Radical Brewing

Randy Mosher Brews!

I've never done a book review. Never though I would have to, or want to. However, Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher is an absolutely awesome work and should be picked up by anyone considering AG brewing or looking for unique extract conversions.

The premise is that brewing culture has existed for 12000 years. In that time Yeast, Barley, Hops, and Water were not the only four ingredients to find their way into beer. In a fun and enjoyable piece of work Randy guides readers through aspects of beer brewing not commonly considered by the average American (2-row) brewer. Techniques, ingredients, stories, history and more importantly context is clearly stated for every style of beer explored. Each style is viewed in terms of what can be done to create new and interesting experiences and not why or how it can be limited.

Starting with the easiest of beers to brew Randy takes us on a journey through historical English styles describing the regions and malting practices that made the IPA, the porter, the stout, and the nut brown possible. Hints and ideas for using spices, herbs, odd grains, wood aging, and hop character are all framed in the context of brewing excellent, but unknown beer.

Lagering begins with a complex but informative description of the decoction mash and includes tables and useful information for true and shortened mash schedules designed for use in your home.

Simple Belgian Beers are broken down into pales, saisons, and Abbey styles all with useful information about their goals as a style, history, and some excellent pointers for using sugar, the proper yeast strain, and remembering that the Belgians are all about experimentation.

Big hops, big malt, big yeast, and big time lead off a section on barleywines and their variations. The most amazing recipe for a "port like" beer with sherry characteristics truly lets you know that it can be okay to break all the rules you thought you knew about beer and still make something incredible.

An entire section on oddball grains including quinoa, sorghum, spelt, and buckwheat lends wonderful insight to the many nations that brewed beer for thousands of years without barley. Instead crafting their creations with the local products available to them. The Chicha of South America made from unmalted maize, or the Kvass made from rye bread and lemons should remind the reader that taking on the brewing tradition is a historical endeavor and that making history is not limited to the imagination of a clone book.

Strange herbs, roasting your own grain, fruit beers, and beers with names so weird I can't type them here cap the end of an interesting ride into brewing mythology. Advice on the best orange flavor, the perfect type of mushroom, or why wormwood is still a great adjunct stretches the imagination of the reader into the kitchen, the spice shop, the Asian food market, and makes of them a more demanding and intelligent consumer at the brew store.

The recipes listed in each of these sections gives the reader a foothold into the past and the future. Not only does Randy encourage you to modify the recipes listed, he has given enough background, enough context, and enough information about the materials in use that the only limitations can be your imagination and your wallet.

Of course there is always more than I described above. A section on his own personal brewery, the history of styles, glassware, and absurd written accounts of legal debauchery are all included in his pages along with illustrations, drawings, and personal accounts of beer drinking lore. Randy surely has exceeded the expectations of even himself.

Wee Heavy

Go Big(er) or Go Home

It's cold outside. There is snow on the ground. And beer fermenting in the cellar.

A quick temp check of my fermentation cellar this week gave me a reading in the high 50's. I couldn't help but pull out my books on brewing and locate a time and place for that kind of low temp fermentation. I found it in Scotland. I found it... in big beer.

The Scottish Wee Heavy, or Strong Scotch Ale by the BJCP 2008 guidelines is a malty concoction filled with very little hops, very much alcohol, and some good old fashioned screw the English spirit. A traditional infusion mash, mid to high temp schedule, and an extra long boil is the best way to give the English a run for their Barleywine. Everyone seems to claim that hops are an English subversion meant to overthrow the king and should be avoided, but brewing big beer, even Scottish big beer, requires a few. Randy Mosher writes that hops lose 1/3 of their potential every year the beer rests so you have to throw in a few. But malt liquor fans unite, the time has come for red, roasted, smoked, tasty, Scottish drinking beer.

Mother Mary Wee Heavy

Strong Scotch Ale

Type: All Grain Date: 11/2/2009

Batch Size: 8.00 gal Brewer: Joshua

Boil Size: 11.19 gal Asst Brewer: Kyle/Tasha

Boil Time: 100 min Equipment: My Equipment

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU

15.00 lb Golden Promise (2.0 SRM) Grain 70.59 %

5.00 lb Mild Malt (Ashburne) (5.3 SRM) Grain 23.53 %

1.00 lb Smoked Malt WK (5.0 SRM) Grain 4.71 %

0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.18 %

2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (120 min) Hops 22.5 IBU

1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (15 min) Hops 5.5 IBU

1 Pkgs Irish Ale (White Labs #WLP004) [Yeast-Cake]

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.076 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.076 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.017 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.30

% Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.59 %

Bitterness: 28.0 IBU Calories: 347 cal/pint

Est Color: 10.4 SRM

Mash Profile

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

70 min Step Add 22.00 qt of water at 168.4 F 154.0 F

10 min Step Add 10.00 qt of water at 211.4 F 170.0 F

10 min Step Add 22.00 qt of water at 180.0 F 180.0 F - Batch Sparge