Malt Sourdough Bread

Inspired by other baking homebrewers I decided to try my hand at putting all that spent grain from the barleywine to good use. I used a low hydration figuring that the malt would bring along plenty of water. I aimed for 50% hydration but neglected to account for the starter and ended up at 57% before the malt was added. All measurements are by weight.

16 oz King Arthur Bread Flour
8 oz filtered water
5 oz sourdough starter (100% hydration)
5 oz still wet mashed malt
.3 oz kosher salt

-Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and let rise 20 hours.
-Shape and let rise another 2 hours.
-Bake for 30 minutes in 450 F oven.

The bread had a good flavor with a nice combination of sourdough and malt. (Good enough that I ate it all before I thought to take a photo.) The only problem was the texture turned out a bit too wet and dense. Next time I would either push the hydration even lower or use some grain that has not been mashed. Some crystal or honey malt could be tasty.

Belgian Barleywine

This ale was inspired by Stille Nacht from De Dolle Brouwers. I am quite enamored with their beers, if that was not already obvious. I'm not in the mood to make up the tables that I did for the previous batches but the recipe is quite simple. A heap of pale malt, whole Nugget hops (I love the earthy spiciness of Nuggets), a healthy dose of sugar, a long boil and Oerbier yeast. OG at 1.110.

The only question is which oak spiral to add to secondary: one that has been soaking in red wine or the one that just came out of the B. Lambicus beer. Maybe both. Maybe split the batch and use both.

3/22/09: Racked to Secondary. 1.010 SG apparent(90%), 1.026 real(75%), 12.7% ABV.

5/5/09: Racked 1 gallon to 1 gallon jug w/ half medium toast French oak spiral soaked in lambic dregs. Bottled 3 gallons with 2 oz corn sugar. Smells very fruity and sugary with pear and Nugget hops. Taste of fruit, spice, molasses, caramel, hops with a rocket fuel burn afterward.

Mild! Tasting

I bottled the mild after only 7 days of fermentation with 4 oz brown sugar. It attenuated to 1.005 SG (86% apparent attenuation) making for a nice light 4% ABV. I cracked open a bottle three days after bottling and was pleased to find it already carbonated.

With a vigorous pour down the center of the glass the beer releases a nice two finger head of light foam. The color is a light orange with a brownish tint from the brown sugar at bottling. Decent clarity. A distinct yeast fruitiness, oranges mostly, blends with the earthy hops to create a pleasurable but not overpowering aroma. The taste is similar with some bready warmth and honey sweetness from the biscuit and honey malts. The hops assert themselves in bitterness and flavor and make me want to call this an IPA. The body is a bit Kate Moss but that makes for extreme gulpability. Overall I am pleased with this brew but might aim for a higher finishing gravity next time I get a craving for session beer.