U Flecku substitute?

The argument I'm making is that you have to distinguish between the past and the present, things change over time. But if you look at the history, one can (hopefully) understand how we got to where we are today. If very little beer above a certain gravity was brewed in the late 1800s, I find it to be logical that there would develop a term, in the market place, as a marketing tool, to describe beers brewed above that treshold. It doesn't mean that the term has existed throughout that period of time, only that it emerged at some point, and that its meaning and origin might be found further back in history.

 

Jack, I have been saying that process is key for 10 years or so on the Homebrew forum here. Our club split ingredients into kits, distributed, judged the beers, an the results had a 20 point spread, low 20s to low 40s.

Who knows what happened that day in Prague?

 

Yes, there is no way to know for sure about this particular batch.

A head brewer at U Fleku (Ivan Chramosil) reported in the past that he would vary the statistics of the beer; for instance during the summer he would make the beer lighter in terms of OG/ABV in the summer (for the tourists).

Cheers!

 

Another one to look out for may be Uinta Baba Black Lager as long as you're looking in that direction.

 

There has been some discussion about Schwarzbier (including me) but maybe you would enjoy a Dunkel beer as well? One of my favorites is Von Trapp Dunkel Lager but to the best of my knowledge it is not distributed to Texas. Have you ever had Franconia Dunkel? If not, is that beer available to you?

Cheers!

 

Franconia Dunkel is more like a stout than an actual Dunkel... I really want to like their beers but I've been disappointed with them all every time.

Notch doesn't go to Texas. Von Trapp definitely doesn't... I really wish they did. I'd love to try their lagers.

 

We brew one for our tap room & beer garden. Double decocted, 12P, lands at 4.5%. Slight my less dark than the Černé.

 

I noticed your Standard 12P 4.4% pale lager is pretty much spot on as far as a traditional Pilsener lager beer goes. I was wondering what you attribute the lower (than average) degree of attenuation to? Is it a question of materials or process?

 

Yeast selection and decoction schedule have the most impact on degree of attenuation for us. We've been really happy with the Standard.

 

Chris, I noted you specifically stated "one". Did this beer not sell well for you? Otherwise you would have brewed this again, right?

Cheers!

 

Very interesting. So in your experience, a decoction mash actually produces a less fermentable wort? One thing which gets repeated again and again in 19th century Bavarian brewing literature is the importance of a decoction mash (two thick mashes and one lauter mash) for producing dextrin rich worts, which are less fermentable. Yet nowadays when reading about decoction mashing the common tune is that it doesn't make a difference. I've for some time thought that this discrepancy has to be the result of differing expectations/goals. Back in the 1800s the common viewpoint was that decoction mashing resulted in greater efficiency in using less modified malts. But nowadays hardly anyone is working with less modified malts, and very few are working with the goal of producing a less fermentable wort. So if the goal is to produce a highly fermentable wort, I can understand if brewers reach the conclusion that a decoction mash "doesn't make a difference". In other words, he goalposts have shifted over time.

I've also been wondering about yeast selection. With most modern German lager beers being highly attenuated and increadibly clean, yet Bavarian lager beer was associated with a low degree of attenuation, I cannot help but wonder if less attenuating yeasts have been abandoned along the way in favor of the yeasts used by most modern lager beer breweries.

 

So when are any of these coming to Texas? The beers sound great.

 

Brewed one version of Tmavy. Brewed it a few times over this past winter and it was a big hit. Taking a breather for the warmer months and it will back in the fall. Our customers really dig this style.

 

Notch is definitely near the top of my list of American breweries that I wish were distributed in NY.

 

All good points. Our decoction schedule was developed to limit attenuation of the lager yeasts we use (most of the time, but not always). We employ a double or single decoction depending on the beer and overall goals for the style. We use a German lager yeast strain and a Czech lager strain and each have different performance characteristic with the same decoction schedule, so we adjust based on yeast selection.

Do we need to employ decoction? You can certainly make sugar without it, but we've found it to be beneficial for a number of brewhouse related reasons, as well as giving the beers more depth of character. We also make an American Corn Lager via a single temp infusion, and that beer is perfect (to us anyway). So not everything is improved by decoction as well.

 

Yeah - you know that thread about the fantasy beer weekend? I think I finally know where I'd go .

 

Personally, I thought that MA had great and interesting brewers before those ones that begin with "T" joined the party.