Adventures in Homebrew: Glen Tribute Ale

Crap, crap, crap… Yep, that’s right, three craps. The first crap was for not noticing until late last week that this year’s Sasquatch Brew Festival had been moved from June to mid-May and with it, the associated homebrew competition. The second crap was for looking over the list of categories being accepted and realizing that nothing I have brewed so far can be entered. The third crap was for remembering that I didn’t have a fermenter free to brew another beer. Not a great situation.

Well, I did the only logical thing I could think of. I dusted off the Mr. Beer and brewed up a 2 gallon batch of Strong Ale for the Glen Tribute Beer category.

For those of you who don’t know, the Sasquatch Brew Festival is an annual event in Eugene, put on by The Northwest Legends Foundation to honor Glen Hay Falconer. The event includes a homebrew competition put on by the Cascade Brewers Society. One of the competition categories is Glen Tribute Beer, a non-BJCP category described as, “…a beer that Glen might have brewed and most certainly would have enjoyed.” Here are the category guidelines from the Northwest Legends Foundation’s website:

OG: 1.065-1.080
FG: 1.012+
SRM: 12+
IBU: 40+

*AROMA:* Aroma may be of moderate to high levels of dark fruitiness. Banana, bubblegum esters not appropriate. Moderate to high hop aroma. Hop aroma may be citrusy, woody, resiny, or spicy. Typically US varieties, although UK varieties may be used. Caramel malt aroma may be low to high, increasing as the strength of the beer increases.

*APPEARANCE:* Copper to walnut brown. Copper tones may be noted. Brown and/or red colors are appropriate. Clarity low to high.

*FLAVOR:* Medium to high caramel flavor. Hop bitterness and flavor are apparent and may be moderate to high to unbelievable, but are accented by malt. Dark fruit flavors are appropriate. Citrus flavors from hops may be noted.

*MOUTH FEEL:* Medium to full body. Medium low to medium carbonation. Stronger versions may have a moderate alcohol warmth.

*OVERALL IMPRESSION:* These are beers with substantial flavor and body, even the ones at the bottom end of the gravity range. Hops are a main component, but there is always a full malt complement to balance.

Drinkability is a critical component of the style. They are beers that you want more than one of, despite their size and strength.

*EXAMPLES*: Sasquatch Olde Ale, Rogue Mogul

So, my new plan was to brew the Strong Ale over the weekend and hope like hell I could get it to ferment out in two weeks. If I hold off submitting it until the last day entries are being accepted (May 1st), it will have 19 days to carb. Ok, doable.

Glen Tribute Ale

Batch Size: 2.13 Gallons (8.5 quarts)
Boil Size: 3.0 Gallons

Target OG: 1.076
Target FG: 1.018
Estimated ABV: 7.7%
Estimated IBU: 50
Estimated SRM: 23

4.00 lbs 2 Row
0.50 lbs Munich 10L
0.50 lbs British Dark Crystal (~150L)
0.50 lbs Flaked Barley
0.25 lbs Belgian Special B (~115L)

.25 oz Columbus @ 60
.25 oz Centennial @ 30
.25 oz Centennial @ 10
.25 lbs Light Brown Sugar @ 10
.25 lbs Molasses @ 10

.25 oz Columbus Dry-Hop @ 7 days
.25 oz Centennial Dry-Hop @ 7 days

Danstar Nottingham Yeast

I ended up brewing the Tribute Ale Sunday morning. I collected about 3 gallons of wort and boiled it down until I had 2 gallons for the fermenter. My starting gravity ended up being around 1.070, a number I was perfectly happy with. After collecting the boil volume, there was still about a gallon of wort left in the tun, so I expected to be a few points lower than my target.

A few hours after pitching the yeast, fermentation was off and rolling. Good news since Nottingham can be a slow starter and I am working with a tight time frame. My plan is to dry-hop at the 7 day mark and leave the addition until it is time to bottle, which will hopefully be in two weeks. Fingers crossed.

Cheers!
Kevin