light, summer, beer recipes.

I do 3 main styles for summer beers, most of which is consumed by others, that fit the bill with pool parties, boating and general summer beers . Hefeweizen, Blonde Ale (both American style and Belgian) and Wheat (both American and Belgian).

 

Great suggestions from jlpred55.

My personal favorite summertime beer is a Wit.

Cheers!

P.S. A Kolsch is a great summertime beer too!

 

I will be brewing one of these in 2 weeks, first time but definitely wanted something easy to drink that isnt quite as hoppy for a more broad appeal.

 

What yeast have you selected (2565)?

It has been my consistent experience in brewing Kolsch beers with 2565 that extended conditioning (preferably at cool/cold temperatures) greatly improves the flavor profile of this beer. I have a batch of bottled (carbonated) Kolsch beers in my lagering chamber right now. I intend to lager this beer for a month.

Cheers!

 

+1

 

I chose WLP029 as I can control my temp for fermentation but not consistently low enough for 2565. I have read that WLP029 can do just fine in the 60-65 range which is much more manageable for me (I can keep it at any temp in that range consistently for fermentation). I can lager it at around 36-39 in my kegerator though which I plan on doing for about 2 weeks. I know timeframe is not ideal but my pipeline is catching up to me!

 

Just got home from work and had a glass of this, which made me think of summer by the lake.
I suppose you could call it an English summer ale, whatever that means. I called it Golden Bitter to play up the oast and the hops. I tried to get Golden Promise, but they were out, so went with Maris Otter. It's light enough (in color, body) and flavorful enough in fruity esters and balanced enough in malt sweetness and hop bitterness to keep light lager drinkers and craft beer drinkers happy.

6 gallons, OG 1.044, FG 1.007, 8 SRM, 33IBUs
8# maris otter
1# golden naked oats
12 oz sugar (I used homemade candi sugar syrup, amberish in color)
33 estimated IBUs from a 60 min charge of Whitbread Goldings Variety
.67 oz Flame out addition of WGV (what else was I going to do them?)
WY 1469 West Yorkshire strain, 64 degrees F

 

Agreed, we did one with some honey in it.

 

Sounds like a plan!

Good luck with your batch of Kolsch.

Cheers!

 

Thank you!

Do you have any experience with 029?

 

“Do you have any experience with 029?” The short answer is no.

The longer answer is that I have always brewed with 2565 since I really like the subtle (but noticeable) white wine flavor that it produces. For me 2565 is a bit of a pain since my Kolsch beers brewed with 2565 need an extended conditioning time before the beer is really tasty; the beer peaks around 2+ months after brewing (about 2 weeks of primary fermentation, two weeks of bottle conditioning (carbonating) and another 1+ month of additional cool/cold conditioning). I have thought about trying WLP029 in the hopes that it doesn’t require as long a conditioning time. The description that White Labs provides for this yeast strain is:

“From a small brewpub in Cologne, Germany, this yeast works great in Kölsch and Alt style beers. Good for light beers like blond and honey. Accentuates hop flavors, similar to WLP001. The slight sulfur produced during fermentation will disappear with age and leave a super clean, lager like ale.”

There is no mention of white wine or winey flavors in that description. Consequently I have never chosen to brew with WLP029.

Hopefully somebody who has brewed with WLP029 will provide you their opinions on this yeast strain.

Cheers!

 

Blonde Ale and Kolsch are easily my most common. Belgian Single (or Patersbier) are great as well.

 

Cream Ale, Cali Common, and Kolsch...but when it gets real hot...Berlinerweisse : )

 

What's the lead time on a Berlinerweisse? Is it a brew that one needs to condition for awhile to get that tartness? I'd like to do one but might not have time on my hands until the end of the school year.

 

I think it depends on how you make it...sour mash, lacto, lacto + brett. I made a straight lacto that was blended with the normal SC yeast and it was not near sour/tart enough after 2 months so I pulled the keg and warmed it up for another 4 months...I'll let you know how it tastes in another month or so...until then, I've been getting my Berliner fix at Whole Foods TapRoom (they've had some outstanding ones lately).

 

Well, it's still pretty warm here in September, guess I could try to get one ready for the early weeks of college football. Haven't brewed a sour beer before, was thinking a Berliner might be a good first attempt.

 

I brewed a blonde ale at the beginning of the month, it'll be ready to keg and carb by the weekend and ready for my b day party in april. High hopes for that one!

 

Just made my fourth edition of Bleach Blonde Ale, this time with serebrianka hops* (first time trying them).

It's a pretty simple recipe that's been consistently tasty. It's quite summery.

Although I just had a witbier at a local brewery that would be a fantastic summer beer (spirulina witbier from Freetail Brewery). It was actually a St Patty's day green beer (they said spirulina made it green), but damn was it a tasty and light/easy to drink beer (3.9 ABV). Best "green" beer I've ever had, and it's not even close! Despite the novelty, it was really a great beer, lots of body yet amazingly easy to drink and refreshing. So I'd vote yes on various witbier / wheat beer options for summer too.

*0.5 oz at 60 min, 1 oz at 15 min, 2 oz at 5 min, 28** IBUs

** a bit hoppy for a blonde ale, eh al?

 

Oberon hasn't come up yet? I'm going to try to take some dregs and clone this in the next few months, for sure.