers after you swallow however, it feels quite conservatively hopped. The head lingers for the full drink which is gone far too quickly. There is no wonder it boasts bronze for two years in a row in the Australian International Beer Awards as it is a well balanced and pleasant ale.
I would probably pair this with a Chicken Caesar or Chicken Mango salad. It deserve something light and fresh to accentuate it's delicate flavours.

3.5/4 Coasters

 This Amber Ale is excellent. It uses English Pale and Crystal Malts to create a dark cloudy coppered-coloured beer that boasts a generous off-white head. English Hop varieties provide the underlying bitterness but it's the malts that steal the show with a sweet malt aroma and yeast driven citrus notes. It's full flavoured and very refreshing. It's hard to describe such a decently crafted beer as it balances all it's flavours remarkably well, creating a refreshing and satisfying drinking experience.

4/5 Coasters

Indian Summer Pale Ale - Tasting notes

Method: All-grain

Specialty grains: US crystal malt.

Hops: Northern Brewer (bittering), Cascade and Williamette (flavour and aroma).

Yeast: London Ale (liquid)

Comments: This beer fermented much further than the recipe suggested it would which is why I ended up with a much higher ABV. I have yet to work out why this happened.

ABV: 6.2% (the recipe suggests 5.0%).

Yield: 16.5 litres

Tasting notes: This was ready to drink after 4 weeks and is a very refreshing brew.

It pours with a white frothy head made from large bubbles over a cloudy pale amber beer. The hops are very noticeable in this brew with hints of stone fruit and a melon finish. Well carbonated after five weeks with a medium body.

This is a beer designed to be drunk in a pub accompanied with pub food - imagine a plate of thick cut chips with aoli and serving of lemon pepper calamari.

What I learnt: This was my first all-grain brew that was done properly. It makes a complex and satisfying beer. The only downside of all grain to extract brewing would be all the additional equipment required and additional hours you need for sparging and cooling. It really does make you feel a little wasteful using a wort chiller to get the temperature down however, I can see no other way, something that hasn't been an issue with my extract brews (where I use bricks of ice to bring down the temperature). 

Would I make this again? Maybe, but probably not. It's a complex beer and you could only manage one or two at a stretch before it began to labour on you. There are plenty of other Pale Ales out there to try before I come back to this recipe.

Indian Summer Pale Ale - Brewing notes

Today I started an all-grain brew with an Indian Pale Ale. One thing I hadn't realised when I bought my slightly bigger brew pot (24 litres) is how much liquid one loses when boiling for an hour. In hindsight I could have done with a 30 litre pot in order to get the 18.9 litres recommended by the recipe by the end of the boil. We live and learn I guess. One day I'll cave and buy a 30 litre but until then I'll resign myself to the fact I'll be making smaller brews (or adding some DME to increase the gravity and topping up with water once it's in the fermenter). I have yet to work out if this changes any of the characteristics of the beer but I'll be sure to let you know if it does.

Pale Malt is the grain of choice to add body, and Crystal malt for flavour. This IPA uses a number of hops to give it a long finish and citrusy body. On show are Williamette, Cascade and Northern Brewer (instead of Chinook).

Unlike my first attempt at all grain - I calculated the mash and sparge water correctly and collected about 22-23 litres for the brewpot. I lost almost 7 litres over the hour of boil.

Flavouring hops and Irish Moss
waiting to go in during the last 15 minutes

The boil

Cooling the wort with my home made
chiller

London Ale Yeast

Gravity: 1.048 (Target 1.052-1.054). Final gravity 1.004 (doesn't seem right! target is 1.014)

Yield: 16.5 litres (target 18.9 litres)

Sparge method: US batch sparging

Notes: The lower gravity may be due to inefficiency in my mash and sparge. The recipe assumes 70% efficiency however, I do not have the patience for continuous sparging so I will stick with batch sparging. By my incredibly dodgy calculations, I estimate that I am at 65% efficiency.