Showing posts with label tmave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tmave. Show all posts

Monday, June 13, 2011

Tasting: Tmave Lezak

Of the two lagers I brewed back in January the dark one turned out much nicer. It sat quietly until being bottled in May. Then it sat some more down in the basement slowly getting drank through the Spring and Summer. With all that has gone on over the last few months, it's taken a hurricane to sit down and post a review.

Pours a dark brown that shows clear, red highlights when held to the light. Large, tan effervescent head stands tall (started above the rim of that mug and fell to where pictured while I fumbled with cameras) and slowly subsides to a quarter inch persistent cap. Sweet caramel and malt flavor, but ultimately the beer proves dry with a bit of grain husk and nip of Saaz. Maybe a bit of toast. Hardly perfect but nice enough to drink a large glass of. What more can you expect from lagering in a chilly pantry?

Monday, January 17, 2011

Tmavý Ležák

Taking a departure from my usual austere Belgians and strong stouts I decided to make use of my chilly pantry (~45 F now in the heart of winter) and brew a couple lagers. First was a světlý which I want to match up to the real thing from the Czech Republic. I neglected to write about it when I brewed a few weeks ago. Basic idea was Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pils put through a triple decoction and a generous dose of Saaz in the boil. Today I brewed the complement, a 12 Plato Tmavý. Compared to last week, today's brew was simple, occupying about half the time.

6.75 lbs Floor Malted Bohemian Pils
1.5 lbs Dark Munich
.75 lbs CaraAroma
.25 lbs Carafa I

2 ounces Saaz (4% AA) 70 minutes
1 ounce Hallertau (2.5% AA) 20 minutes

Mash:
15 minutes at 104 F.
Pulled ~1/3 and slowly brought to boil with stopover at 150.
Returned at 35 minutes. ~130 F.
Dickmaische 2 at 55 minutes, ~1/3 of mash.
Returned at 80 minutes ~155 plus ~2 qts water to thin out mash.
Lautermaische at 105 minutes.
Boiled and returned at 115 minutes. 162 F. Let stand for 20 minutes.

OG: 1.048
Racked onto yeast from světlý (White Labs 802)

Can't wait to drink this one and raise a pint to Švejk (or whatever standard serving size is in Bohemia).