Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Brew Notes: Mandheling

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As tasty as it looks!


Background:
Many brewers love their coffee too - I often find a phenotypic consistency across personalities (aside from the obsessional attention to detail). Among the coffee varieties, I find great pleasure in home-roasting the Sumatran Mandheling beans. These little things are traditionally wet-processed, and I buy the green beans in bulk (I really mean BULK. I buy 25 pounds at a time.) Roasted to a dark Vienna, these are earthy, dark and rich but yet mild on acidity. They are the perfect partner to a porter, provided the blending is done delicately without overshadowing the beer.

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Yes I know .. I usually use a frying pan to roast beans because I'm too lazy to bring the rotary roaster out

This porter was originally brewed as an American Porter (BJCP Category 20A) for the 2018 IBC Judging. It was therefore force-carbonated and several bottles filled with a counter-pressure bottler. The rest of the keg continued an extended lagering period (4 months at 2C) and later infused with cold-brewed Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans 2 weeks before serving. Hop additions were mostly late in the boil to maintain their volatile aromatics, in line with an American porter.

For the yeast, I originally did a forced ferment test using the Lithuanian Simonaitis. After tasting the wort though, I changed my mind and switched to using the Voss strain instead, as I had a hunch that the slight burnt orange phenolics produced by Voss would meld nicely with the style. Not disappointed!

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Grain Bill:
77% US Pale Ale (2 Row)
7% Chocolate malt
4% White wheat
4% Carapils
4% Crystal 120
4% Flaked oats
Hops:
15g Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus @ 15 mins
28g Tettnang @ hopstand
28g Cascade @ hopstand
Water Profile:
52ppm Ca2+
4ppm Mg2+
8ppm Na+
82ppm SO4-
60ppm Cl-
30ppm HCO3-
Mash:
67C for 60 mins
Mashout 75C for 10 mins
Fermentation:
Voss (Kveik) yeast
Pitched and fermented at 30C

Tasting notes:

Appearance - The beer pours with a solid tan head. It appears dark chocolate in colour but when held to the light, reveals its true color - a deep, clear ruby.

Aroma - prominent but not overpowering coffee notes, complemented by a fragrant, fruity aroma.

Taste - early initial samples had a light, though perceptible, alcoholic presence and earthy phenolic notes which faded out on extended lagering. Bittering is smooth and complements the underlying chocolatey, roast character. There is the character of plum-like notes in the background. The coffee is barely perceptible during tasting, only coming out if you look hard enough.

Mouthfeel - medium body with low-medium carbonation


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