Twisted Spire Alt (Surefire Extract Recipe)

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A copper-colored, moderate-bodied, bitter, malty ale.

This is the second beer in the second series of Surefire Extract Beers. The first series presented five homebrew recipes that played to the strengths of malt extract and stovetop brewing methods. The second series continues this idea, and started with an English best bitter.

Altbiers are brown ales (and sometimes lagers), often with a fair amount of bitterness. Outside of Düsseldorf, Germany, most have a hint of sweetness and a moderate level of bitterness. Düsseldorf altbiers tend to be a bit drier and more bitter. Twisted Spire Alt is an altbier made in the Düsseldorf style — plenty of hop bitterness, backed up by Munich malt. (This recipe uses both light and dark Munich malt, and a tiny amount of aromatic or melanoidin malt.)

The key to brewing this beer well is to ferment on the cool side of the ale fermentation range (65 °F/18 °C), and cold-condition the beer for a few weeks before serving. If you want your alt to be as traditional as possible, use Spalt hops instead of the Tettnanger hops specified in the recipe. (However, if you’ve never tasted Spalt hops before, be aware that they have a unique flavor that’s not to everyone’s liking.) Likewise, if you want to stick closer to tradition, cut the amounts of late hops and dry hops in half and lower the carbonation a bit.

The name Twisted Spire refers to the spire on the St. Lambertus church in Düsseldorf, which is twisted. Legend has it that, around the time the spire was finished, a virgin was married in the church. As she was leaving the wedding ceremony, the spire turned around to get a better view of her, since that sort of thing didn’t happen often. When another virgin gets married there, the spire will untwist itself. Locals have been waiting for this to happen since 1384. (Interestingly, many of the twisted spires in Europe have similar legends attached to them.) In the case of St. Lambertus, the truth is a bit more prosaic — architects think the carpenters used untreated wood to build the spire and it twisted when the wood absorbed moisture.)

Twisted Spire Alt

Düsseldorf Altbier

by Chris Colby

Extract; English units

 

DESCRIPTION

A copper-colored, bitter ale with a rich, Munich malt character. Moderate body, with the flavor and aroma of Tettnanger hops.

 

INGREDIENTS (for 5 gallons)

 

Water

carbon-filtered tap water

Malt (for an OG of 1.046 and 17 SRM)

1.0 lb. Munich malt (10 °L)

6.0 oz. dark Munich malt (20 °L)

5.0 oz. CaraMunich malt (60 °L)

3.0 oz. aromatic or melanoidin malt

2.0 oz. dehusked Carafa III malt

2.5 lbs. liquid Pilsner malt extract

2.5 lbs. liquid Munich malt extract

Hops (for a total of 48 IBU)

German Magnum hops (45 IBU)

1.0 oz., at 12% alpha acids, boiled for 60 minutes

Tettnanger hops (2.7 IBU)

0.5 oz., at 4% alpha acids, boiled for 10 minutes

Tettnanger hops

0.5 oz., at 4% alpha acids, added at knockout

Tettnanger whole hops

0.5 oz., at 4% alpha acids, dry hops

Yeast (for an FG of 1.011 and 4.4% ABV)

11.5 g sachet Fermentis Safale US-05 dried yeast

Other

1/4 tsp Irish moss

 

PROCEDURES

In your brewpot, begin heating 2.0 gallons of water to a boil. Aim to reach boiling when the grain steeping (actually a small mash) is done. In a separate, large (8-qt. or larger) pot, heat 2.8 qts. of water to 163 °F. Place crushed grains in a steeping bag and submerge in this second pot. Hold temperature around 152 °F for 60 minutes. In a third pot, heat 2.0 qts. of water to 170 °F to use as sparge water. After the grains have mashed, place a colander over your brewpot, set the grain bag in it and pour the wort through it (to filter out solid pieces of grain); then, rinse it with the sparge water. Stir in half of the malt extract and bring the wort to a boil. You should have about 3.0 gallons of wort. Do not let wort volume drop below 2.5 gallons during boil. (Top up with boiling water, if needed.) Once boil starts and the first bits of hot break show, add your bittering hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add remaining hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Stir in the remaining malt extract in last 10 minutes. (Dissolve it in a small amount of wort first to make it easier to stir in.) Chill the wort to 65 °F and transfer it to your fermenter. Add cool water to make 5.0 gallons and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and let beer ferment at 65 °F. When fermentation finishes, let sit in primary for another week, then rack to a secondary fermenter. Let condition, preferably at 60 °F or below, for an additional 2 weeks. Keg or bottle and carbonate to 2.5 volumes of CO2.

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Twisted Spire Alt

Düsseldorf Altbier

by Chris Colby

Extract: metric units

 

INGREDIENTS (for 19 L)

 

Water

carbon-filtered tap water

Malt (for an OG of 1.046 and 17 SRM)

450 g Munich malt (10 °L)

170 g dark Munich malt (20 °L)

140 g CaraMunich malt (60 °L)

85 g aromatic or melanoidin malt

57 g dehusked Carafa III malt

1.1 kg liquid Pilsner malt extract

1.1 kg liquid Munich malt extract

Hops (for a total of 48 IBU)

German Magnum hops (45 IBU)

28 g, at 12% alpha acids, boiled for 60 minutes

Tettnanger hops (2.7 IBU)

14 g, at 4% alpha acids, boiled for 10 minutes

Tettnanger hops

14 g, at 4% alpha acids, added at knockout

Tettnanger whole hops

14 g, at 4% alpha acids, dry hops

Yeast (for an FG of 1.011 and 4.4% ABV)

11.5 g sachet of Fermentis Safale US-05 dried yeast

Other

1/4 tsp Irish moss

 

PROCEDURES

In your brewpot, begin heating 7.6 L of water to a boil. Aim to reach boiling when the grain steeping (actually a small mash) is done. In a separate, large (8-L or larger) pot, heat 2.6 L of water to 73 °C. Place crushed grains in a steeping bag and submerge in this second pot. Hold temperature around 67 °C for 60 minutes. In a third pot, heat 1.9 L of water to 77 °C to use as sparge water. After the grains have mashed, place a colander over your brewpot, set the grain bag in it and pour the wort through it (to filter out solid pieces of grain); then, rinse it with the sparge water. Stir in half of the malt extract and bring the wort to a boil. You should have about 11 L of wort. Do not let wort volume drop below 9.5 L during boil. (Top up with boiling water, if needed.) Once boil starts and the first bits of hot break show, add your bittering hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add remaining hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Stir in the remaining malt extract in last 10 minutes. (Dissolve it in a small amount of wort first to make it easier to stir in.) Chill the wort to 18 °C and transfer it to your fermenter. Add cool water to make 5.0 gallons and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and let beer ferment at 18 °C. When fermentation finishes, let sit in primary for another week, then rack to a secondary fermenter. Let condition, preferably at 15 °C or below, for an additional 2 weeks. Keg or bottle and carbonate to 2.5 volumes of CO2.

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A book on brewing altbier.

 

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Comments

  1. Very timely, I just drank 2L of Altbier today in Dusseldorf. Looking forward to brewing up some of this great malty beer shortly after I get home!!

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